GaryPinC

https://www.cdc.gov/flu-burden/php/data-vis/2020-2021.html Number of Specimens tested were essentially the same as the previous (mostly non-covid)year https://usafacts.org/articles/how-many-people-die-flu/ At this point, yes, it was low two years in a row though I am always open to discussion as there is still much we didn't know. But, I trust the CDC didn't change their influenza data collection methods for these years and you can see the amount of tests administered is inline with a normal flu season. Should tests have been higher? Maybe, but it's not significantly lower and the amount of positives (not deaths) is less than 1% of normal! Were there hospitals that were using a positive covid test to gain funding? Most likely, but do I believe it was widespread enough to give us these numbers? Hell no, too many liability issues at stake. Much like the 2020 election that hyperinflated isolated incidents of voter fraud, the same mentality is at work here by the same people. Do you have solid, respected data that says otherwise?

Yes they did. If a patient has to be hospitalized from a viral infection, they're going to do their best to figure out which it is. Is it possible a positive Covid test precluded further testing? Possibly, but I didn't really discuss to that detail with the ER doc I work with. But if the patient is Covid negative they will run through their other tests to best help them save the patient's life. And Covid was everywhere. At the time when the science of it was so unknown medical professionals had to fear for their lives and their family's.

Influenza is easily tested for, your pet theory is extremely unlikely. "NIH Chief" Cholan has an MS and is Chief of the Data Standards Branch, National Library of Medicine. A former scientist who manages a library branch. Bravo "NIH Chief".

Good post, thanks. The entire thing seems vaguely and mildly familiar to DeShaun Watson with the Browns. I'm sure Berry and Stefanski have long wanted to move on .

I don't think they had much of a choice. I read Mara's parting statement to Jones and it sounded like he really loved him and didn't want him to leave.

It's important and Watt definitely has a knack for it. Quite frankly you can't go wrong with either of these guys, I just feel like Watt has less field awareness than Garrett. Myles also plays on a team that really doesn't have much to play for, so his chances to ice a game is definitely lower. This year he's also battling pain in both feet.

Watt's good, but much like Bruce, Garrett makes far more plays in the run game and down the LOS. Couple that with the fact that Cleveland doesn't have much to play for, despite Garrett's post game pressor.

Been to museums in Cleveland, NYC, Pittsburgh, Chicago and small ones out west so this one's gonna sound weird but the best family museum I've ever gone to is the Grand Rapids Public Museum. If you're ever stuck around Grand Rapids, I highly recommend it. They do an amazing job with their displays with a wide variety of items gathered from history and donors around that side of the state. Art, fashion, paleontology, games, natural history, engineering history, war history. It focuses on Western Michigan but has worldwide items donated by wealthy in the area. They recreated an entire street from the 1890's with all the shops that you walk into to see the appropriate artifacts. Aquarium tank with several young sturgeon from the Grand River. A large finnback whale skeleton a local Dr. had bought in Florida and displayed in his front yard for a year before donating to the museum.😂 Interesting collection that keeps you from getting bored for 2-3 hours.

Yes, everyone knows Mahomes sounds like Kermit. The added hair and jersey seem to indicate that also. It's a different kind of disturbing to pretend that this isn't a hanging of Mahomes as a joke. I'm not saying it's racism. But it is symbolic of the lynchings and systemic racism in the south and offensive to at least some members of the black community. I know because I've discussed with some of my friends/acquaintances. It's disappointing and it would be nice if these Mafia members had more class to find a different way to get this joke across.

I appreciate his passion for trying to make the play but I prefer my punter to act as safety. He's just asking to get lit up charging into all those personnel. Sooner or later a ST coach will notice this on film and assign someone to make sure he does.

I posted it after the game, but I feel that Bernard's intelligent enough he goaded Mahomes into making that throw. Kelce is his security blanket over the middle, especially late in games, everyone knows it. Stay far enough off him to make it look like an open window but keep a good angle and slam it shut once the ball is in the air.

They're all playmakers so I say definitely yes despite Benford injury concerns.

With Ty getting at least 30-40% of those runs. He hits heavy and in a hurry.

This year, he's finally a complete quarterback. That's the only complaint talking heads could preach on him, that he was trying the dumb hero throws too much instead of the open shorter routes. But other teams' fans all know how good the guy is and how fun it is to watch him play. For years now. If they can't openly say he's awesome it's because they're jealous we have him. All my non-Bills fan friends sure are.

People were talking that this game was almost meaningless, McD admitting the Chiefs are too good to kick the late field goal followed by staying aggressive on defense the last drive blows that perception out of the water. Now his players have lived it and that confidence has been created for next time. Let's hope he applies it to all the playoff teams past the first round. Continuous improvement McD, well done.

I agree with you about play action, I would also counter that all the boring plays are needed to set up the exotic in a game like this. This was always going to be a tough, grind it out game against a great defense and so as tough as it is to watch, it set up things like the second half flats pass to Shakir for a first down, TD pass to Samuel, and of course Josh's run. They had that 4th down perfectly defensed as they had seen the look a lot!😂 Lulling the defense to a bored state of mind so you can exploit a variation when needed for a big play. Running down the clock with the lead. I think this was purposeful, and especially because we held the lead. And it truly gives me hope for a Superbowl because it's next level stuff this year.

You're going too far with the irrefutable, but not having Bernard, losing Benford, and Von being limited goes beyond their injuries. All three are playmakers, excelling when the moments are the largest with game changing plays. Next man up, yes, but you can't replace losing that big-time factor.

Reminds me of watching the Bills' K gun during the 90's. Just breathtaking watching it click.

What do you bet Bernard goaded Mahomes into that pass. Stayed off Kelce just enough but kept a good angle between Mahomes and Kelce?

Thank you for noticing all that, this is exactly my point with McD. He's gotten us this far, but is he doing everything he can to get us over the playoff hump? Sure it's only a handful of snaps but the troubling aspect is his mentality and lack of emphasis on finding these guys max number of snaps. Set aside the debate of whether or not Elam and Bishop could replace the current starters. They appear to be the first option off the bench if a safety or boundary corner gets injured. What if the injury occurs in the playoffs? Will these guys be as ready as they can be? We know our future, it's certainly true that you get there by focusing one game at a time, but McD is the one leader who has to concurrently tweak and plan for this future now. And for me he appears a bit lacking.

Tyrel Dodson is JAG who was here since 2019. For the FO to not draft and act the way they did, they knew how the formality "competition" would go. Bernard earned it the year before and McD chose to sit on him for whatever reason. I watched his first start and despite the mistakes it was completely obvious why the FO had faith in him; his intelligence, aggressiveness and playmaking ability quickly popped. He was the revelation Dodson or even Edmunds was never going to be. You're right about the command structure, thanks for pointing it out and my apologies. Imagine McD getting a warning any way you want. Not sure if it happened but if not it needs to happen: -McDermott is in his eighth season, Allen his seventh. Culture is firmly established. -We haven't sniffed the super bowl since 13 seconds, a disaster that McD with his two timeouts to set the D, has never been fully accountable for. -Our defense is stagnant and a major part of what results in our playoff losses. Our D line has never been a dominant force when we need it. -It doesn't seem like the defense is any better this year, perhaps it's regressed a bit. Change is needed. I would like to see McDermott himself change and tweak things to be more successful, do better to give every chance for playmakers to get on the field ASAP rather than next year. Is his system really maximizing the talent we have? I'm obviously not very confident it is. If we can't move forward out of stagnation this year, then it's time for a new voice, leadership and direction. McD has done a phenomenal job establishing this team but has stalled out like his defense.

Because for the playoffs, we really need a safety who can anticipate and close on the ball quicker than Hamlin. It's going to be a problem. It already is, it's just less obvious with winning. I understand the coaches if Bishop is making zero forward progress in practice, but if he is progressing they need to do everything in their power to help accelerate it. I'm also not suggesting he gets shoved into a starting role at this point.

I don't agree that TB hurts my case, because he didn't have to earn it in 2023. He earned it in 2022, they made a point in the off-season of saying Edmunds' replacement was already on the roster so drafting one was not a priority. We don't know at what point in 2022 the coaches decided TB was ready only that they didn't act on it until 2023. I agree with you on the rest, I just feel the coaches need to more prioritize getting him minutes. Not starting, just finding him more minutes to accelerate his development. Bottom line is to this point we are wasting Josh's career and our window. McD needs to tweak his "process" to take that next step in the playoffs. Best analogous example I can think of is the Cleveland Cavaliers and specifically their last game against the Nets. Their old coach Bickerstaff was a rigid process guy, not a lot of player development and limited success in the playoffs. The change in player development under new coach Atkinson is an explosion. Multiple players are trying and doing things on the court they seldom did before. Against the Nets, their 2 bigs starting lineup just wasn't working, Atkinson recognized it and went to a 4 guard lineup to seize and close out the game. Bickerstaff would have stuck with his starters and lost the game. I'd like to see McD transition from Bickerstaff to Atkinson. I do wonder if Beane's given him warning because in pressors he face seems more sullen and stressed than in years past. We'll see.

Bishop got caught looking on the long TD, I didn't see what happened on the other one. But to your points about him costing us more games, what if he does something many here including you think unheard of and learns from his mistakes? What if he cuts way down on his mistakes next game? What if McD instead plugs him in for a series or two in games when we have a comfortable lead? Every NFL player has to adjust to the speed of the game, secondary is particularly rough but it has to happen in a game. Practice can't simulate it. For those that say coach will put him in when he shows ready in practice, it didn't happen that way for Terrel Bernard so I don't trust the coaches. TB did get in early 2022 but of course made mistakes and was never seen again that year. Yet when Edmunds left they knew TB was the answer so much so they didn't draft anybody. That implies to me he earned it in practice but the coaches still held him out. TB was a revelation when he started 2023, smart, attacking. Everything Edmunds wasn't. And he elevated Milano's game as well. Would have been interesting if he and Milano could have had more chances to develop that in 2022. The other thing about giving Bishop some opportunities here and there is you challenge Rapp and Hamlin, let them know why Bishop is getting some time and how they need to pick up their play. I agree with BananaB that this defense isn't good enough to survive deep in the playoffs, especially with how slow our safeties are to react with little anticipation. We need to be doing everything we can to get better in time for that.

I think the idea of game oversight by a studio official with power to overrule is a good potential option due to the speed of the game. The other biggest thing to me, is getting more consistency of calls by officials from game to game. I think there needs to be more and a lot of feedback from an oversight committee between games and even within games about the judgement quality of the calls being made, and if the officials are zeroed in on one team too much. Much of the PI and holding rules have evolved to depend on refs judgement, whereas in the past they were looking at specific markers. Holding now means significantly restricting or changing the path of the defender and doesn't discuss hand placement inside or out. PI has to significantly impact the receiver's chance to catch the ball and in many situations the defender has equal opportunity to attack the ball. "Incidental" contact/hand fighting is now more allowable than in the past. Refs in all sports swallow the whistle more at the waning moments of games, regardless that Cincy TE got hosed on the two point conversion. Yet, if the ref didn't have a good angle, I could see how they felt the contact wasn't impactful enough.