dave mcbride

Hard to play LT vs Anderson when you absolutely have to avoid ANY semblance of holding. That's a really, really hard spot for a lineman to be in. Late second for a cornerstone LT is arguably far better value than a fifth round-round off-ball LB or 4th-round nickel back. Positional value matters. So many LTs go in the first.

I can't fault him for the final 3rd down play in the Bills own end zone vs Houston. He's up against an elite pass rusher and can't do anything that even remotely looks like holding because a called hold there ends the game. It's a tough position for a lineman to be in.

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/D/DawkDi00.htm He is an 8-year starter at left tackle (obviously a premium position), objectively good at it (multiple pro bowls) and has only missed two games (in 2022) in his entire career. Pretty good for a late second round pick (63rd overall). I wouldn't say he's the best LT in the league by any stretch (he's not Trent Williams), but I see him as a player who is consistently in the top 10 at his position -- a position for which it's very hard to find good players.

Yeah, seems right. Cooper is a good player, but “leader” is not a term I associate with him. That’s ok if he plays like a stud.

From Wikipedia: "Cooper is an avid chess player. He was first captivated by the game as an elementary school student in northwest Miami, and as a football player, he relates chess strategies to his play on the field. He played in Chess.com's BlitzChamps, a rapid tournament for NFL players, and came in second place behind Chidobe Awuzie."

yes he does.

In just 15 games last year, he had 1,250 yards for 17.4 ypr. The drops issue might be a product of outliers; he was not much of a pass dropper until he got to Cleveland. In Dallas in 2020, he had 92 catches and only 3 drops. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/C/CoopAm00.htm

I recall the Bills-Cleveland game in Detroit in November 2022. The Bills couldn't cover him at all - he was just too quick and too sharp at getting in and out of breaks. He had 8 catches for 113 yards and 2 TDs.

Just saw that. I was at first a bit surprised but I think the Steelers are frauds.

I'll say this: if Pitt beats them, I'll rest a lot easier. The pathway to the division title becomes a lot if the Jets fall to 2-5, Miami loses on the road at Indy, and the Bills take care of business at home vs TN. That's a commanding lead just seven games into the season.

I'm not saying it's probable, but I do think it's plausible because if you look at it, it's an extremely easy schedule overall. But you're right, it's a week to week league and injuries happen.

I get that, but it is true that they are a talented team overall and that Adams is an elite WR. I'm not saying this is going to happen, but they should win most of these games if talent is the basis for making the prediction.

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/aaron-rodgers-apparently-had-toxic-13-year-relationship-with-former-packers-coach-mike-mccarthy/ I think what you're seeing now is effective PR management by Rodgers, who is good at covering up his quasi-sociopathic behavior after it happens. It was an unhappy relationship in GB.

It's extremely easy for the Jets to get out of the later years with zero penalty. That $36.5 million number is funny money.

Morgan Moses is a pretty good player and his absence the last couple of games is why they were a sieve. He came back last night and played well. He's not the best RT, but he's an upgrade over their first round pick, Fashanu, at this point. Fashanu was overwhelmed vs Denver and MN.

The conditional second is if Adams is named an all-pro -- which probably ain't happening given that he's missed three games already and averaged only 52 yards/game (with one total TD) in his three games with the Raiders. The max he'll play is 14 games. I guess he could go off and rack up a ton of yards TDs over the final 11 games, but I think it's less likely than not that he gets named all pro at this point.

Rodgers despises McCarthy. That'll never happen.

Yeah, totally. I'm basing my assessment on no injuries because they're impossible to predict (for both the Jets and their opponents). But Rodgers going down for the season next week on a hit by a Steelers pass rusher is certainly in the realm of the plausible. Their problem on o-line was the guy subbing for Morgan Moses at RT (he's awful) -- as Greg Cosell pointed out, both MN and Denver targeted him and feasted. Moses came back last night. He looked fine, and the Jets moved the ball almost at will vs the Bills. I don't think their line, when healthy, is that much of a problem. They averaged 6 yards per rush and 8.4 yards per passing attempt, which is really good. The Bills D is very average, so factor that in.

He slipped and fell because it was badly underthrown.

Mike Williams did nothing wrong on that play. It was a terrible throw.

Check out the Jets' upcoming schedule.

The Jets aren't that bad and I think some folks here don't quite realize how good Adams is. He is a huge upgrade. The odd man out will be Mike Williams, who through no fault of his own was the target on Rodgers's game ending INTs the last two weeks. One was beautifully read by Gilmore, who knew he was going to back-shoulder it, and the other was an awful throw by Rogers that Taron made a great play on. Also, Williams dropped a pass earlier. A threesome of Adams, Wilson (both #1s), and Lazard with Williams as fourth is a formidable group of pass catchers. Their upcoming schedule is very soft too, and while they could lose any of these games, here's my pick based on talent differentials (as I see them) over the rest of the season. at Pitt (probable win; Steelers are not very good) at Patriots (win) Texans at home (50/50; probably the Jets, though, given that Nico Collins will be out) at Cardinals (50/50) Colts at home (win) Seahawks at home (win) at Dolphins (win) at Jaguars (win) Rams at home (win) at Bills (probable loss but it's a matchup problem for the Bills, as evidenced from last night) Dolphins at home (win) Point is, even with the bad 2-4 start, it's very plausible for them to end up 11-6. Not saying they will, but don't be surprised and also don't be surprised if that Bills/Jets game is for the division.

I expect the Bengals to be 5-4 three weeks from now given their schedule. They're not trading Higgins.

“I’m not one to blame referees,” said Bills right tackle Spencer Brown, “but when they start interfering with the game and calls that can go either way, that heats up this side and then comes back and heats up the other side. “It’s like we’re a bunch of wasps in a jar. We’re kind of calm, doing our own thing, but once you start shaking the jar, we all get pretty pissed off.” McDermott counted six penalties against Buffalo before the snap or after the whistle. Brown was called for unnecessary roughness on a third-and-6 in the third quarter, offsetting a defensive pass interference call that would have moved the Bills about 30 yards downfield in a tie game. Instead, they punted. “Those are non-negotiable,” McDermott said. “We don’t tolerate that stuff. We’ve got to do a better job in that category, for sure.” Bills left tackle Dion Dawkins basked in the victory at his locker stall, donning sunglasses and a green jacket he made sure to tell reporters he wore to taunt the Jets some more. The Rahway, N.J., native has been trash-talking the Jets for months and took a costly penalty for taunting defensive tackle Quinnen Williams between the third and fourth quarters. The unsportsmanlike conduct put the Bills into a third-and-21 situation from their own 11-yard line and led to a punt. https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5844224/2024/10/15/bills-jets-win-mistakes/

Just read that 30 penalties were called — 22 accepted, 6 negated because offsetting, and 2 declined. That is RIDICULOUS.