billsfan89

NFL coaching and NFL players aren't comparable professions. The Rooney Rule doesn't force quotas or impose any undue burden on teams to simply do due diligence in interviewing one minority candidate for a head coaching opening. It doesn't seem even remotely comparable a situation.

The Steelers were only considering internal candidates before they interviewed Rivera and Tomlin to satisfy the Rooney Rule. The point was that because NFL teams have to satisfy the Rooney Rule they have to do their due diligence on minority coaches and that puts a lot of minority candidates on the radar and opens up some opportunities both short and long term. So I think this notion you have that had the Rooney rule not existed Tomlin would have gotten the job anyway just doesn't vibe with reality that had the Steelers not had to bring in outside canidates for the Rooney Rule they wouldn't have.

The Steelers only interviewed him to satisfy the Rooney rule. It was reported that they had no interest in hiring him but they were blown away by him in the interview and he convinced them.

Brady had one of the worst O-lines in the league due to injuries, a running game that suffered because of the O-line, a HOF tightend retired, and their WR core fell apart due to either injury (Eddleman and Harry) or personal reasons (AB and Gordon.) Everything that could have gone wrong for Brady this year did go wrong on offense. I wouldn't be shocked if he comes back and the Pats improve dramatically on offense. They still possess a quality running back core, their O-line if healthy is solid and if Harry can stay healthy and they can add a tight end and another receiver they should have a full complement of skill position players to work with. With their defense and a great special teams unit all they need is Brady to be an average QB and they can win.

The Pats and Brady are a team that was coming off of 3 straight Super Bowl runs (thus a lot of wear and tear on the team), Gronk retired, their offensive line was beaten down, their rookie 1st round pick WR got hurt, AB went crazy, Josh Gordon never got it together, even Eddlemen got banged up and their ground game fell apart (largely due to the O-line issues.) So almost everything that could go wrong with Brady's surrounding talent did go wrong. I think the Pats if they can return the same strong defense and special teams units could easily return to contender status with Brady if they get their supporting cast healthy and add a couple of pieces. Brady isn't quite what he used to be but I still think he can manage an effective game if he has a solid O-line, ground game, and competent receivers. I think people are really underestimating just how bad the supporting cast around Brady was and how much worse that made him look. Brady to me can still be an effective QB in the league esp with a good cast around him.

AJ Green is nothing more than a name at this point. I wouldn't be opposed to brining him in on a one year deal (For a lot of money even like 15 million) and drafting a WR high behind him. But I don't think he is honestly going to fulfill any long term deal he signs.

Yes, White is as valuable as any player can be on a defense he should see an extension that kicks in during the 2021 season.

ESPN's quality in my opinion started to go really downhill when they took on the "Embrace Debate" mantra when they had the original First Take when Skip and Steven A basically created the sensationalize everything form of punditry that so stinks up cable news. Because First Take (Aided by Skips love of Tim Tebow) was such a ratings hit they morphed everything into a policing you take opinion A and I take opinion B type show. Even their existing shows that were established before First Take like PTI and Around the Horn were produced to be more sensationalized. I feel like ESPN in the 90's and into the 00's tried to present a more neutral observational approach to showing highlights and reporting sports rumors/news. But at some point they realized controversial yelling got more ratings and they have gone downhill. I don't hate all of ESPN's punditry but they really are a shell of what they used to be.

If they played KC maybe, but The Ravens are a tough draw away. KC would have been a better matchup for them.

It is sort of the letter of the law vs. the spirit of the law type thing. Yes by the letter of the law it should have been a TD for Buffalo but in the spirt of what the player did it was a clear signal for him giving himself up and not returning the ball. As a fan I think it is BS but if I were a neutral observer I honestly can't fault the league for overturning the call.

I don't think McCarthy's resume is that impressive but if they wanted a proven HC I don't know of a better one out on the market in all honesty. I think they would have been better off dipping into the college ranks or working into the coordinator pool rather than an OK retread. I think that this is more than likely cements the Cowboys in that 8-10 good but not great level of success with him and presumably Dak locked into a huge 30 million dollar contract.

The jury is still out on Josh. The front office will have to add a big time weapon to the receiving core while keeping the O-line together along with adding some smaller pieces (like a between the tackles runner to replace Gore.) Only then with 2 years experience and a third off-off-season and a full complement of weapons in the receiving core can we see where Josh really stands. He needs to take that step where he pushes to be a top 10 QB. I think the Bills have the cap space and draft picks to make the supplements to the roster that are needed. 2020 we will know exactly who Josh is. But I think he can make that step but he still has to prove it.

The science is settled on the fact that carbon does retain more heat than oxygen. The predictions that were made have mostly come true (just because some of the most extreme predictions didn't come true at the timetables that were offered doesn't invalidate the many other ones that did.) The science is very much settled (as settled as science can be) that human cabon emissions are very much altering the climate. To what degree and what timetable these changes will occur is up for debate. In my opinion the idea that any action that might have some short term impact on the economy is not worth doing is very short sighted. If you invest in a nuclear and renewable power infrastructure and phase out gas powered cars for electric ones with taxes on fossil fuels and other avenues that creates an economic engine that benefits the nation for decades both in terms of economic value and the value the environment has to the economy. Environmental science was a relatively new science when they were trying to clean up rivers and get lead out of gas but we listened to it right?

The predictions around the observable and testable idea that carbon retains more heat than oxygen (thus spewing carbon into the atmosphere might cause changes in the climate) have started to come true. Stronger and larger storms, more droughts, more extreme flooding, highest average temperatures year after year, reducing ice caps and so many other predictions have come true at or near the timetables that were in the models. I don't see you mocking the idea that energy cannot be created or destroyed but the idea carbon retains more heat than oxygen is suddenly up for debate?

It's based off the proven and observable fact that carbon traps heat at a higher rate than oxygen. If you take carbon that was sitting in the ground in liquid or solid form and burn it; you take it up into the atmosphere and you are increasing the ratio of carbon in the atmosphere. When you have a gas that retains heat more in the atmosphere due to decades of industrial use of it, it is going to cause changes to the environment. This isn't a theoretical idea, yes the projections can vary (I do not like the alarmist doom predictions but there does need to be a sense of urgency) but this is a real observable issue not some projection based off of incomplete science. Every time there is an environmental issue such as acid rain there is always a side lobbying that it is no big deal or the science isn't settled. If anything the fact that oil and natural gas are limited resources should provide enough urgency to kick the dependence on them.

Haha I don't know why I got so aggressive. I guess I look at the job Beane did of fixing so many issues on the offense with only 3 contracts of 7 million aav or more and think how is this not an A+ effort? I compare this to so many other jobs GM's in the past have done and think it was such an excellent use of resources. To fix almost every issue that plagued a young QB's supporting cast while keeping the team in a good cap situation is outstanding for any GM to do. It puts this team in a position to add those last one or two pieces to both sides of the ball.

He had to spend the first two years getting the team out of a bad cap situation and gathering enough capital to draft a young QB. In the one offseason Beane had with cap space he built the offense into a respectable unit (despite being helmed by a young QB with 9 new starters) with only three contracts above 8 million aav. He rebuilt the Oline into a top 10 unit with depth, found the starting running back of the future, added a pair of quality NFL receivers, and added a pair of young TE's with potential, all while preserving the team in a good cap situation going forward. I really don't know what else Beane could have done.

So in order to get an A+ you want him to fix every single problem with a 6-10 team in a single off-season while also not putting them in a bad cap situation? Seems a little unrealistic. He fixed the O-line with only one major FA contract (Mitch) and only one major draft asset (Cody), he found a good RB in round 3, found a good pair of WR's to improve that core, drafted a pair of TE's with potential, and added a big time piece to the D-line all while adding an All-Pro caliber return man to sure up the biggest weakness of the special teams unit all while keeping the team in a good cap situation but you know A-.

I think the Chargers playing in a small arena and not drawing well along with Oakland turning on the Raiders plus the Redskins fanbase completely abandoning them all have contributed to things declining. That's 3 markets that were usually good in attendance having their worst years. I also think that the cost of attending games going up hasn't helped other markets.

How much more would he have had to have done to get an A+? He found 4 offensive line starters, 2 wideouts, a starting running back, young TE's with potential, and depth. He also found a gem D-line player in the draft and did so without tying the team down in any long term contracts that are hard to get out of beyond 2020. So I don't see how much better he could have done without capping out the team or compromising their cap situation long term.

By your logic he also turned a middling defensive unit on a capped out team into a top 2 defensive unit with a long term great cap situation. The 2016 team McBeane inherited finished 7-9 with a bad cap situation. I can't exactly think he should be given a negative for gutting that "wild success."

Beane A+ - Completely rebuilt the O-line, had another draft that looks to be producing multiple starters at critical positions, and added some pieces to the skill position core including Brown and Beasley who are quality professional receivers. Also added Roberts who completely stabilized the return game which improved the ST unit. All without locking this team into many contracts that can't be out after 2020 and still saving a lot of space for next off-season. McD A+ - This team plays disciplined and always seems to have good composure. The only blowout loss was the Eagles game (and the Eagles were a winning team this year) and the team won many close games and ended up taking care of a lot of bad opponents. Just a fantastic Coach of the Year type job. Frazier A - The defense has played well, not sure if he is going the play calling but he is doing something right as the defense just plays so well and has adjusted its run defense after a lapse in the middle of the season. Daboll B - This is a slightly below average NFL offense. BUT when you take into account that the offense has 9 new starters, a young growing QB who was a bit of a project coming out and still lacks in some areas you can kind of call it a success to get this unit to play just below average. Allen has also taken a step up in year two even if he still has some more development needed. Allen B minus - Allen has come in and improved a lot but he still isn't a top 10 or possibly even top 15 QB. He needs to not miss as many easy throws and process the game quicker. But not everything is going to come year one and he played both clutch and cut down on turnovers a lot. So I give him a slightly above average grade. Let see how he does with another off-season in and a couple of extra weapons to go to.

The Special Teams unit outside of the kicker and punter have been mostly good. They don't give up many big returns and they haven't had many game breaking mistakes (the blocked punt being the only major one.) Roberts has stabilized the return game being one of the better punt returners in the league (dude always seem to put in one or two 8-15 yard punt returns each game and I can't think of him ever muffing a kick) even if his kick return game is ineffective most of the time. However Haush and Bojo have both been very inconsistent. Haush has seemed to stabilize things recently and Bojo ended the season fairly strong. But both are a little shaky. Hopefully they don't cost us the game. I think going into next season the team needs to bring in a punter and kicker to compete with Haush and Bojo during camp. When you are trying to build a contender you need ever edge of the roster to be strong, no stone unturned.

No, not yet, I wouldn't call Josh Allen a top 10 QB and arguably Josh isn't a top 16 QB. But I think he can get there. Give him 2 more legit weapons to throw to and give him another off-season to work on his mistakes and get comfortable with the offensive talent around him and I think he can take that next leap.

File this under duh. Gilmore and Tre have been the top 2 corners in the league this year no questions asked. PFF (and I actually don't hate PFF) doesn't understand context nor accurately understand their own research.