Webster Guy

The NFL replaced good refs to save money? I seriously doubt that. This league has hundreds of millions to burn, a bumbling commish, a bunch of off the field felons, players appealing to federal courts, and now you're saying they thought it would make sense to hire cheaper refs. No. They did stink up the Bills and Pats games yesterday, thats for sure. I can see missing the Maclin ground ball call, but the Hogan thing was unreal. Like not even remotely close. The Chung holding call in the endzone on the Branch sack cost the Pats the game. Very mild holding at best.

Schmidt came out of nowhere. He's a force. When he over kicked that one in the endzone today for a touchback, I thought how rare that was for him. Usually he sticks those at the 8 yard line out of bounds or fair caught.

Durable, tough, blocks well, solid special teamer, relatively low salary, seems to get good separation when I watch him. Those are the last guys you let go, especially in Roman's offense. bring in whoever you want to challenge him next summer at camp, the dude will win a roster spot every year. He's an asset. And dont forget we have a system that throws 20 times a game max. We won't be drafting a WR in the early rounds anytime soon.

I look at the your "coaching sucks" from 3 phases. Special Teams: no argument from me, i think they've underperformed with the exception of our surprise pro bowler Colton. I could see Crossman being replaced. offense: i honestly think an offensive system takes a full season to get rolling, especially Roman's complex schemes and having a qb who has started zero games until this season. Im skeptical because Shady, Clay and Sammy are all top 10 at their position talent wise, and our Oline (except Henderson) is pretty good, yet we usually don't put up enough points with these guys to pull out the close games. Roman needs to get his freaking plays in earlier though. TT never has a hard count chance to draw offsides because he's battling the play clock. Cost us a penalty today too. Fix that tomorrow. Defense: I can't believe Darby has turned out so solid this soon, and Gilmore has finally turned the corner to reliable. It seemed like our only offseason worry. Our penalties are ridiculous, but we've had some good games like NE last week with no Kyle, Mario or Aaron Williams. Not sure if Rex or Thurman called this game but that 8 man front blitz in the 4th they were SO ready for from watching Pats game film, bad call by our coaches. And some bad no challenge calls too. There can't be simple solutions like so many of us like to post here. These coaches are at the top of their profession and have had winning playoff squads, there isn't a poster on this board that knows 5% of what Rex or Roman knows about NFL football. Its hard to say they suck if we don't have the understanding of the game and why they're coaching the way they do. My vote is one more year for everyone except maybe Crossman.

5 catches for 90 yard pace puts you at over 1400 for the season. Good for 5th overall in the NFL last year. If TT hits him on that long one he has a 140 yard game. But apparently the "worst" instincts of all time.

This offensive system, ANY offensive system takes a long time to learn and perfect. Especially one as complex as Roman's with a ton of new guys and a qb starting in his first season. So nothing will change on offense, maybe Lal, but that decision would be based on Roman's evaluation which would be far more in-depth than we as fans would understand about what makes a good receivers coach. He might be a great WR coach. Our guys block hard and seem to get open. It's hard not to look at special teams as a sub-par unit. We have a pro bowl punter and it pretty much stops there. We've been spoiled by Bobby April thats for sure. The Thigpen cut early in the season and Cundiff experiment was a classic case of management overreaction, not sure if Crossman was behind any of it though.

The worst part is Bill will retire when Brady does, or at least when tom's skills start diminishing, so we'll never get to see him coach through a multi year slump. One thing is for sure, our coaches need a serious lesson in clock management and efficiency. 4th quarter was a complete shitstorm.

Im glad he's back. Have posted several times in the past month that it was silly to let thiggy go. In other news, leodis didnt cost us the pats game. The turnover sucked and led to 3 points, but we didn't hand them the game on that one.

The biggest frustration for me regarding Mario is that last night was the biggest game we've had for this team since he's been here. A depleted Patriots team, a huge divisional opponent where a win would put us 4-1 in the division and push this teams confidence to a playoff level, playing in front of the nation on our first MNF game in SIX freaking years against a weak O-line. Everything was lining up to be perfect. This game was THE reason that we brought on Mario and signed him to the biggest contract ever for a DE at the time. To go impact a meaningful game with playoff implications. Just once. Bums me out. Him too probably, the guy obviously wants win and I'm sure he hates the Patriots as much as we all do. Maybe Bruce Smith has us all so spoiled, expecting to see a dominant DE performance in the big games. Its frustrating because he seems like he's in such great shape, he's not too old yet, he plays pretty hard, he's probably the most physically gifted big man on the field. I don't care about sacks. Bat down a pass or even just change a few throws with some qb hurries. Clog a passing lane. He's always been good recognizing screens and pursuing, even this year. We need this dude.

So you're saying Mario's been doing just fine this year, and trying to say otherwise is wrong. You should watch the games sometime. And the only thing people were on Hughes about were his stupid personal foul calls that were game changing penalties.

Rex and Dennis had a great defensive gameplan and the defense did enough to win that game. Lets see another team go into Foxboro and hold them to 17. (i'm not counting the leodis fumble that let to three points, that wasn't on the D) The one mistake I think Rex has made is tinkering with the special teams too much this season. It was a mistake to let Thigpen go, it was a mistake to let Goodwin return kickoffs knowing his injury history, bringing in Cundiff and releasing Gay for a week or two (really Rex?), and it was a mistake to try and insert Leodis in there as a punt returner when he's so rusty. Keeping Dixon instead of Freddy for special teams was such a blunder. Fred was an awesome punt returner because he protected the ball and had great hands. No he's not going to break one, but he's not gonna fumble either and that's all I care about on the punt return. Get me 8 yards and hang on to the ball.

Uh OK Mike. Now the rest of the media is saying that too when referencing the inadvertant whistle call, that it may have robbed Amendola from running the 60 yards and scoring. Did anyone else see Darby (who ran a blazing 4.38 40 at the combine) standing next to him in coverage? The Pats made out just fine with their 25 yard gift for that play.

He's a solid corner, we just need to keep him at that position and off special teams. I want a dude that has running back arms that squeeze the crap outta the ball out there fielding punts and kickoffs. Not a db or a wr.

Wait are you saying it actually takes more than ten starts to learn the incredibly complex qb position in the NFL? You must be MAD. And for those of you who said he missed shady on that td pass, what game were you watching? It was a perfectly thrown pass, like the majority of his long balls.

We should enact the idiot protocol for you Tommy Boy.

Now that Woods labeled himself as a "blocking receiver" in the media this week, he's gonna have a big reception day. I always wondered what Robert's career would look like if he was on a throwing squad that chucked it 35 times a game. Either way, we need him for all the little things he does on the field tonite.

Zero worries about the Chiefs aside from their pass rush, which we can handle. If we can't beat them then we certainly arent gonna win a road playoff game against a real team. If Kubiak had benched Manning for that last game which he should have, Denver would have spanked em. We will be favored in that game.

Interesting point OP. The good news is the NFL is finally working on properly handling the concussion issue. Its safer to be a player now than its ever been before with the new protocols, qb protection rules, defenseless receiver rule, horse collar, spearing, hands to the face rules, the huge reduction in kickoff return injuries (except in our case when we decided to put our fragile burner out there for kickoffs and now Goodwin is lost for the season), even injury rehab and sports medicine in general is constantly improving. Its still not perfect- but its getting better all the time. There are several prototype helmets being tested that reduce concussions (did Kelso's extra padded helmet not make sense? Why wasn't that made the standard back then?) Football is too entertaining to not watch. I think its far better than any other sport. Also remember there are teams of sleazy lawyers out there trying to get injury settlements for their ex NFL-player clients by exaggerating the extent of their injuries. And don't think other broke ex players didn't take note of what happened to Daryl Talleys bank account when he told his story to the Bills nation. Its become trendy to publicize your post athletic career injuries, which means it isn't all going to be the truth.

The game plan is to run against a 7 man front the majority of the time, and to pass against 8 or more upfront. We run plays based on what the defense gives us, not what kind of play calling balance we decided before the game would be nice. TT will be able to audible for the most part, I don't think foxboro is known for crazy loudness. We need Richie to play, I hope he comes around enough to take the field. Wish we had Goodwin still to run the long ball opposite Sammy (Rex you were an idiot for having Goody return kicks. Should have kept Thigpen all year and had him handle the job) I think this will be a 23-21 score. Bills edge Pats with a 45 yarder from Carpenter to win it in the final seconds.

Haha you guys are dicks. Ok I'll let it die. My point was simply that the guy is very inconsistent and this is the week we need him the most, as a win here likely puts us at 5-1 in the division if we handle the Jets at home in week 17. I want a #1 overall pick and one the highest paid players ever to show up more than he has. I don't care about sacks, nobody that knows football does. I want him to be a factor, a game changer, block a freaking pass or two, disrupt some timing, blow up a screen. If he has an off game we are screwed.

By the time he gets to tee off on Monday night it will have been a month since he's played a snap, and none of it due to injury. We all know Mario is a streaky player, like all the Houston fans told us when we signed him. One game he's invisible, the next he takes over the game. He's had plenty of time for bowhunting, hopefully he got his buck and now he's ready for the second half of the season. I can't think of a better time for him to have the game of his life than in front of the nation against the most annoying team in the history of all sports (tied with the "bad kids" team that the Bad News Bears play against) He's up against a weak offensive line and an immobile qb. Great time to earn your money Mario, we need ya man.

Interesting. Nice shout out to Jim Leonard for his d-back cluster scheme. Get that dude a headset and a coaches hat. I like how they put stopping the run first, because nobody ever thinks of the Pats running game as anything significant. They're known for playing full quarters and even halves of football with empty backfields and/or zero rushing attempts. They have Blount and probably the new guy White will get a few touches. Bolden, the 3rd runner looked pretty bad against the Giants. You would think we would be able to handle Blount, but he must be faster than he looks out there because he can churn clock and keep the chains moving when he needs to. At least against us. (still trying to forget his 334 all purpose yard game against us two years ago.) The one thing about Thurman I'm having trouble understanding is the lack of inventiveness our defense seems to have this year. I remember the Jets as having tons of pre-snap movement, disguised blitzes, zone blitz, overloaded blitz from one side, etc. Did anyone notice the way Marvin Lewis had his D shifting and adjusting pre-snap last night? That's how I expected us to be this year, and it seems like more Wanny than Rex/Thurman to me. Whatever it is, THIS game is the reason Rex is our head coach. He and Dennis need to create and execute an effective scheme and keep Brady guessing. We aren't going to score 30 points out there, this game is up to our defense to win. And what's more fun to watch than Brady and Kraft losing? Nothing. I put it ahead of the birth of my first child--by a LOT (it was mostly screaming, sweat, and lots of amniotic fluid, anti-climactic for sure......) go bills.................

Yes that was silly not pulling it in. Cost them the game. There are so many simple, pop warner fundamentals ignored by some of these nfl guys its mind blowing. Catch, pull it in tight to the body, all one motion. As far as Karlos play, that was running so there was none of that Complete the Play rule stuff involved . That was simply a question of posession at the goal line plane, and incredibly they don't have elevated cameras at the goal line so refs had no perfect angle to review that play and had to let it stand. Which was good.

I disagree. Edelman is a super quick receiver who gets consistent separation. His chemistry with brady is excellent, and he will be sorely missed. By the patsies, not by anyone else who watches that nauseating little cocky punk play. Dont forget how injury prone Gronk is either. He's due for another shoulder or knee issue soon. We are getting healthier and theyre getting weaker. Love it.

Its possible that Cassel playing against the Jags would have resulted in a win, but he and Freddy are both looking like they'll be out of football next year.