dave mcbride

Way, way too many flags in this game overall. Aren’t they supposed to marketing football overseas??

Tyreek hill literally had a pass go right through his hands on the dolphins previous possession.

This is pretty freaking awesome.

Their average drive start is among the worst in the league, actually — 25th: https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/pit/2023.htm. Their defense is 30th in yards given up too. What explains pretty much everything is the fact that the Steelers offense have given up the fifth fewest turnovers and the Steelers defense has forced the second most.

McDaniel is one of my favorite people in the league now. He’s kind of the anti-Marrone in a sense. Too bad he coaches for Miami, but I can’t blame that on him. He is good for the league.

The reason there are fewer practices is because there were so many injuries in practice -- which doesn't get captured in these stats. It's an extremely violent game and it's always been such. Again, the decline in practices is because there were so many injuries in practice!

I am guessing this is more about Damian Harris being out longer than might be expected. They do need a third RB, if only for depth.

My big concern is that historically Burrow has SHREDDED zone defenses. His issues have come against teams with good man cover guys/schemes (Browns, Ravens), and the Bills not only don't play much man, they can't given their JAG boundary CBs. I expect he'll pick the Bills secondary apart. Maybe the Bills score 40; who knows. They're capable of it, and the offensive line is leagues better than it was last year. Hard to pick against Cincy in this one, though.

I know, I know -- paywall: https://theathletic.com/5019995/2023/11/01/raiders-mcdaniels-ziegler-firing-mark-davis/. Still if you can access this detailed piece charting the implosion of McDaniel and Ziegler, you won't regret reading it. It's terrific.

He seems to be in physical decline, though. Whatever mobility he once had -- and he had some -- seems to have disappeared. He's not the same guy. Carr pretty much is. Carr has gotten two teams to the playoffs!

I think you're alone in that position (thinking Jimmy G is better than Carr), but that's OK.

He is on pace for 38-39 catches and is averaging an elite 10.7 ypr. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Cook’s receiving numbers gradually tick up over the final nine games.

Way better than DeVito, though, who I half-suspect is only on that team because of nostalgia for nearby NJ state powerhouse Don Bosco Prep, which DeVito attended (https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/12/sports/12preps.html). And as you may recall, Barkley has had success vs the Jets at the Meadowlands: https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/201811110nyj.htm.

Carr is definitely not “absolutely terrible.” He’s very slightly above league average who can get a team to the playoffs if the stars align. He’s done it twice and will probably do it again this year because NO is the best team in a bad NFC south.

Well, they did put up 460 yards vs the Bengals. They had a fluky INT inside the 10 on a pretty bizarre play; otherwise it might have gone down to the wire. It's not as if they're not moving the ball.

It's a big loss. If Dawkins and Diggs went down, it'd have an effect on Allen. Obviously, Allen is better, but all QBs are dependent to an extent on the surrounding talent.

Trent Williams is the best LT in the NFL.

That's a fair point. I don't know how long it'd take, but he seems on paper like a good fit.

I'm talking about the Bears tagging him, not Washington.

I don't necessarily disagree, but Sweat is in theory good enough to merit a franchise tag. He's a very good player at a premium position.

I thought my point was obvious -- we have scheme-sound boundary CBs who seem to have little to no nose for the ball, unlike Tre White. McDermott's defenses have long had CBs who are scheme-sound but who can at least make plays on the ball. Four games without an INT -- with three of those games against very bad offenses -- suggests that it's a problem. It's not about Elam. He sucks even if he can make the rare pick (when he's not being beaten like a drum). It's about guys who fit the scheme and who can also make plays. Dane Jackson is usually in the right place, but he doesn't make any game-changing plays. I guarantee you that the Bills want an upgrade over him. The Bills' inability to stop bad passing attacks late in games (when teams have four downs to work with instead of three) has me very concerned.

Could simply be a philosophical approach at work -- sign him long term and build up the d-line, making that the focal point of their defense. And maybe Johnson has indicated that he's testing FA no matter what. They probably don't want to franchise him (he's not worth it), but Sweat, who is very good, arguably is.

I'm thinking more the boundary CBs. Dane Jackson and Benford don't really drop anything. Benford had a chance for a pick vs Mayfield late but seemed to try to defense it rather than snag it. Don't get me wrong - I like Benford. He can cover. Also, on second viewing, I don't think Poyer dropped that shallow crosser pass - the receiver got his hand in there and defended it well.

The Bears just traded a second round pick for Montez Sweat. Wondering how this factors in, if at all ...

Yeah, but you do need playmaking ability. Johnson apparently has that. And he's also apparently sound in zone.