BackInDaDay

it's only fitting, that Bednarik played in Philadelphia - the city that witnessed Pop Warner's 1907 Carlisle Indians usher in the forward pass as a legitimate offensive weapon by out gaining an undefeated and unscored upon Penn team 402 yards to 76, and beating them 26-6. soon after this, the responsibilities of the pre-passing era line-backer included the need to defend potential pass receivers. the position grew in prominence as the passing attack evolved. the linebacker position was filled by your quickest, strongest, most competitive defenders. eventually, offenses were able to attack any area of the field in multiple ways, so it was necessary to design another dimension to an already physical unit - the concept of defensive intimidation. good form and technique weren't enough. defenses had to hit offensive players so hard that their first thought was where the hit was coming from. in an age that conceived the phrase 'he heard footsteps' - those footsteps were those of men like Bednarik. he was the prototypical intimidator. playing a position that enabled him to recognize and hunt down plays before they had a chance to develop - flat out scaring men from trying to execute their coach's play. the aggressive manner in which he played the position became the model for what every defensive coach wanted at the position - at least in the era i grew up in. now, most of that style of play is being legislated out of every level of football. the current idea is to make the football field a safer place. but tonight i'll raise a pint to Bednarik, who had a different idea.

Roman has a diversely talented set of skill position players to design upon - this includes the QB position. i'm thinking that each set of designs he creates for the multiple personnel pkgs this pool of players affords him, will be designed to be executed by the QB who has the most diversity in his game. that includes solid play from the pocket (mechanics, presence, ability to extend plays), and the ability to threaten the defense with his athleticism (read option, inside zone, play option pass, bootlegs). now keep in mind.. just the 'threat' of a QB breaking containment in an offense loaded with talent is a huge concern, defensively - and has to be accounted for. whoever Roman breaks camp with, will be the three who are able to perform well in more of his designs than who's left behind and his starter will perform better in more of his designs than the other two without having seen Taylor (other than college clips), i'd think that Manuel is the most well-rounded of the three. but if Taylor isn't a train wreck in the pocket, and Cassel and Tuel can move well enough outside the pocket to draw defenders - it will be a heckuva competition.

Been giving this thought, and no matter what personnel I'd put out there, I'm never gonna matchup.. the best I could do is mix my D depending on the game situation and try to disguise that I'm defending where I think you're going - cause I'm hoping you go there. There's no way to get a warm and fuzzy about what you've called, until the ball's blown dead outside the endzone

in the recent past, Bills coaches have brought in their 45 collections, Farrah posters, a Rolodex of high schools within 30 miles of the house they grew up in, and three sets of thermals

From the desk of Russ Brandon ~ With the completion of the NFL's investigation into alleged 'psychological abuse' charges leveled against former head coach Doug Marrone having been completely resolved with an enforceable 'cease and desist' order, the Analytics Dept is pleased to announce they are now comfortable in expanding their operations beyond the first floor Men's room - into the custodial closet.

analysts should consider if and how particular.coaching staffs prefer to build their roster and how the current roster stacks up to their ideal the level of success the coaches have had with teams built with better/lesser/comparable talent the level of cooperation the coaches will receive from the front office to build their ideal working through that, i would say the Bills are 2nd to none as an NFL organization. that guarrantees nothing, but it's a pretty solid benchmark to build current and future elements into or you could just state a popular opinion

what, no love for Ernie D?

hey nucci, i was just about to post your earlier link (above) of Rosenthal the guy's talkng out of both sides of his mouth.. in Yolo's link he's trashing the signing.. forget what i said eralier about the NFL network.. they're just as pencil-necked geeky as espn!

my biggest concern for this season is how Roman is going to compensate for a lack of athletic guards who can pull on powers and traps.. not to mention getting after second level defenders on combos. if he has to lean too heavily on schemes where Felton and Clay have to clean up what the guards can't - this become a weakness.. but as others have stated.. Cromer should be a considerable upgrade - i just don't know what he can do with our guards. and by the way - can we stop propogating the myth that Pat Morris was running a ZBS.. there's good articles on what it is, and what it looks like - and other than a few attempts at an outside zone to Spiller, our line wasn't asked to move laterally.. shoot.. they could barely engage the guy in front of them

that's a great avatar!! was talking about the 'french connection' just the other day..

not impressed enough from the limited amount i've seen of him to warrant anything higher than a 4th.. maybe i'm wrong - and i really respect Mayock's opinions - but he doesn't seem to have a lotta zip on the ball.. at least nothing that made me take notice.. he does have a nice touch over the top of defenders.. looks like a project for someone who's got the time and a 3rd otr 4th to invest i'm actually getting excited about what Roman has in mind for EJ, Taylor and Tuel in our new offense.. it may not be as far from Briles system as some pro-Os - but i'd rather work something out for RG3, if we're going that route.. the good thing is, with the talent we've amassed, Roman can get as simple/sophisticated as he wants - depending on who's playing QB

see.. even Towelie gets it!!

we are going to see a lot of movement before the snap this season, and plays designed to screw with how and where the defense expects us to attack - and attack is the key word here. from an Xs and Os perspective, we shouldn't consider any of these skill position signings as individual investments - they're a combined investment in a broken offense that left a championship caliber defense out of the playoffs. the last staff thought they could fit the QB to an offense this staff is going to fit an offence to the QB

someone you can put in a bunch of make believe stories?

depending on the call, he's probably most QBs' first read when he's out there. i 'd guess that we'd try to isolate him in coverage on pass plays where down, distance, and field position normally dictates a run. so, i'm sure our opponents do, too. and like Freddie - he doesn't contribute to STs.. the thing is, you don't have to hide Freddie

finally got to that last paragraph.. spent a couple minutes admiring the cheerleader. yep, that's what we're talking about.. pretty simple to understand from a 'football' perspective.. ain't my money, so you go get 'em Terry!

haha - very true.. turn off the pencil necked espn geeks who are only interested in vomiting opinions that may 'trend' in social media. if you must get a second 'football' opinion - tune in the nfl network for the big picture.. they usually hit on the pros and cons of how personnel changes actually impact the game no gamble here.. see "hand in glove'" remark above..

yep

been away from this for a bit - what's the down-lo? can miami match without crippling themselves?

our offense is getting much more than a TE with Clay.. another member posted somewhere that Miami may not have realised Clays worth - especially to the right OC, and now has to sleep in the bed they've made must be reading my mind!

excellent work by Mr Quinn.. Clay is the Swiss army knife that Roman needs.. he will not only be used as the play's primary option - but as a 'mis-read' to draw defenders away from the primary. you know that Roman is ecstatic over this, and he's the guy that's not gonna sleep until Monday! edit - oh, and thanks Yolo for posting this!

i was gonna tell you all a story involving Schaub, a drunken English soccer fan, and a late-night foot race outside a Houston bar.. when i first heard it, i thought it was funny.. and then, with what's happened to Schaub since, i think it's kinda pathetic.. anyway.. i would definitely give Schaub a chance to compete on a football field, but i wouldn't release any of my guys to make room until sitting down with him, and seeing where his head's at

i'm sorry, this never gets old.. "Bill Belichick has been supporting his alleged mistress – a New Jersey housewife in the midst of a divorce – by sending her envelopes stuffed with cash" ~ NY Post stay classy, you hopeless romantic, you!!