GunnerBill

A hit piece does not have to be lies. I think a lot of what was in the article was a deeper dive into things that have been observable to a degree with McDermott. But it was a hit piece because it really made no attempt at balance. It was simply a "here is a list of all the bad stuff." As I said at the time, as a former journalist myself, if you were writing that for a proper news outlet you'd have been more restricted by editorial standards. You have the freedom in blog format to ignore the need to present any kind of balanced assessment and as long as it is well researched and well written (and think what you want about Ty he is a really talented writer) and not defamatory you can publish.

They couldn't have stayed at their spot and taken Evans. He went #8 and the Bills were at #9 before the trade from memory. Evans was my guy that year though. He was, is and always has been a stud. He will end up with a gold jacket.

Okay, Black Monday was a damp squib but with Antonio Pierce's firing we are at technically seven openings right now. However, I am pretty sure McCarthy and Dallas are going to come to an agreement on an extension in the next week after the Cowboys refused him permission to interview with the Bears. It feels like there is a mutual interest in continuing that relationship so I am going to exclude them for now, which leaves us with six. The game is quite simple: predict who will end up as the Head Coach in each of the six spots: New England Patriots - Mike Vrabel - I think this one is the easiest to peg. The Patriots have raced through their two Rooney Rule interviews (with Pep Hamilton and Byron Leftwich) and I feel like Mayo's firing was in part triggered by the thought of Vrabel taking the Jets job. Kraft has also shown he is willing to give out a large degree of personnel control to coaches and I think that is what Vrabel is looking for. New York Jets - Aaron Glenn - Which will leave the Jets looking at plan B. I suspect plan B is Aaron Glenn and if they can snag the Lions defensive coordinator I think they will. The Saints are in play for him too. Chicago Bears - Ben Johnson - Johnson has told the Jets they might as well not bother putting in an interview request and is leaning towards declining an interview with the Jaguars. That leaves the Bears and the Patriots as his two options. He could decide to return to Detroit again as OC. The Bears is a job with a decent roster, a young 1st overall pick at QB... but in the toughest division in football. New Orleans Saints - Joe Brady - Mickey Loomis will be the man making this hire and the speculation is the three real candidates are the three guys the 69 year old GM already knows and is comfortable with: Aaron Glenn, Joe Brady and interim coach Darren Rizzi. I suspect their preference would be in that order too. If Glenn doesn't go to the Jets he gets hired here. If he does then Joe Brady is the man in line. If he passes to stay with the Bills they will hire Rizzi and no doubt do the whole thing again in two years time. Jacksonville Jaguars - Liam Coen - The Jags are hard to pin my guess is they end up going with another offensive mind in a last ditch attempt to turn around the career of Trevor Lawrence. Coen's work with the Buccs offense has shot him into contention and unlike Johnson and Brady who might feel confident betting on themselves to be in contention again next year is they don't fancy jobs in this cycle, Coen feels a bit like a now or never guy. Las Vegas Raiders - Brian Flores - Tom Brady's influence here makes me feel like they are going to try and "Patriot Way" themselves out of the current mess. I'm sure they'd love to snag Vrabel but if he goes back to New England then maybe Belichick's former defensive coordinator who went 24-18 after starting 0-7 in his three seasons as the Dolphins Head Coach. There is my attempt. Fire away with yours.

And this receiver draft is setting up to be the thinnest in a little while.

Oh for sure the meeting and building of relations after the last article was initiated by McDermott. Don't think that is in any doubt.

I think they want Vrabel. But don't expect to get him. I do think Rex is a real option for them though.

I do think it has played into his decision to keep them. It is that and a desperate desire not to be a hire and fire owner.

Pierce now FIRED by Vegas.

I just doubt Eric has really sat down and looked at those plays. He is giving his gut reaction after seeing them from the comms box. And if he has and he has come to that conclusion I am afraid I think he is wrong.

Yep. Big slot or inside the number in tight splits and as a redzone guy.

And without blowing my own trumpet too much I was saying exactly the same as Matt about 3 weeks before he did his Coleman breakdown last Feb time. He saw the exact same guy I did when I watched the tape. As for the outside thing it lines up ti what Roquan Smith said after the Baltimore game too. He basically said "our plan was let them have the outside, they can't beat you there."

But the playoff game was two weeks away. Sure, you can be in the protocol that length of time but it is unusual. I don't buy it.

But why would they do that? What would be the incentive to take that risk? You need a motive.

You get in pretty serious trouble witb the NFL lying about injuries. In the worst case scenario you can lose draft picks. It makes no sense for the Bills to lie about this. If they are saying there is a personal matter, there is a personal matter. If he was showing any concussion symptoms he would be in the protocol. I don't believe he was.

Reads like there has been contact between the two for a while. Probably a mutual understanding of the benefits of doing it.

I have an aquaintance, not quite friend, who runs a reasonably sized Liverpool FC blog and he has changed his model recently from monthly subscription to pay as you go for their "premium" content. So you sign up, input your card details but then are only charged when you access a premium article. Not sure what his conclusions are yet on if it is working but I thought it was an interesting idea.

It is something that has been a Keon issue for as long as he has played football from what I can tell. It was all over his college tape. I do think it is coachable but I'd be shocked if nobody has tried by this point in his development. He is still a young player. He still has time. But he needs to improve because even with Josh Allen as your Quarterback every throw outside being a contested ball is a tough way to make a living. 100%. He is much better with the ball in his hands than he is running routes downfield to become a target for his QB. This should not come as a surprise. This was all there on the college tape. The way the Bills were using him in the 2/3 games just before his injury is the way forward. Shorter passes, use the middle of the field, create catch and run opportunities. No. But if he is running a go route there are not many other plays that could have been called. Unless he was supposed to be running a post and ran a go but if that is the case he was even more in the wrong spot...

They are standard routes in the route tree.

They were only not catchable because of where he gets himself. It is his route running and concession of leverage that makes the balls uncatchable. A couple of the ball placements can be bettet but they were there to make a play on if Keon actually runs the route, maintains his leverage and positions himself properly on the field. Instead he is trying to play off contact all the time. It is infuriating to watch.

I am not disconnected from reality. I just think he is overrated on the basis of one excellent adjustment in the playoffs vs Mahomes. In six years as the Bengals DC they have been in top half of the league for points or yards ONCE (2021 when they were for both) and have never been better than 20th in the league on 3rd down. Yes, you have to give him credit for the fact his defenses have generally played better in the post season. But unless your argument is that he intentionally sandbags in the regular season I'm not sure how you explain that beyond the general randomness of the NFL. I don't think he is a terrible DC. But for someone whose reputation is as a great defensive mind you'd want to see better production. I do agree this year they had lost some talent but he still has players on that D good enough to be better than they were.

Very feasible. He was on the same Dolphins staff as Dan Campbell as well as Zac Taylor.

Eric is wrong.

I think they could too. But they will have to be better than that to convince the Bills to sacrifice the continuity. One of them would have to be bashing the door down I think.

David Edwards was "his" draft pick too if we are talking Kromer. He is very much his guy. I don't see a route for SVPG to start next year.

For sure. But I'd bet a dime to a dollar he wants the continuity too.