RuntheDamnBall

Um, her point actually blows if we're talking Christianity, here, because she is out there judging him and his faith when it is a personal matter between him and God. I find the whole business of public proselytizing in general to be an act, but one that helps some people live better lives, and that's fine. Nothing to do with football though.

Yep. It's a maneuver to break up a play that everyone is prepared for. No one is prepared for a sliding QB to give himself up, protecting himself from being able to get hit, and then kicking a defender in the junk. They can't go out of their way to protect defenseless players from cheapshots in one instance, and then do nothing about it in others. It destroys credibility.

Saying that a benevolent God cares about football is about the clearest argument there is for the non-existence of said God.

I'm proud of my husband, so I'm going to be petty and vindictive and tell people to go to a Wikipedia page. That'll show 'em.

This stuff is too weird, guys. Keep the fantasies to yourself.

Well, yes, especially the lucky part. I mean, the Bills drafted a respected Michigan quarterback, and he was efficient if not spectacular in college. They obviously could have done a lot more there. I think scouting is where you've really got to determine the work ethic, mental acuity, and adaptability of a player. I don't even know if the Patriots did that, considering they drafted Brady in the 6th. Right time, right place. It's like firing darts. You can get pretty good at it over time, but you're just never going to hit the target every time. It's why a lot of us like the idea of drafting two, and why the Redskins' drafting of RGIII and Cousins looks innovative now when it looked baffling on draft day.

The Pats don't believe in garbage time and run up the score whenever given the chance. Putting in the backup to get him some reps is not BB's M.O. I wouldn't put much stock in that aspect of this.

Listen, I'll take three clones of Dick Butkus over somebody who is louder but not as good. These are grown men who make millions of damn dollars to play a game. If they need some drill sergeant or UnderArmour spokesman yelling at them 24/7 to actually do their job, I question their personal motivation. As for Harbaugh, he probably should have gotten a penalty for throwing his headset and for constantly migrating onto the field of play to harrass the officials. If he were on the Bills, he probably would have.

Could be. I liked Mallet as a prospect; it'll just remain to be seen if he gets a shot and has soaked in anything in his years out of the spotlight. I sure hope not.

They have impressively adapted and found new ways to win. I think the 49ers might be most impressive to me, personally, because they changed QBs and still won another title. If not for Favre's meteoric rise and Young's concussion issues, they might have won more. It will be one of the most interesting developments in football to see what happens to the Pats after Brady. Hopefully, the result is complete and utter destruction and not something like Favre's transition to Rodgers.

Did the 49ers have one? Did the Cowboys (maybe Irvin, but he seemed more a prima donna than a leader). Do the Packers, really? The Steelers? There are guys on the Bills who get up and are exciting, you just don't notice because they're not usually winning. There is no one-size-fits-all approach. I will take whatever gets us there, not whatever gets them on camera.

Is it really interesting? He's definitely put together a HOF career, but I'm actually far more interested in Kaepernick's sudden rise, or Frank Gore finally getting a shot after all these years. Even though I can't stand him, Moss getting another chance in a supporting role is kind of interesting, too. Lots of the game's best players over the past 10-12 years are in this game, and a few of the newer young stars. Meh. I don't know. There are plenty of good players who weren't always dialed up to 11, waving their arms like they know they are going to be in CBS pregame graphics every time the camera is near them.

Matt Ryan probably wouldn't have been able to play in the Super Bowl. He really looked as if he could barely move his left arm, like he had it in some kind of phantom sling over the last few plays.

You know, same here on McCarver. Loved the Mets b'casts and Kiner's Corner, all that stuff. I started hating on McCarver about the time I started appreciating Moneyball and advanced stats, and same with Morgan. These guys just tend to repeat the same tired tropes about the game and guys who play it the right way, and are dismissive of insights into the game. They've been around it so long they buy into narrative a lot more than what's actually happening in the game. If you're looking for awesome color commentary, this is going to sound crazy, but put on an Astros game with Alan Ashby in the booth. He just moved from the Blue Jays' team to be closer to home. He is among the very best. I always feel like I'm learning something when he's on, and he (and Jays' PBP man Jerry Howarth) always seems really interested in the game. That's missing from a lot of this authoritative delivery in sports commentary. I also appreciate Dan Schulman calling anything for the same reason.

http://blogs.thescore.com/nfl/2013/01/21/chain-links-pollard-calls-bradys-kick-slide-bull-crap/

Are David Lee's partying ways really the kind of schooling that Sanchez needs?

Yeah. I actually like the current ESPN team but I have a high Gruden tolerance, which I know some people don't. Now that Joe Morgan isn't working, Tim McCarver is definitely one of the better objects of derision in baseball commentary.

This isn't baseball where it's part of the game to go spikes up into second to break up the play. As others have said, Brady was giving himself up and creating a situation where if he were hit, it would have drawn a penalty. So, if he's in that situation, and then actually trying to create contact by kicking out at a player instead of going down, it strikes me as something that deserves a penalty. It isn't as bad as what Suh did but a few inches' difference and that could have really caused serious injury for Reed. And if it had, you would definitely see a fine. That's what kind of drives me nuts about the NHL and NFL's discipline via fines - they only come if a guy got hurt or it just looks insanely bad as in the cases of Suh. If no one gets hurt enough to stop play, a dirty play usually goes unchecked by the league. I thought it was bad, but 15 years is a little harsh.

Correct. Any team with that pick would not have been faulted for drafting Dareus. Also, if you want to judge him based on his production in Wannstedt's "Caution, may exhibit traits resembling Defense" (to paraphrase TMQ), in a season where his brother was gunned down, that's nuts. If none of your good players look good, that suggests a problem with the system, not that every one of those good players suddenly suck. The fact that a guy like Pettine jumped right in suggests he knows there is something to work with here, and the DL is a big part of that.

That rolls off the tongue so much easier than "he was exhibiting the classic traits of a dumbass."

And Andre Ware. It's as though someone stopped watching football in 1994. I am surprised there was no Major Harris reference dropped. I mean, he went to WVU and he's black, amirite?

Like oklahoma and baylor amirite troll?

My feelings exactly. I think what drives me nuts (and I must let go) is the idea that this game defines either player, especially when it would seem to define both as pedestrian. Realistically, the prescription for that game was defense and the run, of which Syracuse excelled at both that day. It's not to say that Smith's play was outstanding, but Nassib's leadership in the snow remains a mythical quality for me. Intangibles are nice, but I don't know that they are a substitute for having a stronger supporting cast (in this case, 'Cuse's D >>>>>>> Canisius High School >>> WVU).

What, Randall Cunningham and Steve McNair weren't available? Gimme a f---ing break, dude. If you watched one game all season I think you forfeit your right to critique. Since that appears to be the case, I'll bite. If Nassib and Smith were the only two players on the field in that game, the stat lines are: 12-for-24 for 134 passing yards with two touchdowns and an interception 16-for-24 for 197 yards and two touchdowns, fumble, two safeties. Looks to me like one player was clearly more accurate "in the snow," was in poor field position all day and trying to make things happen for his team while behind. The other tossed for 50% and an INT. Nassib's YPA was 5.58. Geno's was 8.2. If you want to factor in the two dropbacks for safeties, too, it's still almost two yards more earned per passing attempt. This heroism for Nassib in the Pinstripe Bowl is some kind of myth. Can we also bring Prince-Tyson Gulley since we're rebuilding the vaunted Orange program in Orchard Park? Jesus. Nassib may be a quality QB, but I don't understand why everyone wants to tear down a better prospect to help themselves believe it. Perhaps we're too comfortable with failure to believe we can do better than the familiar.