dave mcbride

You are absolutely right about that game. And over the years in the Rivers era it felt like they lost a dozen or so games they should have won because of kicking failures. In the Philly game this year - the one where Elliott kicked the 58 yarder in the wind and rain to tie the game — pat mcafee said before the game that all of bass’s practice kicks from 55 yards out in pre-game were falling 5-10 short of the goal post and that bills fans should not expect to see any long kicks. He is a PROBLEM.

When he was healthy in his first couple of seasons, he looked every bit as good as early years-OBJ and Mike Evans. In this game -- https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/201601030buf.htm -- he essentially handed Revis Island precise directions to the proverbial glue factory. He was uncoverable in that game and was the best player on the field by a LOT. He cost the Jets the playoffs (along with a classic Fitzpick to Leodis in the EZ late in the 4th).

He actually had 11 TDs in his rookie season (two rushing TDs). He also had 956 yards from scrimmage in his second season because he had 14 carries for 96 yards (6.9 yards per rushing attempt). He was legit good in his first years, and in both of those seasons he had to share the ball with a lot of other high-volume targets: Diontae Johnson (both seasons), Ju Ju (2020), Najee Harris (2021), Ebron (2020), and Freiermuth (2021).

Excellent piece. Sorta confirms what I say above about playing in bad offenses with bad QBs setting him off, and not in a helpful way. Now he's playing with a bigger and better version of Roethlisberger, though.

My take on Claypool is that he might (emphasis on might) be one of those receivers who can’t stomach playing with bad quarterbacks who don’t know how to (or can’t) implement a passing game that’s reasonably sophisticated in design because they’re either not good processors or not good physical talents. Some people react very badly to incompetence at the top, and that might well be a Claypool trait. That makes them bad team players when the person at the top (the QB) isn’t good. However, we never heard anything like this about Claypool when Roethlisberger was the QB, and now Claypool is playing with a QB who is inarguably one of the 2-3 best in the NFL and the most physically talented to boot. Anyway, something to consider.

LOL! Never thought I'd see a Mark Arm reference on TBD. I saw them a few months ago in the West Village (Manhattan) and they were phenomenal.

He actually had 536 yards over the last 10 games, which averages out to 911 yards. One of those games was the Dallas game, where Allen only had 7 completions in a blowout win. I'd personally also factor in the two most important games - the playoffs. Not a lot of yardage but two TDs.

There is good drill-down info in this piece about why he hasn’t elevated his game yet three years in: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5524835/2024/05/29/trevor-lawrence-contract-jaguars-doug-pederson/

I'm not talking about mere stat lines - I'm talking about what saw on the field. He looked utterly helpless out there -- simply unable to cover anyone all game, beaten on every type of route (short, medium ...). Ridley had his way with him in terms of technique every time he lined against him. Basically, he didn't look like he knew how to play the position. By comparison, Mickey Washington looked like an all pro. Having said all of this, I do realize that the injury may well have been affecting him and honestly I haven't given up on him. He is a very good athlete with excellent length, so maybe the light goes on this year.

He was absolutely terrible in the Jax game in London - repeatedly spun around like a helpless top by Calvin Ridley in what was one of the worst single-game performances of a Bills CB I have ever seen. So it’s reasonable that the coaches had little faith in him. That said, he IS physically talented, and he seems bright enough. I am hoping for an Eric Moulds situation, where the light finally switches on in year three. But he has been a liability so far. Saying otherwise is whistling past the graveyard.

Dare I say it, but a reformed Claypool would be a huge addition. He was legit good early on.

I think the Jets might surprise people this year (the roster on paper is good) but it is the case that they've had only one winning season in the past 13 years.

I think the term you're looking for is "dog's breakfast": "A dog's breakfast is any kind of smorgasbord prepared, in haste or at random, from life's castoffs. In this case, it was the chicken bones and half-eaten pizzas of policies that the Administration had proposed earlier and Congress had rejected. . . . Cat people wouldn't understand, but anyone who has ever walked a dog down an alley would." https://www.nytimes.com/1993/03/07/magazine/on-language-dog-s-breakfast.html

Awesome call! Mach II FTW!!