dave mcbride

When both of your former assistants are named Brian ...

In 2013, the Panthers defense had a ridiculous 60 sacks, which led the league, and their D was second in both yards and points allowed. McDermott is plenty happy with lots of sacks.

What are you talking about??? He was *awesome* his final season at Arkansas, which went 10-3 (ranked 12th at the end of the season) and lost the Sugar Bowl to Ohio State because of a very controversial penalty call on a blocked punt in the final minute. That year, Mallet had a 65 percent completion rate, 9.4 ypa, 32 TDs, and a 163.6 rating. He led the SEC in passing yardage, TD passes, and ypa. He was good the year before too (30 TDs/7 INTs; 9.0 ypa). Anyway, the comps are there: massive size, cannon arm, accuracy issues. I didn't say he was exactly alike, but no two players are ever exactly alike. But there were certainly some notable similarities in terms of the scouting reports.

One of the worst performances I've ever seen by a great player. It's as if the mafia had something on him and he was throwing the game. I know he didn't do that, but the number of horrible -- not bad; horrible -- plays by him was staggering.

The Pats spent a third rounder on him, which was very high given the context -- i.e., the fact that they had the GOAT playing QB in his prime and were never going to spend a first on a QB at that moment. But that wasn't your point. Your point was that BB would never have taken a player with a track and skill set like Allen. It was never about where the player was drafted. Mallet isn't exactly Allen, but he's very comparable in terms of massive size and a cannon arm.

The advanced numbers show a steady downward trend for him: https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/B/BradJa00.htm. Note the missed tackle percentage (the last column).

Remember this playoff game from Peyton Manning, where he barked out such a long stream of Rube Goldberg-machine nonsense before each play that it sounded like he had logorrhea? https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/200301040nyj.htm. He was absolutely pathetic vs. Herman Edwards' Jets defense and just choked.

Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?

Minnesota was playing for a long FG attempt there, not a TD. That was just gravy because the Saints' DB, who was in position, choked and whiffed on Diggs. The players were there; they just failed and Diggs made a play. I disagree with you here. Well, he lost one chance because of arguably the worst non-call in NFL history. If that call is made, he is in the SB. Don't forget that.

Yup, and I would not be surprised if Stafford throws multiple picks. He has it in him, deep.

Um ... https://bleacherreport.com/articles/685062-ryan-mallett-five-reasons-hes-new-englands-future-at-quarterback

As I said elsewhere, Mahomes' performance in from the last five seconds of the first half onward to the end was one of the most baffling performances I've ever seen by a genuinely elite player. It was like he had the yips -- just a total meltdown in all areas of his game: decision making (including internal clock management), physical movement, and accuracy. The sequence at the very end of regulation (the two sacks and the fumble) was just ridiculous. His play over that 30-plus minute stretch really wasn't any better than Nathan Peterman, and I'm not trying to be funny. Just bizarre.

Well, Michigan has the 8th ranked recruiting class for 2022, although they're a fair bit behind the leaders in terms of 5-stars (the usual crew and Texas A & M). College recruiting has come to resemble the tech industry -- with the nationalization of recruiting, a small group of 4-5 schools just suck up a hugely disproportionate share of the top talent. 8th may sound good -- and it is -- but it doesn't reveal how huge the disparity is between the top dogs and the rest.

Totally. Maybe he relies on them for interviews too frequently? Mahomes performance in from the last five seconds of the first half onward to the end was one of the most baffling performances I've ever seen by a genuinely elite player. It was like he had the yips -- just a total meltdown in all areas of his game: decision making (including internal clock management), physical movement, and accuracy. Where I fault Reed is in the first down play from the 5 yard line with less than two minutes to go. Cincy had a TO left, and they were expecting a run because they assumed KC wanted to bleed clock. That is exactly when you should be throwing the ball. Playing the clock game instead of scoring to go up by 4 at the earliest possible opportunity was terrible game management. If I'm coaching KC, I don't care if they get it with 1:50 left if I can go up by 4. (Notably, both Hardiman and Mahomes ran out of bounds on plays just before that stopped the clock too). Sure, it'd be nicer if they had less time, but by wasting a play you're now in two obvious passing-play situations, and if you fail, you can only tie it. Reid totally outsmarted himself there. Score a TD ASAP and don't waste plays in order to play clock games.

I agree with you. He has tools.

They went 12-13 in the two years before he got there. By Michigan standards, that's terrible. And the Rodriguez years were bad too. They had one good season under Hoke -- his first one -- and that's it. I know you're a Michigan hater but let's be accurate here. Harbaugh was reasonably successful there overall, and performed better than his two predecessors. Also, the "rival" has basically been one of a super trio of recruiting schools over the last decade plus (OSU/Bama/Clemson). I'd add Georgia to this mix now. They just recruit better than anyone else and they're hard to compete with.

That's a fair point. I was simply referring to his track record of success. Regarding Miami, they did have winning seasons the last two years, and they've occasionally made the playoffs in the last two decades. However, they're never upper echelon and haven't won a playoff game since 2000. Regarding expectations, I don't know. There aren't many Tua believers out there, which puts a damper on expectations.

He has turned things around everywhere he has gone: U of San Diego, Stanford (1-11 the year before he got there and 12-1 four years later), SF, and Michigan (5-7 the year before he got there, and he went 59-19 there not including the covid 2020 season when half the team didn't play). The track record is good.

Way too many people are forgetting what he did at Stanford. He took over a weak program and within 4 seasons got them to 12-1 and won a blowout in the Orange Bowl (against Tyrod Taylor, actually). He was an incredible coach at the University of San Diego (D2) as well, taking over a moribund program and going 11-1 in both of his final two years there. Finally, it’s as if people don’t realize he was good at Michigan. Excluding the covid season, he went 10-3, 10-3, 8-5, 10-3, 9-4, and 12-2 (59-19 overall). Yes, he lost to Ohio State, but that was a function of talent. Ohio State has more than anyone else outside of Alabama.

Peter King interviews Sean Payton: ‘Situational football: Buffalo up three on Kansas City with 13 seconds left and kicking off “A lot of it depends on my kicker. If I’ve got a young kicker I’m not sure I can trust, I will not squib kick. You can’t risk the kick going out of bounds, or being recovered at the 40. I also don’t like trying a pop-up kick to land at the eight- or 10-yard line. I’m not asking a kicker to use a technique, seldom-used, to place a kick somewhere that might determine whether you go to the championship game. I’m probably just kicking the ball deep into the end zone and giving them the ball at the 25, like Buffalo did. “The crime that is committed comes after that. We are playing football still—you can’t be defending the sidelines at all costs, like Buffalo was. You see when Travis Kelce catches that long pass to put them in field-goal range, a cornerback is defending an area of the field near the sidelines he doesn’t need to defend. Kansas City’s got two timeouts left—they don’t need to get out of bounds. Everything about what Buffalo did defensively is flawed. We would play outside man technique with a three-man rush, funneling balls to the middle of the field and contesting outside technique.”’ https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2022/01/31/rams-bengals-super-bowl-nfl-fmia-peter-king/

He also "died well," as they say -- that comeback vs the Rams was pretty epic.

The Bills not being in the championship game has literally zero to do with YAC given the offensive performance the last couple of games. They should be in the game but choked on defense.

I've actually been thinking the same.

Home field in that game meant something -- the Texans weren't called for one penalty that wasn't pre-snap. And they held all game.

He's available given that he was a second rounder. Plus he's a Panther ... PS - He definitely played with White at LSU. He came out one year after him.