Last Guy on the Bench

Cool. Let's say you're right in your analysis of SB XXV. (There are a lot more variables at play in a complex phenomenon like a football game than your simple reduction can possibly do justice to, but for the sake of argument, let's say you're right.) You are holding up one bad decision or failure against the LONG pattern of success that @folz outlined. And to you, that means he's a bad coach and can never be "forgiven." You completely erase all the decisions he made along the way to get them to that Super Bowl. I just can't think that way. If you want to argue that Marv wasn't perfect, I'm right there with you. But of course no one is perfect, so that's not much of a discussion. If you want to argue that Marv's failings significantly outweighed his strengths, then I refer you back to @folz's original post.

This is my favorite post of the past five years. Thank you. You're fighting the modern current of smug opinion that labels anything with an imperfection (i.e., everything, eventually) as "trash" and that overlooks the many, many talents and character traits it takes to succeed in even the smallest way at the highest level. Marv had a number of remarkable qualities, and you do a great job showing how those qualities helped him win consistently in many contexts. And that's ignoring the other positive effects he undoubtedly had on many people beyond the football field. And sure the Bills were talented in the 90s, but it is no easy trick getting talents like that to align effectively for a year or two, let alone multiple years in a row. Marv is completely deserving of his HOF recognition, and we were beyond lucky to have had him as our coach.

Chelsea scum here. Good lord your boys waxed us. That was painful. Tip of the hat to you. Premium win. (And I was glad to see Aaronson looking feisty anyway. Took a bit of the sting out.)

Philbin especially. Watching the way he thought about things and interacted with players - I thought he seemed in so far over his head. Very strange choice for the Dolphins (but great for the Bills).

The things they are talking about (e.g., reading leverage) are basic and generic for a professional. Even the most junior opposing coach or player would already know all of this from a glance at film (and from their own systems). I think there is zero risk here. On the other hand, for a nonprofessional like me, these videos are very educational. I love them.

Yep, especially considering he went 29-21 in Chicago with a worse roster. It's definitely not an inflated opinion of the guy to imagine he could go .500 with the Bills.

Very cool story. Thanks for sharing. We are lucky the brother and sister were from Buffalo, so we get the benefit of all of your insight instead of it being wasted on the undeserving fanbase of some other team.

He's not saying anything unreasonable. I'm optimistic. When the Bills are clicking they can crush anyone on offense. And I think the defense will be better this year with the new additions. But they did beat up on a lot of bad QBs last year. And the offense went to sleep at times. The guy wasn't saying anything ridiculous. We might very well lose a game or two more in the division than we have been lately. And we have lots of other tough games. Having said that . . . 20-0! Can't wait!

I don't know if I'd go that far, but it's true that his goodbye was a little thin and chilly for a guy that is usually so emotive.

You obviously know much more about this than most of us. But a quick Google shows that the early Thanksgiving game last year averaged over 26 million viewers. MNF, SNF, and TNF all average substantially fewer viewers than that, these days.

Thanks, I hadn't seen that in his evaluations. Definitely seems like something he could change. It's just a habit. As you say, he's very quick.

Was watching all of Shakir's plays in this Nevada game. Seems like he has a little delay (sometimes even a hitch) at the snap before he starts every route? You can see the other receivers getting off the line into their routes before he does. It's not a quickness thing - to my untrained eye it looks like he kind of stands there or gathers himself at the snap before he leaves the LOS (or wherever he is starting). Any WR experts see the same thing? Is this normal? I don't know much about route running (my big accomplishment this year was finally learning what stacking was - thanks YouTube). Anyway, even if it is an issue, seems like an easy thing to correct. In any case, he had some great plays in this game. A couple of wow catches and a nice punt return. Worth a watch regardless. I'm excited to see him in action this preseason.

What's this stuff about McDermott's good old boys, or small overachievers? Strange narrative. Is it just based on McD's personality and his own story? Because the Bills have been CONSISTENTLY drafting high RAS guys - explosive athletes with good positional size. Where are they small or overachievers? They are drafting giants on OL. DL guys are good sized - Groot makes McD look like a chipmunk. Edmunds is huge for that position. Josh is huge. Their starting corners have decent size. There are a few smallish players, like Milano, who can really ball anyway. And the receivers aren't that big right now. But overall, they have clearly been prioritizing guys with superior athletic traits (including size) who also happen to be very self-motivated football junkies. They've also been trying to get faster, and this draft class will help that. The Bills are not a team of plucky underdogs.

Greg Cosell is completely sold on Shakir in this clip. Raves about him for a couple of minutes. Starts at 10:40. Cosell is not a raver. He is pretty cautious, and while he won't trash guys too often, you always get a sense of his caveats. Not here. He is smiling when he talks about him.

McD looks like a he wants to marry him once he starts explaining his notebook. You can see McD right at the end of that section trying not to smile and doing everything he can to restrain his glee.

Can't argue with that. Another super impressive guy. I hadn't watched much of him, because of the reports that he doesn't tackle (which now seem way overblown). But the more I see, the more sure I am that at worst he will be a decent starting corner. At best, he's got the juice and the mentality to be an all-pro if he puts it together.

I'm going against the chalk to say Bernard. Can't say I had ever heard of him pre-draft, but watching the highlights, reading the scouting reports, and, most of all, listening to him (super impressive guy), he's the kind of player I just love. And I still have a soft spot for a playmaking linebacker, because I am old and haven't quite caught up to the fact that LBs aren't nearly as important as they once were. He's not the best player we drafted (probably), and could just be a kind of useful backup in his career. But I'm hoping he's stamped for bigger things. Love the way he plays. Shakir would probably be second for me.

The most early crowd noise on opening day: Josh comes out of the tunnel Von makes a tackle (especially if a sack) Araiza out for his first punt Not necessarily in that order.

Kiper very high on him on ESPN. Lots of INTs and PBUs. Be interesting to see how he does against NFL talent in training camp. That's a big jump.

Agreed. And my big hope is that Hodgins is fully healthy and can nail down the final spot as a legit outside (though not speed) guy, passing both Kumerow and Stevenson. Really liked him as a draft pick, and it sounds like he has impressed in camp, but just had too many injuries. Who knows, though? I also wonder if they will really keep all three slot-type guys - Crowder, McKenzie, Shakir. Could well be, but could one of them possibly be cut?

From the comments under that highlight video: "ATG MVP Sports Highlights 25 minutes ago He wore 34 in 2017, 26 from 2018-2020, and 2 in 2021!"

I was confused by this too. Thought the highlights were of two different guys who were both fast as *****. But looks like he's both. If you google image search his name, he's wearing 26 and 2 at different times.

I loved Ed Marinaro when I was a kid. Loved that whole Vikes team really. But Good Lord, that was cringe.

Anyone have a preference for best draft tracker? I usually just use the NFL site, but am curious if some have a better interface, more info, etc.

I think the NFL network will stream on the NFL app, but only on smartphones/tablets. Don't think you can stream on a computer or to a TV. Better is to take a free trial from one of the TV providers (YouTube, Hulu, Fubo, etc.). I used up all my free trials (though you can get more with a different email), so I ponied up for half price Sling for a month, which gives me NFL Network and ESPN. But you can get all that for free if you have an email that hasn't been used yet for a trial.