y2zipper

Carr was spectacular last year playing for a team that couldn't run and didn't have a defense and his inconsistency this season is a result of the league realizing that Oakland still can't stop anybody or run. Carr is hardly an issue there and that was seen when he missed 2 games with an injury. Coming into today, Oakland was 26th in yards allowed on defense and 24th in rushing. They've just done a bad job surrounding the team with parts outside the passing game. He's much better than Fitz, although injuries are a concern for Carr. Still, spectacular game from Buffalo's defense.

I saw some better playcalls but TT is still VERY inconsistent at being a dropback pocket passer. Mixing play action and getting Taylor to the outside worked some. This looked like a typical game from him to me. That drive at the end of the first half was fantastic also. The defense was legit to me. I like the philosophy of making teams chunk it down the field because a lot of teams struggle with that. I see a plan that can work, but that doesn't have its talent yet.

McDermott and Dennison are getting the offense ready for the guy after Taylor.

I think the all-22 from Carolina will show windows to throw into that Tyrod won't throw into. The offense is asking him to do things he can't do because the team is focused on a longer term direction that doesn't involve him. He also hasn't adjusted back to the league and isn't good enough for me to say that's the wrong direction for the team. I think we learned why they acquired so much draft capital. They have an idea of what they want they want to do and they Don't have the talent for it yet. Still, I think the team is well-coached.

The move for L.A. Is for the local television contracts and they don't really care if people go to the games. I understand the Chargers' move given their stadium situation and the city's lack of effort. The NFL should have gotten the Raiders back here again. Getting them to Vegas means that people out near me will drive the 4 hours or fly. Going to a Rams game sucks because the stadium experience just isn't very good. The Coliseum doesn't have the logistics necessary to put on game day. It just isn't built for that many people in any way, shape or form. It's a college stadium and doesn't work for the NFL experience. I may go out to Carson this season when Buffalo comes out this way. Both teams have a few years to get good before the new stadium goes up, and that will help a lot, but if there are no stars near it, LA fans aren't going to go.

I don't think ball placement and Clay's inability to catch that are mutually exclusive here. I would say it was the right read given the zone coverage and the window is between the guy covering clay and the guy on the right side. That DB played Taylor's eyes and release and made the window smaller after Taylor committed to throwing to Clay. The ball was in the right place left-to-right because that's where the window is, but I'd say that's a ball that should be thrown lower so Clay can dive down for it. It's in the window where only Clay can get it but it's too high. I would also tell you that the ball is in Clay's catch radius and he should catch it. The biggest takeaway is Buffalo left points on the field, which isn't great against better teams. It's the kind of the thing McDermott is referring to when he says there's still a ton of work to do.

I like the concept on defense: get pressure with the front 4 and don't give up big plays. It's much harder to dink and dunk for scores. The tackling and run defense are definite strengths. Against Carolina, making Newton stay in the pocket and throw into tight windows is the right gameplan. There were hints of creative playcalling in the red zone, but ultimately Buffalo should be feeding McCoy as often as they can. Against the Jets, exactly the right thing to do is make McCown win that one. They got conservative in the 4th, but the Jets are so bad that a lead more than one score is a game in hand against that team. Against a better team they do need to try and score more. I think it is nitpicking to obsess over WR targets. Clay and McCoy are the best players and saw the ball the most. I would like to see a WR win a matchup outside more often, though. If anything, I would like to see a couple screens to get McCoy the ball in space, but the o-line must not have that ability.

Part of that is Buffalo defensive concept. They give up some short passes but they make the sure tackles on a lot of those plays. Offensively the running and the short to intermediate passing game look encouraging. I don't think Buffalo has any deep threats, but took a couple of shots anyway. Taylor's decision making is very good still. I thought the playcalling at the end got real conservative but I also think the coaches knew they had the game in hand against the Jets.

I wouldn't dismiss Flacco over Rivers, Cousins, or Stafford out of hand but I think he's definitely better than Newton. The reason Baltimore pays Flacco is because he's a good enough tier of quarterback to stabilize the franchise. They can't bottom out because Flacco is too good, but they haven't drafted well enough to build a team. I get the dilemma, but they've got a chance as long as Flacco is there. Flacco is much better than Taylor or Tannehill and no executive worth any salt would rather have Cleveland's situation than Baltimore.

Pittsburgh is an exception because as a matter of policy they never fire head coaches. Most fans just don't have enough patience to let a team development. The NFL really is a league that's top-heavy at the high-end of quarterbacks and the teams around the margins in the playoffs, like Miami and Houston, change each year. Changing coaches every 2-3 years almost always doesn't make sense and is only a way for a front-office higher-up to keep a job. Most coaches should be building offenses around the strengths and limitations of their quarterbacks and then gutting every other position to find system fits and increase draft capital. Talent outside the QB position is so replaceable in the league that any other way of going about it doesn't make sense unless you have Belichick, but other coaches shouldn't really be judged by that standard. The trick really is surviving until you get an excellent quarterback and then going from there. Any playoff appearance would do this for a Bills coach.

In fairness to Whaley, the Ryans were basically forced on him by the Pegulas, who are relatively inexperienced owners. However, Whaley ultimately lost his job because he stuck to E.J. Manuel too long. Completely defensible draft pick, but it didn't take anybody very long (besides Whaley) to figure out that he couldn't play. If he jettisons Manuel after one year instead of moving up for Watkins, he probably ends up in charge after the ownership change. I think under Marrone was the last time the Bills were well-coached and what McDermott and Beane are doing is similar to that, but they have a much better chance because Tyrod is a mid-level starter at QB as opposed to Manuel, who can't play. They want control and discipline and are going to remove players that don't buy or don't want to do it from the equation. This is what good coaches and good general managers do in football. Darby and Watkins don't have any tangible impact on the team's record if it's well-coached. (This is true for anybody that isn't a quarterback.) We'll see if it works.

Looking at the receivers, Jordan Matthews and Sammy Watkins have 3 years of comparable production. This is mostly because of Sammy's durability concerns. I'm not telling you Matthews is a better player, but I will say that Matthews has consistently shown us 70-80 catches and 800 yards are so. Sammy has more upside than that, minus whatever justifiable durability concerns anybody has. I'd say a second round pick, especially from a team like the Rams, is absurdly good value and I would much rather gamble on the high pick than gamble on Watkins' health, especially at a position that has exactly zero impact on a team's win total. Buffalo probably wins seven to nine games with Watkins on the team, and probably wins seven to nine games without him on the team. From that standpoint, I think it's a good deal because the second round pick allows Buffalo to bring in another talent without much productivity cost. The Darby one, I'm not really sure. Buffalo brings back a guy who can start and takes another early-ish pick from a team that isn't very good. At the end, I think Buffalo is probably as good after the trade as they were before it. Now they have 6 picks in the first three rounds and can get another compensatory 3 if they move certain pieces around. This means they can get much younger in a hurry or move up to get a QB while taking a shot at the wild card this year. It's a sound philosophy IMO.

To be fair, this was a controlled study. They studied brains only from people who were thought to have symptoms of CTE and they found CTE. In general, it's a fair point that the quality of life of somebody that makes it to the NFL is better than that of an average person. Concussions are a real issue in sports and you'll see changes, the biggest of which is you'll see kids going in later and finishing their careers earlier. Instead of in at a young age, it'll be flag football until high school, tackle in high school and college, and a shorter NFL career. That way kids are playing are playing close to 12 or 13 years instead of 20 or 25.

Smackdown has a much shallower roster as a result of the shake-up, which is probably the biggest issue in my opinion. The writing has been about the same where they have workhorse U.S. Champion, they're promoting their women's division more than the red brand, and they're establishing a new heel as WWE Champion (and also doing some international expansion) as well as using The New Day and the Usos correctly. But when that goes from the pre shake-up roster to Carmella and Lana getting significant airtime and no tag teams on the back end with the split of American Alpha, the show becomes a little bit marginal. This storyline will suck because there's no interesting payoff that's possible and JJ doesn't have the chops on the microphone to make this work. It's why he was put with Gable to begin with.