Virgil

I’m surprised, but not really. The guy has been dinged up almost every year and is turning 30. He’s got plenty of money. While I get loving football and it being all you know, there’s also waking up in pain every day. There’s wondering if you’ll be able to play with your kids without it killing you. It sucks for the Colts, yes. But I get it. Besides, they will be terrible enough to get a top 5 pick and there are decent QB’s next year.

Exactly

Don’t you know that pro bowl nominations are based upon preseason performance? What are you, new?

To clarify on my RB position. It’s not that I think they played poorly. I just don’t think they did anything exceptional or that any other RB would have done in the same spot. If we are going to pay someone, it needs to be because they play at a higher level than the next guy. In my opinion, from that one game, Singletary could’ve done the same thing with their snaps. But, as always, happy to be wrong

Howdy boys and ladies. Time to shake the cobwebs off and make a test run of this puppy. I'll be honest, I have to get my groove back a little as I found myself rewinding plays a bit too much and distracting myself from actually trying to enjoy the game. Also, I'm at a total loss for what this year's theme will be for the fourth thought, but I have a few weeks to figure that out. And for those of you who are new to this game, I don't know anything more than anyone else. I watch, pay attention for some things, then give thoughts. This is a tradition started by the great @BillfromNYC and it's his if he ever wants it again. Some weeks, I might ignore entire positions because it's been talked to death prior weeks. After a while, I just had to shut up about how surprising Milano's play was. With that being said... 1 - Preseason Coaching - If you are expecting a lot of focus on the stats or overall competitive nature of the game, stop reading now. We intentionally made zero attempt to run any type of offensive scheme with the starters until the 2 minute drill. A part of me wonders why Allen was even risked by playing since all he did was hand the ball off. This game was all about offensive line evaluation for the starters. I can sum the entire first half in for you in 4 words: Run, Run, Timing Pass. After the Carolina scrimmage and game, I think the offensive scheme is established and they don't think any more work needs to be done. And, if you go off that last game, they are probably right. Either way, it felt to me like there's a plan and we are on time with it. 2 - Allen, Knox, and offense - For those that just need to know, there isn't much to say here. Allen made an absolute stupid throw for an INT and was saved by a ticky-tack call. He really needs to know by now that he can't make throws across his body while jumping into triple coverage. I mean, he has to know that, right? Knox was mainly blocking the entire game and made it through healthy. As for the offense, the two minute drill was solid. When we decided to actually try, you could see what the threat of the pass did for the run game and how much respect other teams have for our speed. On one of the big runs, we faked a screen to Roberts and Brown to the top of the field and you could see the defense step back in prep of getting burned. Allen instead handed the ball off for a solid run to the opposite side. We got to see Brown make a few crossing routes, which Allen hit in stride and the overall offense scored a TD within two minutes in an absolute effortless drive. If you are going to evaluate the offense, do it on that drive. To quote DC Tom, if you think anything before that was a representation of what we are trying to do, "You're an idiot." 3 - Edmunds - I'm going to go ahead and say that was the best game I've seen the kid play. Football is a game of seconds. If you hesitate in deciding to defend the pass or the run, you've already given up a few extra steps or yards. Edmunds was indecisive to me last year as I'd expect a barely 20 year old rookie to be. Not this game though. That kid was everywhere and he was there fast. He stood a few guys up in his tracks and was near almost every tackle. If last night was a snapshot of him "getting it" now, then this kid is going to have a monster year. 4 - I like to eat, eat, eat, apples and bananas 5 - Special Teams - Hausch-Money was about the only part of this unit that made me feel good. The punting was terrible and I think it's time to move on from B. Our kick-offs were perfectly shallow, as you want for the team to catch them behind the 20, but we couldn't get it done. We were outmatched pretty consistently and didn't give Roberts much to work with. I had multiple spouts of PTSD from last year when the unit came on the field. Not a great showing and now a concern for me again going into the season. 6 - Refs - I get that it's preseason for them as well, but come on now. That was a crazy amount of penalties in the first half. I stopped rewinding to see if they were valid after the fifth one and a lot of them were 50/50 calls at best. But more importantly, I want to mention the new challenge rule around PI. This is a prime example of one blown call in a playoff game being over-reacted to and changing the entire game of football for the worse. We had two challenges that slowed the game down and both were upheld on the field. For starters, that's where the ref's got it right. There was contact on both plays, but they allowed it as, like holding, it's just going to happen. I was happy for the result. But the game stoppage was a joke. If you are trying to fix the Saints game problem, then treat it like the two minute drill. Don't let it be challenged. If something egregious happens, then let the ref get signaled from the head ref in the box for it to be looked at. In the Saints game, everyone knew what happened as it happened. It was immediate. Last night was not the answer to that problem. 7 - Defensive Line - I probably pay attention to this unit more than anything else. I look to see how often Oliver gets double teamed, and if so, what do the edge rushers do with their 1 on 1 assignments. In this game, it was a mixed bag for me. Oliver broke through on one play, but that was due to a line shift on a play-action. He was single teamed enough where I would have expected disruption from him. Murphy showed his speed on a few plays and as he impressively tracked some skill players down. Lawson, to me, absolutely made the most of his start in Hughes absence. He was quick around the edge and showed solid speed. However, like I said before, neither Lawson or Murphy did much with their single-team matchups for QB pressure. 8 - Runningbacks - I'm about to be a hypocrite here. I know the stat lines were decent for Gore and McCoy, but I'm still just not feeling it with either of them. McCoy showed better burst than he has in the past, but neither of them are really taking more than the offense gives them. Neither of them show the ability to outrun anyone or make people miss. McCoy broke one arm tackle that I remember, but everything else were runs that I feel most backs would make. I'm probably wrong here and expect the negative pushback, but I really don't think we'd be much different in the running game if McCoy were the starter or if we just gave it to Singletary 9 - Ford - I really liked what I saw from this kid. He made a key block on the Singletary TD run. Moreso, the kid was all up in the Lions player's faces. There were more skirmishes in this game than I expected to see, especially for a preseason game. But in almost each of them, Ford was right there in someone's face. I'm weary of that kind of attitude as I think it leads to penalties and loses you the benefit of the doubt with the refs. Also, I don't know the cause to know if it's him getting frustrated with his own performance or if the Lions were doing him dirty. Overall, I think he did a solid job and held his own. Whether it be at RT or RG, I'm pleased with his progress 10 - Impact Moments: --McD after the cheap shot on Gore was picked up by the field mic's shouting some profanities at the ref's. Kinda loved that --Duke Williams with another high point grab for a TD. Kid needs to make this team and I don't envy the coaches having to make cuts --Johnson #46 may have earned himself a spot with his strip fumble and recovery. That play was all him and showed maximum effort --Barkley on offense - Just overall re-affirmed my comfort level with our offense in case Allen goes down for injury That's all folks! I don't intend to do another one of these until the season opener. I'm genuinely hoping our starters don't even touch the field for more than a drive next week. Go Bills!

So, are we doing the new format where you can’t make threads after that game, but instead use the pre-made topics? I was thinking about making a trial “thoughts” post

I think we all need to support Tom Brady and help him create a different tagline. For example: Tom the turd Tom the irritation rash Tom the child mouth kisser Tom the anal leakage Tom the post shower sh!t

Keep McKelvin off the field!

Holy crap! When did this happening. How INteresting

For a 1st rounder, he better not be a suspension risk and have at least another year under contract. So, no.

8-8. Earn it

Winfield and Clements in the backfield together was pretty legit.

Damn, I was optimistic about him. But he was probably the odd man out. Did great things that one year

Beasley if PPR. Allen can be my backup. Defense will be taken. I’ll take a late flyer on Brown

This until another pair makes the playoffs

I don’t see any surprising cuts as much as we might see some trades

In a preseason game on offense, I look for a QB to march down the field smoothly and take what the defense gives them, as they show a very vanilla scheme. I saw that tonight from Josh and was happy to see it. His first two throws were catchable, but off the mark. After that, he was solid. Oliver was double teamed every play and I was hoping. That would lead to more pressure as Hughes and Murphy got single coverage and was disappointed. We only got pressure when we sent 5. McKenzie had the play of the night for me on that screen pass. To have the patience for his blockers to catch up and let the play develop in front of him was beautiful. WR cuts are going to be very hard and I don’t envy the coaching staff. I see us running with 2 QB’s this year. I too am slightly concerned with Hausch-money

We’d make him the starter the next season

Holy *****. Is this really happening? Http://espn.go.com/schefter82749.rumor928282.billstexans

Wait, where is this coming from?

I'm sorry, but besides drawing the double team, what did he do?

***** I love your avatar

You’re absolutely right and I’m glad you said it. It takes real courage. We definitely need to go with the QB who shows the best command of the offense. Even in the preseason, against second string players, command is command and it’s where legends are born. That’s why Peterman won the job last season and we moved on from him too soon.

Saw this an refused to post it. I guess you are a communist.

It’s all QB’s under 80. They make you get elites. It’s crap