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GunnerBill

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Posts posted by GunnerBill

  1. i think it plays a role. i certainly rooted for manning over brady any chance i could get.

     

    I'm not saying you are wrong.... I think it is human.... as I said I really dislike Rafael Nadal for no other reason than he was Federer's rival. It's the same principle. But I think for a lot of Bills fans it means they are predisposed to think Peyton Manning is this loveable, angelic type figure rather than the flawed individual that he is.

  2. i'm more on the side of liking manning, but i just don't get the dislike for him. a tea bagging incident? is it amazingly d-bagish? of course, but people move on. hell...let's not forget that brady completely took off on his pregnant girlfriend when he felt he found someone better. one doesn't make the other more right or wrong, but manning strikes me as much more likable.

     

    This is what I am talking about..... Bills fans like Manning because he isn't Brady.

  3. Analytics is so much more than in game decisions, people need to understand that analytics is not just going for it on 4th downs. It is used very effectively to monitor player performance both in game and in practice. Players use analytics to make their workouts more effective and get the most out of their bodies. It is an extremely useful tool that for some reason personally angers people who can't stand to think sports change and adapt over time.

     

    Yes absolutely. I didn't mean to suggest otherwise. The uselessness of that surface level 4th down analytics is just a particular bug bear of mine. I am very pro the use of data in sport to better understand performance.

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    They don't go for it because it goes against their "gut" and the old school mentality of coaching, and they are more focused on the specific moment than in long-term probabilities. There are times it won't work and they're more concerned about being second-guessed than in trusting the data.

     

    It's the same thing as basic strategy in blackjack. The data is tried and true -- if you follow basic strategy (the math) religiously then over the long haul you will come out almost even with the house. How many people refuse to hit 16 against a 10, though, because their "gut" won't let them do it when they have a big bet out there?

     

    Getting back to football, I do agree that you have to factor game variables into the decision -- but those are simply additional data points from which the algorithms are derived.

     

    No they don't do it because they have done actual analytics which goes beyond the surface numbers and considers the variables and tells you a strategy of going for every 4th down is simply not supported by robust data. There are times, of course there are, when teams don't go for it on 4th down because they are trapped by conventional thinking but those are not as prevalent as most fans assume. Quite often proper analytics that factors in the variables in any single independent decision will not support a decision to go for it.

  5. I think one of the issues is there is a disconnect between the "surface level" numbers that get loosely termed "analytics" and actual "analytics". The 4th down thing is an example of that. There is that number out there that says a team going for it on every 4th down would have a positive points differential overall as against a team who take the conventional punt and FG route. However, actual analytics would need to isolate certain numbers in that assessment and consider the variables at play. For example, 4th downs in a team's own half of the field have a high success % but they are rarely tried beyond 2 minute drills at the end of a game when a defense will often not sell out to stop the run in a 4th a short scenario because they are protecting against the big play down the field. The reason teams don't go for every 4th down is not because they are "ignoring analytics" it is because the reality of analytics is much deeper and more complex than the "surface level" numbers that are loosely thrown around on twitter.

     

    I think that is a bit what C Biscuit is getting at.... not that numbers can never help.... but that surface level headline numbers that ignore the multitude of variables are little better than gut instinct ever was. That isn't to say the Bills can't get better and sharper in their use of data to assist in gameplanning and scenario based decision making - they clearly can and hopefully they will.

  6. totally agree. i used the same philosophy with bell last year and it worked out great.... i took him 4th(he slipped becuz people were scared off) and then i just went about drafting rb's and wr's and just pulled the trigger on williams early. i wanna say it was the 6th round. worked out great.

     

    i would do the exact same thing in this situation.

    Yea I managed to get Bell in the late first / early in the 2nd in two leagues last year and he won me matchups single handed down the stretch. You just have to maybe be a bit more willing to take an extra RB early to back him up.

  7. Glad you said it's your opinion.

     

    I disagree.

     

    But we're never going to know for sure.

    I agree, we won't. What we do know for sure is it only became definitively mutual once the pay cut was agreed. And in my mind that was absolutely the right play from both sides. Bringing Tyrod back at his old deal was always 50/50 for me... or probably 51/49 against. Bringing him back on this deal was an absolute no brainer and from Tyrod's side I agree with you - playing for the Jets or the Browns for more money wasn't worth the likely reputational damage of being the QB of a sucky team.

     

    Whether Houston was interested I am less sure. I heard very strongly they were always Romo or draft a guy. I suspect they are going to be very happy with their choice for a very long time.

  8. Lol, so you pretty much agree that when we do break the drought it won't be enough

    How did you get that from my posts in this thread? I have said I am more bothered this year by performance rather than win total. All I said above before we start saying fans will never be satisfied lets wait until the Bills give us something to be satisfied over.

     

    You can check my posting history I was pretty satisfied with both of the Marrone years because I saw some things I felt I needed to see for me to feel good about the future. The last two years not so much.

     

    When we become a Texans or Bengals make the playoffs a few years in a row but lose early then probably fans will not be satisfied and you can come here and tell them they will never be satisfied. But you can't tell them that when they have only seen 2 winning seasons (both no playoffs) in 17 freaking years!

  9. Tyrod does miss receivers in the middle of the field but he misses open receivers on the outside too. I don't think it is a middle of a field issue so much as it is either a reluctance to throw the ball or he doesn't read the field well enough. I think upon studying the tape it is the latter, but I can't be sure. It is an educated guess. I don't really care which it is... I just want him to improve on it.

  10. Myself personally, the Bills new HC McD just spent the last few years watching Cam Newton rip a new A hole in NFL Defenses across the league and Tyrod Taylor wasn't getting out of Dodge that easily,

     

    Tyrod and Buffalo was mutual...

     

    Well it was only mutual once he agreed to the pay cut. If Tyrod had refused the pay cut and contract slashing my gut instinct (though this is opinion, obviously) is that he wouldn't be in Buffalo.

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