oldmanfan

The D line will be integral to be sure. One of the things I like about McD is that his guys on D know how to tackle. The DBs especially use good technique. As much as Gilmore has thrived in pass coverage, when he was a Bill I got tired of watching him just throw a shoulder at a guy and not even try to bring him down.

You may want to consider the concept of tackling. Where the defender does things like wrap his arms around the runner to bring him down, especially around the legs.

Favre is who I thought of

If you have one great #1 and a bunch of bums at #2-5 then teams will simply double team and do what they have to do to take your elite guy out of the equation. Belichick is great at this. But if you have say several good WRs then it might be better overall because teams can't focus on taking out one player.

Could very well be right

I said above it is a nuanced thing. Accuracy is how close you are to a target, precision is how well you can consistently hit a given spot. The dartboard analogy. They can overlap if you narrow down what your definition of accuracy is to a very small area. I think it was the pff guys that did the analysis and basically defined accuracy as hitting a guy in the numbers. That's a very small window, and at that point being accurate and precise are pretty much the same. I would say having it within the catch radius is accurate, and having the QB hit a spot exactly where he wants it each time (or ball placement as I mentioned above) is being both accurate and precise. Which, to me, is what the greats can do.

I applaud your faith!

For the past 59 years I've gone into each season optimistic (even as a 5 year old that first year). I have a hard time seeing them get to 10 wins (given they already have two losses penciled in with the Pats, who as long as the y have Brady and Belichick I'll continue to write off), but anything's possible! I think a 9-7 record and playoff appearance is in the cards.

I would equate precision with the football term "ball placement". Putting it on a specific spot with each throw. I did a mini-Transplant analysis for two of Allen's games last year. And there were a few throws that were just God awful- way off target. Most were certainly catchable, but if the ball had been put a little farther out front, or a little closer to the sideline, it would have resulted in more success. I've seen Allen quoted this offseason on having to improve his ball placement and I would concur. You used the word consistency, and I certainly agree there. What I'm hoping to see is for him to make quicker reads, find the open guy faster and get the ball there faster. Little more touch on his short throws. Mostly what young QBs generally go through.

Well, not really. But it's not worth the effort arguing the point. The main thing that Transplant and at least one other person here has shown by grading every throw Allen made is that the accuracy thing is overblown.

Well, I disagree. As Transplant has shown Allen's accuracy was good. But being more precise would make a difference between having a guy reach back a bit for the ball and be down there vs. putting it out front where he gains another ten yards because he runs away from contact. But I do think we agree on his potential, and I understand it's a nuanced thing.

I'm sorry you don't care to be educated about precision vs. accuracy as they are, in fact, different and speak to where Allen can improve. As for completion percentage, I agree it's important as a team statistic. Not so much as a barometer for QB performance.

I met a bunch of AFL guys when I was a kid. The team had a basketball team in the off-season that played charity games, and my dad always reffed the one at Cardinal O'Hara. So I'd hang out in the locker room with guys like Lamonica, Al Bemiller, Stew Barber, Paul Costa, Butch Byrd, Ernie Warlick. All great guys.

To each his own

I don't car what Denver fans think, I don't care what Chiefs fans think, and I don't understand why the mods allow a Chiefs fan to come on here and constantly post troll junk.

My heart can't take all this at my advanced age....

Not me!!

That is just awful. Prayers for the young man.

This is an interesting observation; I'm going to try and find the original article. As for whether teams could mandate genetic testing, my wife served on the committee back in the 90's to advise the Clinton administration on genetic testing, and she was at the White House when the act was signed prohibiting discrimination through genetic testing. The issues they had to grapple with centered around how insurance companies and employers would use or misuse genetic testing info to discriminate against folks. I suspect that would apply to testing football players as well.

Because rookies should just walk in and be perfect

People seem to forget that Kim is a local girl. No way she moves the team away from WNY.

Ahem. They should focus on other parts of the team vs. the DBs? You mean like brining in six new O linemen this off season? Or two new WRs and several new TEs. Or drafting a new DT in round 1? Or drafting their leaders on O and D in round 1 last year? Just because you think your opinion is the be all and end all does not mean they haven't addressed other areas of the team outside of the DB. In fact, they have been diligent especially on the O side doing just that.

It is undoubtedly frustrating at times to be a BIlls fan. But I try to remain optimistic each year. I think the only times I can recall going into seasons knowing It as going to be terrible was the era from around '68-'72 when we had coaches who had no clue like John Rauch (using OJ as a decoy!!) and Harvey Johnson, QBs like Dan Darraugh, Marlin Briscoe, James Harris,. Those years were very difficult to be a fan to be sure; much, much more difficult than today. And then of course the Kay Stephenson/Hank Bullough, Bruce Matheson years - another lovely time in Bills history. This year you have a young promising QB, promising guys on defense, a revamped O line, et. So I honestly don't get the negativity in some quarters. Sure, it might not work out. But I'm forced to conclude it's either some kind of psychological defense mechanism to avoid being disappointed again this coming year, or folks just trying to be snarky for the purpose of being so. And yes, those who are claiming the opposite, that we're a Super Bowl contender, the ones that dig through the manure pile because there has to be a pony under there can be just as difficult to deal with. Ultimately we all have opinions, and the fun of this place is to express those and debate those. Just two things I wish folks would keep in mind: 1. opinions are not facts, and as such don't express you opinions as such, and 2. try to be consistent and use some form of logical framework in postings. Some folks will say that black is white, and when you explain why it isn't they then start talking about how the sky is blue. State an opinion, base it in some logical framework, and then stand behind it.

Depends on the particular stat and how it's calculated.

This is why I am generally skeptical of the statistical analyses promoted by many. I have a research background and when planning studies you decide what question you want to ask, determine variables that can be controlled so you can measure between control and experimental groups, and define sample sizes and statistical methods that are appropriate for data analysis. What I tend to see with info such as referred to in the story is you can have an opinion, then choose statistics to buttress your opinion. The term used for the latter is confirmation bias and it's rampant in studies. When I review manuscripts for publication I reject 80-90% of them because of inappropriate study design and thus inaccurate conclusions.