colin

well, given how he was one aaron rogers away from being the mvp, and the team only had their season ended in the afc chip game (granted, it wasn't a good contest), there is a pretty solid chance, just by the law of large numbers, that this next season will not be as astronomically good for allen (stats) or the team (wins). the idea that a player must be monotonically non-decreasing in his performance as measured by what are essentially fantasy football statistics or else he has actually regressed in his ability is pretty nerdy and out of touch with reality. it also shows how sabremetrics and fantasy stuff has made people think of football as some kind of video game simulation and i think has them missing the forest for the trees. i remember when rothlessburger started his first season, and the team went 15-1 (i think i might not have played in the losing game, and he didn't play when they beat us and kept us out of the playoffs). on the nfl network a bunch of people were talking about if rothlessburger will have a better season, rod woodson was fairly adamant that no he would not, but it doesn't matter because they just have to focus their team more for the playoffs. after brief confusion, one of the network people pointed out how he didnt' have that many yards and whatever, and woodson says "oh, you mean like stats wise? better stats? ya sure." with a look of "why does this matter?" on his face. in woodson's mind, your regular season is what gets you in the best position for the playoffs, and 15-1 is about as good as it gets. while i do think allen will have some shocking and potentially record breaking stats this year (17 games, less preseason, all things seem to be lining up) for me it just comes down to how we do when we get to the tourney, and im pretty sure that's what is on the players and coaches minds too.

great thread. this is solid evidence of why mcd puts so much into the dline. he schemes and disguises all over the spot, so if his deep squad on the front 4 can get some pressure, with the big play taken away w disciplined coverage and making it hard to dial up good plays, the opposing O gets a step behind and can't manufacture yards and points. it also shows why it is so frustrating to watch as a fan sometimes. when the dline can't get pressure, on a post snap basis its a bit of an open book and without a ton of size it makes us look small and passive. I really hope AJ, and our two new rookies (and that obada guy too) really make a contribution because i think we are striking distance from being a top 3 d again.

i find the announcing crew vary week to week. sometimes romo and nancy are great, sometimes they are partisan hacks. i loved dedes and wilcots, ya wilcots says some words funny, but that's part of his charm and he knows the game and has huge enthusiasm.

ok, so obv i'm way way ahead of myself, but the way this guy uses his hips and arms looks just so much like julius peppers to me. i remember the one game in our darkest season, when we beat carolina with alex van pelt at qb. as i was cheering after a late ish touchdown, i remember thinking wait, no i want to lose this game. only game i ever wanted them to lose. and they got peppers and we got mike williams. anyhow, ya i think this kid has some stuff.

i like the change up, always interesting. i even like the all red unis, looks fast.

he's gotta drop his level a bit at an angle across the qb's body so he can wrap up and disrupt the ball if possible. i agree w the above that it wasn't dirty, but in the nfl today that's a flag on a qb. with that clip of the jets game where josh was clearly and illegally head hit and targeted after throwing, i think josh moving so much (even when he's just throwing) and being big and strong and fighting off pass rushers is leading to him not getting as many calls.

good stuff alpha. i think we drop an OL to keep jouhnson

i think the biggest gains would be from a bosa, donald, young player. instant disruption and pass rush, and it makes all of our rotation better. if i have to pick one i pick the older bosa. he's just such a wrecking ball and so skilled, i think would put us up in the 60+ sack range and turnovers tend to come with that and if allen gets the ball a couple extra times we win the chip.

you often contribute chortle worthy levity to our threads, but this was just the right mix of subtle and ham handed to really kick up a Tuesday take thread. Thank you for your service.

he's either gonna play his way into a similar contract, or just get let go (after 5th year). he's got this season and post season, and outside chance of some of the following season to do so.

Allen sets insane records/numbers/advanced stats which of course get questioned because of the extra game. at least one, possibly two, of our new super athlete rookie OL end up starting by the end of the season and dominate bills O combine our big play ability with sustained drives (improving on our 20 first downs per year last season) and end up top of the NFL with TOP Bills D comes together and plays a high speed efficient but most of all nasty brand of D that intimidates and batters the opposition league wide: there is only one NFL champion at the end of this season, and they play their home games in the empire state.

feel some juice watching this, i think these guys have a nasty taste in their mouths from how last year ended.

honestly, for the way they do these things, i think it's fair. they remember allen falling apart in his first playoff game (obv not the whole story, and his roster did worse than he did, but that's what it is), and his bad stats out the gate, and use that to think well his third year might be a fluke and he still makes mistakes (obviously pure bias, given that everyone makes mistakes, the 3 awful picks brady threw against GB was just a chance to show his great leadership). the bottom line, he played as well or better than any qb last season w the exceptions of a aron, and will show exactly what he's made of this season (gold, he's made of solid gold by the way).

no idea if he fits in contract wise, but he'd be a huge addition to our team. maybe only for a season or two (will say, the jones bros like to use drugs and party, but they just don't get that out of shape, they put in so much work when they are on the wagon that it tends to pull them through so he might have more longevity). i remember reading something about that kid w the african name taken 1st over all out of psu, monster athlete, smart and straight and narrow kinda golden boy, but some nfl front office thought that his lack of like chaotic mindset/temperament lead to him under performing his abilities in the NFL. we have high strung houghs who brings juice all day, and ed oliver seems to have a motor too, throwing in jones as well might mean we always have a real tasmanian devil all though our rotation. would love to see it.

just the other night i watched this documentary/whatever series on the chicago bulls last season together w jordan and so on. in it, scottie pippen was straight up being insolent to the gm, heavy disrespectful, and said he demanded a trade (all while not playing due to surgery which he took during the season so he could have a more fun summer, LOL). anyhow it was a real mess and went back forth, but in the end he straight up capitulated, and it was all water under the bridge. i figure this thing is gonna go roughly the same way.

lol, you aren't wrong but i had to read the not unimpressive bit twice. im like, ya so he's not as good as leanard as of last season, but cunningham is on like 15 a year and edmunds is better, WHAT ARE WE SAYING HERE!?!?

if we can trade motor for a pick that gets swapped into a player we really need (i'd presume cb2, og/c, and most of all te) then it could totally be worth it. given how little and how poorly we run vs pass, having 2 3rd rounders and a once decent FA on our team who kinda form a 3 headed monster seems a bit of overkill. of course, if they figure it out and can run the ball well i'd be super pleased, just don't expect it at all.

edmunds can get that contract and perhaps a little more if he plays like he expects himself to play this coming season. if our DL can improve and give him better looks, he has all the tools to do so. if it's today, i let him walk for that contract (or even 20% less, frankly). it will all play out though.

ive teeter tottered on tremaine like two fat kids at a play ground. i think at the very least at the end of this year it will be pretty clear if he's the guy or not. we will play kc and tampa during the regular season, and barring something crazy should see kc again in the playoffs he'll either shine or not. given his tools, the team around him, and how hard he is on himself, i'd stack a lot more chips on him shining than not.

based on this and how our draft went, it's pretty clear our FO wants an open environment where everyone knows they are competing for their job, or at the very least they have replacements in the wings if people leave. it kinda reminds me (in a positive sense) of pete carol. he's jonny enthusiasm and cap'n rah rah, but if someone plays better, they will slid on into the starting role (russ is obv a great qb, but it took big guts to put him in over the FA guy in his rookie year). even tho mcd is conservative to a fault at times, when push does come to shove he will boot the established starter for an up and comer, and it seems they are signalling to everyone that if/when coaches leave they will be replaced without missing a beat. billacheat is obv the goat at this, but when you have a one side of the ball wizard like dude on the rams or fatty in KC, it can take them a while to get the D in order because the consider it the guys who have to go on the field when they don't have the ball rather than at the top of their mind.

such a crazy idea it just might work. that kind of out of the box fresh thinking is what is needed. would you be interested in a Job with the LV Raiders? how attached are you to your current hair style?

sometimes a trade helps both teams, sometimes a trade hurts both teams. you can argue about who it helped more, but then you having timing involved as well, so maybe it helps the bills more for the first 3 or 4 years and minni more after that, but then you have to evaluate how to discount future vs present day wins, and at the end of the day you really just want to win a chip, so it gets goofy cuz you'd rather win it all this year and stink for a few than be good for like 5 years and win nothing. i can't think of a wr i'd rather have on the bills than diggs

it's interesting to me that that you say this sin't the place to debate something, followed by debating it. your assertion makes sense, but the data doesn't support it when we look at the much written about test in public high schools in NYC. most of the children in these schools are from very poor and overcrowded (mostly in the middle of the pack crime wise, but it's certainly not all a bed or roses) places in the city yet somehow manage to score high enough on an aptitude test to get into these very competitive schools. a good chunk of them speak english as a second language as well. the point of my original post is that people assume someone (sherman in this case) is smart because he went to stanford (some might argue being a very elite football player might have had something to do with that) it isn't necessarily the case and there are tests that are designed to more accurately measure someone's smarts than a brand on a piece of paper. the NFL uses the wonderlick, surely after years of college and contracting an agent for the purpose of entering the NFL these players are taught the math and verbal skills necessary to score better on the test, particularly since the impact of that one test can mean the difference between a smaller and a larger first contract.

sure, but only if it was the right place to put the resources. we are pretty good at corner/secondary. a passrusher or tight end with his ability i'd jump all over.

how much do you think test prep raises scores? i've seen data showing the greatest increase (repeatable, anyone can have a bad day and get a low score and regress to a higher mean by rewriting the test) being in the context of like 50-75 points, and that only happens for high (1350+) scoring people prior to the test prep.