Low Positive

Cincinnati always starts slow. Burrow always misses time in camp and needs actual games to get going. The only difference is that they didn't win the games in which he played bad. They seemed back in the first half yesterday and then proceeded to put up only 3 points in the second half. But that fits the pattern of second-half lulls that they fell into all last season. Here is a typical Bengals regular season game from last season. Win 22-18, scoring all of the points in the first half. https://www.nfl.com/games/bengals-at-patriots-2022-reg-16?active-tab=watch . That's why I had hope in the playoff game at halftime, but they broke that pattern and kept scoring. I think KC is bored with the regular season, and with the playoffs a given they are sleepwalking through the first half of the season. I have no idea what is going on in Buffalo.

I don't think that the Panthers will trade away a WR while they are trying to develop a QB. The rumor is that they are trying to trade for Jeudy to give Young another weapon.

Snap counts are up in the NFL gamebook. The interesting thing to me is that Rapp didn't play a single snap on defense. https://static.www.nfl.com/gamecenter/b07e111b-f053-11ed-b4a7-bab79e4492fa.pdf

They were never going to call two back-to-back. Waller is a big guy. He needs to fight through that contact.

Remember this?

in the modern NFL, where every player on D is trying to punch the ball out more than make a tackle, fighting for yards in a scrum on 1st and 2nd down is not a wise decision.

People can scream at Dorsey all that they want, but his route concept produced a wide-open Shakir on that play. Josh chose to throw into double coverage instead.

If there had been message boards back then, there would have been similar meltdowns.

I think that a lot of those "shotgun draw" plays are actually RPOs.

Fan sentiment is week-to-week because we all care about something over which we have zero control.

By chance, I happened to watch the 2022 AAC Championship game. It was just on. There was one guy on Tulane who was everywhere, 8 tackles and a sack (I did have to look up the numbers just now). That guy was Dorian Williams. He left an impression. He was also all over the field when Tulane upset Caleb Williams and USC in the Cotton Bowl. I wasn't elated with the pick because I wanted a WR, but I understood it because I saw the physicality in his game.

I think that she was in a suite for the Raiders' game too.

People don't have a problem with him touting his defense. It's the use of the word "embarrassed." In the past, most coaches would have used a word like "contained," or "kept in check." Even "dominated." But "embarrassed" is just a non-cuss word way of saying "made them our b**ch." It's trash talk, and these younger coaches don't shy away from it. I don't have a problem with it, but it's what people don't like here.

Kafka wasn't playing against Dorsey. Martindale was, and he embarrassed Dorsey and Josh. I never think that teams lose by being "outcoached," because the players on the field have to execute. But if the Bills had lost that game, it would have been due to Martindale's game plan which probably had a lot of input from Daboll and his knowledge of the Bills playbook and tendencies.

I think that Penix is going to be better than anyone in this draft, but that is probably a topic for a different thread.

Salah is part of a new generation of NFL head coaches who talk trash through the media. Shannahan does it. Mike McDaniel does it. Zac Taylor does it.

Wandale Robinson? Isiah Hodgins? Jalin Hyatt?

Best loss of the current Bills run? TB in 2021. That loss led to the Bills winning out and taking the division from rookie phenom Mac Jones. It was the second-half comeback that sparked the run that ended in 13 seconds.

So, just as a good luck charm, Kyle Allen should take at least one snap every game. I'm down for that.

And the Thanksgiving game last year was an extremely ugly win, and we lost Von for the season that day.

How about the all FG game against a 2-14 Jets team in an empty MetLife in 2020? https://www.nfl.com/games/bills-at-jets-2020-reg-7?active-tab=stats But that was back when this run started, and all wins felt good. Now we have expectations.

This one was especially bad due to the quality of the opponent, but remember this game? https://www.nfl.com/games/falcons-at-bills-2021-reg-17?active-tab=stats

It’s like the collective NFL world has zero memory for Mahones’ blunders. He mismanaged a goal to goal situation at the end of the first half just as badly against Cincinnati in the 2022 AFC Championship Game.

But he knew it inside and out for three years. You would think that he sat down with the defensive coaches and let them know some tendencies.

Chad Hall, WR coach. They get the playbook, don’t they?