vincec

I think this and Billick's follow up are 100% correct.

Actually, "daily" means morning and afternoon rush hours, which are approximately the same length as traffic for sporting events. Anyone who thinks leaving the Ralph is easy with no traffic problems please raise your hand. People here are pretending like you can get home in 15 minutes or something. Also, anytime you can spend public money and have something to show for it like a new stadium, and have most of the money go to local businesses (in the design and construction industry) and that will support other local businesses (like restaurants and bars) then I'm all for it. It's a lot better than money that disappears without a trace into overhead positions or the upsurd amount spend on political campaigning. I take the metro to the Sabres games and have never had a problem getting to and from the games easily and in a timely fashion.

All excellent points.

Be careful because Taylor is not really a rookie. He has been practicing and game planning in the NFL for 5 years now. He's not a veteran starter but he's not a rookie either. He's had a lot of time to work on his game at the NFL level so it's not clear how much more he's going to develop. That's why most people are cautiously optimistic instead of crazy optimistic. At his introductory press conference Dick Vermeil said that if it took 5 years to improve the Eagles he deserved to be fired.

A downtown stadium will mean less traffic because there are more than two roads in and out of downtown Buffalo. Also, downtown roads handle more people on a daily basis than go to a football game on Sunday. Tailgating will change. There will still be the same number of people but many of them will meet at bars instead of parking lots. It would be good for local businesses. Ticket prices will go up with any new stadium, anywhere. That is a given. Typically parking is more expensive at downtown stadiums, but Buffalo has a surplus of parking unlike a lot of other cities so I'm not sure that will be the case there.

Here's my take on this: Rex wanted to replace Thurman but he's not going to change his defensive system, which is the core of his identity as an NFL coach. So the new guy has to totally understand and buy into his system. I saw Petine and Rob Ryan as the two most likely candidates, but Rob is his brother and I think there is some tension between Rex and Pettine after Pettine left NY and took a bunch of assistants with him. So Rob Ryan is the guy. The alternative would have been to keep Thurman and I'm willing to give Rob Ryan a shot over than honestly. It depends on what happens prior to the draft. If the Bills re-sign McKelvin to a reduced deal and believe that Aaron Williams will be back then I don't think that secondary is the biggest thing. I would still be looking for a LB, OL or WR in the first round.

I sense a short career as well.

This is a good hire. This guy can coach. Mark my words.

Not sure about with the Eagles, but I remember that when he was with the Oilers towards the end of his career, the defense was pretty complicated. In one late season game vs the 49ers Ryan told the broadcast team that he had over 100 calls prepared for that game to combat SFs potent offense. The days of the original "46"- lining up with 8 in the box, playing bump and run on the outside and blitzing on a high percentage of plays are long gone. The rules and NFL offenses have basically evolved to attack this exact thing.

Look, it's Rex's staff. He decides and will live with the consequences. If he doesn't turn the defense around next season it's very likely that he will be gone. So if he didn't think it would help I doubt he would be doing it, even if it is his brother.

Seems like a good candidate. We'll see.

Trade him immediately.

He lost all credibility with me when he posted JPPs medical records.

So, to be clear, by your own statistics if you have the best running team in the entire NFL you have a slightly better than average chance to make the playoffs. And not as good a chance as if you have one of the top 12 defenses in PPG allowed in the NFL.

Exactly. Since when did Washington become a juggernaut? Don't worry, GB will win this game.

So, slightly better than crap shoot that if you're a good running team you make the playoffs? If you want to look at something with a real statistical correlation then notice that 11 out of top 12 teams with the fewest PPG allowed made the playoffs. And the other one was the Jets who finished 10-6 and barely missed out. Defense.

So far, dead average: 25-25 in college, 15-17 in the NFL. Although the sample size is small- only 6 seasons total of head coaching experience- which may be a concern in itself. There's nothing in his record that says he's a top guy. You'd have to sense something in his character or in an interview to put your faith in him, IMO. Maybe somebody will.

He has a strong marketing department. Flash over substance.

He'd be twice the hire Mularkey is. Good luck.

Lol

“If anything goes bad, I did it. If anything goes semi-good, we did it. If anything goes really good, then you did it. That’s all it takes to get people to win football games for you.” “The first time you quit, it’s hard. The second time, it gets easier. The third time, you don’t even have to think about it.” “If you want to coach you have three rules to follow to win. One, surround yourself with people who can’t live without football. I’ve had a lot of them. Two, be able to recognize winners. They come in all forms. And, three, have a plan for everything. A plan for practice, a plan for the game. A plan for being ahead, and a plan for being behind 20-0 at half, with your quarterback hurt and the phones dead, with it raining cats and dogs and no rain gear because the equipment man left it at home.” - Bear Bryant

"We can't stop the run or the pass. Otherwise we're in great shape."

Carson was the best. I remember when Dean Martin was on and he corrected Johnny's grammar, telling he that "he had a dangling participle", Carson responded that he'd wear a long rain coat and no one would notice. One of my personal favorites. Mike was surprisingly wise. I also always remember that he said one of the things he learned in his career was that as hard as he was working every day in the gym training and getting ready for fights, there were other people working just as hard to come up with ways to separate him from his money. A very cynical view but probably right on. Interesting. I thought Eruzzione said is was before the game as well.

I think the best thing about Brooks's speech is that was all he said. What else was there to say really?

I'm not sure why you think this is sarcastically witty. They DID win two championships with their franchise QB. How many have teams with scrubs at QB won? You pretty much need a franchise QB to have a shot. Like it or not.