YattaOkasan

? we played the dolphins early last year but it was more of us beating FitzMagic (White interception and Hyde return were 2019); the other dolphins game was the last game of the season and that didnt come down to the wire. I am in general disagreement about McD getting less aggressive with a lead. We had this discussion a lot last year with the 3rd quarter woes. But it was less coaching as we continued to call pass plays at the same rate. Just some bad luck in execution that we turned around later in the season.

For sure. Your comment caused my mind to contrast their lack of talent at the position versus our overwhelming depth. For both teams there seems to be pretty consistent performance from all players on the depth chart; just with us were talking about an all pro that starts and they are talking about just a guy that starts.

Put it on Sanders' and Mckenzie's board too. We can also spin the dial through division of labor in the slot. All 3 could have a good day if we wanna keep legs fresh.

Im not a point differential stan but i do think it adds value. I thought the steelers were a paper tiger and point differential was indicative there. Cleveland was worse in Point differential than us and left the playoffs earlier (is that what youre saying)? doesnt that support point differential at predicting playoff success? For Miami, there were some other metrics like FG, TO, and Defensive TDs that indicated a regression to me. Overall though I i think point differential has done better than most. What were the many more important metrics for predicting future success?

Needs to be taken in context. The Steelers were the other team being discussed in the point differential discussion last year. And as @Mango mentioned they finished weak and were knocked out of the playoffs in embarrassing fashion. The context to me is why point differential so close. For us our D was injured and we got healthy the second half which resulted in us dominating teams. For the Steelers it was a concern as they took a couple more injuries and their schedule got harder.

Tomlin removed him as captain so hes at least raising the ante.

Do we know the vaccination status in the CB room? I sorta assume Tre is. Maybe that’s why they feel so comfortable with so few? Would make sense given that we know we have at least two DL that are not vaccinated.

Bates and Doyle inactive means you can only dress 46 so get two more. I’m certain at least one DL (there are 11!) will be inactive.

I got Doyle, Obada/Basham, Butler, Dodson, Breida/Moss. I think Kumerow and Smith offer too much ST value. Hamlin is a good guess though.

Are we talking about watt not being named a captain? He seems more up in the air than I thought at the start of the weekend.

So I don’t need to watch now that the season has been spoiled

Only last year were we weak against tight ends. We have been good other years. Run defense has been a problem but I don’t think they have the horses on OL.

I think youre calling Gronk last year a star? He played well in that game but I'm not sure he was a star for the year. Also looking prior to the last 7 years there was a dearth of TE talent in Super Bowl. I agree a star TE can be a tactical advantage but with limited resources how do you prioritize getting one. Are they more important than a number 3 receiver? a number 2?

Hes essentially being double teamed so yes i think it can happen. On the cody and ike discussions i think its gonna be a rotation right away. ford might start but i think ike will get reps in the games.

Word I agree. Thanks.

Sure but if were gonna contextualize the losses I think the wins should be as well. Rams had 4 TOs! in that game. Cardinals gave up a huge defensive TD that was I think at least a 10 point swing. Oakland you took off his win total but is almost certainly a loss if he stays in the game. Also very hard to get too excited by his <175 yards passing in wins against chargers and Pats. I also see some fortunate ST plays like a blocked punt against chargers and missed game tying FG on the final drive of the Cardinals game. Basically wins and losses are a team stat. I thought you were on board with that.

Early in the 4th quarter last year of week 2 I realized we were playing Fitzmagic. When Josh out dueled him I knew it was gonna be a special year. So Fitz was pretty good last year (granted all the caveats about our defense).

Cause of the dead cap Butler is not a great person for the vested veteran re-sign game. You have to pay him his guaranteed salary and then re-sign him with a new deal. Doesn't make much sense.

Agree Mac is a better passer. Was really trying to say they attack similar parts of the field (Middle and TEs). Lamar had a better line his first few years than Mac's this year. Probably a bit of a toss up right now which is better, but I can get on board with Pats OL > Ravens OL. I like Meyers don't know if I see that coming. Their offense is much better imo. They have a lot of weapons but a poor QB.

Don't forget Spencer Brown in the Lee Smith role

Sure and honestly I think his game so far has translated to the NFL about as well as can be expected. However I still see a huge windup to get the ball to the middle of the field. Processing seems to the be key to me. If he can be elite in that space he has a chance to be a good QB. Unfortunately you dont really get a good test of that in the preseason. Sure. You were the one who mentioned Brady so I thought I would sort out the part about Brady being special. Yes youre right this is their offense; however, you also don't see many high octane running offenses. The exception is Lamar who does similar things in the passing game (albeit in a less accurate way), but without his speed I dont know that yall will generate enough points.

Prior to last year we had been very good at covering TEs. We have also given more headaches to the best run offense in the league (Ravens) than any one else. I think Pats will be too one dimensional for their run game to be effective.

As @PatsFanNH mentioned up thread there is not another Brady so.... It being not in the offense is the point. Teams wont have to guard against it and can throw more peeps in the middle to stop those throws. Thats where he seems to be doing damage in the preseason. It might not be the first half of the season but it will get taken away eventually. Thats when well see if Mac will be any good.

I think its impressive from a GM perspective. Really shows how him and McD work together. Theserookies are not necessarily the best players at this moment. For example I think Josh Thomas played better than Hamlin (its close so fine if someone disagrees), but I definitely still wanted Hamlin on the roster (even potentially over Thomas). The reason (I think but would like some help with) is to retain that rookie contract and control. This doesnt happen if McD and Beane are not on the same page for roster construction both this year and going forward.

Appreciate the follow up on this rule; I was sorta answering a different question which is a bit different than the question asked and I think your answer is better for the question asked. The question I was thinking about was why don't we just make Webb a coach? For that question I just don't think its enticing enough for Webb because we wouldnt pay him as much as he would make as a player (again assuming hes not being hidden there to play later per the rule you stated). Yes you can pay a coach whatever you want, but if you start playing an Assistant QB coach so much you better believe its gonna make all your other coaches more expensive. Again thanks for the indicating the rule.