The Frankish Reich

actually, this game shows the value of Mac Jones. 1. Take what the defense gives you. 2. Don't turn the ball over. 3. Let the defense do its job.

Ouch. But true.

And this Ravens team is the top seed if the season were to end today? Really?

Kickers (well, Tucker) are too good now. I find nothing thrilling in playing for a half-ending FG. Nevermind. Lamar just proved me wrong.

What I hate about it is that it was a depth pick. That's wonderful when you don't have any glaring weakness somewhere else on the field to address. But when you do (O line) you get a much bigger bang for your draft pick by going that route.

Right. Landry running full speed to get loose is not going to get caught by any DT.

Crazy sloppy game. And Jarvis Landry, hahah.

Thank you. That's all the encouragement I needed.

OK, should I pull the plug on this one and get outside (hey it's 65 degrees in Colorado today)? Or is a big comeback on the way?

Re: Jones. No, I'm not "worried" about him. I just think he has a general air of competence - despite being a rookie, he has the Pats offense working the way it was before TB left town, although I am in no way implying that he's the next Brady. Cam Newton was never able to accomplish that (which in all honesty may say more about Cam). Come to think of it, maybe Mac is the next Matt Cassell - a perfectly competent system QB with no significant upside. That's a scenario I could definitely live with.

True. Particularly with Allen locked in for a long time, there's no comparison to the lost generation. For me it's more of disappointment that we don't get our few years alone at the top while NE suffers through a true rebuild.

Agreed. But I'm thinking that he's at least prime Andy Dalton-esque, and of course maybe better. I was kind of hoping for AJ McCarron-esque.

I don't know how good he is yet, but it pains me to say ... he's good.

Correct. As with most (all?) teams, there's only one player that's absolutely irreplaceable -- the QB. This makes things much more difficult, but I wouldn't count us out with no White.

All of this agrees with my experience. The coldest days in Minnesota are typically sunny (not that you can feel the sun) and calm. I have to agree with you, Buffalo is just one of the most miserable winter climates with wind/cloud cover/snow/cold all together.

And the fine if you do all three?

This Buffalo you speak of seems to be a very appealing place to visit. I must make a plan to visit sometime, preferably in December - February.

Apparently one of each.

Re: CB depth. Other than the Broncos, who were resolutely focused on acquiring CB depth in the offseason (as if CB depth was their primary problem), I agree that no team is in particularly good shape there. You lose one of the best CBs in the game, the dropoff is going to be huge.

This makes the most sense. And it fits with McKenzie's weird comment about his season being over (unless another WR goes down). I also have the feeling McD is still peeved about McKenzie's stupid tweeting earlier this year. You are not Aaron Rodgers, Isaiah ... marginal players should know when it's best to just keep quiet and play.

Question: I haven't tried to compile the stats, but I assume Belichick's old pal Ernie Adams and his team did, which is why they'd use their star slot receiver (Welker/Edelman) to return punts (not kickoffs). And I think it's a fair assumption that they found that sure-handed guys who were actually in the game provided sufficient value to outweigh the slightly added injury risk, and that their ability to use their judgment (fair catch, let it bounce, return it) and to make positive yardage when they decided to return it outweighed their lesser ability (as opposed to a McKenzie type) to take a return all the way for a TD. So .. Cole Beasley, punt returner? Not saying it's the right choice, but I'm guessing that if he were on the Pats that's a job he'd have. Why haven't other teams done this?

That's a good point. His reputation precedes him. As opposed to, say, "sure handed" Andre Roberts, who fumbled 3X last year. There's also the fact that Breida's emergence makes McKenzie's role as a speed threat on offense a little less critical.

He fumbled 6 (!) times in his rookie year with the Broncos, which is the main reason they cut him. The KO return fumble was his sole fumble this year. I'd say the evidence is that he's corrected the problem and that the KO return thing was just a weird wet field phenomenon.

I thought that made it more excusable. Slick field, feet come out from under him, ball pops loose. I mean, don't we give receivers more benefit of the doubt when they drop a wet ball? The QB more benefit of the doubt when a wet ball slips out of their hand and results in an INT? Not securing the ball when you should be expecting to be hit is one thing. Losing the ball when the unexpected happens is another altogether.

I would feel just a little bit safer if you changed the screen name. 🤯