simpleman

The XFL is in a tough situation. Becoming effectively a Spring (lower, training) League for the NFL with their cooperation and support is one way to get better talent cheaply, and may allow them to survive longer. But no one, (McMahon) will ever get rich doing it. There is no big money in doing it. Could it position him to someday get a profitable NFL franchise as “quid pro quo”, maybe. College Football is doing that at no cost to the NFL owners now. The NFL encourages College Ball and creates draft rules that favor College playing policies in return. Joining with the NFL to get players means the concept of the XFL competing for players from college ball, like skipping college ball and getting paid earlier, is off the table. The NFL has a mutually beneficial relationship with college ball, risking it is too much of a gamble for the NFL to be a party to. There is a reason new leagues fail. The NFL owners believe the NFL/ College Ball agreement works well for them. They don't feel a need for a training league that is a cost and bother to them. Any league that bothers College Ball bothers them too by upsetting the currently profitable status quo.

Hard to watch when the few interesting games are not on air TV. I do like how much better the refs are. They don't make a lot of bad calls that affect the game. And the point after rules are better than kicking, more strategy and more interesting. Just need a few more QBs that are at least NFL backup quality. The have to pay some more serious bucks to entice the forever NFL backup QBs to abandon their futile fantasy "Starter Dreams", just grab the dollars, and enjoy their "moment of fame" of being a bigger fish in the little XFL pond. Instead of being a forever wannabe in the NFL ocean. Other than QBs, and maybe kickers, watching players at other positions playing against others at a similar talent level is entertaining. Even Peterman might look like "THE Man" amongst the boys in the XFL.

Low cost no guarantee contract, with hefty performance incentives, sure! But his injury history makes him a bad bet otherwise. Think he was a very good and very skilled player, but his body just couldn't take the beating of a long NFL career.

Maybe because he was marginal talent when compared to regular NFL pros. Watching the XFL is like watching the final NFL preseason game. Backups playing against other backups. Or as they say, he is a big fish in a small pond in the XFL, but would be the little fish in the big pond NFL. He has found his place in the XFL. Not saying the games are not entertaining. As long as the players are all of a similar talent level the game can be entertaining.

This weeks game just show very clearly. It is all about a decent QB. You can make an entertaining game with middling talent on the rest of the field. But without competent Qbs the game is boring. If the XFL wants to not fail like all that came before it, they have to actually pay serious bucks for quality QB talent.

The game was definitely a joke. The Cox touchdown was definitely an old WWF type fake play. The announcers were absolutely horrible. No play by play. The announcers were way more interested in Kobe than the game. They were babbling about everything but the game that was being played on the field. The camera was barely following the play, much like the attention of the announcers.They had to talk constantly about their stats that were prepared well before the game was played. Any play by play was just barely about the name of the receiver and the QB. Did they even know the name of anyone on defense? Defensive players were just there to fill the field. It was definitely touch football. You don't expect an intense game, for the players it is about the honor of playing, having fun, and not getting hurt. But at least have professional announcers and camera people present the game. At least pretend it is a real game to make it interesting for the viewers.

Obviously moot, since we already have playoff games on Saturday. One game a year on Saturday will not kill college sports. If they worry about it, just schedule the college games around it once a year. You still have 364 days available per year.

So do the Titans.

I would be concerned more about the stats on the percent of the time that they were targeted and the receiver completed the pass attempt on them than the breakups or intercepts.

Yes he is. He is no starter, but as WR 4 or 5 he is comfortably at his ceiling. And that ceiling is higher than any WR currently on the roster not named Brown or Beasley. Wonder if he could up his blocking skills enough to make himself valuable enough to make the team next year?

Yes, but at least he is excited by the game. Kinda like the coach that claps too much and Oliver, who acts just like Duke after every tackle he makes. Maybe too much celebration about just doing their jobs, but Duke and Oliver are just excited and enjoying playing the game. As long as it doesn't get them penalized and hurt the team just let them have fun. Except for the fact he is a bona fide superstar, how was Watt reacting any different. They kept playing his comments while miked up.

Do posters on here even bother to read the OP before they comment. He was very clear. The issue was the fact that McBeane failed to have enough depth at CB from the beginning of the season and never had the foresight to correct the problem during the whole season. No other NFL team was foolish enough to willingly put themselves in that vulnerable position by choice. Having to play an offensive player at CB was a very predictable and probable outcome at some point in the season. And it happened. It had nothing to do with who they chose or chose not to play. It has nothing to do with who was inactive or active on the roster. It has everything to do with being prepared. If you have no buffer or margin for error as a viable option at a critical position on both your roster and on your PS, that is fully on McBeane. It is about horrible risk management decisions. Not about who you choose to play in a game from among an available qualified pool of players at that position.

Horrible game. Worst defensive game of the year. Horrible offensive play calling. Uninspired, boring and totally predictable. Josh was off target, our receivers have the dropsies. Lack of effort on contesting the catch. There was the almost no misdirection on offense. The Dallas game both the offense and defense mixed it up, were aggressive and unpredictable and it worked. This game the play calling on O and D was vanilla and predictable. Brady had all day and only had pressure on a couple rare plays. And the Pats O line was dinged up. I know the player association makes it tough, but I would make the defense practice proper tacking technique till they puked. The receivers would be practicing with the jugs till their hands were too sore to continue. Poor game-planning, coaching and sloppy execution of the basics all around. This team is still just a pretender until proves it by being a real contender against the best teams, and not just the bad teams and the other pretenders.

Definitely wearing those Homer glasses. You better not drive wearing those. It would be dangerous. Definitely an average grade. Not a fail, but just enough to win. C or C-. Defense again an A. Let us not even grade the rest of the Offense.

Football is a business and strategy is an important part of the game. If he plays it cost you 350,000 for a couple game rental. If he fails to report it cost you zero. And you don't let a very strong competing team get even stronger if you are also in a playoff run. Every team making a playoff run should place a claim. There is nothing to loose and a lot to win by not strengthening the Raven's to compete against you.

Or you could be smart like my ex was. (Not because she became my ex, lol) She bought a very nice street bike and a top end bike trainer kit that allowed her to use it as an exercise bike indoors in bad weather. A whole lot less than a coupe grand.

I have no clue who is better long term. Allen or Jackson. But right now Jackson has produced more exciting football than Allen. Will Jackson be able to sustain this next year and beyond? Only time will tell. It seems Allen has the better arm and his play so far may lead to more success and better durability long term, but time will tell. I don't see Jackson doing anything that Allen could not do as a runner and scrambler. The difference I do see between the two is coaching. The Ravens chose to ride Jackson as a scrambler and a runner, rather than take the time to develop him as a long term all around QB. They have set Jackson up to succeed NOW as a running QB, and chosen to be a WIN NOW team. They designed an offense to make the best of his existing running /scrambling abilities. They surrounded him with TEs and and the best OL talent to best support his existing talents NOW. The Bills have chosen to develop Allen as a dual threat Run / Pass QB LONG TERM, rather than emphasizing the WIN NOW over the long term like the Ravens have. I believe if you gave Allen the RBs, TEs and the OL blocking talent the Raven's have given Jackson, he could succeed just a well as Jackson has. It is an offensive coaching and system choice that both teams have made. Only time will tell long term which was the better choice. Roman has shown himself to be a genius for designing an offense based on a running QB. Will that be enough for long long term success without being based on an offense based on a dual threat long term balanced run / pass offense? Only time will tell. I am most impressed with the Raven's coaching, schemes, their players ability, and how well they have been coached to disguise and misdirect on offensive plays. I would hope that the Bills and other NFL teams would realize how important and effective that defensive confusion, and the slight but significant HESITATION it causes can be with a running threat QB like a Jackson or an Allen. In the NFL game “speed” is amazing. We talk about the game finally “slowing down” for rookies. Hesitation, even just a few milliseconds, is a killer in the NFL. Watching particularly the SF/Ravens game last week, I had real trouble momentarily figuring out exactly who actually had the ball many times. I believe Allen and the Bills could be coached and taught to be just as effective at “sleight of hand” as the Ravens are. Allen could be a much more effective and dangerous running and passing threat if they did. Allen has the smarts and the ability to do so just as effectively as Jackson has been, plus his better arm could make him even more dangerous. And giving Allen a RB who can bulldoze forward straight up the middle like the Raven's have in Ingram would open up the whole running game. Gore is no longer that threat. Imagine how sending Singletary outside around the edge like SF did with Mostert, along with a talented bulldozer straight up the gut runner would open up the field for Allen the runner, and as the passer. Let's not be jealous of the praise and attention Jackson and the Ravens are getting this year. They deserve it. Instead, why not learn from their successes, and do what they have done right this year even better next year. It is definitely do-able. And then we will be the ones getting all the well deserved attention and praise.

Don't bother wasting your breath. Fan boys do not want to hear reason. They survive on faith, prayer and hope. Not on proven facts, being realistic, or having cautious optimism. That is their religion. Facts and counseling caution and actually waiting for their greatest dreams to come true goes against their religion. Blasphemy!

This is why he has had such great success so soon. He would have been an epic fail if he had been drafted by McBeane. There are two types of GMs and HCs. Those that evaluate the talent they have, and then design schemes to best fit the talent they have. And those that have huge egos who try to make talent fit the grand schemes they have on their heads. They try to pound square pegs in round holes, and if they don't fit, they discard the square pegs no matter the cost to the team. McBeane is very much the big ego. It is about their "grand process" and "their own hand picked guys". Although not as bad as Rex, who is the ultimate "big brilliant ego". You fit their scheme, or else you are gone at whatever the cost. The "Process" is unforgiving and highly inflexible. It may succeed, but it will take multiple seasons to be able to acquire the talent that fits "The Process". Lamar was selected by a team that believed that you evaluate the talent you have, and design a scheme to best fit it without blowing up the team you have. You don't wait years to fulfill "the grand process" and make your fans suffer years of subpar football, you win now and provide entertaining football while building for the future. The team evolves and grows as you add new and better pieces without blowing it up and starting over. Success can be achieved quicker. You don't mold a whole roster of 50+ players to fit the arbitrary scheme, you mold the scheme to allow the talent available to best succeed . It is flexible.

The question isn't how many games the NFL should suspend him. It is how can you beat another person in the head on national television with multiple cameras recording the incident and not be criminally charged with assault with a deadly weapon. The play was over so this was not a legitimate part of a sporting event. It was a blatant criminal act between two individuals with intent. How is he not criminally charged and prosecuted?

Unfortunately I have to stick with my preseason calculations. The back half will produce a 9-7 or 8-8 season. The Bills have a playoff caliber Defense that unfortunately was exposed as weak against the run. A slightly less than average offense with a weak Oline, is short a #1 WR, no TE who stands out as NFL starter, and a QB that has yet to prove he is capable of being a Franchise QB. ST is a weakness with a bad punter and a kicker sliding down the wrong side of his career. Our top two draft picks have both failed to live up to their high draft positions. They have not contributed to this season like someone drafted that high are expected to, although they both may have potential for the future. This team is exactly as it appeared before the season began, and the GM has done nothing substantial to improve it since then, despite its obvious and glaring shortcomings. It appears they will perform on the field exactly as it appeared on paper before the season started.

There were receivers getting open deep, Allen just does not have a consistent accurate deep ball. DaBoll fails to use Singletary enough even though he is getting it done whenever he is called upon. Hause Money chokes on a short easy FG. Allen still has serious ball protection issues. Beane has not helped enough by bringing in impact players during the season and our higher round rookie draft picks are yet again not “NFL” starter ready. Lee Smith brings little to the team and his costly penalties keep hurting the team. Ford may have future potential, but his premature learning on the field during the season in important situations is hurting the team's present. Playoff winning teams need to build an offense that can score more than 20 points per game. There is just not enough talent in this team's offense, and that is all on Beane. As a fan it feels like management is again sacrificing the current season for the nebulous promise of a better “future” that never comes, yet again for almost the 20th year. How many more years am I expected to accept the “we are building for the future” excuse for another futile season.

I find it amazing that many of the same posters that remind us that football is a business, and defend the teams and say how teams treat players and what they do to them is just good business. But if a player looks out for his own health and wealth, it is no longer about good business, he is being selfish and a bad guy and is a bad risk. If it is okay for a team to treat player decisions as just business, it is also okay to treat a player's decisions as just business. AJ is a great talent, a great player, has been a good teammate, and has not been a bad influence on a team. The process works both ways. I see no reason the Bills should not kick the tires on him in FA if he works out for the teams and proves he is 100 % healthy and healed in the off season.

I doubt the Pats will let him go before deadline, but if they do, it would be downright idiotic to not kick the tires and make a shot on offering a short term prove it deal with seriously generous performance incentives for him. If he can earn it on the field, he will deserve it. If he doesn't perform or has issues that cause him to be sanctioned by the NFL, there would be no major loss to the Bills. High Rewards/Low Risk potential to the team. And no draft picks at risk. We have plenty of cash and cap to offer a very generous performance based incentive rest of season deal.

Agree on Robert Woods. Don't know if he would have returned, but always thought he was one you shouldn't let get away without seriously fighting to keep. Maybe not a 1, but a perfect 2. He was a very good all around receiver.