@berniesuperbowl2 said: I'm fine with it because it's a one year deal. If he has an attitude we can cut him. If he pans out we have a talented slot receiver. Due to our salary cap situation we have to make some dice rolls and this is one.  Alright Bernie - I'm good with that!  

@dutch-oven said: It's kind of amazing how bad quarterback coaching must have been back in the day @flugel... it was a totally different game almost, because some of the best QBs had some of the most pedestrian numbers. The passing game really was pretty archaic until the 80s into the 90s. How desperate were teams in the 70s for a QB? The Browns traded away arguably one of the best WRs ever to the Dolphins for Mike Phipps because their QB Bill Neilsen had two of the most banged up knees in the history of knees, then like SEVEN years later with some of the most godawful stats you'd ever seen the Browns somehow got the Chicago Bears to give them a first round pick for Phipps. That's some stellar QB scouting going on then.  That's true about the coaching Dutch.  A very small hand full of teams may have had good QB coaching. Back then, passing wasn't the biggest component of the offense so teams could still win without having one of the elite QBs.  In fact, the 72 Dolphins went most of their undefeated season with a backup QB Earl Morrall - who previously backed of Johnny Unitas, Fran Tarkenton, Len Dawson, Y.A. Tittle before he did this for Bob Griese.  That 72 season Had both Csonka and Mercury Morris rushing for over 1000 yards apiece in a 14 game season while Jim Kiick was on his 3rd straight season rushing for over 500 yards in part time duty.  To keep teams from loading the box - the Cleveland Browns gift wrapped them the 4.3 speed and HOF talent of Paul Warfield to exploit cheatin DBs up into run support.  Back then, the NFL didn't hurry the growth and development process of young QBs like we see today.  The era we're in today demands early success far more than it did back then. Today?  Everything depends on the pass so that's the oxygen needed to win.  And there hasn't been a worse team at drafting QBs than the one we follow. Loved Kosar but that was the 85 Supplemental Draft.  Loved Sipe, but he was a 13th round draft pick  that was fortunate to have our 3rd overall pick (Mike Phipps from the Warfield trade) fail.  He was kind of an accidental success if you will.  Just as important as the QB we draft - is the readiness of tis organization and coaching staff to develop him into offense that has somewhat of a love-connection compatibility to the guy's skillset and wiring.  Not only that; but give the guy some tools and toys to work with.  And how about one of the best LTs in the draft to lock down the blind side?  Not impossible... FWIW, Bradshaw had a long career so the memorable stats for him and Steeler fans came after those stats I shared.  My point in showing those stats is to remind us all that some guys take longer than others to develop.  Part of that in Pitt was drafting Swann and Stallworth, better OLinemen, and Franco Harris.  Aside from that, they began to field a defense that could cause turnovers and give their QB a short field.  That got even more frequent with the more HOF guys they drafted.   One thing that has never changed is you are what you draft.  I hope Berry is ready to draft near/at the top of every round.  

@flugel said: ? If Mark Andrews is reading this thread - he's gotta be somewhat relieved nobody wants  to notice how bad his backbreaking fumble cost the Rats before dropping to 2 point conversion that would have tied the game.  On a shit weather day like that, you gotta make those plays especially when their version of Jim Brown only had 16 carries.  I thought they were going to ride Henry like they did the 1st time Buffalo had no solutions for him.  This time they stopped him on short yardage situations.  Let's just say, except for about 4 of his carries - this was nothing like the last time they played Buffalo when he had about 100 more yards and was never stoppable.  He also dropped a pass with no defenders near him. Their mistake however was not using him down the stretch of the 4th Q like they have successfully done all year long. The guy is money then and runs through everybody at that point in the game. Outthunk themselves.

@vaportrail said: They did not clean that shit up.  They cleaned it up tonight... Allen had the best night of his life!

I'd be surprised if he wasn't wearing one when it happened.

@korsou-dawg said: Bell got hardly any snaps at all, despite what I would call showing promise as a rookie, despite below par QB play. I distinctly remember Tillman struggling to get open in the reps he got, which probably correlates with the 9 of 16 unsuccessful targets you mentioned. You know me, I overreact in one direction or another. I guess my point is: why isn't Bell getting more reps after showing promise, while Tillman is getting them after struggling? We need receivers to get open, and hold on to the ball when targeted. Those are two things Bell has shown to do well.  I think the distinction here is what we both qualify as "open".  Tillman is going to play that classic 'X' role.  So his level of open is going to be a bit less of separation than say, Moore or Coop.  He's the receiver who is going to win the contested catches and work in very limited spacing.   This is where his elite de-acceleration comes into play.   Problem is, what he needs more than anything for that style to succeed is continuity and ability at the QB position.  We've simply lacked the former and quite a bit of the latter this season.  Marques Colston ... Go check him out with Drew Brees.  His contested catch rate was unreal. 

@ballpeen said: No doubt Woods needs to go.  My darkhorse candidate for DC is Jim Leonhard.  I am hoping he isn't named the full time head coach at Wisconsin before we can talk to him. I would look to trade Hospital Ward.  If we could get a 2nd rounder, I would take it.  We have the corners to do that. When I look at our defensive roster, I see a player make-up that would be better suited to a 3-4, so I hope we make that switch.  We would need to add a NT, who you can usually find both in FA and the draft.  I think a guy like Phillips would benefit with a switch to the outside.  With his speed he could be a pretty good standup rusher off the edge. I hope we lock up Pocic and don't try to go back to Harris.  I am not willing to go back to that.   Pocic is excellent in the pivot.  Berry needs to swallow his pride and keep the guy over one of his draft choices. We need to just cut Anthony Schwantz.  Schwantz is a waste of time. Interesting.  Phillip's, who has an average 40 time, average 10 & 20 yard split, below average wingspan, a poor first step, average play strength and is, at best, a poor tackler - you would have play as an on- ball 2pt edge backer...?  Would you be more of a 1 gap scheme like Wade Phillip's or play more 2 gap calls like Belichick?  What about Myles? His strength is a 3pt edge, are you going to play him as a 2pt backer or run more of those under looks with a LEO like Seattle did?  How do you address Togiai and Elliot as personnel and also their positions?  I'm really curious how you arrived at this conclusion and would like to know more.  

Great job Potato Head! I was loving it when the Warriors were down by 50 last night.  Somehow, Mike Brown and Hue Jackson keep finding work.