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Mario deserves praise for his game


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Anyone hear Mario interviewed on Mike & Mike this morning? To be honest, either he has a bad cell phone combined with his Kermit the Frog voice, but he was a little hard to understand. However, he seemed like a humble guy and really said that he is harder on himself than anyone could ever be on him, he is a perfectionist and has truly felt more comfortable with this current group of players and coaches than in the last 5 years (so it isn't just feeling at peace "in Buffalo"). He completely abused the OL he was going against and hopefully the Bills are calling the NFL to let them know that he is being held on many plays so he gets some calls. He said he talks to EJ a lot about how to deal with being looked at as a savior and the expectactions. He also said he didn't feel pressure so much from the contract... just his play last year. It is so clear that Wanny wasted a year of this guy's career.

 

Yep, there are different degrees of PF and it's different for everyone. I have had it and it sucks. But it's impossible to diagnose the severity. I would hope as a professional athlete, Byrd wouldn't play it up as worse than it is. But you know his agent is in his ear saying don't make it worse...

 

As for Mario, he was a beast. Someone references 2 missed tackles (of course, have to love this board). I don't know about that, on the one play where Newton turned away, Mario never had a grasp, but he definitely brought the pressure. All around great game for 94. I couldn't wait to see him in action with a real DC, this could be a huge season for him...

Cam Newton is going to be Cam Newton. The guy may not win a lot of games, but he is a stud and made a great play to get away from Mario.
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...Cam Newton is going to be Cam Newton. The guy may not win a lot of games, but he is a stud and made a great play to get away from Mario.

 

Agree on Cam. He's a different breed of player out there. That said, so is Mario and he was tackled on that great play by Cam to get away. I can't believe no flag was thrown on such an OBVIOUS holding penalty.

 

GO BILLS!!!

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He's held on almost every play. Not sure how not once has an opposing blocker not been called for holding Mario in 2 games, especially when he gets penetration and the QB breaks contain. One of the biggest plays on the pats* game-winning drive this happened, the ref and back-judge were staring at it, and neither threw the flag. Grrrr

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Mario was just awesome out there yesterday. He simply couldn't be stopped one on one. People want to call last year a bust, but it really wasn't. He played injured for basically half a season and still put up 11.5 sacks. That may have been the quietest 11.5 sack season we've ever seen. At 100%, I have to say that he looks pretty darn good this year.

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I re watched the game and noticed something else about Mario I had never picked up on before.

 

He almost never rushes too far upfield and takes himself out of the play, leaving a hole behind him like a lot of pass rushers do.

 

Mario takes a hard angle INTO the pocket almost every time, and in some cases he sniffed out the play so early that he simply stayed right on the line, hands up and maintaining his gap.

 

One such play occurred on a 3 and 2 on our own ten yard line in the 3rd quarter. I believe this was a game saving play that most DE's just wouldn't have been able to pull off. Cam drops back to pass and Mario senses he's going to roll out and run so he stays on the line and slides over as Cam does. He forces the QB to have to run around him along the sidelines and in the process Cam steps out of bounds. If Mario had been upfield trying to get a sack instead of playing it the way he did, Cam walks in the endzone and we lose that game.

 

Veteran unselfish play by the big fella. Very impressive.

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Re: Mario's "I'm finally at peace" comments after the game - was there some kind of resolution to his whole ex-fiance engagement ring thing?

Think it is more about the questions of him living up to his contract.

Maybe a little of the comparisons he has also been hearing to Bruce?? He did just beat his single game sack total...yes he has a long way to go. The performance yesterday was very reminiscent of games Bruce had. Lets hope he has a bunch more!

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Another impressive thing about yesterday was his sticking to his responsibility to contain Newton. There were several read-option type plays where he stayed with Newton at all costs, allowing others to take the back once he got the ball. Plays that don't show up on the stat sheet but have a huge bearing on the outcome.

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Think it is more about the questions of him living up to his contract.

Maybe a little of the comparisons he has also been hearing to Bruce?? He did just beat his single game sack total...yes he has a long way to go. The performance yesterday was very reminiscent of games Bruce had. Lets hope he has a bunch more!

He did mention his personal life in his post-game interview as being better this year and that those things can affect the football. He seems like an introverted, sensitive person. I think the ex-fiancee thing may be behind him now or he has decided to put it behind him.
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Didn't read all the posts but here is my take.

 

This type of game has always been in him. He has always had the talent to get sacks. He is not going to get 4.5 sacks every game but you get what I mean...he can dominate most OT's in this league.

 

Here's my point, the whole D believes in E.J. Meaning that even if we get behind E.J. has the talent to bring them back. The D has to believe that if they keep playing hard and keep the team close E.J. can pull it out at the end. Do you honestly think that if we got behind last year or even the last few years that Fitz could bring them back??

 

To me E.J. has giving the whole organization hope. Hope can change your whole perception of things. Having a good QB changes everything, including lighting a fire under our best player which I believe Mario is.

 

Part of it better coaching because Petine is way better than Wanny. Maybe Mario realizes we don't get to the playoffs without a major contribution from him.

 

I hope to see him show up big for the rest of the season

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Gotta give the guy props. 4.5 sacks today? Are you kidding me?

 

Thoroughly dominant. He basically disrupted everything they were doing.

 

I don't know if they mentioned it on TV but the first TD Carolina scored was on a drive when Mario appeared to be having a problem pushing off and he actually came out for a few plays that series. I don't know if that is the plantar fasciitiis or if he was cramping up but him not being there made all the difference. in the second half he bounced back and looked healthy. Perhaps he got a shot.

 

He made 10 other players look a whole lot better on defense today. Awesome performance.

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