NoSaint

I’m going Thad Lewis. The man had no business playing and went 2-0 vs the phins, largely causing them to miss the playoffs

I also love that he snuck out of the locker room without saying goodbye at the end of the year

id be curious to see numbers on s vs the league (both conversion plays, and with penalties, etc…) when you assume you are getting the ball back there it’s almost like committing a turnover. I wonder if we are much worse than normal or if those are just super memorable for fans

my curiosity will be - cook in the passing game? gadget plays? vertical routes? And then oddball things like last year we didn’t have near the tush push presence out of the gate… was that McDermott? point differential in the first half shifting? I don’t think it’ll be wholesale but a few subtle items could lend to more substantial changes in outcome

though, honest question: how big of a deal is it? surely an asterisk for him if it impacted the vote but I doubt most here in the most plugged in of plugged in nfl crowds are rattling off COTY winners.

it’s an interesting debate - and agreed we are likely mostly aligned almost all players. I think if we flip 13 seconds and maybe 1-2 of the other KC playoff games….Josh might be a superstar in the Brady caliber while mahomes would have nowhere near the endorsements he has. sources put him at like 25m a year. There’s no saying one player makes that swing for the two guys but if you give the charismatic guy the accomplishments/accolades too…. The gap could be tremendous

ultimately, I’ve looked at tightening salary at a roll where I’m bonused on team performance - I’m not causing discomfort or truly coming net negative on that but it’s something I’ve discussed before And while you have a few famous faces in broadcast - I don’t know that fitz has the marketing dollars of the manning bros, right? I’d be real curious about an analysis of what a ring does for appearance fees and endorsement fees (and even future contracts - see projections of Brunson next deal) Brunson as an example - just catapulted in marketability and legacy and has a hell of a path to his next deal. What does Nike pay him now vs if he was a guy that made but lost in the playoffs? im not saying it makes sense always for everyone - but i do think it can make sense in instances.

my only counter: the rings and jackets sure do help your lifelong earning potential off the field. I’m not dropping to 40m as Josh but if there’s a specific player I think will make a difference I might consider a contribution

do you believe he came to that conclusion in part because of increased access to the team and perhaps commentary he has that you may not? or that he completely made it up? it being such an inconsequential topic- we may as well be debating our favorite housewife of Tonawanda with these offseason threads - I’m fine chalking it up as “Joe Brady didn’t give a press conference saying this- but by my eye this is a bit more smoke that ties together what I thought I was seeing in real time in this reality tv show”

in addition to the bye, it’s single elimination. if we have a 7 game series I worry about home field a lot less than in 1 and done. Very few teams that i think win a series vs Buffalo- but in the volatility of a single game, things happen. Being at home helps control some of that volatility.

but also, some other stuff happened along the way I know discussion of a coaching change being a boost is essentially your worst nightmare.

as long as it’s clear which lane he’s operating in - I’m fine with editorial content it’s mostly soap opera for grown men style content here anyway give what you know. Share what you believe. Keep those clear and don’t make stuff up…. I’m pretty ok with that

many posters argue that though

Perhaps the saddest part is that I wasn’t surprised to see the thread. another data point in having every resource available not making mental health an easy fix

Can I continue to vote for “but the patriots….” to not be used quite so heavily? they are unique. Whether it’s tom in the 6th or all the cheating- I don’t know that the pats are super replicable in construction. but I would look to some of the others and think we could pull off the colts playing with leads- having both WR weapons and being able to hurt you out of the backfield. For very different reasons a qb that is very difficult to game plan for each game…. And then a d line that gets up field and some opportunistic guys on the back end? what’s the one lesson I might learn from them? Maybe add a bit more attitude from the top down. I think the Steelers are maybe what we more naturally see with Josh and the cold weather but honestly I think with one more wr we are much closer to the colts construction in a good way. we are like 1 good wr and one edge rusher away from that instead of totally revamping into a defensive identity