dave mcbride

I fundamentally disagree with you because I've seen him play for other teams too. He has a better arm than Leinart even though it isn't great. His arm is no worse than McCown's. I guarantee you that. What he did against a fairly talented Jets D should register with you. He had just signed a few days before, and he ran the offense very capably (i.e., smarts and solid accuracy). He had a couple of off throws, but that's to be expected. It was the Bills' best offensive performance in terms of yardage accumulated since late 2016, and he was fresh from the street, operating with subpar talent around him, and playing on the road. Peterman just sucks irrespective of arm strength. He shouldn't even be in the conversation not just because of that, but because he hasn't hung around long enough to have learned the pro game (as Barkely has done). That is, he doesn't qualify in this conversation. If he hangs on for 5+ years, he will.

Welcome to the world of career backups in the NFL. This is who they are, and if you're going to have one, you want the guy who is smarter and more accurate than the others. They're not going to have great arms, and if one does happen to have a strong arm, all it tells you is that he was an abject failure as a starter and can't manage a game to save his life. Hello, Brandon Weeden and Ryan Mallett. I'll take Barkley over Weeden and Mallett ANY day of the week.

It's kinda like wins for starting pitchers - kinda useless, but at the same time, if a guy is winning close to 20 games year and year out, then you can assume he's probably pretty good.

I thought he was fine - a Josh McCown/Colt McCoy in waiting. He's better than the Blaine Gabberts, Todd Collinses, and Matt Cassels of the world. As I've said countless times, you simply want a guy who can run the offense well, be able to make most throws, and get you to 2-2 over a 4-game stretch. He's perfectly fine as a career backup. Would I take him over Glennon? Probably. I would also probably take him over Fitz, who is clearly better, because if Fitz is on your team, he WILL become the starter at some point. That outcome -- wherever he plays -- has been foreordained by the football gods.

Since the old QB rating stat is the essential source for passer rating differential (the only additional element is sack yardage), I still disagree with you. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fancy-stats/wp/2017/10/30/the-mother-of-all-stats-is-high-on-the-chiefs-but-not-the-patriots/?utm_term=.2bf8cdd86a3e

Why is he a terrible backup? What is your evidence? By all accounts he played well for Cincy in preseason. Successful backups tend to be guys who've been around the block and have had time to learn the pro game. He seems to be at that point now. No one is saying he's a starter.

Team passer rating differential is arguably the most predictive stat in all of major team sports when it comes to team success and failure, and the evidence is fairly overwhelming. I therefore disagree with you, albeit with a caveat: differential isn't the same as an individual qb's passer rating, and unlike differential, sack yards taken aren't factored into individual qb rating.

I thought this was a good take on Aaron Rodgers: https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2018/12/17/aaron-rodgers-avoids-interceptions-but-he-leads-the-nfl-in-bad-plays/

He played well in the preseason for Cincy and got hurt at the end of it. That's why he wasn't kept and had to wait to sign. He's an ideal backup.

"With 7:04 left in a game few people were paying attention to on Sunday, the Cardinals pulled struggling rookie Josh Rosen in favor of veteran journeyman Mike Glennon. At that point the Falcons had outscored the Cardinals 40-7, outgained them 428-148 and outclassed them in every way. And as you might expect, that’ll lead to bigger questions in Arizona over the next two weeks. Here’s what I know: Arizona has looked ahead already to making changes to the offensive staff to try to spark Rosen’s development, in a way that neither coordinator Byron Leftwich nor his predecessor, Mike McCoy, could. Here’s what I think: Based on the churn of the NFL rumor mill, changes might include the head coach, Steve Wilks. Sending a coach packing after a single year is tough. But seven of the Cardinals’ 11 losses have come by double-digits, and a garbage-time touchdown drive engineered by Glennon was the only thing that saved Arizona from suffering its fourth 30-point loss of the year." https://www.si.com/nfl/2018/12/17/nfl-playoff-scenarios-browns-baker-mayfield-ravens-lamar-jackson-eagles-nick-foles-steelers-patriots

Jones’ inability to separate today was on display, and the Bills caught a break on that PI call against Slay (a good player). That looked like good D to me, and the one before it that wasn’t called would have been really marginal too. The reason these plays happen is because he really struggles to get open. He doesn’t look explosive enough out there.

Good post. I voted for Barkley because I've become an Eli believer again. I also think that Eli is one of those guys with "pretty good" physical skills that don't really decline all that much on a year-to-year basis. He's never been very mobile and has never had a huge arm, but he can make all the throws and doesn't get hurt. There's no reason why he can't be good at age 38 (next year).

I think Daboll calls good games and understands situational football. He's leagues better than Dennison. Talent has been the issue for the Bills. It ain't the playcalling.

The question is whether they think Eli has 2-3 years left. I was very critical of the pick at the time, but it is the case that Manning has been very good this year. I don't see any signs of physical decline; he remains who he always was. They are still in the hunt. An 8-8 is gonna make it, I think, and they can beat anyone.

Good question! As it happens, the Giants could easily be 8-5 (e.g., losing on the last second to Carolina on a 63-yd fg by an erratic kicker), and Eli is actually having a very good season. He's upper echelon among qbs this year, I think.

Actually, it wasn't an out of bounds play; the runner was down by tackle, but the refs didn't blow the whistle and he got back up and ran 60 or so yards for a td. Given that he was clearly tackled, schwartz immediately threw a challenge but was penalized because all scoring plays are reviewed by the league and can't be challenged. Bizarrely, because of that it was no longer reviewable by anyone, and the td stood even though the runner has clearly been down by contact and detroit was penalized on the kickoff. It was a thanksgiving game. Detroit lost by one score, as i recall.

The officiating was awful overall, but I felt like the Chargers got the short end of the stick all game. But bad all around. The NFL has to do something about it. I know that Goodell et al love them some 43-42 games, but it’s ugly to watch. Of course, I know what their rejoinder is: the ratings are up.

You weren’t wrong to want Watson. He’s really good too.

He’s obviously a better player than both of them. He’s a combo of an elite shortstop/point guard/QB. Tough to stop for sure.

Yeah, agreed, but the issue of an offensively challenged coach passing on Mahomes and Watson is gonna linger. And it should.

Wow - what a terrible play by the KC db there. He gave up!

Mahomes is the best player in the league right now and KC should be the AFC representative in the SB. I’ll be rooting for them, I suspect (given that Inroot for the AFC).

Patrick Mahomes is good.

I'll say. I'd be PO'd if I were a player.

Yeah, but: he had a really inaccurate throw in the Jets game that was gift-wrapped to the DB, but he dropped it. You can't count on DBs dropping INTs all the time like that.