Success

Rapp is a backup. We should have picked up Peppers, imo.

Are Ed and Milano definitely back for the Pats? Any chance we see Hairston?

But do you pick a guy who isn't quite the guy you want just to keep that guy from landing w/ a rival?

Well, looking at our own game against the Ravens - wouldn't you say Coleman gave us as big of a spark? He was outstanding in that game.

Vrabel has always preferred this approach. I hope we don't defer if we win the toss. Best way to set the tone in this game is a long scoring drive to start it off & make them play catch-up.

What a week for Yankees/Bills fans and haters of all things Boston. First, we've got another hopefully classic matchup w/ the Red Sox in the playoffs, and then Bills/Pats on Sunday night. If the NY teams lose both, I will feel bad. However, the opposite of that would feel very good.

I still have some faith in Rousseau (though it's starting to wane a bit) - but it's hard to look back on that draft and not conclude we should have taken Barmore. That's exactly the kind of player our line needs.

This whole discussion is an excellent microcosm of what the sports commentary world has become. We almost need a better term than "hot take" - saying a take is hot still implies that there is any thought involved. I don't think this thread will ever go away. It will get bumped according to what you wrote above - from people on both sides of the question, depending on how Sunday went for both players.

Man, winning that 1st game was such a big deal. It seems like the Ravens have spiraled since then (and on paper, I think they're the better team). Feels like that could have been us, and instead we're sitting at 4-0.

I actually thought he was better last week. He had the turnovers, but he played really well otherwise. He has a great arm & can scramble/improvise really well. The key to his career (imo) is if he can get the turnovers under control, like Allen was able to. If he can't, he'll be more like Winston than Allen. But he's got talent.

Just watched the highlights of the Panthers/Pats game. A few observations: - That game was decided on special teams. Their returner is dynamic, and containing him has to be a focus. Of course, not needing to punt would help. - The Panthers are a genuinely bad team. I was worried when I saw the score, and the Pats were still impressive - but it's like they were playing a JV team. - Maye was solid, not great. He had some nice chunk throws, but on the ones they highlighted, receivers were wide open. It made me jealous to see WR's get that kind of separation I feel like the Bills took the Saints lightly today, and let them hang around longer than they should have. They have to go into next week's game w/ the mindset that this team is their biggest competition for the division. As someone said above, a W basically makes that a moot point. Glad we're home.

Sorry if there is something out there already on this - I didn't see it discussed. Timeouts in a close game are so important. It seemed like the one we called w/ a player running off the field was just panic, and the 2-point conversion one was unnecessary. I was watching where I couldn't hear the audio - were there any explanations for why the TO's were taken?

Man, I really hope the dudes coming back from suspension & Hairston can at least elevate us to the level of 'average' on defense. I hate that I'm even hoping for average. But average might be enough w/ Allen running the O.

The Pats are better this year, and Maye is pretty legit. We've gotta show up.

I'm actually a huge Lamar fan. Seems like a really cool dude. What really strikes me is how he reacts when he loses heartbreakers. In both this past game & the playoff game, he rushed right up to Josh w/ a smile on his face and gave him a very friendly congrats & hug. And I've seen him do that in other games, like last night against Detroit. He's a good sport. That stands in contrast to what we saw from Mahomes in a similar kind of close loss.

Things can change - but up to this point in the Allen era, we've had the Ravens #, and the Chiefs have had our #. The Ravens all day in this one. I would love to see the Chiefs navigate a low seed/WC berth this season.

Man, I love that 4th down call. How many times when it's a team as good as Baltimore are they back at mid-field in 2-3 plays anyway if you decide to punt?

We really don't have much depth in the secondary. Rapp & Bishop in particular have to stay healthy - big dropoff there if either gets hurt. Hairston will be a welcome addition at CB. Hopefully he adjusts to the NFL pretty quickly. I think Strong should start over Tre while he's out. I thought Strong looked really good when he played.

I saw no valid reason for showing wide right from over 3 decades ago, just because we were attempting a FG to extend a lead.

What was THAT?!!!!

Feels like we need a turnover to get a stop.

Their body language is so much better than ours right now.

I remain convinced that we have the personnel for a top 5-10 defense. The coaching has ALWAYS been lacking on that side of the ball. We need a real DC.

Pretty poor defensive showing so far. Feels like our weak point right now.

The injuries are a bummer so far - but we're going into a pretty easy part of our schedule. This doesn't sound too long term, at least so far. If he can make it back for the home stretch & playoffs, we're fine here.