dave mcbride

Walking boot, not air cast.

Yes. Not even close to a fake slide.

Taron johnson is out with a potential concussion. Last person left.

That was a REALLY low kick. It wasn’t even an impressive block.

But an extra 27 hours for Rasul Douglas to get better.

Outside of Watt, the Steelers are looking quite healthy given the time of year.

I'd say it was as good as an average punt from that distance. Most from inside the 40 aren't coffin cornered but rather go into the end zone. So the result was the same as a typical punt. Of course, we could have nailed an excellent and atypical punt too. If you watch the Warner video, the first option was Kincaid, and he was wide open for the first. It was an easy play and schemed perfectly. Josh saw that he had Diggs outside, though, and got greedy.

To be fair, that is how you're SUPPOSED to throw a hail mary. It was perfect. Not saying Harbaugh was a big-armed QB, btw. It was this game. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/199709210buf.htm

Prior to the Eagles game, it was reported that during pre-game warmups, his 55-yard FG kicks were falling 10 yards short. Something is up with him for sure.

Dawkins will play, which means both Bills’ lines will pretty much be at full health. Daquon and Ed are game wreckers, and Daquon has his sea legs now. Rasul going down in a game vs a weak-armed qb in Drake-Passage weather conditions doesn’t concern me all that much. Dane is fine as a fill-in in crazy conditions because he is an excellent tackler. People need to take a deep breath. All of the Steelers success has occurred on deep throws or mid-tier throws and catch-and-runs in cover-zero situations, and that’s why Rudolph is enjoying an entirely unsustainable 9.7 yards per pass attempt over the last 3 games. The bills don’t give up that stuff, and he is likely to be humbled by the conditions. I am betting on the far superior qb.

The video is ALL about this issue. I recommend watching it. You'll like it.

Exactly. Receivers running too deep on all-out blitz plays is a real problem. What I’d like to see is if the Bills cleaned that up in the second half.

More: https://nypost.com/2024/01/09/sports/wink-martindale-cursed-out-giants-brian-daboll-after-firings/

I'm far more interested in the toxic dynamic between him and Daboll. By firing all of his people, he forced him to resign, which means he can't go to the Eagles if the Giants want to stop it. Daboll is an interesting person, but I think he has some real anger management issues and his relationships with McDermott and Martindale - his two most recent defensive coaching partners - appear to be in tatters. Check it out: https://theathletic.com/5189282/2024/01/09/new-york-giants-brian-daboll-wink-martindale-resign/ Daboll shifted the onus to Martindale by declaring during his season-ending news conference Monday morning that it was his “expectation” the coordinator would be back. Daboll made that comment despite revealing moments later that he had yet to have a conversation with Martindale about his future. That didn’t matter because Daboll had already tried to ensure that a split would be on Martindale. Daboll even referenced Martindale’s previous comments about how much he loved working for the Giants. “I know Wink talks about this as a destination place and things like that,” Daboll said. The firings of the Wilkins brothers were reported by The Athletic five hours after Daboll’s comments. An hour later, news of Martindale’s resignation broke. The timeline of how everything unfolded internally is unclear, but firing the Wilkins brothers was clear a sign Martindale’s days in East Rutherford were numbered. The brothers began their coaching careers at the lowest levels in Baltimore and rose through the ranks under Martindale’s tutelage. Drew Wilkins became Martindale’s right-hand man, as the duo worked closely to design the defense’s exotic blitz packages. With Martindale and his protégés gone, the pressure on Daboll intensifies. The honeymoon already was over, but now he needs to find an upgrade on one of the most respected defensive coordinators in the league. It would be one thing if Martindale was fired for poor performance. But this relationship dissolved over a personality conflict. If Daboll could have made things work with Martindale, he wouldn’t have a major hole to fill on his coaching staff. A messy divorce? Don’t expect this to be an amicable split between Martindale and the Giants. He’s still under contract for 2024, so despite reports about the demand for his services, he’s not free to pursue any job he wants. If Martindale gets head-coaching interest, which seems unlikely, he can pursue those opportunities. But it’s hard to imagine the Giants will let him walk to any defensive coordinator job of his choosing. The last thing the Giants want is for Martindale to head to Philadelphia, whose defense has disintegrated down the stretch. That’s why a firing was unlikely, since that would have paved the way down I-95 for Martindale. The resignation is a much better outcome for the Giants, since they maintain control over Martindale’s next stop. Depending on how bitter the breakup is, it seems like the sides should be able to reach a mutual parting if Martindale gets a coordinator offer from a team that meets the Giants’ approval.

That finish is etched in my memory!

I read a piece in The Athletic before the game that quoted a coach who was familiar with both teams. He said that he expected Michigan to win because while Texas has a good front, their secondary is bad. Michigan, on the other hand, has a good front seven too, but also an elite secondary. We saw that tonight. Penix looks great vs regular college secondaries, but he was bad vs a secondary that’s an NFL one in training. It’s a Bills board. What do you expect? Speaking for myself, I hate everything about college football to my core (it is so corrupt and should NOT be tied to actual universities), but I feel I have to pay moderate attention for draft knowledge purposes.

Saying it now: Penix should be a fourth-fifth round pick. He can probably play in the nfl, but with that throwing motion, his ceiling is low.

https://twitter.com/jjanikone/status/1744208381781450838/photo/2 second image here!

I can’t believe I am agreeing, but he was great tonight. @GunnerBill has always been a fan, and i can see why tonight.

C.J. Stroud looks like he might be the Buckeyes’ Brady. For decades going back to the early 1960s, it was a general rule that Michigan QBs, all of whom were high profile given the status of the program (and were always on tv), would suck in the NFL. Then Brady came along and the rule died (because it wasn’t really a rule in the end). Seems to be what’s going on with Stroud here. He’s very good, but more importantly it’s looking like he’s the first OSU qb to actually be a success in the NFL.

Yeah, catchable, but that was a HORRIBLE throw on an easy pass play. All the time, I see players who have to contort themselves like that on plays where they KNOW they have to focus on YAC drop such passes.

Weather is beyond awful. Factor that in.

Yes we are.

Re that measure, which I love, kincaid is at 61.4 percent and shakir is off the charts at 76.9. I have a feeling Shakir might a mainstay #3 for a long time. He can be a Beasley with time and experience.

Diggs is obviously hurt and NFL teams obviously underreport injuries both for competitive reasons and for their players' own safety. End of story. In the last two games, he has beaten defenders deep three times for what should have been house calls and Allen has missed him every time (two underthrows and one overthrow).