Sierra Foothills

On another topic, is everyone done crowning the Lions' asses?

In my workplace we review mistakes and apportion blame. It's rare that it's one person's fault. People weigh-in on their responsibility. The way we do it, it's expressed in percentages. Head Coach Rookie QB

The actual question for the rules analyst (which of course wasn't asked): "When on a natural collision course with a defender, is the offensive player required to avoid contact?"

IMO he's too early in his career to fairly judge, one way or the other. But I think his talent is obvious and his flashes are electric.

Digging a bit deeper, last year the Lions won at Kansas City 21-20 in week 1 and lost at Baltimore 38-6 in week 7.

General observations: I don't understand all the Caleb hate. I have no idea about his past or his personality but his talent jumps off the screen. He easily could become the best QB in what already appears to be a historically great QB draft. Detroit's two highest quality wins this year were at the Vikings by 2 points and at the Packers by 10 points. They have not yet played the current NFL elite of KC, Buffalo, Philly, Baltimore... unless you count Green Bay and Minnesota as elite. Their other wins against teams with winning records are Seattle, Arizona, and Houston. They have had very little pass rush on the Bears today. IMO, the Lions get too much credit on these pages. They are an excellent team but still have a skimpy track record.

Philly at Baltimore on Sunday should be a good one. Regarding he who will remain unnamed, you're both wrong. He turned 20 on May 2nd. His Dad was a good NFLer. I sometimes wonder if he and his brother viewed football as mandatory, not optional. He passed near the end of the Second Industrial Revolution... during the First World War... I would guess 1915 but I'd have to look it up.

Excellent breakdown and thanks very much for posting. Yes, hopefully next year brings us the final piece for our WR corps. I'd love to be able to retain Cooper too.

Besides Purdy, also questionable are frontline players Trent Williams, Nick Bosa, and Deommodore Lenoir. Fred Warner is playing through injury. Strategically this would be a good week for the Niners to stand down.

Niners put up a good fight but Bills win going away... 28-17

Update: In yesterday's Buffalo News there was a feature on Bobby Babich and the job he's doing. Some excerpts to feed down any hangriness that might develop between now and Sunday: "Here we are, 11 games into the season, and the Bills’ defense is where it usually is. The Bills have allowed the seventh fewest points in the league. They lead the NFL with the fewest explosive pass plays of 20-plus yards allowed, they’re fifth in the league in takeaways, and top 10 in advanced metrics (DVOA) against the run and the pass. Regular-season defensive excellence: It’s a Bills tradition. One sign of the Bills’ in-game defensive adjustments can be seen in scoring. The Bills are third best in the NFL in points allowed in the second half (7.2 a game). To Babich’s credit, the Bills did not play it safe in the victory over Patrick Mahomes & Co. The Bills blitzed Mahomes 11 times, according to Buffalo News charting, and six of them resulted in a failed play by the offense. The first one produced a sack by linebacker Terrel Bernard on a play where he was the spy on the quarterback. There were a few plays where the Chiefs ran a man in motion, and no cornerback followed across the field, making it look like zone coverage. But then the Bills’ corners played man to man. Then, Babich threw a wrinkle late in the game by using linebacker Dorian Williams as a spy. Williams technically was the fourth defensive lineman, and there were six defensive backs. It was a creative way to use Williams’ athleticism. On playing with light boxes: “It’s the philosophical way of how we play defense,” Babich said. “I think over the years, shoot, since we’ve been here, we’ve probably given up the least explosive plays defensively." Don't stuff your faces... chew your food. https://buffalonews.com/sports/professional/nfl/bills/buffalo-bills-defense-bobby-babich-nfl/article_995f93fc-acfb-11ef-a7c4-aff18ac2dae0.html

As gonzo said, Dorian is a young and IMPROVING player with close to elite physical traits. We still have not seen his best IMO. And I think there'll be a role for him. From the recent Buffalo News article on Bobby Babich: "Babich threw a wrinkle late in the game by using linebacker Dorian Williams as a spy. Williams technically was the fourth defensive lineman, and there were six defensive backs. It was a creative way to use Williams’ athleticism."

Something as simple as moving Mekhi Becton to guard was both ridiculously simple and brilliant.

Yes, this is the best group of Bills RBs in a long time. I'd love to be able to keep Cook too. He might not be "elite" but he's absolutely a difference maker and a home run hitter. With all of the extension-eligible Bills there's the hope that they'll accept an early contract instead of testing the open market. If Cook makes it to the open market it's not hard imagining the Bills being outbid for his services. At that point you hope he takes the hometown discount. Understanding protections and the willingness to engage are important but body type helps A LOT. For a guy like Cook there's often gonna be someone bigger than him running full speed at him. Cook is a pretty slightly-built guy (pretty sure the bye week helped him recover from the collision on his second TD run). Larry Centers was elite in this regard.

That would be better than the Bills by 3 in 9 feet of snow. I can't take too many more nailbiters... especially with frostbitten fingers.

That was a nice exchange. I feel like going to Avenue Subs getting a Royal... or a Hitman... or maybe... the Chicken Cordon Blue (chicken finger sub baked with ham and provolone, slathered with blue cheese)! I feel like going to Avenue Subs... "And for the 3rd time in the game, another busted coverage by the Bills secondary... "

From where I stand it looks to me like you're sitting pretty.

Anyone know how the nomination and voting process works?

Yes, and with nothing redacted! 🙂

Yes, essentially using reverse psychology on the jinx itself. Yes and Curtis Samuel was a RB up until his sophomore year at Ohio State.

I think with all the injuries on defense the last two years it's all the Bills could do to simply keep their base defense intact. I think better health would have enabled them to experiment with different looks but that wasn't an option with all the young, unproven players in the starting lineup. Going forward I'd love if they could scheme up some effective curveballs to throw at Mahomes and Lamar/Henry but I think the greatest good is assignment soundness. That said now that they're relatively healthy they have 5 more weeks to work on different looks and packages.

I agree. Darnold will move on next year to challenge for a starting spot elsewhere. DJ will replace Darnold as the bridge QB to McCarthy.

The door to Flutie's suite will be fortified with a heavy security detail. Yes, I also found out that you have to be good at science to become a scientist.

Taylor Rapp was injured early in the Baltimore game and Cole Bishop got most of the snaps. Rapp has had an excellent season for us. Bishop was welcomed to the league in that one. Also Amari Cooper hadn't joined the team yet.