dpberr

Unusual line. This may be a down year for the Ravens, whether the media wants to accept it or not. Ravens defense is slow with a green DC. Ravens offense, even slower. The right side of their OL is in slow motion like they both have back pain, and Henry is a plodder at this point in his career.

I'd ride it out together. Her time is short at 14. She's family. TBH, I read your post and felt sad. Divorce is hard, son growing up and moving out is hard, and other pets moving on. Lazy has been there through it all with you.

Absolutely. Divorced the Pittsburgh Pirates back around 2017 after a lifetime of being a fan of the team. Why invest your interest and money in following a team owned by a guy (Bob Nutting) who refuses to invest in it? As long as he owns the team, the Pirates will be a loser franchise. Started following the Twins - have a sneaking suspicion the Pohlads are just super-wealthy cheapskates themselves, who are content skating by with a good, but not great team.

My vote is the Saints. Superdome is old: - was built in 1975. Currently being renovated. Ownership is tenuous: Gayle Benson, Tom Benson's widow inherited the team in a contentious dispute with the rest of the family. She's 77. She's stated publicly she plans on selling the team upon her death, and donating the proceeds to New Orleans-area charity. Long term lease isn't a done deal: The team begrudgingly made an $11.4 million payment for renovations due to the equally contentious discussions pertaining to a long term lease between the Saints and the State, which owns the Superdome.

Nebraska had a terrible AD in Trev Albert and he and the school made terrible choices in HCs post Bo Pelini because they were trying to do it on the cheap. That school was blinded by the fact that despite being a hometown hero, Trev Albert was terrible at the job. Mike Riley - mediocre everywhere he's been. Then they try the hometown hero again in Scott Frost who had just one winning season at UCF? Come on. They paid money to get Matt Rhule and he's doing work. I think he's an above average college coach. With Raiola at QB, they should be able to recruit solidly for the next two seasons at least. I wouldn't discount Illinois - they will likely be ranked all year, but yes, Nebraska could have won that game. The penalties did them in, and that offensive line was out of gas by OT.

Eagles I haven't been to an Eagles game where I haven't witnessed an Eagles fan physically assault a fan of the opposing team after the game. I'm not a fan of the Kelce Brothers overexposure, and I'm sick of seeing Jason Kelce everywhere.

Despite his age, Douglas is the football player for that position in the McDermott defense, and I suspect they will overpay to keep him on a short deal, and if need be, transition him to safety. His football IQ for zone defense would be difficult, if not impossible, to replace. He's really like a modern-era Troy Vincent.

The UFL/USFL kickers intrigue me. There's a few that look worthy of a tryout. For instance, Matt Coghlin, Memphis Showboats. I don't see where he's on an NFL team. 2024: 16/17 FG, Long of 57 2023: 18/19 FG, Long of 55

Both of these kickers are not good at accurately kicking the ball. I'd try out every USFL kicker before signing either of these guys.

John Harbaugh can have dud seasons. This could be one of them. Ravens have no running game to take the focus off Jackson - Henry no longer has the quickness or the brute strength. He's now just a RB that's heavy and plodding.

He's a good athlete, but a marginal football player. Physical skills paired with a low football IQ. It's not hyperbole - he looks like he has no idea what he's doing out there.

I remain amazed that Miami, to this day, sees no urgency in developing a Plan A-2 - where for the first two months of the season, if Miami has a comfortable lead at half, you sit TT and play the other QB. Shouldn't call it a Plan B - you know your starting quarterback is fragile, and in every season there's a high risk of needing an above average quarterback to play multiple games of a season.

Arguably the second best coach in Bills history behind Levy to date. Some would say Saban is with the back to back AFL championships.

I wouldn't give the S&C team a free pass. An example - when the Ravens fired Steve Saunders, it was due to the ineffectiveness of his injury prevention and recovery program, not his strength program. It wasn't working - and the Ravens were racking up serious injuries to ligaments and muscles of a significant number of players. As it pertains to Bills injuries - I suspect players are either training too hard or doing the wrong types of training in the offseason, considering their previous injuries and age. I think Bills players like Bills S&C because they largely let the players train using their own programs, but they show up to camp physically strong, but in some respects, fragile.

Special teams is the biggest wild card in terms of team units. He and Eric Ciano should have been released this last offseason, with new leadership in both ST and Strength Conditioning for the 24-25 season. Bringing back both gentlemen for 2024 likely results in 1) another season of wobbly special teams play and 2) nagging leg injuries to the punter and kicker that never quite improve.

My contributions: You'd never see: 1. A short movie specifically made for Halftime, like BMW did with "The Driver" series with Clive Owen. BMW made some fantastic short films - 10 to 11 minutes long. The latest one, filmed in 2016, has Owen, Jon Bernthal, Dakota Fanning and Vera Farmiga, directed by Neill Blomkamp. 2. A super band created for the event with original music. I always think of something like Power Station where you had the Taylor brothers from Duran Duran, Robert Palmer, Tony Thompson on drums and Bernard Edwards on bass.

Ladd McConkey. He's a football-smart WR already skilled at route running, and will only get better. As speed dissipates with age and injury, the skill in being exactly where your quarterback thinks (hopes?) you'll be is what will keep you gainfully employed.

The most disappointing part of that article for me is that winning the football game was a secondary priority for SD. First priority was his desired number of passes thrown his way. I also think SD refuses to accept he's older and no longer the receiver he was when he was younger. It's a young man's game, and he wasn't getting open like he used to because those quicker DB1s can cover him consistently. I expect him to have a pretty good year in Houston, especially if he can carve out a niche as WR3 going against DB3s and linebackers.

I'm sorry. It's hard. He/She is a family member. Please allow yourself the grace to grieve and mourn. It's a reflection of the love you share.

NIL and "the portal" will bury college football as we all know it. You either pay to play...or frankly, don't bother investing in that expensive coach and infrastructure. Go win baseball or soccer.

We'll find out in game #3 with the Jags. At that point, the Jags will have reviewed two full games of his plays. A good coordinator and a great coordinator are separated by the execution of the countermeasures. That's where Ken Dorsey got in trouble - defenses countered his plays and he didn't have the answers.

That game couldn't have given Colorado fans any confidence that things are going to be better this year. Colorado team looked exactly like last year's team in that game. Despite playing a freshman QB, I expect Nebraska to beat them soundly.

The hubris and greed of the NFL is a sight to behold at times - besides thinking they can keep a lid on gambling, that crew thinks they can and will "control" the private equity beast. The NFL owners see it as a way of enriching themselves using someone else's money - thinking they are the titans of industry in the room - but the fox they just let in the hen house was counting on that. A decade from now, the 10% will be increasingly closer to majority control and the acceptable firm list will have quadrupled in number.

Excellent post - I appreciate how you lay out the data. Makes you wonder. Team is full of talent both in player and coach. Record, and consistency of winning shows that. However: The McDermott teams have never had that Talley-like leader in the clubhouse where the leadership, heart and confidence - consistently shines in the biggest games. Nobody on the Bills sideline showed up for that Cincy divisional game. IMO, that debacle of a game in front of the home fans was the worst loss of the Sean McDermott era. You don't beat coaches like Andy Reid, Steve Spagnuolo and Lou Anarumo with "process" using all the plays and cadence of plays those guys have seen. Andy Reid shreds the Bills defense because the Bills are always in the position he thinks they will be in.

For sure. In part: Movies are no longer primarily made for American audiences. Studios don't have the stomach for the independent film. Production is watered down by the 50,000 companies and their executives that are cobbled together to fund a movie. Nearly every film has a battalion of writers that waters down ideas with group think. Can't offend the Chinese, and that's largely why comedy, romance comedy, war movies and any sort of movie like Basic Instinct - are no longer "big" movies.