Cotton Fitzsimmons

Clearly this deal was tit for tat, gents!

YE OLE can hear the post game pressers now... Sal: Josh, can you walk us through that play right at the end of the half... what was going on there? Josh Allen: “Overall JA17 played a pretty solid game out there, but obviously JA17 might want to have that play back...”

Teef, my good friend, you are spot on per usual! Who does this character think he is... YE OLE?

Use your heart just like a (Jeff) tool... sometimes... Now we are talkin YE OLE's language here, gents!

Jauronimo, my good friend, you make sn excellent point here. The issue is, when we’ve seen this gesture (both arms out) the returner is signaling to his blockers and he lets the ball land. The problem is, he then fielded the ball and didn’t down it. There was no whistle and the ball was live. You can see the official was also confused and looked at him as if to say “are you downing it or bringing it out?” The issue comes in, if the shoe were on the other foot. Had the return team trotted off the field and this joker takes off and returns it for a TD, does anyone think that would’ve been taken off the board? I thought the panel with John Fox/Trey Wingo was particularly insightful on this. They all made the point, if you’re in victory formation, everyone may know your intent, but you still have to execute the snap and take a knee. And there’s a lot of precedent for weird kick returner/live ball fiascos. YE OLE can never remember one of these blunders being reversed due to “intent”

After taking a day to process, this play bothers me a lot more. At the time YE OLE wasn’t too upset as it did seem like common sense that he was giving himself up. But that said, there’s been many instances where weird things happen and they still call it by the book. I mean we all remember Desean Jackson’s bone headed play some years ago. Clearly his intent was to cross the goal line, but he didn’t and they ruled it as it actually happened: And perhaps the more relevant point is... if you go by “intent” and everyone stops playing without it being downed... this happens (and they obviously did NOT take this TD off the board for the Rams... and they wouldn’t have yesterday either if the Texans ran it back and everyone just “assumed” he gave himself up without actually doing it.

Just YE OLE’s 2 cents... what you’re saying is true, but none of these rules are called in a vacuum. Things like intent, severity, and a host of other factors always come into play. The odd second half kickoff/TD they took off the board is a perfect example. To the letter of the law, the official obviously didn’t feel like he gave himself up and called it a TD. However “after discussion” they reversed it and the term “common sense” started getting thrown around in ensuing analysis of the whole debacle. To the letter of the law, there also holding, PI, illegal contact, etc. on a majority of snaps. Watt, 100% landed his full weight on Allen at one point, which we’ve seen called and then not called. All of the rules are called subjectively, so things like intent and “spirit of the rule” always come into play. Again... YE OLE’s two cents is they generally let them play all day, and didn’t call a very tight game. Nobody was getting injured based on Ford’s actions. That’s a really tough call to make in OT of a playoff game.

If it plays out, Tennessee will have beaten Baltimore on Saturday, so McDermott will know a win against his mentor Andy Reid, means they’ll be coming home to host the AFC Championship. One can only imagine the scene at the airport when the plane lands next Sunday night, if that plays out!

If you could pick one corner (in their prime) to cover Fuller on Saturday... would you pick Phillip Gaines or Kenny Irvin?

It certainly should have been a block in the back... YE OLE won’t argue that, but the flag came out during the face mask from an official that was looking right at it. It clearly should have offset, and the refs huddled up forever and a day to discuss it. If they legitimately missed the blatant face mask, it shouldn’t have taken so damn long to discuss what in their minds was a routine block in the back infraction.

In all seriousness, gents, if Josh is orchestrating a game winning drive and connects with Duke in the red zone, YE OLE would not want to be the DBs standing between Duke and pay dirt... FACT!

Perhaps McBeane has waited until the postseason to unleash Duke, thus elevating from “Playoff Caliber” to “Championship Caliber” Now the only question is... can Christian Wade also be activated to the playoff roster.

Just YE OLE’s two cents here gents... but it seems that the coaching staff may have played the long game here. This was by far the best game Brady had against McDermott’s defense of late. To YE’s untrained eye, there wasn’t much happening to confuse and frustrate Brady like what we witnessed in the first game this year, and dating back to last season. The defense seemed very vanilla... and it’s not to say that they didn’t want to win, but one could say it might fall under the McBeane philosophy of win now as well as long term. The chances of Miami winning there next week are very small, and unless that happens, this had all the significance of a preseason game. My guess is, if Brady sees this defense again in January we’re going to see a lot more frustration and confusion coming from him than we did yesterday. As great as a win would’ve felt yesterday, a win there in January is the one that would truly make a statement.

9. Buffalo Bills (9-3) - Previously: 17.The Bills were on my overrated page since late September or early October, but Josh Allen's development means that they have a legitimate chance to make a deep run into the playoffs. I didn't think Allen would get to this level until 2020, but he's there now.

What’s good, gents? What’s good? Watching this Texans/Patriots* game, YE OLE is just going to say it like it is. If we can knock off Baltimore next week, there’s a really good chance we’re going to be the #1 seed. To clarify... YE OLE is not saying that’s going to be easy.

YE OLE didn’t like when we didn’t get this guy signed in the offseason until the 11th hour and YE will not like it if we don’t get this fellow signed long term. Jordan has been excellent since he arrived last year, he’s still young, and clearly gotten even better this year. No disrespect to anyone who takes the stance that we should offer a modest contract or let him walk, but that feels a lot like letting Winfield or Pat Williams walk and beginning the cycle of drafting replacements and never getting better. This guy is our best defensive lineman right now... pay him.

That ball must have been an absolute rocket, the way it was deflected and still made it through to Brown.

This Vincent fellow looks like a guy who knows a thing or two about stuffing the run!

THE CHANIMAL could draw up a screen like nobody's business! FACT!

As always, anything is possible, but 2017 would seem to be a better marker than the Jauron/Gailey era teams. McDermott's already had a team here that went from 5-2 to 5-5 while getting gashed in the run game at a historic clip. After that Saints game where they ended the game with like 50 consecutive run plays, who could've seen that team winning another game the rest of the year? They managed to turn it around, win @KC and then break the drought. Had we came away with a win against the Eagles, YE OLE would've said we might have a run at the division here, gents. But, at this point, the most likely scenario is a 10/11 win season and a wildcard game at Indy/Baltimore. How McDermott's team fairs in that game will likely be the true test as to what the trajectory of THE PROCESS is.

That’s why they had to cut him... it was cutting into valuable time talking about how Fitz went to Harvard during the telecast.

Fingers crossed that McBeane was in a room with the Bengals brass consumating said deal at 3:59 PM, gents!