Luxy312

Football is entertainment and I'm all for sharing the sport I like the most with anyone that wants it. Every year we move closer to being more "global" and less just 'Merica' (picture best Texas accent when you read that).

The NFL is losing no revenue as a result of having a game overseas. Advertisers pay big chunks of cash to have their stuff on television, which is happening whether the game is played at the Ralph or at Wembley. I would be curious to know who exactly is "losing their job" as well because a game is moved across the pond. Concession workers on game day get around $9 per hour plus tips and generally work 10-11 hours on game day. So doing some simple math, anyone that's counting on that livelihood is only earning about $800 plus tips for the entire season. As for stadium revenue, the Bills owners get more to move the game than they would to host it at home. Also not a factor. The NFL is ripe for expansion abroad right now and personally, I think London is the right start.

The video speaks for itself. He started the whole thing by initiating physical contact and pushing into her physical space like she wasn't even there. If she dropped the "F.N." bomb on him while raising her fist, that certainly wouldn't have helped the situation. It would have been putting proverbial gasoline on a candle. Not good! For me though, I don't care who you are or what your stature is. Once you throw a punch, you're putting yourself in a position where there can be repercussions. Just where do you draw the line? Is it OK for a 100 pound woman to hit a 250 pound man in the face? What about a 150 pound man? What about a little dude hitting a big dude? At the the end of the day, that old biblical passage that "violence begets violence" applies. My view of the video is that he started it, she escalated it quickly and he escalated it again to conclusion.

My top ten are guys that I got to watch play. So the likes Billy Shaw won't be on there. 1 - Bruce Smith 2 - Thurman Thomas 3 - OJ Simpson 4 - Andre Reed 5 - Jim Kelly 6 - Daryl Talley 7 - Cornelius Bennett 8 - Aaron Schobel 9 - Marcel Dareus 10 - Mario Williams So the last two are current players, but they're as good as we've had on the defensive line not named Bruce Smith.

Taylor is the fastest guy of the group, no doubt. He's not a good passer though which is concerning. If he's behind center and I'm the opposing DC, I put 8 or 9 guys in the box every time and make him beat me with his arm. I'm not sure that he's capable of doing that. Now I don't care who wins the starting job at the end of the day. Truly, the best guy should win. Personally, I don't see Cassel winning the job outright. He's a known commodity. The only way he's the starter IMO is if both Manuel and Taylor look weak.

Tough to make a list of 5 really. I don't think that anyone would argue against Luck and Rodgers. They've both been outstanding on teams that have struggled a bit defensively. Arguably, they could be cited as the only reason they're winning games. I would add Brees because he's been consistently productive no matter who has been around him. Matt Ryan has certainly been the benefactor of having great receivers and a perennial pro bowl tight end around him, but he would be my fourth pick. After that, there's a lot of guys that to me look the same.

Buffalo didn't blitz a lot last year folks. They got 40 sacks from their regular starting front four. They got another 9 sacks from guys that were spelling/substituting for the starters. That's 49 out of 54 sacks. I can't see the number dramatically changing, unless the defensive theory becomes more of one that focuses on closing holes before trying to put pressure on the quarterback. Call me skeptical here, but when in his coaching career has Rex Ryan been more focused on stopping the run than terrorizing quarterbacks? The answer for you is NEVER. 49 sacks by the way would have ranked them #2 in the NFL last year, tied with Philadelphia. The reality is that the Buffalo defense just has too many guys that can't be matched up one on one.

When all is said and done, professional athletes have no different burden than anyone else when it comes to taxes. Particularly here when we're talking about state taxes, it can be complicated. When you exceed a certain number of hours or a certain percentage of earnings being made in another state, you trigger state income taxes. That's just the way it is. I've had to file taxes in as many as 5 states and a U.S. Territory. It's not rocket science and quite frankly most junior accountants can figure it out. The ones that are out of line are the states/cities that attempt to level a "special" tax just because it's a professional athlete. That's just not right.

And you can't count plays where Watkins was on the bench either. That's the point. Whether he starts or not is irrelevant if he's on and off the field every other play. You still didn't answer the point being made. You easily say that you can't count games where OBJ wasn't being targeted. How about plays where Watkins wasn't being targeted because he was on the sideline. It's convenient ignorance to simply ignore the truth, and doesn't help your point at all.

Good read for sure. At the end of the day, each of these writers had to pick someone and they picked new members of the team. Is it unreasonable that teams will focus on McCoy? Of course not. The guy has been a perennial beast in the NFC and stands to touch the ball only less than the quarterback for the Bills. With review of the Jets, it's a no brainer that they're going to try to shore up what was bad for them last year. 14 TD's by TE's is an absolute torching for a season.

So how do you discount that Watkins played injured for nearly the entire season? Can't have it both ways. Can't say on the one game to only count the targets for OBJ when he wasn't injured and then say that the Bills should have used a gimpy WR even more than they were able to. But for the fact that one sat out games while the other sat out plays, their play was BOTH affected by injury.

Singular stat that by itself is virtually meaningless. Cough it up. His data is wrong. http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/nyg/2014.htm

These "analyses" are filled with failure to look at a bigger picture. For the 579 pass attempts, there were 128 targets of Watkins. 22.1% of passes went his way. OBD was targeted 130 times on 607 pass attempts. That's 21.4%. Does that mean that OBJ wasn't targeted enough either? Of the 273 completions, 23.8% went to Watkins. OBJ hauled in 23.8% of the Giants total completions as well. At the end of the day, the Giants passing game was 18% more productive overall than Buffalo's last year. Given that his overall participation was comparable to the definitive ROY candidate, I don't know how you can see he was "grossly misused" unless you say the same thing about OBJ. Which, IMO would be a ridiculous statement.

A beer and a dog at a Bills game last year was $14.50.

Exactly! Everyone has their "jump to conclusions" matt out and are doing exactly that.

Concession prices are pretty short sighted in terms of the overall cost of going to a game. Google "2014 Fan Cost Index" for a real benchmark. It combines the cost of tickets, concessions, parking, even some team gear and compares across NFL teams. Only Cleveland and Jacksonville are cheaper places for a family of 4 to go see an NFL game when you factor in everything. The average price of a single ticket in Buffalo was $62.01 last year. That compares to the high for the list of New England with a staggering average ticket price of $122.00. When you look at premium seating, Buffalo's average was $202.42 compared to (again) New England at $566.67. Buffalo is even well below the overall NFL averages of $84.43 a seat and $252.06 for a premium seat. Like everything else though, most fans want to find their little axes to grind, without any regard for the bigger picture.

When I think about this, I'm immediately taken back to Ryan Leaf when he lost it in the locker room being asked tough questions by a reporter. While he could have shown more composure here, my understanding is that this heckler was actually trying to put his hands on Manziel. I'm not sure I have a problem with the actual response. Johnny could have knocked his ass out and I wouldn't have a problem with it.

I care more about what he does on the field. At the end of the day, these guys need to blow off a little steam from time to time just like anyone else. As long as this behavior doesn't become a regular habit, I'm OK with it.

Graham to safety makes sense for one huge reason that many are missing. Rex Ryan is the master of mixing his blitz packages. The Bills got most of their pressure on opposing QB's last season and the season before that with their front 4. Rex will have the Bills blitzing. They must therefore have the best coverage guys that they have on the field, and Graham is one of those guys. It's also why they drafted Darby. It's simply logical.

Graham should serve as an excellent cover safety. If he gets his share of picks, I could see him in the pro bowl. He's not a great tackler though, so absent interceptions I don't believe so. Think it's a good move by Ryan none the less. Bills need more guys that can cover and need to count on the defensive line and linebackers to be the run stoppers they were last year.

By way of quick follow up, Taylor and Tuel in OTAs are throwing to the second team. Manuel and Cassel are with the first. Safe to say so far that the starting job isn't anywhere close to Taylor (thank goodness).

Technically, it has nothing to do with him. Comes down to relevance.

Tyrod and Superbowl win in the same sentence? Good one. A guy that has been in the league 4 years, thrown 35 total passes in real game situations and looked terrible doing it. Just PUT DOWN THE PIPE. Too much smokey smokey don't make funny jokey.

You captured my sentiment on the subject perfectly. Be damned if I "remember Tom Landry" on Memorial Day. He did not die in the line of duty for our country. While you're at it, should we honor him on Easter Sunday as well? Just because Jesus sees his shadow and we get six more weeks of winter doesn't mean we have to pay a kudo to Landry. I digress.....

The schedule is favorable no doubt. Both the Colts and Patriots are notorious slow starters. Since Luck joined the team, the Colts have lost @Denver and @Chicago in first of the year games, only beating the hapless Raiders in a close one. They've followed that up with week 2 losses to Miami and Phily at home, only beating Minnesota. Missing Dareus in week 1 though could really hurt them. Heath Evans last year made his bold prediction that the Cardinals would win their division and picked every game right. Even before Brady's suspension, Evans this year picks the Bills to start 9-0 and finish 12-4, winning the AFC East. He does it because of the schedule and where things time out. Lots of home games against mediocre or slow starting teams to start the season should go a long way.