gobillsinytown

For us old school guys who have been following this team since "back in the day", this almost takes the sting out of a losing season. Squishing the stinking fish will always make me happy, and one of my hopes for this otherwise bad season came true: We eliminated another team from playoff contention. And......it was THE STINKING FISH!

This is exactly what I was hoping for. I didn't expect the team to be very good initially, but I was hoping that later in the year they would start to come together. Now if they can just spoil somebody's playoff hopes later this month, I'd be happpy. I've been a fan for 30 years, so when they're losing I look for signs of life. So far so good.

Okla....homa.......can I move in between the okla and the homa?

College also taught me the same thing. Excepting that they learned it to me as eyeregardness

I'm sorry.......did you say something? I was gazing longingly at your avatar.

That's too expensive for Vodka. Vodka should burn going down. 12.25 is too filtered.

He made the switch from 4-3 to 3-4 with the Dolphins in one year. But at that time the fish had the talent to do it.

Defense has to be top priority: 1. NT 2. LB 3. OL because you can never have enough quality in this area.

Let's hope he takes the proper mindset and puts it out of his mind. The next step would be to improve that area of his game by catching lots of extra balls, working on hand strength and flexibility, and proper hand positioning. It's all basic stuff, but re examining the fundamentals after failure is always a good thing to do.

They were passing because they weren't having much success running against the Steeler defense Excellent post. The only way teams have moved against the steelers this year is to spread them out. The Steelers NT Casey Hampton is too strong in the middle, and the linebackers too fast flowing to gaps to try a power running game.

The type of injury he has takes a long time to heal, and can be very tough to come back from. I doubt he lied. After rehab, the only way to find out if the injury has healed enough is to go out on the practice field and find out. When he did, he discovered that it's not ready. In the meantime, he has value because he's been successful enough to understand the finer points of rushing the passer from the linebacker position, and young enough to relate to the linebackers on the roster. If the injury heals up enough for him to play this year, he'll provide an extra punch in passing situations as a rush linebacker. If the injury doesn't heal, then he's most likely done. The 2011 season is still in doubt, so no one is planning anything beyond the end of this year.

Sorry, but to me it's hard to criticize a guy for getting hurt. At the time, McGee was the better player. Anytime a player is returning kicks or punts, he's going to have a greater chance for injury. It says a lot about a guy who's willing to do that as a starter, because most guys don't want to do it.

I was thinking: "Lee Evans to Vanilla" as in to vanilla ice cream at a local eating establishment such as Dairy Queen "Lee Evans to Vanilla" - Possible mis-spelling. Maybe is was "Valhalla"?

Bill Brooks was a free agent from Indy. An excellent route runner. Kelly loved him because he ran his routes on the money, made great sight adjustments and was great inside the 20.

Trust me, Clarett was a disaster waiting to happen. I live in his hometown of Youngstown and I can definitively say that his success went to his head long before he tried to get into the NFL. This kid was put on a pedestal from the time he was 12 years old. When a high school is offering to pay the mortgage on your parent's house just to get to you move into their district and play football, it's going to have an effect. I hope that he's learned from his mistakes, but he's got a long road back.

I live in Youngstown, about an hour away from Cleveland. Moved here in 1989 from Buffalo. When Modell moved the Browns to Baltimore in the early 1990's (don't remember the specific year), there was such a huge backlash that the NFL awarded a new franchise to Cleveland. The backlash came not only from the fans, but from advertisers and businesses as well. So the NFL took a financial hit from the move. I'm sure it wasn't all that significant in terms of the NFL's total revenue, but they learned how bad it is for public relations to have a team with a loyal and avid fan base, lots of tradition, and a local economy dependent on the team to suddenly not have that team. I would think that the backlash from the Bills leaving Buffalo would make the Browns move look like a tea party. I can't imagine the NFL as a group would be comfortable at all with the prospect of having an entire region (all of Western New York, parts of Pennsylvania, and an entire region of Canada) angry and feeling betrayed. It could happen, but I think Jacksonville would be the first choice.

The reason why Vick is now so successful is that he's (finally) bought into the concepts of their offense. His first option was always to run, or to throw deep. Now he's added a good field presence to his game and understands that he doesn't have to do it all by himself. That being said, I saw the play that he was injured on a few weeks ago. He was running down the middle of the field, diving for extra yardage. If he's going to continue to progress, he absolutely has to stop doing that or he's going to get hurt again. Steve Young, the closest QB to Vick in the modern era, learned to either head out of bounds or slide. If Vick learns to do that and learns to disguise his tendencies, he could be truly be great.

Now this is funny! Except that the Pats* will trade down for 122 picks in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th rounds.

Now that's yet another scenario I hadn't thought of............

Russ Brandon? I didn't realize he hired George Edwards. Wow, you learn something new on this site everyday.

In a "textbook" tackle, you lead with your shoulder and wrap up. I'm not defending Donte, because I think he's average at best. What you might be seeing is that he's always looking for that "lights out" hit, rather than actually tackling.

I'm not sure Fitz can hold up as a starting QB game after game. I like his guts and faith in his arm, but he's not a franchise QB. The key will be how well he adjusts to the changes that defenses make after analyzing him on game film. IMO that's the key. Most quarterbacks can win a game or two on ability, but the true franchise QB's are able to keep changing their game after defenses start analyzing game film for their weaknesses and tendencies. I doubt Fitz has that ability even though he's certainly a likeable guy and someone a team could rally around. He'll be a fantastic backup to a franchise QB, assuming the team drafts one next year.

While this is true, you can't let the QB sit back there and go through his read progression. To be successful, a defense HAS to get pressure on the passer. Even an average QB in the NFL will light up the scoreboard against a defense that just plays coverage. IMO, Edwards is trying anything and everything to get pressure on the QB. When the D-linemen can't bring pressure on their own, the coordinator has to start sending linebackers and usually safeties. Doing this is risky, but it's a risk he has to take. So to me, it comes down to the players, especially along the D-line. When offenses don't have to double team anybody along the D-line, they have a big advantage.

When a defense can't consistently rush the passer, eventually someone is going to get open. I don't see the sense in firing the coordinator when the players as a whole aren't executing. The defense has too many holes for any coordinator to fix.

There are people on this board who are a lot more knowledgable, but I would guess it depends on the division records and maybe their records from the previous year?