oldmanfan

The overreactions here are priceless

Tough spot for a rookie QB. That's why I think the Colts win this coming weekend. First playoff game for Mahomes and the Colts D is playing well. Plus KC's D is bad and Reid will do something dumb like he does routinely in playoff games.

Regarding Lynch, not only was his pseudo criminal history a problem but when we drafted Spiller he and his agent went to Buddy and told him he would not sign any new contract with the Bills and wanted a trade. Given he was one more bad decision away from being suspended Buddy made the deal. The Bills front office back then had issues. Ralph was older and relied on guys he knew like Brandon and Marv, Littman had too much influence. I think those times are over with the Pegulas.

Obviously worked out better for Philly in hindsight but you nail the history. Russ said they would be open to renegotiation but they wanted him to come to Buffalo in the offseason to have an injury examined. Crickets from Peters and his agent.

Give me guys that are on the All Pro list every year. You see an offensive guy at # 9 great. But most estimates I've read say that the real top talent this year is on the D side.

To say QBs don't gain ability to see plays with more experience, to say it isn't coachable is complete nonsense. Otherwise rookie QBs would never improvecandcwith the exception of maybe Marino name a great QB that was such in his rookie year and stayed there. In every single sport experience helps regardless of position, specific sport, whatever. It is beyond bizarre to suggest otherwise.

If you watch his progression this year you can easily see he was doing better at going through his progressions. To say it's not coachable is laughable. How many rookie QBs in history play their first year and are expert in seeing the entire field, making reads, etc? Very few if any. You're expectations are completely over the top.

Add some more talent. Adding a competent ST coach and an O line coach in synch with the OC should help. More experience for our young guys. All these are obvious of course, but what's needed for continued improvement.

Dude, F Reight? Liquid lunch today??? I told friends here they would love having Frank as their HC. Doing a great job for them.

Need to? No. But if given the right opportunity not a bad idea.

I'm not sure which of the big throwing teams loses this weekend, but I would bet that we do not see the Saints, Chiefs, and Rams all moving forward. If I had to guess first in line would be the Chiefs. Mahomes will be facing the playoffs for his first time, their D is terrible and the Colts should be able to run the ball very effectively, and Reid will do some kind of coaching gag like he usually does in the playoffs. Next guess would be the Rams. I don't see a vet like Brees losing in the Dome against an Eagles team lucky to make it there. Oh, and I think Brady goes down.

One of the things I'm most proud of is that both my daughters would wear their Bills gear to school on Colts spirit day!

Live just outside Indy. I hope the Colts do well now, because I have a lot of friends that are Colts fans. But I never watch them during the regular season, nor do I ever attend any of their games (unless the Bills are in town).

It usually takes a while for rookie O linemen to figure it out in the NFL. Indy has two guys in Nelson and Smith that broke the mold, although you might have guessed Nelson would. My guess is that Beane already has couple guys targeted in free agency for the O line. I am quite sure they realize the O line needs significant upgrade, and will look more towards FA to get some experience in here. Should they use high round picks to build the O line? Absolutely, if they see a guy they think will be an All Pro type then go ahead and use a #9 on a G or C or T. Talent is talent; if you can add that level of talent in front of your young QB it would definitely be worth the asset. I just don't know if there is that level of talent in this year's draft, whereas there are a number of defensive front 7 guys that could fit the bill.

I'd do the same if I were Elway.

All defenses played well this week. As Alpha said above too many people read it as an either/or thing. Your D has to be there in the playoffs. And your O. And as the Bears saw your special teams. i said above defenses were the best units for all 4 teams this weekend, but when they had to get a stop a couple didn't.

Neither game had truly effective offenses today. Defenses were the best side of the ball for all 4 teams. But credit given where due; at the end when a stop really had to be made teams fell short.

I'm pretty sure I have. In the playoffs defense counts, running game, passing game. Balance.

I suspect things like a promising young QB on the roster, a HC who seems to be respected by his players and above all the $$ offered trump the appearance of a locker room.

Good for Gilmore. Bad for folks memories. Gilmore has improved under Belichick. When we had him he had good coverage skills but did not track the ball well. He also was not good in run support and had questionable tackling skills - remember many times him just throwing a shoulder at a guy and watching him Boyce off. McD's D expects CBs to perform in run support.

What a regular season hockey game has to do with the NFL playoff escapes any rayional explanation. One team yesterday shut down the # 1 rushing team in the league and another yielded 7 points. Pretty good D. Others have also mentioned O line. Also important as the Colts showed especially. Do you need good QB play? Sure. Is a QB enough in the playoffs? No. D will always be important. I think you'll see one of the teams next week that have been offensive juggernauts get beat by better D. The Rams most likely just like last year.

Watched the early game and watching the Boys/Hawks now. Defense always counts in the playoffs.

I'd have to look back. But in many sports you can look at guys who either never played in the bigs or had less than star careers. Think of baseball with guys like Weaver, LaRussa, LaSorda.

Different GMs, different philosophies. No less, no more. Doug thought he was close so he was aggressive. Beane didn't see that and felt he needs to build his way. Each can work, each can fail.

Many times the best coaches were the ones that were marginal players. To gain the success they had as a player they had to study the game a lot more.