The Frankish Reich

Thanks for the explanation. I missed all of that - if the network doesn’t replay it I’m always hesitant to run it back myself and get out of synch with real time action. I like Gilliam and the idea of having a FB to mix up the sets, and I think we’ll continue to see more of him this year.

Yep. I’m used to Von wearing 58, so when I saw 40 coming off the edge to get Stanford from behind I thought “which safety blitzed there.” That’s how sleek and trim Von looks out there now. Von slimmed way down to regain that old quickness, just like his buddy DeMarcus Ware did for his last couple seasons in Denver. And it’s gonna be fun to watch.

I did say “not better than Kupp.” I think we’re seeing they’re two of the best.

Update, early returns (3:00 left, 2nd quarter) strongly suggest that No, Diggs is not better than Kupp.

I think maybe this thread has run its course? Having said that, I’m hoping that after tonight it’s back in full force, Diggs having proven the point.

Agreed. If only we could turn back the clock to about 1980 to start all over again. That was the age of “no nukes” that really took off after Three Mile Island. When nuclear was largely abandoned, the US (and then the world) turned sharply toward fossil fuels again. The risks of nuclear failure were immediate and obvious: potential meltdowns (really only one - Chernobyl - has ever happened), problems storing waste, etc. The risks of fossil fuels were distant and diffuse, but potentially much greater in impact.

Tell that to my spring peas that withered and died when May brought July like temps. I assume that this is not 100% serious. But you do have a point - climate change is extending growing seasons in areas that were previously pretty marginal for agriculture. That partially offsets the loss of other agricultural production in lower latitudes. But I don’t think you’ll find anyone arguing that this is a net gain.

I'm not a "liberal," but I'll play one on this forum. Why does Trump need to be charged? (Not necessarily "go to prison," but be charged): The only defense I see would be the "I was careless about what I did with classified documents. I may have left them where they could be packed up and shipped -- relatively securely (albeit not in the manner classified docs need to be moved around) -- to Mar-a-Lago. Maybe it was my fault that it was done in a mad dash given that I was kind sorta hoping never to have to move out of the White House, but there was certainly no criminal intent." That's pretty close to why Comey says Hillary wasn't charged. Remember the old debate about "reckless disregard" vs. "carelessness" vs. many other near synonyms? That's the defense. So far his people aren't making that defense in public statements, and maybe that there will be some evidence that he hand-picked the documents he took to his house/hotel and played around with them once they were there. On that part, we'll see. There isn't much to the elements of the basic offenses here. If it's mishandling of classified documents, well, that happened. The "I had a blanket order declassifying everything I took" isn't likely to work, but I guess they'd need to try it. The obstruction thing is a little harder to prove - you'd need to prove intent - but again, that would have to amount to "I'm a bumbling old fool and I didn't know what I had or didn't have at Mar a Lago." Not a good luck for an aspiring president.

It’s probably Knox or Gabe eventually. But “not enough money under the cap to pay all our good players” is a classic good team problem. As far as the wisdom of committing scarce money to Knox vs. Gabe (or another WR): it makes sense to me. They are at about the same stage of development right now - guys who took a big step last year and are poised to enter the ranks of the pro bowlers at their positions. But TEs generally peak later, and elite TEs are a more rare commodity. Ask yourself: when did this franchise last produce one? (“Never” is the answer that comes to mind.) The likelihood of replacing Gabe’s production through other avenues is greater. So yes, this does tie Beane’s hands a bit starting next year, but it’s the kind of calculated risk I applaud him for taking.

I don’t see anything leaked that was national security information. The latest leak is that Trump had some type of nuclear capabilities assessment re: a foreign country or countries. It is no secret that the defense intel community is charged with making such assessments. If someone (including the Trump team) were to leak the contents of that report, then it’s a different story.

Funny, it seems that the leaks so far have proved to be true: - the search was for classified docs. TRUE. - prior friendly requests, and then a subpoena were met with a refusal to return all classified documents (despite an attorney certification to the contrary). TRUE. - some documents were at the highest level of classified. TRUE. Do you want to make a friendly wager as to whether some documents involved nuclear weapons/nuclear assessments? So far the so-called leaks (much of it not a leak at all but info mentioned in the return on the warrant) are batting 1.000

Translation: I never had classified documents in my home. And if I did, they were handed over voluntarily long before the search warrant. And if they weren’t, they were declassified anyway. And if they weren’t declassified, they weren’t very important anyway, and surely had nothing to do with nuclear weapons. And if they did have something to do with nuclear weapons, I only took them to defend myself against anticipated trumped-up charges that are even worse than the mere taking home of classified documents. And besides, what about Hillary’s emails? What about Benghazi?

And to think I almost didn’t click on this thread for fear that it would be one of those Next Gen stats-heavy analytical deep dives.

Hah! They have the same term in French: “Dentes Anglais.” That reputation is well deserved. But … it appears they’re going all American now. Everyone is getting their teeth fixed. It’s no fun anymore.

I take the 5th. But as a more general point: why on earth is the United States now the only advanced democracy run by decrepit 70 and 80 somethings?

As I pointed out earlier: Joe Ferguson started all 14 games in OJ's record breaking 2,000 yard season. He threw for 939 yards. 67 yards per game. Really. 67 passing yards per game. Sorry, but the young uns have no idea how different the NFL was back then. The Bills' offense was like the Broncos Tebow 2011 offense. The passing game was barely existent. Everyone knew OJ was getting the ball (and when he wasn't, the fullbacks - Braxton and Larry Watkins - were) and they still couldn't stop him. Compare Thurman's best year: 2113 yards combined, rushing and receiving. That's awesome. But Kelly threw for 3457 yards. Taking out Thurman's receiving yards, that's still about 2800 yards gained not involving Thurman. OJ was the offense in those peak years. Put him on a team that actually had some other talent (beyond offensive line and a few guys on the defensive side) like the early 90s Bills and that's a Super Bowl team.

Great way of putting it!

First NFL game I ever saw in person was at the old Rockpile, back in about '71. About 9 years old. Yes, that wasAnd I have really vivid memories of OJ in his glory years. I never saw Jim Brown or Gale Sayers (at least not in my football fan memories), but based on clips I'd say they may be #1 and #1A and #1B as far as the ability to accelerate and break any run for a TD. Barry Sanders could break any run too, but it was really a different running style. Eric Dickerson is usually forgotten in these conversations, but he had that turbo boost thing too.

Not at all. That just shows it was a poorly thought-out question. Maybe we want to ask, "The most talented skill set FOR HIS POSITION in Bills history." Otherwise I'm going with the Punt God.

Kind of a strangely phrased question: "most talented player." Best athlete? Well, I suppose that would be a combination of football-relevant skills: strength, speed, agility, arm strength/accuracy, etc. Kind of what we call a "5 tool player" in baseball (hit for average, hit for power, run, field, throw). So that means QB only, or a guy (Marlin Briscoe) who could play QB and other positions too. So that would be: Josh Allen. All by himself. Followed (about a mile lower?) by ... Briscoe? (too small) JP Losman? (too JP Losman) Kemp? Kelly? I don't even know. You see what I mean. EDIT: I just remembered Logan Thomas. So there's your #2. James Harris was rumored to have some running ability (he was never allowed to use it) so maybe he's third.

Not sure we were watching the same OJ as kids. The OJ I saw would be great in any era. His 2,000 yard season (14 games): 6.0 yards per carry. The Bills had a very good O line, but it wasn't Dolphins perfect season good. And we had Joe Ferguson at QB, who was ... barely adequate. How the game has changed: Fergy started all 14 games and threw for a grand total of 939 yards. Less than half what OJ ran for. He was a world class sprinter and could break one at any time - the acceleration when he saw daylight is still the best I've ever seen. Top 5 all-time? No doubter.

Well played.

Sorry, think I quoted the quoter ...

Correct. I'm just making the rhetorical point: if Biden is largely to blame for the rise in gas prices, then he must be largely credited with the fall.

I actually hated the movie. Bullet Train. Post-Tarantino Hollywood dreck. But for 3 bucks? Yeah, the A/C was good.