Kirby Jackson

Yep The AFC East has some good defenses with the Bills among them. The Bills just have way better offensive talent than the other teams. If you look at a position by position comparison it’ll really show. This Bills roster is deep and balanced. With the possible exceptions of RT, backup QB and punter there really aren’t holes. You can’t say that for the other AFC East rosters (or most rosters in football). He had to have been. 2.49 YPC in a good running game is atrocious. Singletary was running the same plays and averaging double the production. That’s virtually impossible. It would be one thing to hide behind “the running game was struggling” but it wasn’t. They ran well when Gore was on the sideline and terribly when he entered the game. I’m going to be surprised if he makes the Jets roster. They may want his veteran presence which they could use but he can’t play.

They are great players. Anderson and Samuel are really nice secondary pieces too if they can stay healthy. I guess I didn’t realize their talent until I thought about it. I’ve viewed that roster as pretty poor but there is some talent. That whole division is loaded at the skill positions.

It’s not for fan benefit. It’s because the military is a giant sponsor. https://www.cheatsheet.com/money-career/amount-money-military-gives-nfl.html/ I agree that we’ve universally accepted it because why would people oppose that? It shouldn’t be “do you accept the anthem or not?” That should be 100% yes. It should be the same with systemic racism too though. That’s where this is headed. It shouldn’t be you sit on one side of the fence or the other. It should have the same universal support. It clearly hasn’t but it is trending in that direction. You aren’t going to see less protesting this year. It will be more and will also be more accepted. It won’t be universally accepted but it won’t be nearly as controversial as when Kaep started.

20 is too low for the Ravens but I do like what they have in Carolina. Moore, McCafrey, Samuel, Anderson, etc.. is pretty explosive.

Rebuttal 1 - Those guys, outside of Diggs and Moss, have produced in this system. Diggs was an all-world recruit that was under drafted. He has been a productive player. There’s no reason to think that will change. His work in the intermediate is his strength. That’s also Allen’s strength. His passing efficiency in the intermediate routes was near the top of the league. It’s the deep ball that they struggled with. Rebuttal 2 - They are going to run the same offense that they have the last couple of years. They took a step forward last year as they surrounded him with better players. It’s reasonable to expect another step forward with better players and another year of progression. Rebuttal 3 - I know you’re a Jets fan but you didn’t watch Frank Gore last year. He’s a HOF back. He doesn’t belong on an NFL roster at this point. From week 8 on he averaged 2.49 yards a carry. Keep in mind Singletary was amongst the league leaders at 5.1 in the same system. The Bills could have brought Gore back and they elected for Moss. They tried to move up to get him. Gore is BEYOND cooked and Moss is a massive upgrade. That doesn’t even mean that he will be great. If he’s just okay it’s a big step up. ...and the Bills offense is way ahead of the others in the division. None have a proven QB. Three teams have talented young guys. A lot will rest on their development but the players across the board on the Bills offense are way ahead of the others in the division. That’s why they ranked 20 spots ahead of anyone else in the AFC East. That’s been my point. It isn’t splitting hairs. It’s a chasm. That’s as much of an indictment on the rest of the division as it is an endorsement of the Bills. The Bills offensive talent is good to very good. It isn’t elite. The other teams in the division are a disaster. There’s a lot of room between disaster and good.

I think that’s a fairly utopian view. Should they not fly the flag at games? That’s political. We’ve been over the anthem. We have flyovers. We have presidents throwing out first pitches. We sing God Bless America in the 7th inning stretch. We honor military heroes during games. We do a salute to service month. The stadiums are funded by the public. There are lots and lots of political aspects of sports. That’s never going to change. That’s one of the things that I keep going back to. If a DB takes a knee on 3rd and 4 it becomes an issue.

Ironically, if we switched places with the Panthers in the NFC South we might have the worst skill players in the division. If you objectively compare the Bills skill guys to the others in the AFC East it’s really difficult to make a case for anyone else (or that it’s even close).

The Bills skill players are WAY ahead of the rest of the division at this point and their OL is similar to others. I’d say that they have a middle of the league OL but probably top 10 skill players. Diggs is the best WR in the division. Brown is the best #2 WR in the division. Beasley is a top 10ish slot guy in the league. The rest of the division is good in the slot as well. Knox could very well be the best TE in the division by this year (if he isn’t already). Singletary’s 5.1 YPC was tied with Derrick Henry last year. He trailed only Mostert and Gus Edwards in that category. If you add more carries for him and the massive upgrade from Gore to Moss you have a pretty big gap between the Bills and the other skill positions in the division.

Maybe that’s a me problem? It’s not something I’m thinking about during the game. Maybe I need to be? That’s a fair question. Are other people fixated on it throughout?

Not trying to be an antagonist but I asked this earlier and no one responded. How, specifically, is someone kneeling during the anthem impacting your experience? Are you still thinking about that with 3:38 to go in the 2nd quarter? Once the game starts the only thing that I’m thinking about is how the Bills can have more points when the clock hits zero. I just don’t really understand. “Wanting to escape” to me is code for “I don’t like the protest.” That’s why I’m asking the question. I want to be educated. If anyone wants to explain how it changes their experience watching the game I’m all ears. It’s just something I can’t wrap my head around at this point.

Timely: https://theundefeated.com/features/for-the-nfl-issues-have-to-outweigh-the-optics-this-time-around/

LOL I’ve had a really lousy day and this just cheered me up. I can see the headline tomorrow, “Brady supports looter and Bucs cut ties. Coach Bruce Arians is excited to see what Blaine Gabbert can bring to the table”

I used the Ford example as to why it’s different. At Ford you have people that work on the line to create cars to sell. In the NFL the players are closer to the cars than they are to the guys on the line. The NFL needs it’s stars or they lose money (and potentially millions). These players are immune to things that would get the rest of us fired. Obviously they can’t do what Aaron Hernandez did but they can do things no other “employee” could. I’m half-kidding about Mahomes taking a dump on Reid’s desk but he could. He could punch Andy Reid in the face and start 2 days later. You can’t punch your boss in the face. It’s not the same. See the last post. If you punched your boss in the face would you be fired? If Mahomes punches Reid in the face would he? It’s not about the actions it is about the PERSON doing the actions. Players are different. They can do as they want (certainly the top guys). As you said, follow the money

The employer has a right to terminate whomever they want. If the Chiefs decide they don’t like what Mahomes is doing on their time they can fire him. It’s like that in any job.

Can I ask a question a different way? Let’s separate this from the anthem for a second. Would people have an issue if the 2 minute warning in the 1st half was a chance recognize what they are trying to achieve by kneeling? It could be like the 7th inning stretch in baseball. If everyone on the field took a knee at the 2 minute warning to bring awareness to their cause would people still have an issue? I guess the question is it the anthem that needs to be held sacred or their protest that needs to be silenced? Just curious...

It’s not though it’s earned. If Patrick Mahomes takes a dump on Andy Reid’s desk nothing happens to him. This isn’t an employer/employee relationship necessarily. The sports model is different. The players are your assets. Ford sells cars. The NFL sells the talent of the players.

You hit on something here that kind of crossed my mind. Athletes are different. They aren’t guys at the call center that can easily be replaced. If Mahomes, for example, decides that he’s kneeling no matter what the league is in a corner. There’s nothing that the league can do. They need him.

So they should speak up when they have no audience? I’m not sure how a guy kneeling changes your experience? I really don’t understand that. Can someone explain. When it’s 20-17 in the 4th quarter I’m not thinking about how much more I would have enjoyed this game if a guy didn’t kneel during the anthem. I’m not trying to be sarcastic I just can’t wrap my head around it. I don’t care if they do cartwheels during the anthem or intros or whatever. My interest in football is what happens between kickoff and when the clock hits zero.

I’m not going to go too far down the rabbit hole but “should” and “will” aren’t the same. Athletes are some of the most recognizable people in this country. They are some of the most recognizable black people in this country. When we are in the situation that we are in it is unreasonable to expect the loudest voices to remain quiet. It just isn’t going to happen now or in the future. That ship has sailed. This is something that people are going to have to get comfortable with and accept or find something else to occupy their time. In the social media era they have a megaphone and advertisers haven’t shunned the socially active. We won’t see politics and sports split in my lifetime. This is the new norm.

It’s a different world!! It’s the most intimidating atmosphere to compete in since the Roman Coliseum. Come for either the Texas game or one of the SEC games. It’s a different atmosphere. Be prepared though you’re probably looking at $300-$400 a ticket for Alabama or Texas. I’ve thought about getting season tickets. You can get decent seats for like $1000 for the year. I can sell Alabama and Texas and recoup most of my money. Add Ole Miss in there and I’d be even. Go to South Carolina and Miss. St. Giveaway UTSA & Nicholls St.

I really think Vegas is going to be like this for a while. It’s always going to be brutally expensive. It feels like a trip that everyone will commit to when the schedule comes out and then bail on as we get closer. My hope was that a group would go and that I’d only have to buy my own ticket, room, flight, meals, etc.. At the moment, that’s not looking so good. I’m having a hard time finding people that want to go. We talked about doing it as a bachelor party which would be fun (but even MORE expensive). This doesn’t feel like a trip that you want to bring a girl, that won’t care about the game, and double your expenses (actually that’s every road game ?). I may end up pulling the plug on Vegas if things don’t change. It just feels kind of forced at this point.

Nope, we are all trying to get tickets the same way. Vegas is going to be nuts. I think that you’ll be looking at $1K for a pair. It’s going to be what it’s going to be but it’ll be like that in Vegas for a while (maybe forever). I have a flight booked but won’t buy tickets to that until much closer to the game. They aren’t going to get a lot higher IMO so I’m going to wait until I know that they’ll let us in.

If you’re going to chime in without reading I’m going to do the same ??‍♂️

Lol, that was in response to someone demanding that we keep politics out of sports (which is never going to happen again). If you aren’t going to read the whole conversation don’t jump in. I quoted Laura Ingraham’s freezing cold take, and they agreed. Clearly see where you stand on the issue of SYSTEMIC racism though.... Thanks for your contribution ?. Feel free to go back to sticking your head in the sand.

I really don’t know Hap. I know that he had to earn trust after the tweets. It seems like Allen is in good with that locker room now. I could be wrong but it appears that way.