Long Suffering Fan

Good stuff, Chaos. I have a very similar take. Right now, in the passing game, we can almost pick up 6-7 yards at will. The problem is, if you toss in a run for no game during a set of downs, then you have to be money on third down and all it takes is a dropped pass, a blown assignment by an olineman, etc. and you are punting. This is what happened against the jags. A lot of punting on 4th and less than 2 because of a dropped pass or a bad run earlier in the set of downs. It is also important to realize that not all run games are created equal. I'm not saying don't run. I'm saying that SF can run when they are behind the sticks, but we should only do that rarely. And please stop that junky delayed, shotgun handoff to Cook.

My experience with both ACL and Achilles (I've had both done) is that the Achilles is far less likely to impact speed than the ACL. The Achilles repair is so easy and so durable that all you have to do is re-strengthen that calf muscle. If you don't, you will lose speed and you will feel like you are running on a flat tire. A professional rehab should avoid that problem.

Nothing nefarious. It was a thread I started that was caught up in the wash of other threads started about Frazier. I thought it was different enough. My bad. Fair. It is long. But there was an argument being made at that time that people who were glad Frazier was gone were idiots. I felt that the heart of the matter was that we didn't think he was bad, just not good enough. I thought it was an insightful comparison. I'm a heavy reader here, but not a heavy poster, so I kind of forgot about it until now.

I am not saying he was. Just the opposite. Back then, if you argued that you were glad Leslie is gone, you would be confronted by those defending his competence. I agree with his competence. I'm saying that is not a valid argument because that is not why I was glad he was gone.

Like I said, I wrote that part in February when it happened. It reflected the discussion at the time. Speaking of Chiefs Planet, this one is from before the 2017 season and it is.....gold. Alex Smith was the #1 overall pick coming out of college after an extraordinary season, are you saying Mahomes accomplished more yet he fell to #10? You are judging this kid on arm talent and miss the big picture here, he's a reckless player who played in a terrible conference. I could care less about the comparisons to Favre. Give me Brady, Wilson, Montana, or Rodgers comparisons from coaches and you have my attention. Other posters rip him, of course.

This is mostly true. It is certainly what I believed at the time. However, it was bold in that Alex was the best statistical QB the year before...and he had his supporters. Some even referred to them as Alexsexuals. Here is one quote from Chief's Planet after Alex left the Chiefs. I picked it because it sums up that all through the Chief's Alex era there were those that passionately advocated for him. There literally is a cult following for Alex Smith who follow him from team to team and obsess over and make Alexcuses for him on forums of whatever team he currently plays for. I still can't believe these people exist." I mean, part of me during the entire Alex era thought those Alexsexuals were all trolls who were simply just trolling us the entire time...like they couldn't possibly be for real. All the while those Alexsexuals could point to the stats. I actually feel more kindly toward Frazier, and people have a point when they mention the defensive stats under his leadership, but we needed to move on so we could have the chance to get better Edit: How cool is that we have Josh and don't have to have conversations like this about QB?!

This is very true. But I wrote this 7 months ago. Regardless of whether or not McD is better, I was glad that Frazier was let go because I had come to believe that he wasn't good enough to get us a SB and that the switch to McD gave us a chance to be better. We won't know for sure if we hit on that chance or not until the playoffs.

You are correct. I will yield to you the dictionary definition of the term. However, the way I always heard of it used in Fortune 500 workplaces was what Daggers said - a situation that is just comfortable enough to make you not move on. Regardless of whether it is Employer or Employee, that is what I meant. We don't really know what happened there - at the time, there were those who pointed out that Bass was not in the ST huddle before the kick and that the way our guys covered the kick, it looked like they expected a squib. McD will always take ownership. Regardless, if McD did make those calls, he was incompetent at that moment.

Close enough. When I worked for a fortune 500 company, we used the term in a much broader sense. The company gave us just enough to try to keep us there. People could honestly say that it was pretty good pay, etc. In the same way Frasier gave us just enough that there were a lot of people who could honestly defend keeping him and they wouldn't be wrong. If he was terrible, he would have been gone, just like if the job was terrible we would have all left. Instead, he was just good enough to make us keep him. I chose the Alex Smith example because of the stats. Frazier's defense has been statistically dominant the last couple of years. Alex Smith was the best QB in football, statistically. Edit: I cross posted Daggers and he said it better.

So, I posted this in February after the Leslie Frazier non-firing. It was quickly taken down in the plethora of Frazier threads that came out. The mod was kind enough to send me a copy so I could repost it later. Now, it is later. 🙂 ***** In other threads there has been a segment of people that are annoyed (or even angry) at people like me who are glad that Frazier won't be the DC here next year. I think the framing of their argument is wrong. - No one is disputing that Frazier is a good and classy guy. He would probably be someone I wanted as a friend. - No one is celebrating him not doing the thing he loves. I have no ill will against him. - We are not becoming Pats fans (I mean, that's a bad insult around here). Pats fans have championships. We are not criticizing people who got us championships like the Pats fans do, we are criticizing those who have failed to. That is a big difference. I am ecstatic that Frazier will not be the DC here next year. While I recognize his skill, I also recognize 13 seconds and the Cincy game. I am not ecstatic that he is gone because he was incompetent. I am ecstatic because I have come to the opinion that he would hurt us in big playoff moments and make it very difficult for us to win the big one. I don't care if the Bills are a dominant defense against bad teams. I need them to be a good defense that limits the best teams. It is the golden handcuff syndrome and I want to take them off. Alex Smith was QB of the Chiefs and, under Andy Reid, he took the Chiefs to the playoffs for three straight years (2015-17). He was a good QB. In his last year, his QB rating was 104.7, which was the highest in the league. Yet the Chiefs moved off of him. Why? Because they didn't think that they could win the Super Bowl with him. I'm sure Alex was a good and classy guy. I'm sure that there were those who pointed out that he had a better QB rating than Tom Brady. The fact is they were not going to win a championship with him. Those celebrating moving on from him realized that he was better than a lot of QBs. They weren't mean spirited. They, for whatever reason, just realized that he wasn't going to get it done.....and they were right. Does anyone think they get 2 SBs without making the switch? That is EXACTLY how I feel about Leslie Frazier. You know, our defense could be worse next year, especially with the looming player departures. I realize that Frazier moving on is not a guarantee of improvement, but its a chance. Bonus Point: How good is Andy Reid? When comparing Mahomes to Allen, we have to remember that Pat (who is great) has a guy calling and designing plays for him that had Alex Smith sitting atop the league statistically. Could Dorsey have done that? Not likely at this stage of his career. ***** It is funny looking back how I mentioned the looming player departures. Edmunds turned out to be the only one and we got better with him leaving. Miami's offense is still really good and we held them to 20 points. That is what I am talking about. I don't expect you to shut them down completely, but you have to make it hard on them and limit them. I know we have had decent defensive performances against the Chiefs in the regular season, but the defense feels different. I know that the blitz percentage isn't that different, but they somehow seem more aggressive even when not blitzing. Love ya, Leslie. Enjoy this stage of your life. Thank you for all you did to help the team, but I'm glad the handcuffs are off.

Well done, Virgil. I always read your recaps.

I tore an achilles playing football. I very much had an Aaron Rodgers moment. You know that hard ridge near the ankle on the back of your leg? That is the achilles and there was a spot on it for me where it just wasn't there. It was creepy weird to run your thumb along it and then you get to a spot where your thumb just sinks into your leg. My point is that if he tore his achilles completely, then they knew on the field. It is not a maybe diagnosis. Maybe that explains Trey's reaction. OTOH, if they knew on the field then why no announcement? On the plus side, that was my third leg surgery and I was a pro at rehab by that point. I was completely out of the boot and doing calf raises at 8 weeks. I think it might actually be possible for him to be ready for the playoffs. Here is to hoping it is just a partial tear and that Trey will not have more time to dedicate to his goalie academy.

I'll allow it.

Scott Sterling! Sweet, buttered crumpets! It starts slow, but well worth the watch.

If you want to go after the OP fine, but don't mock my goals. I'm well on my way. Great croogly-moogly.

Shaw, in my mind you don't just look like your profile pic...you are your profile pic. Please don't correct my misconception.

Curse you. I watched the clip and ended up seeing Dick Jauron's face. Now my nightmares will return.

Okay, try different things, but don't try something that everyone knows will not work. Let me try framing it this way. Would you try that exact same defense, except that all those not rushing are standing on the goal line? No, on third and four, that would be absurd. It would never work. Why is that absurd? Because it automatically gives up the first down. The defense Frazier called is just as absurd for the exact same reason. Again, my rant is not really about this play. This play is merely an example of a REAL problem that will make it much harder for Buffalo to beat good teams in the playoffs. It is the same problem as 13 seconds.

Sure. IMO it makes the way they lined up worse because it is so much harder to close. Burrow was getting the ball out so quick (most of the time) that any pass rush would have a hard time getting home. He could do that effectively because of the cushion his WRs had. Bills WRs, for the most part, had much less space early in the routes, which meant Josh had to hold and gave the Cinn pass rush a chance. I really like the way you think. Honestly, what good is a defense that works against good teams, but not the best offenses. We need our D to have a chance of success against the KCs and the Cinns of the league. I don't care how good their defensive ranking is because they can dominate a team that went 500. Arcane, come on, you know that is not correct, especially if they have to get the pass out quick - which they did most of the day. Throws over the top are harder and Tre is going to be at least in the neighborhood. The one thing that is 100% with that call is that they can get the first down if they want it. That is why the call is so bad. The Tre tackle thing - I respectfully disagree. No one is making that tackle before the sticks. They WR would need to be stood straight up and dropped immediately. A WR of Chase's quality is always going to be able to take an angle and fall forward. He is not going to be stopped, especially with that footing. Let's say you did stop them half a yard short by some miracle. Are we confident we are going to stop the fourth and a half? I'm not. And let's not forget the other three targets were given even more space. Burrow had his pick of ways to get the first.

Right, and this is the right formation for ZERO BLITZ on third and 15, perhaps - not on third and 4. Trey can get to the sticks at the same time as Chase, but there is no way that Chase can't get the first down. He just has to angle a little bit to one side. Trey sold out to try to make the tackle and missed (giving up some more yards) but, even if he made it, it would have been a first down.

The snap was a couple of seconds later, but this was their alignment at snap. After the snap, Trey nervously shuffled his feet, but didn't move. The other three defenders were practically statues. When the ball was on its way to Chase, Trey began to move up.

I have no problem with keeping everything in front of you on early downs - make them earn it, but you can't play that way on third and fourth down.

Third and 4 (see below). You all remember it. This play is important for two reasons: 1. It shows a complete lack of defensive situational awareness on what can be given up on a play. 2. It is the exact same mistake that was made during 13 seconds. On this play, they are guarding the end zone, but will easily give up the first down. On 13 seconds, we were guarding the end zone, but willing to give up the two quick plays needed for a field goal. It is actually worse because this play typified our defensive philosophy for most of the day. I'm a level headed guy who does not normally call for firings (as if that matters), but this is beyond belief. There is simply no excuse to give so much space in this situation. I know I am not an expert. In my mind, this only makes it worse. Like probably half of Bills fandom, I was yelling at my screen before the snap. Shouldn't an expert been able to see what we all saw? I can be patient: Trey - He wasn't what he was last year, but at least I can have hope that he will be back to his old self next year. Poyer - Not his best game, but he was playing with Hyde, Hamlin, Marlowe, Johnson so I'll cut him some slack that he couldn't be himself. Dorsey - Not happy with him, but I can at least talk myself into the fact that this was his first year as a coordinator. But with Frazier I can have absolutely no confidence that he has learned how ridiculously bad this is. Last year I was hoping that he would be hired away from us. This year I don't think I have any hope of that. He's smarter than me, he knows more about defense than I ever will, yada, yada, but you don't have to work for NASA to realize that spacecraft need to be air tight.

It is its own language, like - I am Groot.

Maybe, but that doesn't mean you can't ask. 😀 My kids would get off the boss and always have some unimportant story or detail from their day that they wanted to tell me. I was never interested in the substance or the conversation, but always loved having them none the less. I became interested in things that were "beneath me" because I loved my kids. This. The key to eliminating hate is remembering we are on the same team. So true. Tom Brady was "humble" on the surface but it came across as soooo fake. Josh seems genuinely humble, good dude, guy you would like to hang with, etc.