finn

Hit him lower if you really want to provoke their wrath.

He's always indulging in hyperbole when he has nothing to say. Every player and coach out there is one of the best in the business, the best to play the game, one of the best in the league. Praise praise praise. I'm not hearing much analysis.

Nice not to have to hold my breath on extra points.

Why not have a huge lineman push him from behind instead of Gilliam?

Who gets the ball after half?

Except on third down or when the game is on the line. Welcome to Brady's World.

I was waiting.

Don't forget the second part, that they hold more than any team in the league.

The fig leaf.

40-13, actually, which was my prediction. But maybe not. It depends whether McDermott strips play-calling duties from Brady or not.

Cook off the field?

Dorian Strong looked good, and Hancock showed something last game. Sanders had his moments before he was injured, Chase Lundt was worth keeping around. Even if Jackson is a bust, it could still could be a lights-out draft. They certainly need an infusion of youth and talent.

How about two number ones? Waddle would take the offense to another level, with every other offensive position set for the time being. On defense, if McDermott can't manage with that slew of draft picks the last two years, well, the offense will have to carry him.

Totally agree. Always choose your kids if you have a real choice.

Right, we've seen that, but my point is that he's not getting the contested catches he thrives at: high jump balls. He's only getting balls he sucks at, like back-shoulder throws on the sideline comeback. He isn't good at boxing out, at least on those throws. I'm saying he might reliably catch only ONE kind of ball, but on those he might be unstoppable.

I don't think he needs to be fast, separate, or even run routes. He could be an amazing, unstoppable asset--a go-to guy--with nothing but jump balls. He's 6'3" with a 38" vertical and excellent timing. Who is going to stop that? Answer (to date): Brady, who insists on throwing him everything EXCEPT the jump ball. It's perverse, like him benching Cook in crunch time. The one time I remember a really high ball might have been a throwaway in the endzone (forgot which game), and Coleman, who had no chance to land inbounds, went up and caught. THAT'S how you use Coleman, Brady. If the Bills give up on Coleman, he very might become a star on a team with a coordinator with enough brains to use him properly.

Brady and Coleman both have to earn their pay today. In my view, Coleman's poor showing is mostly on Brady, who hasn't done anything with this offense, at least the passing. We're all down on the WRs, but Brady has the best QB in the league to work with, along with Cook and Kincaid, which ain't nothing. Have we seen any innovations, any creativity? Imagine what Shanahan or Reid would do with this offense. If Brady is going to show he's more than a chump, today is the day. I'm hoping the light will go on and he'll install plays for the personnel he actually has, including Coleman. Putting aside the Jets game (for obvious reasons), the offense hasn't played well all year, not for more than bursts here and there. That may be on Allen to a degree, but I put most of the blame on Brady. Let's see if today he finally shows why he should continue as coordinator.

The loss to Atlanta was a shame, since it was winnable, but no big deal in the big picture. The loss to NE was both a shame and a big deal. So winnable and so important.

Agree. He's more of a basketball player playing football. That can work, but it limits him, or at least his particular skill set is limited, I would say to jump balls. He can climb the ladder and bring it down like no one else. But he hasn't seen many balls like that. Instead, Allen (or Brady via Allen) feeds him a steady diet of outside-shoulder throws on comeback routes, or has him turn and sit down in the zone, hoping he'll break a tackle and go. He excels at neither. In fact, he is particularly bad at both. For some reason, he doesn't or can't box out in the first case and, in the second case, he catches with his body. In short, he might be a receiver who is extraordinary at one thing and pedestrian at best at everything else. You can't ask him to separate, run a wide range of routes, or even make routine catches with much consistency or YAC. But he can sky for the ball, maybe like no one in the league. If we can see this, why can't Brady? Of course, if we can see Cook is the only weapon on offense besides Allen, why can't Brady? Are we seeing a pattern?

It really is a "prove it" game for Coleman. He wants to succeed, the team wants him to succeed. If he doesn't perform tomorrow, the fat lady is warming up.

I keep seeing that phrase "zero chance," which obviously can't mean what it says. So what does it mean? That you think it's unlikely? Why not say that then? "It is REALLY unlikely he's traded." Not as dramatic? It's like my daughter saying, "I literally flew across the room." Oh, really? Maybe I should just have another Bourbon and shut up...

It's natural to look at controversial calls and conclude the refs are corrupt. It's equally natural to hear someone complain about corruption or conspiracies and conclude these people are just wrong, since refs are human and make mistakes. So which is true? I think some referees have shaved points on some games because a) simply enormous money is at stake b) NFL refs are just as prone to corruption or coercion as anyone else; c) they know they won't be caught; d) they've gotten away with it for years so why not continue? To rebut, skeptics almost always resort to fallacies: "No way all owners would agree" (who said they're involved?). "You're just a sore loser!" (which ignores the reasoning); "Bad calls don't mean corruption!" (There can't be both?) Put it this way: Why wouldn't the people involved tweak game outcomes given the enormous upside and the virtually non-existent risk? Integrity? Love for the game?

It seems to me all most of the numerous injuries have happened in practice. Taron, DeQuan, Oliver (the first injury), Strong, Hamlin, Hairston, Bass... Not sure about Shaq, Milano, Bernard, Prater, or Sanders, but at least some of these injuries have "popped up" on the injury report. Palmer and the punter Johnson is the only players I recall being injured during a game. I wonder if McDermott is addressing the poor tackling by stressing physicality in practice, resulting in a lot of casualties. Oliver was (and is now, with his second injury) the biggest loss, obviously, but Strong is another one. He would have welcome back there, the way he was playing.

It's so easy to tip the balance when the teams are so close. Holding and pass interference are the favorites because they wipe out good plays for one team and negates bad plays for the other, both keying on plausible deniability. Beautiful money-making system, you have to hand it to them.

Yet some reason, Brady has utterly refused to put Cook in space this season. It's getting bizarre. In clutch moments, he sits the only A+ weapon he has and puts his faith in the C+ firm of Coleman, Moore, Samuels, Johnson, and Shavers. It's like pulling Myles Garrett for Joe Tyron-Shoyinka.