The Frankish Reich

Correct. Dane Jackson was toast is retrospective looking. This one is about the Dane Jackson problem going forward. And with that, I will issue a reminder that last year was our year.

This is why Leslie Frazier deserves credit, not blame. Dane Jackson, Christian Benford, and Damar Hamlin are recent Day 3 draft picks who should not be starters on any NFL team, much less a Super Bowl favorite team. That's not to say they're useless players - all 3 have had their moments this year (and Hamlin has generally been good in run support). It's just that they are all limited/role player guys pressed into critical roles.

If you check the archives here, I am quite sure you will also find "Never draft an Alabama QB." I think there was some sense to the old "Never draft a [name of college] QB" when college offenses were wildly different. It is the same way of thinking that got USC or Stanford labeled as NFL QB factories. It's really difficult to make it in the NFL

Well…no. There’s still a fair amount of randomness in football - weird bounces, perfectly thrown balls that bounce off a receiver and turn into interceptions, etc. The NBA season is too long and teams take certain games off, but you aren’t seeing a team without 2 or 3 legitimate stars ever losing to a team of replacement level players when it counts.

1. If the salary cap and other things are negotiated with the NFLPA - the players’ collective bargaining union - then it’s perfectly legal. 2. If not - and the NFLPA seems to be saying that they never bargained for standard contracts being non-guaranteed - then it is illegal. Execs from Walmart, Target, Costco, Home Depot, etc. aren’t allowed to all get together at a private meeting and agree that nobody will pay a starting sales associate more than $10 (or $20, or whatever) per hour. That’s illegal and it has been illegal for a century or so. As to whether they can prove it? That’s a different story. But the baseball player’s association - a much stronger and better run union - has been able to prove collusion before, most recently proving that teams colluded to put a ceiling on salaries of free agent players.

I think I am the only football fan in the world who thought that Bryce Brown was screwed out of a legitimate shot.

I think Bill Maher said this a few years ago after a botched lethal injection — say what you will about the death penalty, but it shouldn’t be hard to kill someone. Every day we hear about accidental exposures to fentanyl killing someone. And the old Dr Kevlrkian death machine was just carbon monoxide — another manner of death in which people drift off in their sleep … Oh, I agree. But I’m speaking of confessions (affirmed in court), etc. Or true no-doubters like the mass shooters.

Not necessarily. The part about the possibility of executing the innocent could be nearly eliminated by raising the standard of proof. You can be convicted - and executed in many states - based on a jury finding that you’re guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. So may that means a 1% chance that you didn’t do it? Take 1,000 convicts on death row and that’s 10 innocent people being executed. What if we made juries find “no doubt whatsoever” in the penalty phase? Obviously this won’t satisfy people with a moral objection to the concept of capital punishment, but it would do much to satisfy those with more pragmatic concerns.

True … it’s an “always darkest before dawn” low point.

Yep. Not one play that symbolized a franchise hitting bottom, but one half of a game. If only Vontae Davis had quit in the middle of a defensive series (walking out the tunnel never to return) we would have one of the all-time low points. But if there’s no video it’s like it never even happened.

Agreed. No knock on Trey Lance, but Jimmy G being restored as starting QB is the best thing that could have happened to their playoff prospects this year. CMC is the second. He’s got himself a West Coast version of the Dolphins offense to manage now, and he’s fully capable of managing that right through the rest of the NFC.

You really want to go there - the Billsiest moments of the Forgotten Decades …

Hey, I’m not saying he’s The Answer. I’m saying there’s a reasonable chance he doesn’t suck as bad as Zach Wilson or Joe Flacco. It’s a low bar ….

I think you’re right. Contrary to popular belief, I think these last 2 seasons are showing that Belichick is a fantastic coach. He’s squeezing out wild card berth type performances with a Case Keenum (at best!) at QB with little talent on offense around him. O, Football Gods, please keep the Pats in QB purgatory for two decades … Mike White is in the house! He has Taylor Heineke or Gardner Minshew written all over him. Let’s hope the Jets don’t go there.

My fear in the Bills-Jets game was that Wilson would go down and Mike White would take over at QB. That almost happened - Wilson took a hit and White was warming up. I still stand by my comments last year after a White’s one huuuge game that there’s a small possibility that he could actually be good, which is more right now than Wilson and Flacco are showing.

They did look just as bad. But I’m a bit confused about the part where that’s “sad”

Nice to see that someone (not anyone here, apparently) appreciates Leslie. Even nicer to see that the ones who appreciate him are the ones who count.

Yes, you are! 😜

The first three got their first (only) Super Bowl wins in their second or third NFL head coaching gigs. McDermott: Super Bowl winner, Carolina Panthers, Super Bowl LX, February 2026.

Or maybe McKissic wouldn't have suffered the hits that apparently caused the season ending neck injury if he'd played in different games on different surfaces for different teams. Meanwhile: let's debate whether Micah Hyde would still be playing for someone else if we'd traded him away last offseason.

Oh, I agree with that. When I lived in the mountains I ran true winter tires. But most people will avoid the hassle/storage of switching out, so my point is that not all "All Season" tires are created equal. So ... Nokian is my go-to now. Wear a little faster running on hot summer roads, but a good compromise since they're still excellent in the snow and ice.

Nokian. The Finns know winter. Awesome all season tires that handle whatever the Rockies bring.

This Buffalo you speak of sounds like a lovely place. I really must plan a vacation there. Maybe next November.

True. But you gotta love how Detroit is considered a "temperate" climate if you're from Buffalo.

Should people unable to leave a hospital/nursing facility be disenfranchised? Should active duty servicemen abroad? Look, you have a point, but your point is way too broad. As for debates: no, I wouldn’t try to require them (and for federal office, I see no authority to require them). The opponent can make what she will of the refusal to debate, and the voters can decide whether that matters.