Sierra Foothills

From Peter King in today's FMIA: "Rust, and football news, never sleeps. On my radar during Super Bowl week: Carson Wentz. My first reaction when I heard Chris Mortensen’s report that the Colts would try to trade Wentz in the next month: There’s something bubbling beneath the surface here. Wentz failed down the stretch for Indianapolis, but the play itself (middling .624 accuracy rate, 27 TDs, seven picks, 94.7 rating) wasn’t bad enough for the Colts and coach/mentor Frank Reich to give up on a player they spent first- and third-round picks to acquire. A couple of things to consider here. Late in his Eagles’ tenure, Wentz did some immature things—got ticked off about the team drafting Jalen Hurts in the second round in 2020, reportedly stopped talking to coach Doug Pederson for a period. He got benched for poor play down the stretch of the season, leading to his trade to Indy. Reich loved him in Philadelphia. My guess is something happened here, something other than a 9-8 record, that led to this moment. Attitude, an incident, work ethic, loss of trust. Something. I don’t know what."

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Often that's the case. However Mortensen felt comfortable putting his name on this report and a date to boot. Because of that this doesn't sound like wild speculation to me. "Wentz will probably be traded or released by March 18, according to Chris Mortensen of ESPN." It seems that he clear stinks now but he was taken 2nd overall, started all 16 games and played well as a rookie, and was 2nd team All Pro in his second season. His fall has been a bit mystifying. The thing about Stafford though is that it seems there are a couple times every game that he makes some head scratching plays. He's talented for sure but probably not an elite decision maker. Not to mention DeMarcus Lawrence and Randy Gregory. Their linebacking corps is also really good.

Frank Reich is as steadfast and loyal a person as can be. He was a staunch and vocal supporter of Wentz... his one true believer. To me this borders on shocking.

Also has anyone polled the flora... that's relevant too. The American Alliance for Alliteration objected. I hear that Yetis all across the Himalayas are filing a class action lawsuit. 👍 To the haters, we care and hope because he's Jim Kelly's nephew. I don't think that's irrational or hard to understand. Also, what is the statute of limitations for forgiving someone and hoping that they redeem themselves to society?

Incidentally, the industry with the highest level of nepotism is farming. Think about that for awhile.

I work at a vocational training center which oversees Apprenticeship training in the electrical construction industry. Unfortunately there is some nepotism as there is in virtually all industries. In my position I just have to accept it philosophically. One thing I tell the Apprentices is this: " We don't care how you got here, we only care what you do here." Everyone is held to the same high standards and there is no favoritism. Incidentally there's a weird polarization with the 2nd generationers... half of them suck and are clearly riding coattails and the other half are exceptionally excellent having been trained from an early age about the industry, having good role modeling, and not wanting to sully the family name. Regarding the Shurmur hire, his dad is a lifelong NFL coach who was twice a head coach. His great uncle was a renowned and respected (Super Bowl-winning) Defensive Coordinator. It's probable that Kyle has a very high football IQ and is extremely well-qualified for this entry level position.

Could you imagine the Bills entire QB room from 2021 minus Josh and Dorsey in New Jersey? (Trubisky, Webb, Fromm) Half the people think the Giants wouldn't do it because it sends "the wrong signal" to Daniel Jones. The other half believes that steel sharpens steel and competition would be just the thing for Jones. If you setup a GoFundMe I will donate. Yeah as I recall, the Giants are in Cap Hell due to Gettleman's dealings. I feel like 2022 will be more of a teardown than anything else.

Step forward. 1) The NFL is like an arms race. Josh put tons of video out there and league DCs spent considerable time trying to game plan him and figure out how to crack the code... like "The Jordan Rules." In spite of this Josh still had a great season and played his best football when it counted. 2) The Bills needed the 1989 Bickering Bills season to launch them into the 4 straight Super Bowls. Sometimes a step back is actually a step forward in disguise.

Sometimes when you look back on a breakup you realize that both sides could have acquitted themselves better. It doesn't have to be a binary equation.

As you are already aware, that's wishful thinking. In the current climate with the Rooney Rule looming over the early offseason I think it's very highly unlikely that Frazier gets fired. Part of this conversation is anger/disappointment fueled. Because of the heinous loss to the Chiefs there is some percentage of the fanbase that wants their pound of flesh... in this case Frazier's head. A realistic and pragmatic view asks the question whether the Bills will grow/learn/improve from this experience... whether McDermott/Frazier will have plugged the leaks.

I wouldn't worry about Frazier. I'm pretty sure McNair will hire him next year after firing Lovie this year. Frazier's essentially gonna be the 3rd leg of the triple crown. The Culley-Lovie-Frazier carousel will become the running inside joke for the NFL... their little gleeful poke at the Rooney Rule.

Is there any doubt that McDermott told Farwell to "find another job as soon as you can because you're not coming back?"

A guy I know from Depew/Lancaster who would have been about 17 at the time, was a huge Cowboys fan and expecting a big win for Dallas, attended the game wearing a Tony Dorsett jersey and a cowboy hat (he's long since converted to being a Bills fan). In addition he was buzzed on some form of hallucinogenic drug that was popularized in the late 1960s. Because he was "peaking" he was running a bit late to his seat and had no sooner entered the stadium bowl when Greg Bell broke the 85 yard run. Needless to say the game was a huge bummer for him.

The Bills have made the playoffs in 4 of the last 5 years after a 17 year drought and you're not convinced that those in charge can evaluate talent? That's an interesting take. Please tell more.

Khan that white bast... oh wait... never mind.

What other Pro Bowl Skills were they competing at? Was there the dizzy bat game? Sex Toys throwing? Tackling the drunk fan?

Joe Bugel, Alex Gibbs, Bob McKittrick, Mouse McNally... Legendary O-line coaches for 200, Alex... Could it be a simple matter of the Bills having more O-line talent? 6 degrees of Panthers Nation

Fred Warner was also taken after Edmunds and is obviously the much better player.

So much for my conspiracy theory. 😆

Like Carl Mauck? 😄 I love the hiring. Great credentials for the position... plus the William and Mary pedigree (Marv, McDermott, Tomlin) and the fact that he's from the Sean Payton coaching tree.

Michigan was a clown show even after Harbaugh arrived in 2015... right up until last year. Until this season he had not beaten Ohio State and he has a losing record against Michigan State. Their success this season had a lot to do with the fact that they had something like 30 returning seniors. Harbaugh has restored respectability to the program but I think it would be an exaggeration to give him much more credit than that... he has not been a miracle worker. He has not come near the success that Meyer had with OSU for instance.

This is what I believe. It's part of the fallout from Floresgate. It actually wouldn't surprise me if the NFL made a direct appeal to Zygi Wilf to make a minority hire... to "take one for the team" to mitigate the possibly hundreds of millions in damage to the league.

Ravens... Packers... Nor have they won a Super Bowl.