fairweather fan

The golden rule is: He who had the gold, rules. There is a perception that the higher revenue clubs are getting shafted by giving part of their revenue to lower earning clubs. However, because the rules about rolling bonus monies across contract years have been relaxed, Jerry Jones and Daniel Snyder will still be able to attract better free agents, because a bonus in hand is better than an NFL contract on the table, as the NFL contract contains disappering ink whenever the club decides it is to their advantage to release a player. Would a free agent rather sign a contract paying $1 million per year for six years, with a $12 million signing bonus, or a contract for six years at 3 million, (or even 4 million) a year. Even a player with a 6 wonderlich would take the first offer.

I see that I am redundant, someone else picked that up before me. I do know people around Terry who say that he is intelligent, but dyslexic, and I have been around such people. I wrote phamplets in the Navy Reserve on taking tests, and never placed lower than third on any Massachusetts civil service test, even on jobs which I would not have been able to perform. I have one brother who is considered a genius, and I always was in the 99th percentile in the Iowa Test of Educational develompent (in the days before the SAT) We have a younger brother who has never forgiven our (now deceased) parents for having his intelligence tested by outside experts when he was seven or eight, because he seemed so much slower than the rest of the children. He did go to college, but never bought a textbook because of poor reading skills, and he wasn't going to spend money on books he wasn't going to read. He did have one skill, however. He could remember every idea from a lecture, and after college, would go to conferences and pick up every idea and make friends with every person he met. I guess that he has done ok, he is president of three corporations, has been flown by private jet to inteview for important jobs, and was considered for an undersecretary position in a governmental agency. Meanwhile, I am a retired low level civil sevent, and my genius brother teaches ESL classes. It harkens to a quote I heard many years ago: "You have to go to college, or you will just have to hire college grads to work for you."

Terry Bradshaw, anyone?

Peter King should only be read during bathroom breaks, in case the tissue runs out. He reminds me of several other reporters who are on the ESPN staff, and the NFL network staff. They were hired because they had experience playing the game or being assigned to write about the game, they can get interviews easily because they don't ask hard questions, and now they have enough seniority that the younger management staff don't bother them, even though the mail room guy probably knows more about football.

The TV sound feed was very bad. I did talk to a person who was at the game, ant he thought that the Anthem was well done.

This week's Easterbrook's Tuesday Morning Quarterback comment on the Bills Coach Cheney Would Have the Quarterback Line Up in an Undisclosed Location: New Bills' general manager Marv Levy is interviewing head-coach candidates, but initially declined to take himself out of running for the post. On an exclusive basis, TMQ has learned the first screening question Levy planned to ask candidates was, "Have you been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a coach?" There is precedent for running a selection process, then choosing yourself. Recall that in 2000, Dick Cheney was chosen to interview possible vice-presidential running mates for George W. Bush, and reported to Bush that the best possible running mate was none other than Richard Cheney. Perhaps Levy could name Cheney as the Bills' coach, while Levy assumes the Vice Presidency. Cheney would be overheard on the Buffalo sideline screaming, "What do you mean I'm not allowed to order an air strike against the other team's bench?" Memo to Marv Levy: one way to create a sense of optimism about return to glory would be to ditch the Bills' new uniforms, ugliest in the league, and return to the handsome red, white and flag blue look of the team's Super Bowl run. Not to put too fine a point on it, but red, white and flag blue is the single most successful color scheme in world history. Can it be coincidence Buffalo's recent woe has coincided with the switch from handsome uniforms to unsightly duds? Buffalos' new road uniforms resemble children's pajamas, while the new home uniforms make the Bills look walking bridge abutments. It's known that owner Ralph Wilson dislikes the new uniforms. Marv, just switch back. All will be forgiven!

The noses were growing so fast in the Bills press conference, I had to get out, as I have a 60 inch screen, and Pinnochio Sr. and Pinocchio Jr. Sr. 's noses were coming through the tube. I thought that the owner knew that this was a season for finding out what the young quarterback could do, and had a coach who is no Belichick, but could be a third year Cleveland Belechick in his development. Look around, it is better (and better paying) to be a coach in another system, than to be the Bill's head coach, as the last two head coaches found. I do believe that the Pat Riley "I do not plan to coach this team." is trademarked, like the threepeat which Pat Riley also trademarked, and I expect that the Bills will be sending a check to Florida soon.

I was under the impression that there was/is a strength of schedule element that helped the weaker teams in a subsequent year. When was that changed?

From Monday Morning Quarterback on SI web page Trying to glean an edge for the 2006 pennant race? Well, my guess is we'll be talking about the Colts and Patriots as the strongest contenders to win next year's Super Bowl. Examining each team's 2006 schedule: Neither team goes to the West Coast ... New England plays only three games outside the Eastern time zone (Tennessee, Minnesota, Green Bay) ... Road games vs. 2005 playoff teams: Pats 2, Colts 4. That's an edge for New England right there ... All told, the Colts have seven games against teams that made the playoffs in 2005, New England five ... Pats play one dome game ... Colts have tougher NFC road, versus strong NFC East. Pats get weaker NFC North. And of course, for the sixth time in seven seasons, the Colts will journey to Foxboro. It seems the Patriots have the schedule advantage.

Easterbrook had a good review of the end of Sunday night NFL Primetime on ESPN. This was his comment about the Bills. The second-most predictable action this season was Buffalo play faking then throwing to blocking back Daimon Shelton in the flat on short-yardage downs. Shelton is a hard working blocker, but possibly the slowest person ever to line up in an NFL backfield. (William "The Refrigerator" Perry was actually surprisingly quick for his size.) In three games before Week 17, Buffalo failed at the goal line by trying to throw to Shelton in the flat on third-and-goal; each time the defense appeared to have been notified by mail where the ball was going. Sunday, the Bills facing third-and-goal at the Jets 4, Buffalo play faked and threw into the flat for Shelton, who was immediately stopped for a 1-yard gain, the Bills settling for a field goal in a game they would ultimately lose by four points. So many Jersey/B defenders were around Shelton on this play it was as if there had been a bright flashing arrow pointing to him at the snap. Though the early call to Shelton meant the predictable play had backfired four times in a row, later in the game Mike Mularkey called it again! Interception returned for a touchdown

Agree about Ted. The problem is not the coach, it is the General Manager and the Owner. The worst head coach in football was Bill Bellichick in Cleveland, but he learned how to be a head coach. Get a great quarterback in the 6th round, and have a Moe Lewis/Buffalo Bills take your $100 million quarterback/statue off your hands.

Gregg Easterbrook’s Tuesday Morning Quarterback for 12/13/05 on NFL.com Eric, Next Time Say, "The Coaches Did a Really Great Job and None of Us Wanted to Hold That 20-Point Fourth-Quarter Lead Anyway": It's a cryin' shame there was a flap involving Eric Moulds, who numbers among the most respected veterans in the NFL. Moulds has been a consummate competitor and a model citizen despite constant turmoil at Buffalo: enduring four head coaches and eight starting quarterbacks in his 10-year Bills tenure. Moulds has never complained and until last week always said the right things in public. Moulds' transgression was to criticize Buffalo play-calling during the Bills' meltdown at Miami. As reader Brian Sodeman of Baltimore notes, punishing Moulds was an example of shooting the messenger: the meltdown happened largely owing to play-calling. Buffalo coach Mike Mularkey, who calls the plays, created a huge distraction for his team by suspending a respected leader, rather than simply dealing with the criticism. Several veterans have clashed with Mularkey this season. When one player acts up, it is almost always the player's fault; when multiple players act up, it is almost always the coach's fault. Best Blocks: One-thousand one, one-thousand two, one-thousand three, one-thousand four, one-thousand five, one-thousand six -- that's how long Tom Brady had to scan the field before jogging up the middle for a touchdown on a play that started at the Buffalo 3. Coaches around the league must be saying to their scouting departments: Get me some metaphors! Stats of the Week No. 3: Stretching over two games, Buffalo was outscored 56-0. Stats of the Week No. 5: Tom Brady is 14-0 when the kickoff temperature is below 1.66666667 Celsius (35 Fahrenheit). Stats of the Week No. 9: New England has beaten Buffalo in nine of its last 10 meetings, outscoring the Bills by more than double (245 points to 121 points). Draft Revisionism: This space has noted that cover-your-eyes awful tackle Mike Williams of Buffalo, fourth overall selection in 2002, is among the major draft busts of recent years. (In Buffalo's defense, the Bills were hardly the only ones wrong about Williams). The next tackle taken in 2002, Bryant McKinnie of Minnesota, selected seventh overall, is so-so. But consider the third tackle selected in 2002, Levi Jones of Cincinnati, taken 10th overall. Jones has developed into a fabulous player; one reason Cincinnati's offense is hot is that Jones is having a Pro Bowl season. Yours truly thinks Levi Jones is the second-best offensive linemen in the league -- after Walter Jones of Seattle, who is TMQ's NFL MVP to the 81 percent point (See below.) Next time Cincinnati is on the tube, watch No. 76. Nobody gets around him and he "plays to the whistle," which a distressingly small number of NFL offensive linemen do. I mention Jones not only to praise him, but to make a point about draft commentary: when the Bengals selected Jones, the team was widely derided by sports pundits. It was said Jones had no business going so high, that he wouldn't make it in the NFL or if he did, would never be in the class of Williams or McKinnie, both of whom weigh more. Instead Jones has proven significantly better than the tackles drafted before him, and his relative trimness is one reason -- Jones is fast and active where Williams and McKinnie are roly-poly and sluggish. Of course, no one is ever sure which college players will succeed in the NFL: though certain draft commentators pretend they are sure. Three years later is when a draft can be graded, and three years later it is apparent Buffalo tossed the fourth pick of 2002 out the window while Cincinnati used the 10th selection wisely -- making it not surprising that today the Bengals are headed to the playoffs while the Bills are in meltdown. As for those touts who said Levi Jones didn't belong at 10th slot, they're right: he belonged higher. If the 2002 draft were held again today, the top half might look like this, with the player's actual draft position in parenthesis: 1. Dwight Freeney (11) 2. Julius Peppers (2) 3. Levi Jones (10) 4. Ed Reed (24) 5. Alex Brown (104) 6. John Henderson (9) 7. Jeremy Shockey (14) 8. Roy Williams (8) 9. Deion Branch (65) 10. David Thornton (106) 11. Clinton Portis (51) 12. Will Witherspoon (73) 13. Javon Walker (20) 14. LeCharles Bentley (44) 15. Albert Haynesworth (15) 16. Pick one of Philadelphia's -- Michael Lewis (58), Lito Sheppard (26) or Brian Westbrook (91). David Carr, first selection of the 2002 draft, today probably would go late in the first round. Carr has toiled without complaint on a dreadful team; he might be a star on a good club. Joey Harrington, third pick of 2002, today might go in the middle rounds. Mike Williams, fourth selection of 2002, today would not be drafted at all, and he'd have to do some mighty fast talking to get a free-agent tryout. Buck-Buck-Brawckkkkkkk No. 2: Trailing 14-0, Buffalo faced fourth-and-3 on the New England 46. Boom goes the punt, and it took the Flying Elvii just five snaps to pass the point where they would have been had the Bills gone for it and missed. Most fourth-and-3 running attempts succeed (64 percent, to be precise). Plus you're 4-8 and in opposition territory , why not go all-out to defeat the defending champions before the home crowd? And now you are 4-9. Best Blocks: One-thousand one, one-thousand two, one-thousand three, one-thousand four, one-thousand five, one-thousand six -- that's how long Tom Brady had to scan the field before jogging up the middle for a touchdown on a play that started at the Buffalo 3. Coaches around the league must be saying to their scouting departments: Get me some metaphors! (Fairweather Fan comment, I don't agree with everything Greg says, but it does make for interesting commentary.)

You've got to be kidding! The day before a division opponent comes in, and the posts are all about the coach, general manager, and rehashed Johnson-Flutie arguments. There is a new quarterback who is gaining experience, Buffalo is facing a team with a world championship ring(s) who should have lost to Buffalo in a game played before most of the New England injuries, and the wide receiver who is suspended didn't make any contributions on the field in the Miami game that should have been a Buffalo win. THIS IS 2005, enjoy the plays and root for the players who are on the field. In the future you may have to watch them on TV playing in their new stadium in Los Angeles, when Ralph's heirs and Tagliabue take over the team.

Those are the numbers of a quarterback who could not scramble, would not throw the ball out of bounds when the rush was on him. and could never pick up a secondary receiver. How many yards could RJ have saved by throwing the ball out of bounds instead of being sacked, at the expense of that GREAT completion percentage. He was courageous, but as I discovered in when I was in Vietnam, I would rather have a buddy with smart survival skills than a courageous idiot on my team.

Regarding the Patriots "Radar" defense, the new book about Belichick says that the Saint Louis players on the sidelines in the first Pat's superbowl victory kept telling Marx that the Pats were concentrating on the pass, and ignoring the possibilities of St. Louis running the ball, and Marx told them that he was going to win the game his way, which meant that the St. Louis Rams kept passing against a defense which would have been killed by the run.

From Greg Estabrook today on NFL.com (Tuesday Morning Quarterback) (Dec. 6, 2005) -- One of TMQ's maxims -- "Often all a football team needs do is run up the middle and things will be fine" -- applies so frequently I just produced the adage from my AutoText. Never was this on clearer display than in Buffalo's epic collapse at Miami: or the Dolphins' epic comeback, depending on one's point of view. Leading 23-3, the Bills reached first-and-goal on the Dolphins' 3 with 4:14 remaining in the third quarter. Had Buffalo simply run up the middle three consecutive times, a game-icing touchdown was likely. But even had the Bills run up the middle thrice and been stuffed, the field goal makes it 26-3 and the rushes grind the clock, leaving the Dolphins behind by 23 points with only a quarter to play. Instead Buffalo coaches got cute and called a pass. Interception, plus no time taken off the clock -- and thus began the Bills' epic collapse or Dolphins' epic comeback, depending on one's point of view. Awful tactics by Buffalo continued throughout the collapse. But then it's hard to blow a 20-point fourth-quarter lead -- awful tactics are required! When you've got a big fourth-quarter lead, the clock becomes your opponent. You must keep the clock ticking both to grind time and so that when the other team looks up at the scoreboard, players say to themselves, "It's too late." Yet in this clock-killing situation, Buffalo coaches kept signaling in passes that clanged to the ground incomplete. The Bills were 0-for-5 passing in the fourth quarter, meaning they stopped the clock for Miami five times. How polite! The Dolphins' winning touchdown came with 6 seconds to play. Had Buffalo simply rushed up the middle for no gain on the five plays when Bills' coaches called passes, time would have run out on the Miami comeback. Instead Buffalo repeatedly did the only thing that could keep Miami in the game -- stopped the clock. It's harsh to say, but nine out of 10 high-school coaches would have handled the fourth quarter better than Buffalo's coaching staff did Sunday.

Exceprt from Greg Easterbrook Column on NFL.com today Worst Blocks: Cowardly Lions coaches may have done poorly at the Thanksgiving Day game against Atlanta, but Detroit players couldn't be bothered with much effort, either. Lions trailing 17-0, Joey Harrington is sacked for an 11-yard loss as linemen Jeff Backus and Kyle Kosier just stand there watching, making no attempt whatsoever to protect their quarterback. Twice against Minnesota, Trent Dilfer was hit in the pocket and lost fumbles; on both plays three Cleveland offensive linemen are standing there doing nothing, making no attempt to protect their quarterback. And they're starting to whisper the "b" word about Bills' quarterback J.P. Losman, but such whispering is premature: after all, Losman has yet to play behind a professional offensive line. Carolina leading 3-0, Losman was sacked as the listless Mike Williams -- fourth overall pick in the 2002 draft and highest-paid player in Buffalo history -- just stood their watching, no attempt to protect his quarterback. Two snaps later, Losman was forced to scramble for no gain on third-and-8 after a three-man Panthers rush almost instantly penetrated six Buffalo blockers, including the listless Williams, who just stood there watching. Consistently Losman is getting only two-Mississippi before he has to run for his life; Buffalo's offensive line rivals Houston's for worst in the league.

The Vick "Givaway" was not Butler's call, but the ownership's who had been burned by the greatest NFL quarterback draft bust ever a few years previous, Crying Ryan Leaf.

Even the Boston WEEI radio jocks thought that the Bruschi stuff was off the wall, and didn't think that he played very well. That was the worst broadcast I have ever seen, which makes me think that all of the announcers wouldn't even be able to pass the Connecticut School of Broadcasting's small standards.

The WEEI radio jocks in Boston this AM seem to agree with you about the Bruschi Hype on ESPN. And, during their interview with Tom Brady, they told Tom regarding the call he was disputing, that he couldn't complain, because of the bad call on Moulds. They said, and I agree, that if they were playing the Colts with Freeny on the left side, they would be talking about the greatest margin of loss in Patriots history. Remember, these are Patriots shills.

He was not "proven not guilty", a jury aquitted him. Have you ever watched Court TV or actually attended a trial? Evidence may be excluded due to technical reasons, having a first class defence team who can cast doubt on evidence or testimony may sway jury members, and jury members own biases may influence case disposition (how many southern white juries acquited persons who murdered civil rights workers in the 60's.) O.J. is the first person that I know who was acquited despite positive DNA evidence against him.

From Easterbrook's column on http://www.nfl.com Best Blocks: The New England offensive line may be the only offensive line in memory to do a national television commercial -- Visa's clever "metaphors" spot -- and it's a good thing the players have their helmets on in the ad since you never know who's going to play for this unit. Nor does it seem to matter. Fielding two undrafted unknowns and two rookies, one pressed into service at the last minute owing to an injured starter, the Flying Elvii offensive line was dominant in the fourth quarter at Pittsburgh. The Patriots had three fourth-quarter possessions that resulted in three scores, with Tom Brady a perfect 12-for-12 in the quarter. The chief reason for this success was that no Steelers defender came near Brady in the pocket. Several times, yours truly counted one-thousand one, one-thousand two, one-thousand three, one-thousand four, one-thousand five as Brady calmly surveyed the field. Pass blocking sure helps a quarterback look good. Contrast to Buffalo, where the Bills offensive line had a cover-your-eyes awful performance, J.P. Losman rarely getting more than one-thousand one, one-thousand two before he had to take off scrambling. But, the Bills might say, we had injuries that forced us to play an unknown and a rookie. Funny, this never seems to be a problem for the New England offensive line.

From Bill Simmons, ESPN Page 2, 9/9/05 Are the Pats a little worse than we thought, or are the Raiders a little better than we thought? It's one or the other. Any time you're the defending champs, you're playing at home, you throw for over 200 yards in the first half, get a turnover inside the other team's 20, go three quarters without turning the ball over or giving up a sack, and the other team commits a whopping 14 penalties (including three more that were declined) ... and you're still sweating out the game in the final four minutes, that's a little scary. Three things worried me about the Patriots: 1. The linebackers. Even without the two Teds (Bruschi and Johnson), and even though the situation looked dire in the preseason, every Pats fan was leaning on the old "Belichick will figure something out" approach. But they were using too many gimmicks last night. For instance, Rodney Harrison is a safety. He's always been a safety. If he's cheating up into the linebacker spot and playing the run in lieu of an actual linebacker, that's not a good omen for the next four months. Also, the two Ted replacements (Chad Brown and Monty Beisel) looked a step slow and a second late for much of the game -- the right kind of power running team (like Atlanta or Denver, two road games in Weeks 5 and 6) would have eaten Thursday night's defense alive. Fortunately for Pats fans, Belichick has four weeks to figure this out. But we all know that you can't win a Super Bowl unless you can stop the run. And while we're on the subject, the running game (both Corey Dillon and the blocking) looked terrible in the first half, at least until the dinosaurs on Oakland's D-line started sucking wind in the second half. Then things opened up. But what will happen next week against a younger, tougher Carolina defense that won't be fading down the stretch? I'm worried. Just like you can't win the Super Bowl without stopping the run, you can't win without running for four yards a pop, either. And yes, I know it's early. Just pointing out some red flags. 2. The play-calling ... yikes. I don't mind that Charlie Weis is gone. If anything, I thought he suffered from a healthy dose of Martzitis -- he wanted to win, but only on his terms, and with as many gimmicks and splashy plays as possible. He overcomplicated things at times. And yes, I realize that I'm complaining about a guy who called plays for a team that finished 34-4 over the past two seasons. At the same time, the new offensive coordinator ... oh, wait, we never hired one. Last night, the QB coach was calling in plays with a "holy crap, Brady actually ran the play I just called in, maybe he really is listening to me!" look on his face. And there were some doozies in the second half -- like the near-catastrophic series before the blocked punt, when the Pats gave Oakland an extra 90 seconds of time when the Raiders didn't have any timeouts left. And yes, I know it's early. Just pointing out some red flags.

I watched the first half of the Packers/Patriots preseason game. My brother has season tickets for the packers. I E-Mailed him, telling him that he is lucky that Bears and Lions are in the same division, as it gives the Pack a chance to win four games. A photo of the Cal quarterback draftee against the Patriot rush should be placed next to the "Deer caught in the headlights" quote in a thesaurus.