The Big Cat

Total yardage is thrown off by: teams with a bye, but also the fact that we've played more defensive downs than anyone else. And yes, most of this was done with the top THREE corners and THE BEST safety out. And while not all the numbers are great (I'm pretty jazzed about only 1 rushing TD), they do show what a monumental improvement this defense is over last year's jail break. Not saying much, I understand. But as the offense improves, I expect the defense will, also. Look what we saw last week: in the first half the offense sustained their drives and it was a bloodbath when Flacco and Co. came out.

Total Yards: 28th* Number of plays: 32nd* Yards per play: 17th Interceptions: 1st* Sacks: 7th (we have 13, four teams have 14)* Rushing TD's allowed: 1 (through four games last year they had given up 6) Yards per carry: 24th First downs from runs: 22nd* First downs from passes: 20th* *Numbers are thwarted with teams having a week 4 bye. Long story short, the defense has done enough to keep us in every game so far. GO BILLS!

I want him to succeed. I thought he got a bad rub in his waning days in Buffalo. Wanny's "defense" forced him into a track meet few quarterbacks could consistently win. That said: I also want TEN to pick up some losses along the way because of playoff implications. TEN, HOU, IND, KC: we need to finish better than TWO of these teams...

Jeff Lynn belongs on the same page as Brian Wilson and Phil Spector.

it's outrageously disproportionate no other team in the league comes CLOSE to facing as many teams coming off byes and Thursday nighters but, what can you do? i imagine it impacts the first four or five plays, then after that, everyone's on the same plain again

Anthems...probably not. But contemporaries of theirs who have very cinematic music: ELO.

On screen plays, CJ picked up yards in bunches last year against Cleveland. They're going to be playing VERY aggressive.

I could go either way on Cincy, Atlanta, KC and Miami... Could be ugly, could be real nice. The rest I feel very good about.

Obviously these predictions don't factor in devastating injuries to our team, or our opponents. But I can see us sitting at 9-5 with two division games left to play. @ Browns W--the bloom will be off the rose in Cleveland. They haven't seen a defense like ours, and their lack of firepower will finally stop them dead. (3-2) Bengals W--The wheels are coming off in Cincy, and with Gilmore likely to be back, alongside McKelvin and may be Byrd too...watch out (4-2) @ Dolphins L--They're for real. Four W's in a row seems like a lofty perch for this team. (4-3) @ Saints L--Tough road game against the class of the NFC South (4-4) KC W--We own these guys at home, that doesn't change this year (5-4) @ PITT W--Worst Steelers team in a decade. (6-4) Jets W--Got our Ya-ya's out in what will be our worst game of the year (7-4) Falcons (TOR) L--Unless something drastic happens, they'll be out for blood trying to keep pace with NO (7-5). Plus, Toronto? Yuck. @ Tampa W--These guys are struggling. Don't see them righting the ship with stretch Glennon back there. (8-5) @Jacksonville W--Worst team in the NFL. By a mile (9-5) That sends us back to the Ralph for our last home game of the year in a match up against Miami...

You must have missed Moorman's last 2.25 seasons in Buffalo...

This conversation can go no further until somebody with game rewind does a screen grab of where Manuel was when he was wrapped up.

but all he had to do was touch him down. he WRAPPED HIM UP...THEN THREW HIM TO THE GROUND kneel, no kneel, down, not down, hesitating, doesn't matter, he manhandled a guy who was clearly giving himself up.

And I understand what you're saying. If a quarterback wants to be bush league and pump fake the kneel three times to run time off knowing he can't be hit, that doesn't seem fair to the defense...but neither do most other rules pertaining to the quarterback that we know to exist.

gotta gif this...

by the looks-test and by the numbers, they did considerably better on 1st down than they have all season. hackett and ej will only continue evolving together. 2-2 with 12 games worth of improvement to look forward to?

ha, sorry. I only read the bolded part of your post, and assumed it was another "we run too much on first down" thread. carry on

Serious question: was his chinstrap fastened? Was it left unfastened...on purpose?

I don't think it was that simple. I think it was a quarterback CLEARLY giving himself up (kneel or no-kneel), a wrap-up, followed by a body to body suplex, driving him into the ground. THAT'S a penalty.

What will it take to fairly evaluate the Fitz/Chan era, now that Fitz is looking at starting 4-6 games for the Titans? Should I hold my breath waiting for a "I guess Fitz isn't so bad after all" thread?

A couple things: First, I think your count is off. I have 33 First Down Plays not a negated by penalty/ Second, the best way to measure "effective" playcalling on any down is whether or not the play was "successful." On first down, a "successful" play is one that nets 33% or more of the yards needed for another first. Of the 33 first down plays, I'm looking at, we were successful on 20 of them. And on the 13 unsuccessful plays, 3 of them were passes. That sounds pretty good to me.

Yes, thank you. Guy has had a great season (might have single-handedly kept us in the NE game), shanks 2 punts now all of a sudden fans are (literally) calling for his job...

Does anyone still question whether or not the run defense is improved??

Powell has had a shank or two, but other than that he's been VERY solid this season. Audition punters? Yeah, no.

There was no luck. Sorry. Run as much time as you can. Call it "tap dancing" if you must, but it was the right thing to do. And given how QB's are protected in this league, there was no chance that a wrap and throw (on a kneel-down) wouldn't be flagged.

Great points. Not only is he making plays. He makes them when they MATTER. Love this guy. Earlier today I was thinking of him vs. Poz. Wasn't much to think about, really.