dave mcbride

Clay was occasionally OK for the Bills, but it is the case that his knee hampered him almost from day one. Rex is an idiot. Incidentally, did you see Gilmore's postgame comments? He has only played for one other team, and spent his last two years for that team playing for Rex. '[Gilmore] He also attributed the team’s sustained success to a dedication to hard work. “I feel like there are no shortcuts,” Gilmore said. “It’s a grind every day. Nobody knows how hard we work. We work hard every day and we compete every day. Blood, sweat, and tears. No matter what, we come out and compete. If you’re limping, you’re competing. I feel like nobody does that in other organizations. It’s a grind every day, but it’s worth it. You have an opportunity to go to the playoffs and an opportunity to go to the Super Bowl.”'

The Lions' defensive game plan was the one that Belichick followed. Patricia had a great game plan (quarters zone coverage), and Albert Breer correctly predicted that Belichick would use it: https://www.si.com/nfl/2019/01/29/super-bowl-liii-patriots-key-victory. Like I said, he has flaws. He's not perfect, and his mobility isn't great. Neither are his improv skills as of yet, although that may come with time. But he's still a good player.

Gee, this 2015 reaction by Rex holds up really well, doesn't it? http://www.espn.com/blog/buffalo-bills/post/_/id/20840/rex-ryan-takes-jab-at-mike-tannenbaum-over-charles-clay Note his comments about Martavis Bryant too!

No, because the constant winning by the Pats in that division would have led to the same cycle of quick firings among all those organizations that has occurred in the AFC East. Also, I strongly believe that if Belichick is in your division, your longevity as a GM or head coach is dramatically shortened. Just look at the Bills, Dolphins, and Jets.

Oh, I disagree. I think he's a good player even though he has his flaws. He is still a young player, after all. He is quite accurate, has a good arm, and throws a very nice ball. Bear in mind that his late-season stats were skewed by one horrible game against the Bears (20-44; 4 INTs; no TDs). In the final two games, he put up huge numbers. He played fine against a good Dallas D and also did fairly well against NO; the one INT he threw was actually a good pass and not his fault (Gurley blew it). He was overmatched by Belichick, however.

I think Goff is a pretty good but limited QB. He's an excellent, precise thrower, but he's just not a good improviser. He's robo-QB, basically. With regard to the Pats, the guys who give them the most trouble are the big-armed improvisers (Mahomes, Roethlisberger, Deshaun Watson, Russell Wilson, Cam Newton) with a love for throwing it deep when they break contain plus the super-smart QBs with a lot of years under their belts (Peyton Manning). I'd put Foles in there too because he plays the game more like a point guard rather than a classic system QB like Goff/Wentz. Young system QBs get eaten alive by Belichick, and Goff is probably the most extreme example of that type. Doesn't mean he's a bad player, however. Allen strikes me as an improv guy, which is good for the Bills.

I watched the replay on the NFL network last night. Goff was really, really bad -- worse than I remember watching it the first time around. Other things I noticed: Hightower and Gilmore had phenomenal games. I had forgotten that Gilmore had a truly impressive forced fumble on CJ Anderson that, if it had bounced another way, would have been recovered by Hightower in the red zone. Romo was terrific.

It still would have been lower than normal because of LA. https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2019/02/05/l-a-market-had-lower-tv-rating-for-super-bowl-than-country-as-a-whole/

What about the pretty blatant hold on Edelman by Peters (sideline throw) that if called would have resulted in a first down for PNE inside LA’s 40 yard line on the previous possession? Peters clearly yanked and tugged his jersey, and it was more obvious than the semi-borderline call on Gilmore on the Rams’ next possession. In the KC playoff game, Watkins had a 38 yard pass play that set up the go-ahead td late in the fourth. It was BLATANT offensive PI, with the other KC receiver making no attempt to run a route and instead clearing out not one but two NE defenders way zone where he ia allowed to do that.

I think the league made overly rosy assumptions about fan enthusiasm for the Rams/Chargers in that market. Those teams don't really help ratings nationally.

This is true. I had forgotten about that. Minnesota fan anger (which was justified) about that game was about as loud as Saints fans anger over the past couple of weeks.

No he didn't. He had a rough start (he was fooled by the coverage scheme on the pass to Hogan, who he clearly thought would be wide open), but he got it done in the 4th quarter during crunch time. It wasn't his best game, but then again the Rams' defense played well. People forget that early in the season Talib was out for something like ten games. He's an elite cover corner. Once he came back, the Rams D suddenly got a whole lot better.

Interestingly re Belichick's proteges, I was actually impressed to an extent by Patricia this season despite the record. In that Lions/Rams game, the Lions ran a quarters-zone defense that the Rams couldn't solve until late in the game. It's basically the same plan Belichick used yesterday. Also, when the Pats played the Bills late in the season, they played them right after the Bills-Lions game. The Lions were the first team to really shut down Allen's running, and they did it by simply dropping their LBs into shallow zones all game to take away those huge run lanes that Allen was exploiting in pass rush situations against every other team. The next week, the Pats did the exact same thing, and it worked. Scheme-wise, Patricia is clearly smart. Still, being a winning coach in the NFL requires so much more than simply being smart about game planning. That "leader of men" stuff really matters, and it's why Tomlin is an excellent coach despite what his detractors say.

He also took over a 2-14 Pats team and got them to the playoffs in two years and the SB in four years. He took over a 1-15 Jets team and got them to 9-7 in year one and to the AFC championship game in year 2. Finally, he took control of a 1-15 Miami team and got them to 11-5 in his first season there; it's the only season since 2002 in which the Patriots didn't win the division.

In September 2014, Brady said the following: "When I suck, I'll retire." He most definitely doesn't suck at the moment.

That first one wasn't a drop. It was a bad play by the qb, who recognized it way too late. McCourty arrived in time to defense the play.

Man, that was not an easy catch at all. Harmon delivered the wood as soon as the ball arrived, timing it perfectly, and Gilmore had subtly arm barred Cooks' left arm (and that's basically never called as PI given the subtlety; refs always let that level of contact go). That's usually not a catch.

Robert Woods played with a torn groin for the Bills and wasn't listed. Hogan played with torn wrist ligaments for the Bills and wasn't listed. Injury reports are a joke. Gurley is clearly injured. Even in the Dallas game, where he put up impressive numbers, he didn't have many touches. Anderson had nearly twice as many rushes that game.

Parcells HIRED Belichick and mentored him to the point where he became a head coach. Building a good staff is job #1 for a head coach. Parcells also hired Coughlin, the one guy who has beaten Belichick on the biggest stage (twice). As I've said before, Belichick may be Sauron, but Parcells is Morgoth.

Good post. Hogan, who is a decent player, didn't have a great game and simply couldn't get open. I think that Phillips did something really smart: he appeared to decide to take away Hogan completely, knowing that you can't take away everyone and that Hogan would be easier to take away than Edelman. By taking Hogan out (e.g., putting an elite cover guy - Peters - on him), the Pats had no deep game. Everything was underneath, which works fine until you get to the opponent's 30 yard line. Incidentally, Gronk, who had a great game, has now played in 16 postseason games -- a full season. Factor that in when thinking about the wear and tear he has accumulated. In those 16 games, he has 81 catches for 1,163 yards and 12 TDs -- basically, an all pro-level season. Re: the Gilmore non-call, that was good defense by Gilmore. That sort of subtle arm bar happens all of the time and is never called if it's not flagrant, which that one clearly wasn't. It was a good play by him.

No offense, but that's a sample size of less than ten. See above about the ratings in LA. That's what is driving this. New Orleans only had a 26.1 rating, which is abysmal for a football-crazy city. I of course understand why they had low ratings there ... Brady vs. Brees would have resulted in sky-high ratings.

We're just getting started. Some of those games in the first 20 years were AWFUL. This was a good game that was a real chess match. It was tied until there were 7 minutes left, and LA had a real chance to tie with over four minutes to go. The game really wasn't over until Burkhead had his big run for 26 yards on the Pats' final possession.

LA *only* got a 44.6 rating, which was LOWER the national average. That's terrible because LA had a team in the freaking game! https://www.si.com/nfl/2019/02/04/super-bowl-53-patriots-rams-low-ratings The SBs in which the Pats' faced off against Seattle and Philly were extremely high. Again, LA is the problem.

It has little to do with the presence of the Patriots. They've been in a ton of highly rated SBs, including last year's. It's the presence of the Rams that's the problem.

Good post, but Gurley is *clearly* injured. I won't be shocked if we find out that he's going to have surgery soon.