Ethan in Cleveland

He tore his ACL in mid Feb. He will be lucky to be able to play by November if even then.

Ravens. They were winning the division going away until they were decimated by injuries

Rich Eisen on his podcast/radio show has repeatedly blasted Watson and the Browns. Of course that is while doing his show.

Awful news. One of my favorite players on the team. Absolutely tragic.

Pretty sure you don't know the meaning of the word exponentially. Other than that I agree with the rest of your post and what others have said. Both safeties are over 30. Edmunds, Oliver, and Knox are all 25 or younger. You need to pay those guys - assuming they want to keep Edmunds. If they keep Edmunds and Davis develops into a true #2, then they can draft a safety in the bottom of the first round next year. If they move on from Edmunds they almost assuredly need to draft MLB in the first round so maybe they go FA to replace Poyer in that case.

When? Not trying to be sarcastic. Looking at his stats he has a handful of tackles and his bigger games came in total blowout wins.

That is my prediction too. If they can block Bosa, Bills win

Most complete team? I don't see it but maybe I am missing something. Their WR group leaves much to be desired as does their group of TE's. Combined they had 1000 less receiving yards than the Bills group. Pass rush is nothing special. They have the best or second best RB in the league and the best OG. Ryan is probably an upgrade over Wentz but he has never lived up to the moment and for some reason I just don't see him as a guy that will age well. They probably made as good a choice to upgrade QB as they could have. I agree they may have the best record in the AFC but that is only a reflection of how bad that division is. I can see Bills being a #2 seed and the Colts losing in the division round of the playoffs. I would take any AFC West team over them

Here is my order. This may not be how the season records go but it is how I see the teams. The AFC West might have 4 teams with 9 wins and all 4 teams will be in playoff contention right up until the end. The Colts might win 12+ games because their division is terrible yet will be the worst Div winner. If Ryan is terrible they could still win the division with an 8-9 record. I gave the Browns an asterisk. My guess is Watson is suspended for the year and they win 6 games. But if his 6 game suspension is upheld, they can challenge for a WC spot. I would have had Jets at 11 prior to Wilson injury. This is the year the Patriots hit rock bottom. They will struggle to win 5 games this year. 1. Bills 2. Chargers 3. Ravens 4. Chiefs 5. Bengals 6. Broncos 7. Raiders 8. Colts 9. Dolphins 10. Browns* 11. Titans 12. Jags 13. Jets 14. Patriots 15. Steelers 16. Houston

Have to wonder if this played a role in the fight

Agree that is early but he has been really bad for a few years now.

Comp picks only count for free agents lost. If they cut him while still on his rookie deal there is no compensatory pick. My guess is no trades. Going into camp I thought they would trade Epenesa but sounds like he is outplaying Lawson for the last DE spot.

The Bills had 17 punts returned which was 3rd fewest in the league and they gave up a little over 5 yards per return which was also top 5 in the league. In a perfect world Haack gets replaced and they gain 4 or five net yards. Its all about net yards. If the PuntGod increases the touch back rate too much the added distance won't matter. Again none of this punting discussion really matters if the offense is fine. Nobody cared about the punter for Brady, Manning, Brees, or Mahommes. Kicker yes, punter no.

Like others. I only saw a handful of highlights of him playing. But he was a huge part of my sports viewing life growing up on Inside the NFL. Sad day news. Thoughts for him and his family

Not disagreeing with you. You are correct that is what McD wants. I think many of us just disagree with that philosophy. In the end it doesn’t matter much. We are only really talking about it affecting maybe one roster spot for a marginal player.

The difference between the best and worst punt coverage teams last year was roughly 7 yards per punt. The difference in total yards per game was about 20 yards. The biggest factor in determining yards per game given up was the number of punts returned. Rams only had 9 total punts returned all year. Bills had 17. A few teams had over 40. Want to give up less punt yards, have a great offense. The rest doesn’t matter.

Go watch the video Belichick discusses this. It’s much more technical than you think. Plus everyone has one so it is not a disadvantage.

17 catches in 3 years of playing. If he is loved by his team why did his team bring in Howard to replace him? Good point

That 98 yard kick was sick. I watched a video of it. 65 or so yards and then bounces forward. Returner picked it up at the one and was tackled at the 2 or 3. That's 96 or 97 net yards.

As for the watered down issue, I tend to agree but it is not a new phenomenon. Lynn Swann and John Stallworth were both good players on an amazing dynasty. Neither should in the HOF. I can name several more but I will highlight Levy and Kurt Warner. Great stories but not HOF worthy. Eli will make the HOF as a 2 time SB winner with a ton of yards. But he only made 4 ProBowls in 16 years. Was he even a top 5 QB when he played? I'd argue in no particular order Brady, Peyton, Rivers, Roethlisberger, Rodgers, Brees, Ryan, early Wilson and late Favre are all better QBs. Obviously Eli's career doesn't overlap perfectly with all these QBs but I'd take every one except Ryan over Eli.

So were the careers of Gale Sayers and Terrell Davis. Longevity is part of it and it can be the most significant part of the argument for guys like Reed and Monk. But greatness can be recognized too.

Hopefully he turns it around. Sweeney has zero talent. If Howard can just be average they can do so much out of a two TE set.

I agree. Klein was a capable backup. Matakevich is not. Matakevich should be replaced with a cheap rookie or UDFA.

I'm as big of a skeptic about Edmunds as anyone. But I wouldn't question him because of injuries. He has played 61 of 65 games in his career. He played with a hurt shoulder. He lacks instincts but he doesn't lack durability.

Why not this year? Matakevich doesn't do much for this team. Save money now. $750,000 dead money and $2.5M cap savings. Use that for Poyer or Knox.