Rocky Landing

I live in Los Angeles (born and raised in Rochester) and when Leinart was at USC, he was a big damn deal. People who followed college ball talked about him ALL THE TIME. Needless to say, he was a huge disappointment in Arizona, and had a bad attitude to boot. My jaw dropped when I saw him going to Buffalo today. I took a quick look at his stats- he's only started two games in the last five years. My understanding of him now is that he's a huge guy with a not very strong arm.

I think the media often over-hypes stories like this, using dramatic words like, "bad blood," etc. Sure, there are bad feelings at the moment. But, it's all just business. There's a whole season to fix the "bad blood." Winning games would go a long way towards that.

"Deadskins" is a derogatory term that denigrates zombies.

Googling a subject is not a meaningless endeavor. Along with all the insipid, drivel, insidious advertising, partisan demagoguery, and rule #34 pornography, a Google search can find reliable news sources, peer reviewed journals, statistics, definitions, and even well thought out, coherent opinion. It is one of the most amazing educational tools ever invented. The internet is like a giant library, on top of a news stand, on top of a festering trash heap with a toxic sewage moat. You just have to wade through the excrement, climb over the trash, ignore the tabloid material, and find what you're looking for. CAN'T... NOT... CLICK...

No one should take this personally, but as I was reading Easterbrook's quote (and I didn't know he was a Buffalo native/fan), I thought that it reminded me of some of the posters on this site who will form an opinion of some member of the franchise and then only acknowledge those stats, or events that back up their claim, while utterly ignoring any controverting evidence. Come to think of it, I'd be surprised if the author of this article weren't a Bills fan. Were he not, he would probably be able to be a little more objective.

I was half expecting to open this thread and see a link claiming that we were fifth in our division.

Forgive me if this link has already been posted (I really couldn't bother with 33 pages on this subject), but here is a pretty good link on the subject by an extremely well-informed, reliable, and prestigious news source- The Onion. http://www.theonion.com/articles/report-redskins-name-only-offensive-if-you-think-a,33449/

I've always thought that Trent was not as bad as Jaurons coaching/play-calling made him look.

It's too risky to start him if he has missed the final weeks of practice. Week one, against a heavily favored division rival, just after being cleared from a knee injury, and procedure, is no way to start an NFL career.

I'm sort of in the same boat as you regarding Kolb. But, I think that in order to reach the conclusion that Tuel should start against the Pats, you have to ride a wave of hype that seems to be made almost entirely of foam. I can't get there, myself.

I'm not young (I'm probably older than you), and I know how game three in the preseason is played. And, of course, I expect EJ to get the start. But, if Tuel is actually being considered for #2 (which I doubt, btw), I'd like to see him do something against something other than 3rds. But, I will admit that I don't know as much about football as many of the regular posters on here (but, more than some!). I read these forums almost daily. it's often educational, but I don't often post.

There it is. As Marrone predicted: "someone will emerge." I've been defending Kolb on these forums for weeks. But, I feel a little foolish tonight. I think we will still have more to learn in week three. In fact, I hope that Kolb and Tuel get the majority of snaps. I know there are a lot of people on these pages who are sold on Tuel as backup, but I'm not one of them. But, that could change next week. Who knows? At this point, though, I wouldn't bet on Kolb getting cut.

I've been living in Los Angeles for quite some time, now (Born and raised in Rochester), so I've had to suffer through more than my fair share of Chargers football. And I will say this: every year, the thought of enduring another season of that whiney, finger-pointing, pouty, head-case Phillip Rivers makes me cringe. The guy's got a great arm, no doubt. He's talented. But, that constant expression, like he's been sucking on a sour pickle, and the speed at which he will cuss out his fellow players for whatever he feels is their fault- never his- has, IMO, poisoned his career. I don't agree about Cutler, though. I think he's going to be around for a while, yet. I will tell you that the entire Southwest Coast was happy to see Norv Turner finally sent packing.

Kolb got one concussion in 2010, and, in 2011, had "concussion like symptoms," but was not diagnosed with a concussion after being kicked in the back of the head. I would not qualify that as "CONCUSSION-PRONE." Especially considering the number of times he was sacked in his four wins at the beginning of last season, including two consecutive games with eight or more sacks- an NFL first. I think you (and many others on these boards) are underestimating Kevin Kolb.

Kolb has had 21 starts, and has played in 34 games in six years. He played behind one of the worst offensive lines in the NFL last season and won the first four games (including the Patriots) before being injured in game five. It's perplexing to me how dismissive people are of Kolb on these forums. Let me guess: you're in favor of starting Kolb in the season opener? But why does the desire to be "right" drive people to make such biased, and unrealistic claims? And, if you have such a low opinion of Kolb, and his career, how much faith do you have in coach Marrone?

I get accused of that from time to time, but I loved the pick. (I would have been depressed if we had gotten G. Smith.) But, I think the people who didn't like the pick are swaying towards cautious optimism. I think also that some of the perceived negativity is a response to the unabashed, (and occasionally delusional) optimism from the EJaniacs. (I just made that up.)

There's a lot of nonsense in this post. EJ's position in the draft is no reason to start him. Few rookie QB's start immediately in the season opener. Whether this season is labelled a "building season," or not, Marrone should be starting the player who gives us the best chance to win the season opener. Doing otherwise would certainly not jeopardize the team's future. In fact, the strategy has always been that either EJ starts (if ready), or Kolb starts until he is. I think Marrone has been fairly transparent in that strategy. I would be far more likely to question the coaching staff's intelligence if they abandoned that strategy and dismissed Kolb because, "Who the hell wants to see Kolb start or play anyway?" I'm guessing that Marrone, et al, wants to see Kolb play. And, do you really only watch football to see the quarterback play, and no one else?

I agree with all of this. I will say that the general consensus is that in both the preseason opener and the scrimmage, he had a slow start, but kept his head and finished strong. That may be indicative of the inconsistency criticisms that pundits had, pre-draft, but it also shows poise, and tenacity. One of the disagreements on these boards seems to be whether putting EJ in a starting position immediately would be helpful, or harmful to his development. My personal opinion is that if Marrone doesn't feel that EJ is NFL ready, then he will use Kolb as a stopgap until he is. Historically, I believe there are examples of QB careers that have been damaged by being started too soon. If one accepts that premise, I think the downside of starting him too soon, would outweigh the downside of starting him later in the season. Either way, I think the person most qualified to make that decision is Doug Marrone. Generally, when the decision of who to start at QB is not made until late in the preseason, the situation is described as either a, "quarterback competition," or a "quarterback controversy." I think what they've got going on in New Jersey is something like a controversy. I think what we have going on is a competition. If Kolb wins the starting job, everyone (including him) will know that it will be a temporary role that EJ will eventually hold. If EJ wins, Kolb will be a veteran backup who will be valuable on the sidelines, and the practice field, will help EJ develop, and step in if necessary. And, I don't think there will be any animosity between the two either way. They seem to both have really good attitudes. It's really a pretty good situation.

I'm trying to imagine the conversations involved in trying to convince Doug Marrone to throw his first season as an NFL head coach. Come to think of it, such a scheme would probably violate federal anti-trust laws. That being said, if the front office were really interested in throwing the season (without the fear of committing a felony), they could just fire Marrone and bring back Dick Jauron. VOILA! Season tanked!

I think you may have missed the point I was making. Your statement, "He has done nothing to show he is any different of a player since he got into the league," exemplifies exactly what I am talking about. I don't believe for a minute that Marrone is starting Kolb because he has to. I believe he is starting Kolb because Kolb is a veteran player who might give us the best chance of winning week one vs. the Patriots. And, IMO, fans who believe that they know better than Marrone- who thinks that Kolb is a talented QB (that is why he signed him)- aren't placing much faith in Marrone's judgement. As far as "poking" fans and "hiding it in a post," that's just weird. I haven't hidden anything. I'm not speaking in code.

Reading the posts on here that suggest that Kolb shouldn't start on Friday, or even be cut (!?) strike me as a bit loony. The idea that Marrone should end the QB competition, and essentially abandon his preseason strategy based on EJ's decent showing in the first half of the first preseason game, and without even giving Kolb a chance in the preseason, is crazy. Marrone didn't sign Kolb on a whim. I'll admit, the knee injury is pretty weird, and his absence during the week of the scrimmage was unfortunate. But, people on this forum who dismiss Kolb as some sort of weakling hack can't hold a very high level of faith in our new head coach. Personally, I hope EJ gets (and deserves) the starting job come September. But, Marrone has been very clear about how he will fill that role, and unless Kolb's knee injury is much worse than is being reported, I don't see any reason to change that very sensible strategy.

If Kolb ends up starting, it will be as a stop gap until Manuel is ready. I'm optimistic, as well, about Manuel. But, I don't think he has exactly proven himself to the extent that many think he has.

This seemed like a curious acquisition of a fairly unremarkable player (on paper, at least). But, Pettine obviously knows this guy well, so I will trust his judgement. I'd be surprised if we haven't been talking to him.

Someone is going to write a list of the top 10 reasons we WON'T win the division. It won't be me, but someone will.

We should've gotten Tim Tebow when we had the chance.