dave mcbride

I feel like people overreact to plays that the color guy focuses on after the event. Alex smith makes a way worse throw on 4th down and trent green says nothing. Hence nobody else says anything. and, by the way, the reason the bills didn’t convert on 3rd and 2 was because of a ridiculous trick play call in which an unfooled kc defense keying on shady found him immediately 4 yards deep in the backfield.

You are kidding. It was a 14 yard completion that was a little low but which a better te (kelce or gronk) snags and rumbles forward.

That throw wasn’t where you would like it, but it was ok and very catchable at least. On thanksgiving stafford missed a wide open golden tate on the lions’ final possession and it cost them the game. All qbs, including good ones, miss. Alex smith’s miss on the fourth down play with 2:50 left was a far worse miss than taylor’s.

Dennison is the worst.

If dawkins doesn’t hold that game is over. Cadet had that run clear away even if dawkins dowsn’t hold. the pass to o’leary wasn’t perfect but it wasn’t that bad. Jordan matthews caught an even lower pass and didn’t go to the ground. Some of that is on o’leary. It was lower than you’d like but it wasn’t THAT low.

I’d say slightly above average, but I’m not going to argue about it. It was classic Taylor, for better or worse. Regardless, the playcalling in the second half was ridiculously bad. The hold on Dawkins (who played really well) was really bad.

What??? He played well but they took it out of his hands and made a bunch of terrible play calls to boot. Dennison stinks.

I suspect Cousins stays in DC.

Good post. The font size, though!

I'll take Rosen 8 days a week, but I doubt the Bills will have the ammo in the form of picks to get him assuming Cleveland is dead set on getting a qb (which i guarantee you they will be). Basically, we need to root for SF to go into an even deeper tailspin and for gregg-o to inspire a decent cleveland defense to win a couple of games on their own.

Actually, he played one game and one play.

I can't imagine him not going pro. He's really good and will be a top ten pick. Plus he will have graduated. Why on earth would he stay?

As a Bruins fan and alum, this is excellent news. Mora was terrible despite the winning early on.

Cleveland is taking a qb. I pretty much guarantee it.

Not sure you know who Ted Lowi was, but he was an extremely influential political scientist at Cornell (died last year) who stipulated the following: 'Professor Lowi acerbically coined what he called the “Law of Succession,” which holds that each new president enhances the reputation of his predecessors. He also posed a corollary: “This is the only certain contribution each president will make.”'

Vis a vis Roman/Lynn: square peg and round hole.

That is mostly true, but I did add the qualifier "all else being equal." If a player is good (a big qualifier!), he will have multiple suitors willing to pay.

It makes sense to me. What he's saying is that because of how college offenses are run now, o-lineman and qbs come in woefully unprepared to operate in a pro-style offense. Smart coaches realize this and gameplan accordingly. The "traditional deficiencies" are substandard o-line play and weak quarterbacking beneath the elite tier, which is a product of all the spread offenses (which are very, very simple and succeed because of terrible secondary play at the college level).

Phenomenal piece. Thanks!!

Something I read in Tim Graham's piece this morning stuck with me. He was speaking with someone in the league office about the situation, and that source told him that Taylor was a very popular player among other players around the league. Judging from how he interacts with other players from opposing teams after games, the fond feelings for him in Baltimore, Richard Sherman's comments, and his own rep as a gamer among his own teammates, I suspect that this is 100 percent true. That gets me to my next point: the current treatment of Taylor -- a far superior player to Peterman -- only makes sense if the decision-makers have a long time horizon to work with. Despite what people think here, I am not at all convinced of that. The problem is that Buffalo has become an even bigger laughing stock than before, and this regime will struggle to attract good players all else being equal (i.e., they have other offers) NEXT YEAR. I can't imagine good players will want to come here for not only the obvious reasons, but because of the stink (in the players' minds at least) of the Taylor decision (remember, other players actually like him). Why is that important? Because of the decisions of McDermott and Beane, this team will go into the 2018 offseason as one of the least talented teams in the league. Their talent level after free agency opens will be HORRIBLE--and again, I expect them to struggle in attracting quality FAs. Because of that, 2-14 is a real possibility next season. Taking a team that collectively went.500 over the previous three seasons to 6-10 (where they'll end up if Peterman starts the rest of the way) to somewhere between 2-14/4-12 is not a good look. If this happens, all talk of a long term for the new regime will go out the window. The fans will be in an uproar. They may well get a third season, but they'll struggle to advance from a really bad record to a really good one. The Rams did it this year, but they're the exception. Most teams that are bad stay bad for a couple of seasons. I'd bet a large amount of money if this regime has three straight losing seasons, they will be out. It's the way of this franchise. Completely cratering next season will not be a good look either. Remember, they will walk into FA with one of the lowest levels of talent in the league. The only decent players who won't be over the hill are as follows: Hyde, White, Shady, and Zay Jones (who does look like he can play). I have no idea what'll happen with Benjamin. He has leg issues and will cost a lot to keep. They don't seem to be committed to Glenn either. Clay is alright, but has knee issues and is basically a JAG at the TE position. Better than some but not great. Poyer is alright too. None of the other players on the team are difference makers. Given that they really have to trade the farm to move up and get a qb (although they may not), their draft pick total will be average by the time of draft day. I'd expect them to have to trade their 2 #1s plus a #2 and, say, a 3rd next year to move up from the 9-10 spot to the #2 spot. Cleveland will take a qb.

Truth.

Yep - he was kinda lucky to not have a sixth int.

Re: Schwartz: the Eagles D is pretty dominating this year. First in the league against the run in both yardage and ypa.

He is quietly having a spectacular season this year. He was amazing before he broke his finger last year too. He's a very underrated franchise QB.

The Steelers went 15-1 in 2004, and Roethlisberger threw 17 TDs and 11 INTs.