Richard Noggin

I think it's important to highlight how absolutely foreign or even fictional the bolded passages seem, without context. Such whimsical gobbledygook. Same as above. Bless your Bri'ish heart.

Levy wasn't really the Xs and Os guy, though. Ted and Walt were the real brains behind the on-field schemes for those early SB teams. At least to my understanding. It might have been Levy, however, who favored both sides of the ball relying on a small set of core personnel alignments and play designs, and running them repeatedly, to the point where players could execute and adjust without overthinking.

And if Cook has another productive, explosive season similar to 2024, I won't be angry or disappointed if the Bills meet his demands. But I DO think at that point it will already be too late, and he'll be priced out of Beane's comfort level. *I'd take Cook over Harris 8 times out of 10, easily. Harris is just not very dangerous, despite being well-rounded and physical. Just doesn't get up field with much urgency. Kind of Cook's opposite.

Monarch Beach basically looks like a sprawling, oceanside golf resort with a few high end gated communities clustered throughout. Makes sense.

See, I'd still (probably) argue against the Bills agreeing to the kind of contract I'm afraid Cook would demand. He's dynamic, no doubt, and a weapon with the ball in his hands. He looks really good in Brady/Kromer's rushing attack. A threat to take it to the house from anywhere on the field. My main reluctance is more philosophical with respect to roster construction: only way an RB should make WR money is if he's a 3-down beast who pass blocks and has reliable hands. The holes in Cook's game would need to be plugged to sell me on a top-3ish (for now) RB contract. And by that point he's gonna have other suitors. A team on a rookie QB contract could justify signing a guy like Cook, and it would be smart. Denver, Washington, Minnesota, etc.

I still need an explanation of what the heck the above bolded claim actually means, before we move on to sorting out what the below means.

Not blaming it all on Frazier at all, but rather offering that as a possible explanation for why the defense did not attack the same way McD's units had done in Car and Phil previously. Frazier was an assistant HC and a trusted and respected member of those teams. McD was very reluctant to intervene in overt ways. No doubt he provided feedback in real time, but I do wonder if he deferred final decision making whenever possible. We only have 1 season of tape to determine how McD calls this Buffalo defense. And it was a mixed bag, at best. He was even recklessly aggressive during a couple super high leverage end of game sequences, both resulting in losses. Had hoped Babich would infuse more d-line games and simulated 2nd and 3rd level looks...still hoping for it in '26.

Do we think his stubborn and persistent deference to the predictability of Leslie Frazier's high-leverage reliance upon passive, reactive off-coverage cushions and vanilla assignment/check/adjustment rules against pre-snap motions was a major failing that colors our perceptions of how he (McDermott) really wants the Bills defense to play? On those rare occasions when McD took over play calling from Frazier, the defense was demonstrably more aggressive and downhill. (I'll never forget McD taking Milano aside during that MNF NE wind/blizzard game and overtly gesturing/imploring him to see the hole and attack the hole, downhill. And then Milano going out there and stringing together consecutive TFLs that killed a drive (or something close to that).) McDermott sullied this interpretation of his own in-game desire for more aggression by calling consecutive zero-blitzes late against both Denver (Russ Wilson) and Philly (Jalen Hurts) who both exploited the gifts the 1st blitz in each sequence had prepared them for. Gotta simulate the pressure on one of those b2b play calls in each situation. Sprinkle in a tendency-killing wrinkle in the coverage behind it. Can't just go full Buddy Ryan twice against a modern NFL offense with a strong, elusive QB and competent offensive coaching, no wrinkles. That's a failure to setup and sequence the play calls. If the first all-out blitz works, but doesn't result in negative play, then you have to switch it up. Dammit, Sean. Sure seems to tighten up with the game on the line. Goes a little blank at the worst times.

I wear a counterfeit Bruce Smith Silver Anniversary SB25 jersey (but a home blue kit even though they wore white) to many home games...and after stretching it over winter layers and rambunctious tailgates for over a decade now, the seam up one side is split nearly to my armpit making the whole thing open like a smock or something. And even so, I'd rate the build quality above average. No piece of apparel should be subjected to this relentless level of BASF stress/durability-testing. It lives in a pile somewhere all offseason. Then I find and resurrect Lazarus in the dryer just in time to represent each September, with a little more bonus lateral venting each season. Gifted a handful of those Super Bowl 25 Bills jerseys (with the Silver Anniversary shoulder patch) to friends and family. Well, at least once they were released from their long customs delay at the Peace Bridge lol.

If we can sort of set aside his ridonkulous rushing TD total in '24, Cook was actually more productive overall in '23 in 3 fewer starts, and especially more productive in the passing game. In 2024, Ty Johnson really ate into Cook's passing volume following his own tantalizing 100% catch rate in limited 2023 action: 7/7 (LOL) for 62 yards, 2 1sts, and a TD. Johnson still has not recorded a dropped pass in 2 seasons with the Bills, despite an uptick in targets and a jump in depth of target. And he can pass block, apparently, at a higher level. The RB room in 2025 is probably as close to McBeane's ideal vision as we're going to get, unless there is some absolute RB UNIT (big Wisconsin/Alabama style back) available on late day 2/early day 3 of the 2026 draft...to replace Cook and spell Davis on early downs and short yardage.

Wait, what?

Yup.

Miami building the LEAST gritty team in the league. Tua probably the toughest guy on the squad...

LOT more accessible now, so it will likely find more people whose predilections would have otherwise never been unearthed. The idea that it's regulated now, and therefore somehow more controlled, is a nice concept I hope could be true. But that seems unlikely. Either way, sports and sports betting can never be uncoupled now. So they will coexist as long as sports media contracts continue to prop up the insane appetites of all professional sports ownership groups. There is still much room for growth, provided the proposed new markets will continue to accept what we're selling. Seems likely to go on for at least a bit longer, innit?

Seems like Mahomes got robbed a little, compared to Allen. From a cursory/high level skim. (Not that I agree with that conclusion.)