The Frankish Reich

That, plus Murray and Fournette are about as similar as RBs come as far as rushing/receiving. Murray is older, but Fournette seems to have more mileage on him. They are both very useful players, and it was a good idea to sign Fournette for depth. But I don't see any compelling reason to choose one over the other, except of course the pass blocking.

And why not Murray over Fournette? Murray played that limited role effectively all year. Fournette hasn't shown anything to separate himself. Strikes me as kind of a toss-up.

True. Back when Norwood went wide right from 47, that was a difficult kick for kickers of his time. It really isn't (or shouldn't be) anymore, simply because the quality of kickers in general is so much better now. Good article on exactly how good NFL kickers are now: https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2023/12/09/nfl-kickers/ "What’s unique about kickers’ success this season is how frequently coaches have trusted them — with justification — from length. NFL teams have attempted 177 field goals of at least 50 yards, already the third most ever and on pace to break the record set last year. Kickers have made 67.2 percent. Jan Stenerud, the first kicker elected to the Hall of Fame, made 66.8 percent of his field goals — from all distances. Jake Elliott delivered one of the signature moments of the season when he drilled a 59-yard field goal off wet turf, through wind and driving rain to push the Philadelphia Eagles into overtime against the Buffalo Bills on Nov. 26. The circumstances heightened Elliott’s kick, but he is hardly alone. Four kickers this season have made a field goal of at least 60 yards, and 11 have drilled at least one from at least 57."

FG kickers 30 years ago were not on the same level as FG kickers today. Gary Anderson was thought of as the best back then. In 1990 he went 8 of 13 from 40+. That's ... 61 percent. And his longest FG was 48.

Bad for the NFL: Cowboys, Eagles out. Good for the NFL: Lions, Bills, Packers still in. Good for the NFL: Mahomes vs. Allen. Again. People can find a reason for why it is "fixed" regardless of who wins. The NFL wants viewers and attention. They're getting it regardless of who wins what game.

No. But I'm pretty sure some of our mock draft experts scout those players.

I don't want to jinx it, but ... ahh, what the hell: if this patched-together defense continues to play well against KC next weekend, it'll be one of the best coaching jobs I've seen. There's just no way any other team loses so many key players and continues to play at this level.

You want a guy who: - won't fumble a snap - will get the kick off on time - will be generally adequate: sufficient hang time to prevent a big return, etc. Anything else is a bonus. Sometimes "just good enough" is good enough. There are guys out there who've punted a lot in the NFL, who've stayed in punting shape, who are waiting by the phone .... Sam Martin was one of those guys when the Araiza thing blew up.

And you weren't listening. The extreme poverty measure is set at $2.15 a day. Not an hour. A day. These are people who are largely disconnected from the world economy at large. A little bit more of a connection, a lot more ability to make the journey to the U.S.-Mexico border. That is consistent (not inconsistent) with the fact that more and more people are being brought into the international economy, even though that also brings with it such things as increased illegal immigration.

Supply and demand. Plus for private lots it costs money to clear feet of snow to make those parking spots available.

I'd say you want a trusted old hand even more. We've seen lots of veteran free agent signed-off-the-street punters and FG kickers come in with a couple days of practice and perform decently the very next Sunday.

Who makes it to our border? Particularly from faraway lands like India or Africa? Is it the 100% destitute, downtrodden, "extreme poverty" masses? No. It's people with some wherewithal to make the journey, pay a smuggler, etc. The fact remains: extreme poverty is down, down, down. And the world economic order, such as it is, made that happen.

So I gotta assume we'll bring in a free agent punter by tomorrow, just in case Martin is absolutely unable to go. Araiza would be a long shot - you don't want a guy who's never punted (or held) in an NFL game to make his debut in the playoffs. What veteran current free agent punters are out there? I can't find a reliable list.

This is a preposterously negative view of world trends. Just Google "extreme poverty rates" - the percentage of people living in absolute poverty and hopelessness. The trend has been down, down, down for decades. There was an upward blip with the post-COVID economic slowdown, but it is trending in the right direction again. Is the "World Order" everything we hope it should be? No. But let's not forget that the liberal (in the old, small "l" sense), free trade-centric, capitalist world order has had a remarkable record of success in the last several decades. People ought to think about that before they call for the overturn of the world order without having any idea of what might follow.

He was also out there testing future Trump campaign themes. Just how outrageous can you get? January 6 was an inside job? 9/11 was an inside job? Thankfully the more out there he got, the more his momentum stalled.

Wasn't there a photo of Tyreek in an air cast while his house was on fire? And then he played this weekend.

Von at least created some pressure on that last failed drive, but he still can't quite get home ...

In other words, "back for the Super Bowl"

It wasn't a fake slide. And watching it again (and again, and again), I don't see a fake slide. But to be perfectly honest, watching in real time I totally thought he was pulling up and going into a slide. And I can see how that have put some Steelers back on their heels. But still ... no way it was a "fake slide."

You see the Steelers getting to 28? 30? Cause even with our decimated D, I don't.

Next week: Araiza!

Gotta hand it to them. They knew when it was time to start planning to move on from Favre by drafting Rodgers. And they knew when it was time to hand the job to Rodgers too. And then they did it all over again with Love.

Many here would prefer to live in these modern-day Garden of Eden Republican strongholds. I offer you ... the Great Southern Tier, where traditional small-town values of God, Meth, and Government Benefits still rule the day. https://www.post-journal.com/news/top-stories/2019/01/plight-of-blight/

It was a fun ride. Flacco has always been kind of a surly disagreeable guy, at least publicly, but he seemed to actually be enjoying this last waltz, at least in a Joe Flacco kind of way. A nice ending. Now know when to walk away for good.

Somebody jumped there, but I think the officials just want to get back to the hotel at this point.