GunnerBill

Yea I lean towards 'Bama being out. They could lose last night and make it. They couldn't lose like that and make it. They are a 3 loss team, with two wins over top 25 teams (Vandy and regular season Georgia) and one loss to a non-top 25 in FSU. That is a pretty similar resume to Texas who we all agree are out. 3 loss team, who have three wins over top 25 teams (Vandy, Oklahoma, Texas A&M) and one loss to a non-top 25 team in Florida. The one thing 'Bama had was "reached conference final" but they got whacked in it. Bama and BYU drop out for the two Conference Champ spots to go to Tulane and JMU.

The problem isn't your rule of thumb. It is that you underrate Dak.

I mean of course I don't know what is spin and PR but the official line is it meets all of the NFL's highest safety standards. The injury record suggests otherwise.

I am sorry I don't buy that. He needs a good team around him to do it, sure. But Dak in the right circumstances could win a Superbowl. Joe Flacco did. I don't think the gap between Hurts and Stafford and Dak is big.

Dak is underrated. He is a top 10 guy.

Good point.

Cam has been pretty good this year and last in the dime role. He had a horrible game against the Buccs (when he was playing more nickel for Taron who was out) but otherwise he has been pretty reliable and is certainly not responsible for every 3rd down or whatever it is you claimed.

If you have Kirk Cousins it is an interesting debate. If you have Dak Prescott you pay him. They are not the same tier of player.

Cam has been playing as our dime actually most of the last two years. And has played reasonably well. Would not want to rely on him at outside corner.

Yea that's right.

I mean at his best he was definitely better than what we have. I know it didn't work out in Jacksonville last year (his DC then was Ryan Neilson) then he was a victim of a scheme change this year haven't watched much of him for the Commanders so don't know if he is toast?

And the fact this tape didn't scream 9.88 RAS guy. That always makes me suspicious of a "combine monster." That said.... they took him in round 3. That is a reasonable place to take that swing. I don't hate that pick as much as some Beane has made.

Agree. It hasn't been terrible. But last year it was good to the eye and this year I'd say generally it has been just okay. That they rank that high does surprise me. If they were 10th, 12th, sure. I'd recognise that. To be 2nd? Surprising.

Brown hasn't been as good in pass pro this year either. That is why I am surprised by the pass pro stats because to the eye test they are worse. Because of work pressures I have watched less of the rest of the NFL this year compared to normal. So it may well be that it is just the rest of the NFL sucks in pass blocking.

Whose running game? Cincy's? Nah.

Tottenham, I believe, already meets the NFL's higher standard which is ludicrous given its injury record. Wembley doesn't. But has a much better injury record. So call me sceptical.

I mean I am sure he discussed it with McDermott but making moves on the waiver wire is 100% Brandon Beane's role and not Sean McDermott's. The only 34 year olds that ever help you "go for it" are vet QBs. No other 34 year old is a reasonable all in move.

EPA per dropback is, largely, a Quarterback stat. And look at the guys towards the top: Love, Maye, Mahomes, Allen, Dak, Stafford.... it is a QB stat. That said I do think the pass protection data is interesting. To the pure eye test it has not been as good as it was in 2024... but you also have to acknowledge that Allen has also bailed on more clean pockets in 2025 than for 2 or 3 years... and I think that is because he is hoping getting out and changing the angle disrupts the coverage and helps one of our lamppost receivers to shake free.

Yea that's a bad look for Beane. Was Ingram a critical piece? No. But did he provide some useful depth? Yep. Should you throw that away for a 34 year old? No.

Belichick was a big different. Not only because the results had been so poor but because he was the de-facto GM too and on that side of the fence deserved his firing. Honestly I wouldn't have fired Reid either. The whole "it's gone stale, fire the coach" logic isn't really for me.

8 He did have a big say in the Pickett and Rodgers decisions but in both cases he wanted them over the alternative of nothing. He wasn't Kevin Stefanski running Baker out of town because he must have Watson. Pickett was QB1 in his class now I never loved him or thought he was a first round talent but a team without a QB took a shot on the consensus QB1 at their original drsft spot without trading up. I am not killing anyone for that.... and then wanting Rodgers over Russ and Fields..... I mean that isn't a terrible call. If you want to say them having no QB since Ben is all on Tomlin it is definitely not. Their coaching remains consistently better than their talent evaluation and their Quarterbacking. I do think he might need to be encouraged to risk his no losing season record to allow a hard reset of the roster and if he was really resistant to that I would then consider firing him as an owner. But if he said, yep, I'm on board, let's accept one down year, clean up our cap and see where we land then there is no way I'd fire him. He is and remains a very fine football coach.

The biggest problem in Pittsburgh is not Mike Tomlin. It is they can't find an answer at Quarterback and since Omar Khan took over they have not drafted great. If they fire Tomlin he'd be hired in minutes.

I think the Rams are the team to beat despite them losing to a poor Carolina team this past weekend. There is no dominant team in the NFL right now. I think the AFC is wide open.

It was Babich. I said after the Falcons game if McDermott takes over the D (and he needed to) the two things he would fix were 3rd down and pre-snap.... because those were coaching issues. And he has. There are plenty of other issues still with the D.... but the things that were very clearly coaching were fixable and have largely been fixed.

It was the 2nd level - linebackers and nickel / dime players. They have been the biggest issue all season.