hondo in seattle

So what's the theory? Playoff games suck McD's IQ out of his head? The stress of the playoffs make him forget everything he knows about football? Here's my theory. McD is the same coach year round. He studies game tape the same way whether he's in the playoffs or not. He coorborates with the defensive coaches the same way. He goes about his game planning process the same way. He schedules the players for the same preparations. And if he's calling the defensive plays, he does so in accordance with his philosophy and beliefs whether it's a playoff game or not. So why the different results in the regular season versus the post-season... (1) In the playoffs, we face the very best offenses so of course our D is challenged. (2) The past two seasons, we entered the playoffs significantly banged up on defense. (3) The players overperform during the regular season thanks to McD's scheme and excellent teamwork. In the playoffs, teams like KC have the smarts to overcome our scheme advantages. So in the playoffs, the battle of our D versus the Opponents D gets decided by roster talent. McD's magic scheming doesn't overcome the shortcomings of our defensive players who lose too many one-on-one battles in the playoffs. We just haven't had enough talented players to match up with the AFC's best offenses.

If $5 million is out of your price range, you can have this beauty for 1/10th the cost... The house is 100 years old and there's a small hitch. The tenant who lives there pays only $416.67/month in rent. You can't evict them, nor can you raise the rent for the next 30 years.

I got a "Go Bills!" in the Philippines once - though from a fellow American. Once in little Gig Harbor, WA, a guy kept beeping his horn at me as I drove down the street. So I pulled over wondering what the heck was going on. He was a Bills fan and saw my stickers. We talked congenially for a while and ended the conversation with, "Go Bills!" Eating at a restaurant in Morgan Hill, California, the couple at the next table said "Go Bills" when they saw my Bills iPhone case. They were friends of the Allen family and had become Bills fans when Josh was drafted. Here on the West Coast, I hear "Go Bills" maybe about once a month. More - much more - if I go to Bills Backers bars on game day.

One of the Bills more consequential 10th-round picks - though originally drafted by the hated Chiefs who quickly cut him.

I get the impression that Beane and McD aren't just coworkers, they're friends who talk a lot. Maybe daily. So I'm guessing Beane told McD that Dunne wanted to interview him and McD raised no objections. If McD was against the interview, I doubt if it would have happened.

I doubt if Beane and his staff or McD and his staff are putting much effort into this.

I miss the Senator's 17-0 predictions.

I voted 5-8. But that doesn't mean I've given up on a trophy. First of all, it's not true that the best team wins the Lombardi every year. Even if we're not the best team, we still have a shot. Secondly, as a fan, I hope. I hope the WR group is better than expected, and Brady turns out to be a great OC, and Miller returns to form, and so does Milano, etc. I especially hope we enter the playoffs healthy.

And I remember when our punter was the most bored, underworked guy in the NFL. Let's go back to that. Who needs Punt God?

Not really facing charges. The young woman's lawyer was on TV saying things that weren't accurate. I got the impression, if I recall events correctly, that the DA was never even tempted to bring charges because none of the witnesses corroborated her version of events.

Wade was an NFL head coach of six different teams and compiled an 82-64 record despite his vagabond lifestyle which seems to say he's an above average coach. Yet he can't sniff an NFL job. It seems unfair though his poor playoff record might have something to do with this. I hope he gets another chance.

Dunne graded McD an "F." It's clear he sees McD as a failure and found some disgruntled ex-employees to support his premise. The things is, we don't know the entirety of what the disgruntled exes said. Their accounts may have been more balanced that what appeared in print. Dunne may have selected the choicest, most damning quotes for print with a light sprinkle of positive remarks thrown in to appear that he was fair and balanced when he wasn't. I don't trust the man. There's a saying in India, "When a pickpocket walks down the street, all he sees is pockets." Scientists call this 'confirmation bias.' I think Dunne had a point of view in mind when he began the article and actively sought out supporting quotes. The players grade McD an "A." They're a 1000x more credible source. Andy Reid and Bill Cowher (both HOF, SB winning coaches), in published quotes, seem to agree with that grade. Who are you going to believe?

My daughter was only 2 so she doesn't remember this, but she knows the story... When she was little, I used to throw her up to the high ceiling of our house and catch her whenever the Bills scored a TD. She would squeal in delight. Well, there was a certain game where we weren't scoring much. I was feeling pretty morose and she wasn't having any fun waiting for a touchdown even if she didn't understand what a touchdown was. Then The Comeback happened, and we both began yelling and squealing in delight!

I've thought that too. But Allen seems to think it helps and he's a smart guy in a position to know.

People on TBD attack McD all the time. And that's okay. This is a place for fans to opine and vent without real world consequences. But Dunne's article damaged McD's reputation. And it potentially hurt his ability to get another job after the Bills. With real world consequences, Dunne needed to do his due diligence and interview McD's fans and supporters as well as his critics. He didn't. He thoroughly explored McD's bad side using biased sources and only scratched the surface of his good side. I get journalists have a job to do. I expect political journalists to uncover the unsavory stories of our elected officials. We need to know those. But McD coaches a game. It's entertainmnent. Journalists don't need to do hit pieces on coaches/entertainers. It doesn't serve the public good. Finally, Dunne hurt the Bills. How many coaches or players want to come to Buffalo after reading that article? This is another real world consequence of what he wrote. Nothing good came from his hit piece. Only bad things. It should have never been written. I can't respect a guy who needlessly smears the character of a person most consider a good man or hurts my Bills.

I was disappointed when we cut him. I thought "innocent until proven guilty" wasn't just a legal principle, but an American value. And I thought about the Brian Banks story. For those who don't know, Banks was a talented high school football player who dreamt of playing in the NFL someday. But when he raped a classmate, those dreams were crushed. Except that he never raped her. Years later, she admitted that she had fabricated the whole story. While not common, false accusations happen. It's hard to made definitive determinations but various studies in the US and Europe conclude that 2% to 10% of sexual assault accusations are false. Considering charges were never even brought against Araiza, I thought he deserved the benefit of the doubt. Though I did understand the PR considerations.

I refuse to pay for Dunne article. Those who say his McD article was not a hit-piece, I hear you. I get your arguments. But when you attack a guy so strongly, I find it unethical. I don't believe Dunne made up any quotes. But I didn't agree with his conclusions nor did I like that fact that he interviewed mostly malcontents. Reading the article, you'd think McD was the worst coach on the planet. Yet, the players gave McD an 'A' rating in the NFLPA poll. It wasn't fair and balanced reporting. Dunne says he still stands by it which is why I still stand against him. Not willing to pay, I listened to most of the WGR interview with Dunne. Some interesting stuff. Nothing specific about the Diggs trade other than Beane telling Dunne that it was about more than the cap - but we knew that already. Dunne was complimentary of Beane which made me feel like he was trying to repair damaged bridges and make nice with Bills fans.

I don't think he's worth it... but I suppose his chances are better than mine.

When I listen to Rodgers's interviews, I wonder about his mindset. I get the feeling that football is good for both his ego and his bank account. But his bank balance is fine so he doesn't need football. It seems more like a hobby to him at this point. It's important - but there are other things just as important. And so I wonder how good he'll be this season. He's very talented, obviously. But it's hard to succeed in the NFL and harder yet when you're in your 40s. So lacking a passionate, single-minded commitment, I don't know if we'll see the best version of Aaron Rodgers this season, or ever again.

I sometimes forget this. Good point. We're not good enough to win the Super Bowl. But not bad enough to get good draft picks. It sucks being in the middle class.

Did the passing game weapons get weaker? Or did the scheme and playcalling get weaker? Or both?

This was my first thought. If I was the GM, I would never grant Dunne an interview request out of loyalty to McD. But I don't what dynamics are at play here.

I agree. I want Josh to play into his 40s. But his running abilities are unique and a real asset. So I think Brady needs to be strategic about it. Do it enough to get it on tape for DCs to worry about. And then only in big and/or close games.

Usually when I watch/listen to guys who cover the entire NFL, I learn nothing. Most of those guys are jacks of all trades, masters of none. I learn more from you guys than the national talking heads. But these guys were very good.

I think it's amusing in a twisted kind of way but I'm not sure why you find this hard to understand unless it's an intentional misunderstanding. An actor can be phenomenal at acting but still get up on stage and deliver a bad performance. Joey Chestnut might be the world's best hot dog eater but can still have a bad day/month/season eating hot dogs. James Bond might be a other-worldly lover but still suffer an evening that a blue pill might have helped. Sometimes the best guys don't deliver the best performances. Josh is a great QB but didn't deliver a Top Two performance last year. That's simply what the stats say. He wasn't Top Two in the most popular rating systems (btw, where he averaged 9th - 9th is not what I ranked him). He wasn't Top Two in key performance indicators like Passing Yards, Passing TDs, or Ints. In terms of talent, he's Top Two. In terms of last season's performance, he was not. I don't blame that on Josh as much as I blame it on Beane. Josh needs better talent around him. And that's why if we're going to upgrade OBD somewhere, I'd start with Beane. But I don't think it's time yet to pull that plug.