dave mcbride

Watch games - it literally happens all of the time. A close friend of mine who is a Pats fan complained about Bob Woods’ block on a td pass in the 16-0 victory over the Pats last season, and I made a point of looking out for it afterward. It literally happens in every game and is never called. Trust me.

See the video link above and practically any NFL game. It is never called. Large parts of the Pats' offense center around it. Whether you think it's fair or not is immaterial - the league lets it go and players play with an expectation that it ain't gonna be called.

They clearly went for his legs early on a low hit but it wasn't called.

Oh come on. If you call penalties in which the WR block begins WITHIN one yard of the LOS and goes slightly beyond, you will see 20 penalties a game on that call alone. Half the Pats' TDs in goal to go situations would be nullified. As would the TD the Bills scored against NE last year (the Brissett game) when Woods begin his block within one yard of the LOS and sustained it past that point. It happens all the time and NEVER gets called if it begins that close to the LOS. A little Chris Hogan for ya, on a play which the Pats run constantly:

As much as we complain about the call, let's not forget that the Bills were gifted two wins this year. The refs made a horrible call on that Colts 2P conversion (the block absolutely began within a yard of the LOS - I watched it multiple times), and the fumble call on Matt Ryan was beyond ridiculous. It's not often (more like never) that you see a pass that goes 15 yards down the field get called a fumble. The Bills got their calls this year, and they were the difference between 7-9 and 9-7. The Bills were absolutely screwed in the Miami game last year (remember the two non-PI calls in the EZ on on Charles Clay that arguably cost the team 8 pts PLUS all of the other stuff?), and if they had gone into the Jets game at an 8-7 record, they probably would have won that last game (against a horrible team) instead of tanking. Overall, the refs were kind to the Bills this season.

I think that Taylor is *definitely* gone, and I think Dennison is *probably* gone. Re the latter, I think it's more like 60-40 that he goes, so I wouldn't be shocked to see him back either.

Kamara absolutely deserves it. It's not even really close, actually. 6.1 ypc, 10.2 ypr, 13 TDs, 1554 yards from scrimmage - amazing. (Upon further reflection, Kareem Hunt had a great year too, but I still give it to Kamara.)

Enh, just a personal preference of mine. If the defender is breaking on the ball too and has a clear shot at it, let 'em play, and may the better player win.

Even more importantly, there were 23 seconds when he threw it and they had no TOs! That's a play in which you expect a guy being covered by Ramsay to be tackled in bounds if he catches it. And it was like a an 8 yard pickup at best. Why is he making that throw??? The only reason I can think of is because he doesn't want to challenge them deep and throw a pick. It's ironic what happened, of course.

I have no problem with the rule and agree with Belichick - getting rid of it would lead to countless weak fumble calls.

You are correct, although the PI shouldn't have been called - it was bang-bang and he was going for the ball. The defender has a right to it too. It may have been a little early, but it was a good play by Ramsay.

Not the Bills' defenders, though! They were super careful to not deliver any dirty shots - which I must say was actually admirable given the close score.

No, it wasn't an INT - the ball can be under the arm but if the hold isn't stable (and this one wasn't) and any part of the ball touches the ground, it's an incompletion. It's as clear as day. That being said, it was karmic justice for Peterman (as I say above), and anyway there was just about a zero percent chance he was gonna take them down for a TD. I can't get too upset about it.

Yup, they are a dirty team.

Definitely not an INT, but the call is karmic justice for such a cowardly throw when the snap occurs with 23 seconds left and no timeouts. Terrible decision by Peterman, who appears to stink. Scramble/fumble followed by intentional grounding followed by weak decision to throw short against an elite CB who read it all the way.

You would think. But he's a boring person.

A lot of scouts appear to regard Rudolph as you do: https://www.si.com/nfl/2017/09/19/mason-rudolph-nfl-draft-2018-scouting-report .

I don't think they're stupid at all. Beane and McDermott come from a division in which the qbs are 2 #1 overall picks, a #3 overall pick, and a #30 overall pick (from 2001) who is one of the best qbs in league history. They also get regularly pummeled by the team with THE best qb in league history. They will grab a qb early if they don't get a player like Cousins (arguably a franchise-level qb).

Disagree. The 21st, 22nd, 53rd, and 57th picks constitute a ton of ammo to move up. If they want to move up, they have plenty to deal.

I used to think that way, but the only way Dorian Gray leaves the league is if he thinks he's lost it. Winning SBs doesn't help in that regard.

Huh?? I thought Taylor was quite bad yesterday. This is a thread about Peterman, not Taylor (or so I thought).

I think they definitely draft a qb first this year assuming they don't sign Cousins.

I question the basic decision about where to throw it. You have to push the ball down the field regardless when there's so little time left on the clock and no TOs. You just have to hope your receiver makes a play. I respect throwing an INT in that situation, but not the one that he threw. It was, flat out, a bad decision and slightly cowardly to boot. A seven-yard out to a weak receiver to about the 45 yard line matched up against one of the very best cbs in the NFL with 24 seconds and no TOs is a bad decision, pure and simple.

Yes, and the fact that the Jags were stacked to stop the run made it pretty likely that it would have resulted in a second and goal from the 3 or 4 yard line given what we know about the Bills' line play in situations like that. Why people have a problem with that call is beyond me. The problem was the OPI, which you can't account for. Complain about Taylor all you want - and he was bad yesterday - but complaining about this call strikes as very wrongheaded. EVERY team in the NFL runs pass plays in short goal-to-go situations. Every team. Running it up the middle against a stacked, elite D isn't always the best play, and if they did run it, that would have been what you'd have seen.

People say that the qb pool is overrated EVERY SINGLE YEAR. Last year, numerous observers said it would be wise to hold off on a qb until 2018 because the qb talent would be so much better this year. I'm not buying it, and remain convinced that this is one of the better qb drafts in a long while.