finn

WHY TAKE OFF COOK??

You know, that may be profoundly true. His drafting and free-agent signings have been mediocre, and as a result, the roster is mediocre in too many areas. Linebacker, pretty much the entire secondary, receiver, pass rush, run defense, wide receiver... They're all just tissue paper.

Part of the conspiracy!

True. The curse of this team is that Allen will win (and has won) enough games to make McDermott unfireable. It will have to be worse before it gets better, although I can't think of anything worse than losing to Mahomes a fifth time in the playoffs.

I can't think of a worse receiver than Coleman, the way he's been playing. He can't get open, he doesn't break on the ball well, he can't win the physical battle, he fumbles and drops the ball. What the liability, just taking up space out there.

The Bills have been exposed. Way too many problems to fix with a trade or even two. Can't wait for the KC game.

Shavers is making a lot of mistakes. He's too green to be out there. Losing Palmer, who isn't exactly great either, was a blow. Now Allen has Shakir and... no one.

That's his makeup. Bend don't break on defense, run the ball and kick field goals on offense. Yes, he goes for it on fourth down at a good rate, but his essential being is playing not to lose, which means he wins against bad teams and loses against good teams.

Don't punt! McDermott, you coward!!

Well, at least we don't have to watch the defense for a little while.

Not our year. Do you think McDermott will be back? And do you think Beane will draft another 15 defensive lineman and ignore every other position?

I was wondering why they look so bad then I remembered: they're playing on national TV. Of course.

Brady refuses to throw to him for some reason. Get him in space and let him work. And sit Coleman's butt on the bench and leave him there. He can't even do the one thing he's supposed to be able to do.

Wow, the WR cupboard is even more bare now.

Coleman. What an asset.

At this point, they should all out blitz every down. Can't be worse than this.

He was pulling a Hamlin and playing 20 yards off.

I wonder if Shavers really did hold.

You have to wonder how much slack he has.

Wow. It's hard to be really bad against the run AND really bad against the pass. They look like a college team against a pro team.

Oliver, Strong, Hairston, Sanders, Hamlin, Bass, and Samuel were also hurt in practice. What are they doing in those sessions, throwing anvils at each other?

Cook had 49 yards on 15 carries, a 3.3. ypc. Johnson, Davis, and Shakir managed another 16 yards between them. So, yeah, shut down the run.

I was ok with his run-first approach, especially his use of Hawes. But I expected him to try something new when other teams shut down the run. But in the Patriots game, Cook had no catches, while Kincaid got only 54% or so snaps. Allen's two best weapons in the passing game underused. Meanwhile, Hawes, who can catch and block was pretty much benched. His only "innovations" have been gadget plays like the flea flicker and the handoff to Knox, which reminded me of his cute play in the regular-season against Baltimore last year that stopped a potential comeback in its tracks. I wouldn't say he's over his head (although Babich might be), but he's not showing himself to be anything but ordinary, at least this year. Tell me if I'm dead wrong; I might be.

Should be a hard-fought game. Both teams seem to be in a good place psychologically, Atlanta coming off a win and a bye but also under no illusions after that 30-0 pasting by the Panthers, and the Bills also sober and urgent after the Pats loss but at 4-1 still confident. No blowout, in other words. I'm concerned about their running back against our defense, but I think the team with the better quarterback wins this game.

Sorry about that. So you think it's "extremely negative" to predict a playoff loss if Beane does nothing about CB or WR? You're fine with Tre White starting for the rest of the season?