Rat-boy

Right...because the relative draft point is always a perfect prognositicator of how successful a player ultimately will be in the NFL relative to other players at his position.

I forgot that late-round linemen and rookies, despite their good play over the last four games, are, in reality, doing well only because of smoke and mirrors. They actually suck, while if 1st round linemen are playing like stevestojan, they're "coming up to speed".

JP sucks. My grandmother could have made that first pass to Evans. The second touchdown to Evans was a total fluke due to blown coverage. Only JP would have thrown that pass deep in his own end for 6 the other way. Peyton Manning never has any picks returned for TDs due to bad decisions. The D sucks. Clements was lucky to get that first INT. Any competent NFL receiver would have taken the ball away and run it in for a TD. We have no running game. Anthony Thomas shouldn't be in the NFL. Our O-line sucks. JP had less than 10 seconds to throw every down he dropped back today. The posters on TBD know more than every NFL coach. We should take their recommendations for play calling on every play. Everything Jauron and his staff call, no matter what the down, is terrible for its down and distance. I'm going to go root for another team. /sarcasm off

OK, after reviewing the DVR tape, here's what I saw (generalizations)... - An offense that moved the ball at will in the 1st half but couldn't finish the drives with points, and that gained nearly 500 total yards but made a couple of big mistakes - A play here and a play there (fake FG, bootleg, blitz pickup, or lack thereof, by Willis) that had big impacts on the final score. - About 6 sub-par plays by JP in terms of accuracy; 3 of these were on the last drive in the rain. - A very good game plan by the Jests to get the ball out quickly to defuse our pass rush. - A defense that played, in general, very well, other than 2 big plays and a couple of stupid penalties. My verdict? This was a game the Bills should have put away in the first half. As it was, we shot ourselves in the foot a few too many times. I'm willing to give the coaching staff the benefit of the doubt. As I saw it, the "questionable" fake FG was a sure first down if it were properly executed; the bootleg fooled 10 Jets, but not the 11th, who made a good play; JP played pretty well, with the exception of one bad decision on the first fumble and a very bad pass on the interception. Looking forward to more improvement vs. the Vikings. Go Bills!

People have been underestimating how good the SeaSquawks are all year. They can score on anyone and their D is, if I recall correctly, 6th in total points allowed. If Alexander can play, I think they'll win by at least 10 points. If not...toss up.

As long as he doesn't grow a Ted Washington-type gut that prevents him from playing every down.

Of course not. The franchise should wear that black mark for all-time. Never forgive them! Ignore the fact that the entire organization is completely different from 1917.

And that's the key, isn't it? Good QBs can be made great by solid blocking up front. BledSloe looks pretty good with guys in front of him and a scheme to protect him. The Balls have been deficient in this respect for many a year. Or maybe our OCs are trying to get too cute.

See this thread started by Kelso's Helmet and tell me how deep the Balls still are. Injury-riddled Donahoe's a terrible GM. Any quality GM would have built a team that has three-deep starter quality at every position. The Balls shouldn't be suffering from these injuries. And don't give me crap excuses using "facts" like the existence of a limited 53-man roster, a salary cap, and limited pool of top-caliber talent due to 31 other teams competing for players. Donahoe clearly sucks. Let the trolling begin. I'm ready to be entertained during this upcoming boring afternoon at work.

Not to mention the obligatory Patsies J-bar stroking in recent times. I suppose you have to forgive him for that -- just like Thurman's Helmet and Hollywood Donahue he's a Boston homer these days. Does that doesn't forgive his season-to-season lubing of whatever team happens to be good?

I feel so honored to live in a world in which journalists earn a wage by writing articles that viciously denigrate 24-year olds with limited experience for their subpar performance in a high-pressure environment. oh, wait...JP's being paid millions of dollars, so that gives people the right to crap all over him in a national paper. oh, wait...it's the author's first amendment right.

King is an idiot and a typical media bandwagoner, which has manifested itself in recent years as much sucking at the collective Patsies teat. It says something when you get the impression that even Jerry Sullivan's horrible analyses of the Balls have more substance than PK's. This is probably because JS actually watched the game and Peter King watched NFL PrimeTime and saw one or two highlights and the box score

It's a good thing we have you armchair GMs out there who know the personnel, cap issues, and what's best for the team better than the Balls' front office.

You're showing way too much patience. You should demand such changes WEEKLY at least.

I'm going to reserve judgement until the Balls go 16-0, win 3/4 superbowls, and in every game they win they score consistently 50+ points while yielding fewer than 10.

Sorry, Draco. My response was a bit too ad hominem. I was reacting in general frustration to what seems to be a total refusal by many Balls fans to allow JP to take his lumps and learn the game. I thought we expected this to be a relatively slow process, and for him to improve slowly over the course of 16 games.

The fact that this question is asked about a young QB is an indication that some Balls fans have completely lost perspective (if they ever had it) about what most first-time starting QBs have to do to adapt to the pace of the NFL game. "But Pitt won with BR last year!" Exception, not the rule. Get used to it. JPL could be a great QB. It's also possible that he will suck. Casting judgement after 3 NFL starts, either way, is utterly insipid.

I forgot that all those downfield throws early in the game that JP missed were a clear indication of a predictable coaching staff calling a game "not to lose" rather than to win. Thanks for providing brilliant insight to clear the matter up for those of us less enlightened

Nice post Simon. I didn't realize we had such balance in the 4th Quarter...obviously I need to drink less.

Of course his comparisons don't make any sense. However they do ring the true USA Patriotic Bell, i.e, "Because we won a few wars many years ago, are a "free country", our citizens have a lot of money per capita, and we have the military capability to beat the stevestojan out of of the world (and that therefore we should be venerated, if not worshipped), we're better than all the other countries on the planet.

- I understand Willis was running wild, but down 8, wouldn't you expect a few more passes down the stretch? Why commit the game to a banged up D and the running game? I felt there was bad playcalling, unless TC/MM don't have the confidence in JP at this time to ask him to perform in the clutch...in which case their comments to the media for the last few weeks have been bunkum. This is not a knock on JP, but if you're going to give a young QB experience, that would have been the time. The Falcons had a JV secondary out there due to injury. - Tom Brady is really, really good. Say what you want about great O-line play, but Brady makes good decisions 99% of the time regardless of the pressure or lack thereof. It doesn't hurt that his receivers seem open almost every time he throws the ball (compare to Moulds, Evans et al. whenever JP is under pressure.) Are defenses playing harder man on the Balls because they don't think JP can beat them? - I don't like the pundits suddenly ragging on Pennington's "noodle arm." The Jests offense seems to be based on good QB-receiver timing and good route running. So far, the timing seems to be off, so calling Pennington's lack of arm strength the problem is the usual "don't see the forest for the trees" analysis Seems to be an insipid and irrelevant way to criticize the Jest's lack of efficiency on offense. - Didn't see the Felons' game, but as usual, they appear to have played better at home than away. Here's hoping all our injured warriors get healthy in time to make this season worthwhile. Thoughts?

Nice post ajz. I hope the media blitz surrounding MM, WM, JPL, and EM dies down, but as an eternal cynic as far as the Balls go (20+ years experience), I expect it to be a constant distraction and distract from their play this weekend. Injuries to Big Mike and Lawyer don't help either. As we're at home, I say Balls pull out a squeaker 17-16 on a last second Lindell FG.

Fair enough. At least you agree that part of the blame goes to Glenn and that the TEAM screwed up. Was it Julius Jones or Drew or Terry Glenn that gave up two long TD's on defense in a 2 minute span? I don't think so. We at TSW love to scapegoat. We'd scapegoat Kelly, RJ, Flutie, Drew, etc. when there was a loss. Sometimes they deserved it, but all the time? Failing to see the forest for the trees, I think.

I love these posts! He was about to be hit, and hits an open receiver who ran a 3-yard route on 4th and 4. CLEARLY that's Bledsoe's fault. I'm not a Bledsoe apologist, but you Bledsoe-bashers really are myopic.

No, he didn't miss it. He chose to ignore it while reiterating an insipid point that's been beaten deader than a clubbed baby seal on TSW. Repeat after me: IT'S ALL DREW'S FAULT!