RealityCheck

The big games in the playoffs are decided by a few big plays of QB vs. rush on those critical 3rd downs. Can the QB accurately get the ball out vs. the pressure? Unfortunately that one dynamic is impacted by 11 on 11 just like all situations. It will come down to philosophy. Nix comes from a build from the ball out sub-culture while Pettine is a modern NFL coach coming from a staff who's head coach has stated that he believes in building a defense from the CB in, or at least that's what Rex has said. 3rd and long defines the great QBs for a reason. Luck was the best in the league last year in that situation, what does that tell us?

Are you saying that agents are bad for the sport?

You just about summed it up. Ultimately, I think this fact drives another nail in Gailey's coffin for me. As a head coach who was given the respect to hire Edwards' replacement, he chose the worst candidate possible with hindsight framing it perfectly. He chose hooking his friend up, who couldn't stop spread offenses at the college level, over getting the best guy for his team. He betrayed the cause by doing so. As a fan I tried to push as much positive energy his way, but wow, what a waste. All I know is that the Bills defense in Madden is sick when you use a Multiple-D playbook and blitz out of the sub-packages. My brand new Kool-Aid says Pettine will be solid. Then again I put vodka in my Kool-Aid.

Given how most of the defensive players have been utilized I find it hard to evaluate them. When you don't stunt, twist, or blitz it's hard to quantify if we have any playmakers on that side of the ball. Wanny made everybody look bad on D. Play after play, you new where everybody was gonna line up and what their responsibilities were. No team has enough talent to field a defense like that anymore.

Get a grip? Your stats are meaningless if you are not going to include all of them. He played well against BAD teams. So what. If you want to pick a stat that paints the best picture of him then why not mention his completion % vs. the blitz? Edwards was ALWAYS money against the blitz statistically. The problem however is that teams figured out early that he was indecisive when faced with soft zone coverages and minimal rushers leading to check downs for a loss or coverage sacks. You have a romantic attraction to what could have been when the guy was never able to pull it off in the first place. If you look at the combined winning % of the teams he beat pre-concussion you would be very disappointed. By comparison Fitz has an abyssmal comp. % vs. the blitz while thriving against zone coverages, Trent was mysteriously the polar opposite in that regard. In the end, they both are good enough to get you 5 to 7 wins while being complete opposites. I take that as both of these guys at best represent half of what you want in a franchise QB if you are only looking at what they do best. The Browns game gave the league the blue print for beating him. Play the run first while dropping everyone in to coverage to freeze him in the pocket. That was it.

Are you saying that his agent tried to lead him astray?

No wonder Kelly and Belicheat are buddies. They truly think alike.

It's refreshing to see such a logical move be made so early. Hopefully he can make a strong transition. It would be nice to see him blitz too. Knowing Pettine's propensity to use DBs as blitzers I think this team has quite a bit of athleticism right now to be good at it. It would certainly surprise some teams given that there is about 5 seconds of tape from the past 7 years of our guys blitzing. Who knows how good they could be at it.

Trent Edwards always sucked. That hit had nothing to do with it. The guy was always afraid to through it down field if it wasn't man coverage. When he would face teams dropping 8 into coverage he would hold on to the ball and take the sack.

After the draft will be the prime time to go bargain FA shopping. It's a buyers market, and when you are aiming low in FA expenditures, it's wise to draft first and see what you actually add to your roster. They will fill holes on the cheap afterwards. Let's keep in mind that many players will be cut right after the draft right up through the preseason. We saw this approach 3 years ago, it should not be a mystery now. The only difference is that if they draft 3rd next year, they will definitely draft a QB.

When it comes to paying your taxes, just shut up and pay them. As a society you can't go around being an ignorant consumer and voluntarily piss your money away and expect the government to not view the sheep as ignorant slobs to simply tax to death. The American consumer is a herd to be pilfered. With the advent of "dynamic pricing " oozing through out the web your overall spending habits will be used against you like never before. If you want Uncle Sam to tax you less, you have to spend money and lobby for your cause. It's 2013, if your not gonna pay for the laws you want up front, you'll ultimately pay for the laws other organizations want on the back end. It's not a matter of right or wrong, it's how it is. Work with it instead of against it. If not, try praying, just don't complain about it.

Safety at #8 makes no sense. The front 7 needs to be addressed in that they don't have nearly enough pass rushers or run stuffers. If they go offense they need someone who can score points. Of all the oversized CBs in this draft and FA I would think that some of them can play safety adequately in a 3 safety set. At #8 I would prefer pass rush or offensive skill position.

I think Fred's highest value is to this team this season. CJ is great, but RBs who are healthy enough to start every game don't even do it year after year any more. It's a freak occurrence. If you trade Fred you need to invest in another RB before the season starts. Who would that be?

That article is stupid. Teams have to start somebody. 32 teams and that's about 92 to 96 QB spots to fill. Only about a dozen or so are worth a damn. When bad teams reshuffle the bad QB deck, they know what they've been dealt regardless of what they say. Kolb as the least desirable QB goes to the least desirable team. A marriage made in heaven. My expectations are so low that all he has to do is throw a 50 yard bomb to SJ for one score and that will make my season.

Dude, no one is disputing that Chance Warmack is a seriously good OG at the college level and will probably do some damage as a pro. However, Buddy Nix is the GM and picking this guy #8 simply doesn't jive with either his philosophy or draft record. I too am very disappointed with this team's direction, but if you are going to play the role of odds maker in the draft you have to look no further than, who is picking these guys, what is their philosophy, and how consistent are they in following these alleged philosophies. At this point in time for me, Nix is an open book and is quite predictable. He will be looking for an impact player with prototypical size and speed that can make big plays to either score points or flip field position. That narrows it down to QB, WR, RB, TE, CB, DL, 3-4 style OLB. Out of those positions, who is there at 8 that is the lowest risk with the highest upside. Somehow I feel like the pass rush will be addressed in the first.

A safety at #8 would really hurt my feelings. I mean it.

I'd be down with that move too. Wood, Brown, Barrett, and Irbik would be an interesting group in training camp.

Nix has said time and again that he is in the business of drafting Tackles. If they don't pan out they can be moved inside. It mitigates risk substantially. You draft big Tackles with size and at least average feet and they can usually work out as a guard with some pulling ability after some adjustment. The only way you draft a guard ever is if they can also play Center.

Your posts ooze envy. Why is it acceptable that banks and corporations have a single minded desire to make money while we hate on individuals who manage to leverage big paydays out of the owners. As for many of you who would kill for the tribulations he had to go through, hey, what is stopping you then? If you were that highly motivated in your own life you would applaud Peters gumption to seize the opportunity for his payday. He did it by sitting on his couch. That fact alone is why your feelings are hurt. Get over it.

99.9% of the general population are sheep getting bled to death that could never play LT in the NFL for any team. You say that athletes should worry less about financial aspects of the game. Does that apply to the owners too? Being naive is expensive.

See, this is the problem with some fans. You are complaining about whether his claims of grandeur are accurate. Who cares what these guys say or think. They get paid to play football, not advance social science. As for a team full of guys like that, the Dallas Cowboys entire organization in the mid 1990's comes to mind. Are you saying that Peters doesn't have competitive juices and doesn't want to win?

You say that now after the achilles injury. Again, in light of that fact don't you see the logic of playing hardball and getting paid as much as possible when you can? How can you pay all that money to the 3 scrubs Levy brought in at top dollar just to pay a great LT peanuts? Levy created an instantly bloated investment in an O-line doomed to fail and put the team out of position to pay Peters his due which would have shut him up and focused him back on football for the foreseeable future. I like Glenn, but he is no Peters yet. Levy's tenure took a struggling team and made them worse. Now there is a man who definitely has never outsmarted anybody except for Ralph and perhaps himself.

Good psychology. Now Peters is my guy and what, Wood is your guy? Guess what neither guy BELONGS to any body. A pro football player's career is tenuous at best when you count injuries, don't be upset when a player shows the resolve of a real businessman to use maximum leverage when he has it. Leverage is also a tenuous advantage when you count the clock on the wall. What would Peters get on the open market the week after his achilles injury?

Wood is a part timer as well, so that kind of worked out.

You left out the part where Peters got exactly what he wanted. He got traded, paid, played and laid. Got a year off for a terrible injury, and because he plays for the Eagles, will get the benefit of the doubt for a good return in 2013. Fred didn't have a lot of leverage, but he still underachieved in that regard. For any man with a family that is risky, regardless of how much or little money is involved. You act like these amazing opportunities that players have just come and go everyday and that they should not be businessmen when negotiating with billionaire businessmen.