dave mcbride

Makes me wonder if Beasley is more hurt than they’re letting on.

Speaking of names dating back to the early 1990s, my fantasy teams have always been named “The God Squad.” A friend of mine bartended at Jim Kelly’s bar back in the day, and the players would all hang out there. Reich, Metzelaars, and I think Beebe would always come in together a little bit later than the other players and then hang out as a group. They were all bible-quoting teetotalers (but of course nice people, unlike Bruce Smith, who my friend said was the worst tipper ever) so my friend dubbed them “The God Squad.” Hence my team name.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NFL_Street

Good take on Darnold: https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2020/12/21/22193382/jets-rams-upset-ripple-effects-draft-trevor-lawrence-sam-darnold

Yeah, agreed. I thought they were stupid to not kick the fg and make it a 4-score game, effectively ending it then and there.

He got it, but that call has to be a QB sneak *every single time*. Maybe in a closer game they sneak it; it was a blowout at that point and perhaps they wanted to try and see if they could succeed with the RB.

Totally disagree. The bills have a second home game in their sights. The last thing you want is facing kc in arrowhead in round 2. If pitt loses another and the bills win out, they’d be in line for a second home playoff game. The bills still need to win out! 🙂

I did see Butler come back in fwiw.

Intentional tackling is by definition “forcible” (as opposed to unintentional incidental). I don’t think that’s debatable. As I said, the rule is what it is, and it’s clear. We just have live with it. If you’re a defender on the ground, accept the fact that you can’t a sack a qb or do a qb hit until you stand up again.

He literally tried to tackle him low! Come on, Simon! Don’t get me wrong - I have issues with the rule, but it is what it is and it’s pretty clear.

Um ... wrapping him up low is absolutely a penalty. “A rushing defender is prohibited from forcibly hitting in the knee area or below a passer who has one or both feet on the ground, even if the initial contact is above the knee.” I wouldn’t be surprised if the extended delay was due to the league office contacting the refs and telling them that they completely missed the call.

No, it was completely legit. He deliberately plowed into the defender four yards down the field.

I have no problem with any of the calls today. I thought the call on milano was legit too — it followed the rule about hitting the qb low, which he absolutely did.

Everyone of those calls was legit. Every damn one. The bills need to look themselves in the mirror with regard to the red zone penalties.

Why is it such a terrible program? I mean, they are a major state university (with a top-five engineering school and a top-five computer science school at the graduate level) that's been in a top conference forever, and the program is truly ancient, going back to the 1890s. https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/illinois/. I can't quite figure it out. They're the most populous state in the midwest too, and it's a state with a great football culture (i.e., the Bears).

I don't mean to sound too harsh toward Knox, and this perhaps IS too harsh, but I ... kinda feel like he still could (and maybe should) have caught that goal-line pass despite being interfered with prior to the ball hitting him right in the hands. Diggs probably would have caught it. I do realize it's tough to catch a pass with a defender whacking you before it arrives. It was a perfect throw.

Yeah, 59, I was thinking of Niagara Falls, which is around 30.

The post is irrelevant because the Browns and Ravens have played one less game than any other team listed. The stats include yesterday’s games for everyone else.

OK, everyone can move along. The stat that is posted includes two listed teams that have played one fewer game than every other team because their game is on Monday Night: Cleveland and Baltimore. Every other team includes yesterday’s games. https://www.nfl.com/stats/team-stats/ To the OP: passing yards per game is always a more accurate stat.

The Browns are a better passing team than a lot of these teams.

Toronto is 59 miles away from Buffalo as the crow flies (and I think 30 from Niagara Falls NY). It’s not far at all, actually. It’s around 100 on the Queen E Way, of course ...

Bojorquez is the worst sort of punter — inconsistent and hence utterly unreliable.

Speaking of the Patriots: https://www.si.com/nfl/2020/12/10/ex-chaplain-jack-easterby-houston-texans-chaos-after-power-struggle-daily-cover My favorite paragraph: While Easterby aspires to be a transformational leader, guided by religion and morality, people who have worked alongside him in Houston have increasingly come to see him as transactional. Says a colleague: “If you combine a faith-healing televangelist with Littlefinger, you’d get Jack Easterby.”

Agree 100 percent with this. This is what I’ve always said about him. Managing NFL personalities is the most underrated part of the job, and it ain’t easy—a lot of players are borderline psychos (the sport draws that type). He is great at it.

No, it’s better to be down two scores than three. People act as if 4th conversions are a gimme. They aren’t.