dave mcbride

I will say that the national hype surrounding Jones and the Pats' brilliance is getting a bit out of control: https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2021/11/18/22788563/mac-jones-bill-belichick-young-quarterback-master-class (classic meathead comment by Mularkey at the end of this one) https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2021/11/18/mac-jones-patriots-nfl-draft-franchise-qb/ (I assume it's even worse on radio and cable TV, neither of which I listen to/watch.) I hope the Bills pound them into dust on December 6.

Just looked at his twitter feed, and I can't disagree. I'd be utterly shocked if he's vaccinated.

https://www.boston.com/sports/new-england-patriots/2021/11/16/bill-belichick-the-gm-has-built-a-patriots-to-believe-in/ - homer-biased but good rundown of what he has put together.

This is so true. And bear in mind that Mike Shanahan was Parcells and Belichick's bete noire in the 1990s. They struggled with that system throughout the decade. Shanahan beat the Pats 34-8 in 1996 (when BB was running that D) and then 27-21 and 23-10 vs. the BP/BB-led Jets in 1998. He also beat the Pats under Parcells 37-3 in 1995. BB beat Shanahan in 1999 and 2000 (Jets first, Pats second), but Shanahan then beat BB in both 2001 and 2002. The Pats won 30-26 in 2003 and then Denver beat NE twice in 2005 (regular season and a beat-down in the playoffs) and in 2006. The scores kept getting closer through all of this, and it is very clear that BB invested a ton of energy in figuring out how to stop it. Finally, BB crushed Shanahan 41-7 in 2008 (the Cassel season). In his last game vs. BB (Washington in 2011), the Pats won 34-27. Anyway, Shanahan's system was a thorn in BB's side for ages. He spent a LOT of time trying to master it.

I think a lot of it depends on how he plays down the stretch and in the postseason, and if he can stay healthy.

Honestly, it looks like his right foot is about two inches off the ground unless he has a size 28 foot that has a bend in it with a player's glove strapped over the front. You and I are seeing different things and I'm simply not going to agree with you. That's ok.

We can play this game all day, but at the end of it all we should just probably agree to disagree. As I said above, I watched it with a bunch of other folks and no one thought he caught it cleanly. But it didn't matter because a) the PI and b) it was an utter blowout.

Um ... no. (And I recently bought a new high-end monitor!)

That's actually false. He's 50-24. In the same time period, the Chiefs are 54-20.

68-76, actually. You may be forgetting to include the first 4 games of 2016 (they went 3-1) and also the fact that while Brady started game one of the 2008 season, he went down early in the first quarter with the score tied 0-0. They won that game with Cassel. Perhaps more importantly, he is 27-19 since 2008 without Brady.

KC is 4th in yards, 1st in both plays and yards per drive, and 10th in points. I know they are held to a high standard, but their offense has been objectively pretty good this season. Mahomes' stats are just a tick under Allen's too.

Yup. And Rex's character assassination of Saleh given this grim situation is really low.

Not what i am saying at all. The picture I cited with the hand showing was clear, at least to me. Blowing it up to the point where it lacks resolution only makes it a blur - akin to looking at a Monet painting close up. Regardless, I feel pretty strongly that he didn’t catch it, but I realize that’s hard to argue this on a homer board (not meant pejoratively, btw) after it gets celebrated on a lousy NFL network show.

That is a blur of nothingness,. Not sure of your point. Dude, take it easy.

Didn't know that about Lock. Another reason for Bridgewater to protect himself so he can live to fight another day.

Chiefs are 6-4 and they will win that division.

I am NOT a Bridgewater fan at all, but this is a guy who had a truly terrible injury and came back. He can't play D and can't really move laterally all that well anymore. I'm not justifying it -- it's a terrible look -- but he may well being coached to steer clear of contact if possible given the leg injury history. The bigger issue: Drew Lock is even worse, and they are a plausible playoff contender. Him going down on what would presumably have been a failed attempt at a tackle wouldn't have done the team any good. To reiterate, though, terrible look.

Watch it again. I probably shouldn't belabor the point, but that right foot never got down because he clearly bobbled it. Watch at the 0:15 mark onward. That would have been overturned without the PI. It was still a GREAT play.

Don't think so, but I honestly don't know for sure.

No, that's not how it works. And I just pointed out to you that the photo doesn't show his right foot down; it shows the Jets defender's glove on the ground. That seems very clear to me. I just watched it again, and I don't see that foot ever getting down. But ultimately it doesn't matter; there was PI and the effort was good. I am not trying to criticize Davis. Don't disagree that it was a tough one! When I watched it live with 3 other people, no one thought he got both feet down. Again, though, good throw, good effort, and the PI may have been what caused to not get the foot down anyway.

His right foot isn't down there. You're seeing the Jets players glove, which blends into Davis's shoe.

His passing numbers do not tell you anything about how well he played. He made a bunch of big plays at crucial moments.

Disagree! I don't think he ever got the inside foot down.

Um … he didn’t actually get the second foot down. It was pretty clear. The Jets didn’t challenge because it wouldn’t have mattered given the PI call.

Enh ... the 2018 Bears were a legit SB contender, and Mack was the best player on that team. They were bad the year before, and he helped take them the next level. Who knows how far they would have gotten if they didn't have that FG disaster vs Philly. And he's hardly the problem there now; he's continuing to play at a very high level.