Dr. Who

I suggest you take a look at Eric Voegelin's From Enlightenment to Revolution. There's an interior connection between the deracinated reason proclaimed by champions of Enlightenment and the violence of the mob that reacts to the will-to-power ambitions of a small, pseudo-intellectual cadre. Liberal democracy simply has an inherent weakness towards subversion because its understanding of the Good is inadequate. Plato, for instance, recognized that democracy generally provided the freedom for the philosopher to pursue excellence, but it was unstable and could easily shift towards demotic forms of totalitarian regimes. Tocqueville was equally prescient in diagnosing both the "middle virtues" that would likely thrive in America and the forms of excellence that would not even register as a possibility to most. The contemporary Left increasingly aspires to a level of irrational zeal exemplified in the reign of terror, but the old style liberal humanists had nothing in them to really prevent a tilt in that direction. Not even truth by plebiscite, but by polling that is easily manipulated by the manner of sampling and the nature of the questioning. But by all means, let's smile about it.

And they traded for Coleman when supposedly it was well-known he had attitude issues and might not be the sharpest tool in the shed. Evaluation of pro personnel is concerning, imo.

Honestly, I have to think this is correct. I am surmising that McD took over the defensive playcalling at halftime for lots of good reasons, but one of them is self-preservation. Being fortunate to back into the playoffs is not going to save you if the first six quarters are largely representative of the rest of the season.

The internet, twitter, cable news, the "echo chamber" effect has really inflated hype. Dahlin actually appears to be a rare talent, but excessive praise (and blame) is now part of the normal mode of rhetorical overreaction that constitutes social communication nowadays. The demotic is never the restrained.

This will be a popular take on a Bills' message board . . . You're not a troll or a dummy, but I disagree. The Buffalo Bills form a significant part of the city's sense of self in a manner that is relatively rare in sports. The baseball Cardinals and the Cubs might be equivalent, but for a small midwestern city, the level of identification is more intense and more constitutive of what it means to live or be from Buffalo. It's why many pro football players remark on how there is more of a college atmosphere in Buffalo.

A false line of reasoning, imo. Porous o-line leads to duress and poor mechanics that affect accuracy. Relative lack of time working with the receiving corps means reduced chemistry, regardless of talent. Bad wrs mean tighter windows because of lack of separation. Lots of factors come into play. I don't think anyone is claiming Allen doesn't need development or that he didn't make mistakes or have inaccurate throws. However, many, taking into account the particular circumstances, have a more sanguine opinion. You're free to assert whatever you like. I am also free to think your opinion is more emotive than rational.

I don't think you'll find many who agree our WR situation is not that bad. Some of the young players may develop, but right now, it's surely not good. Of course, no one can coerce anyone to form an opinion inclusive of factors they choose to leave out of their criteria. OTOH, you invite folks to discount your opinion for leaving out what appears to them important contextual elements.

Being honest includes taking into account context. It's not dishonest to point out a rookie making his first NFL start with a porous o-line, inadequate receivers and trying to overcome a 28 - 6 deficit.

I feel sorry for the young woman who had her day in the sun ruined by the reprehensible behavior of someone she apparently idolized. I hope the blush is off that particular idol. As it was, Osaka is reduced to tears and the NY audience kept cheering on the prima donna's meltdown. But there's another thread in this forum about folks looting a store while the attendant dies of a heart attack. Probably Serena fans.

I may be way off in reading between the lines. I was surmising that this is really about Tampa Bay wanting to keep BriseBois. I assumed they couldn't keep deferring a promotion to GM and refusing other teams who wanted to interview him for a GM position.

They've put themselves in a position where there's really no choice. I hope Allen is good enough and fortunate enough to thrive, but I do believe there's incompetence involved here. At minimum, they knew far enough ahead of time that o-line was a problem and did nothing but acquire bad players. Trading McCarron looks pretty stupid right now. Don't know why a vet like Moore or Anderson hasn't been brought in to at least mentor your prize rookie.

Same fellas who booed Santa Clause. I basically agree with you, but Philadelphia is particularly eggregious.

If that is true, Castillo should go pack along with poor Nate Peterman, because it's good-bye time sooner rather than later.

Might be a good time to start tuning in again.

Not sure how recent your info is. Have you heard anything about what the players think of Allen?

Might shed some light on the rumor that Mayfield and Rosen were not on our "nice" list.

This is already the worst Yeezus thread in the last twenty-nine minutes.

If you look in the appendix to Aquinas' Summa Contra Gentiles, crazy, hot, Asian women is one of the supplemental proofs for the existence of God.

Journalist is generally a synonym for imbecile nowadays.

So you would have preferred Ridley to Edmunds? I suspect McDermott thinks Edmunds can develop into the qb of the defense. It's an important piece and more likely to have long-term benefits than a good wr. I'm not convinced Denver or the Raiders are set up for success. Probably our criteria and temperaments differ too much for agreement. I see a team that was fortunate and overacheiving. They needed to rebuild and I think they are doing it right.

Lot of dead cap money to make "doubling down" feasible. We were fortunate last year. Defense created opportune turnovers, especially early on. We lacked playmakers or a franchise qb. How does one turn that into a viable strategy for competing now? Bad rebuilds mean one has to get it right before one can plan on consistently being a team that can challenge for championships.

I suspect Allen will end up starting fairly early unless Peterman plays better than I expect. I am okay waiting on Allen because I would prefer to see if the o-line is merely subpar or execrable. I also think Allen may benefit watching a few regular season games. He was slow getting players to the line and calling plays against the Bengals. I don't think he needs a year to rectify that, but waiting through the early part of the schedule does not seem outlandish to me.

I'm a cat person myself, but you're pretty smart for a dog.

Okay, that's a pretty impressive argument. I don't have an immediate counter-argument to your numbers analysis. Do we or should we trust Castillo to be the fella to coach his players to maximum efficiency?

I agree that the Seahawks were exceptionally fortunate. One cannot use them as an exemplar to emulate. I also do not question that a team with a good coach and a good qb is likely to consistently outperform teams lacking one or the other. Further, I concur that McDermott knows, for instance, that he can do well with cbs that are very good, but lack the elite skills necessary for "Revis island" performance. A good coach with an excellent grasp of what makes his particular schemes work will know where to allocate his resources. Still, surely there is a limit to how far coaching can elevate natural talent? I guess I am suspicious that the 90th best OT is not much different from 50th. Even if McDermott is as good as we hope he is, I don't think he can overcome what seems to me the evident lack of talent at o-line, for example. In short, at some point there is a minimum threshold for talent and I think there are key areas on the team where we don't yet meet it. I do believe Allen has a good chance to be the real deal and if that happens, we will be good sooner rather than later.