Godfather A

I find it interesting that based upon last year's limited performance, we have completely written off Keenan Reynolds as a potentially productive receiver.

From a physician vantage point, Joe's knee was still causing issues before the bye last year. When he came back after the home Pittsburgh game there was clearly a difference.

With the exception of the Cincinnati game at the end of the year, he put up enough points for us to win at Dallas, at New England and at Pittsburgh.

As an aside if Joe does go on to win another Super Bowl, he will pass both Troy Aikman and Roger Staubach and be tied for 6th all time in playoff wins. That assumes a first round bye.

If he has to win a divisional round game on the way there, he will also pass Brett Favre and be tied for 3rd all time in playoff wins (behind Brady and Montana)

Sidney Jones Achilles' injury during his pro day yesterday. He will certainly drop on draft boards.

Unfortunately commercials keep ticket prices down. That does not impact the individuals who watch on TV. It does impact those of us paying for season tickets or others actually attending a game.
When I used to attend Colts games in the 70's, commercial breaks were 1 minute long. Any out of bounds play stopped the clock.
Then commercial breaks gradually increased to 2 minutes plus a promo for the station's upcoming shows. Out of bounds plays now only stop the clock in the last few minutes of the half and the game.
There are 20 commercial breaks contracted for each game. That is over 40 minutes of stopped play without counting promos. Game time is 60 minutes long. It is the imbalance that is the issue.

Medical take on all of this:
Loss of any type creates a predictable grieving response.
Step 1 is denial - "I can't believe that Antonio Brown was able to stretch that ball over the goal line"
Step 2 is anger - lots of that in these posts
Step 3 is bargaining - if only we had a different GM or coach or QB or players
Step 4 is mourning - most people in this stage do not even read the posts
Step 5 is acceptance - that is where everyone needs to be by the start of next season.
Anything other than moving through these stages is not really productive.

I was a Commanding Officer in the Air Force for 9 years. I fired a grand total of 4 people over that period of time. I agree with Steve Bisciotti that mass firings rarely yield good results. Just look at teams like the Browns.

I would just as soon not see Matt Ryan join Joe as the second member of the 2008 draft class to win a Super Bowl. I am anti-Atlanta.

If you intentionally lose all 16 games, you get the first pick in the draft.

Will Bellichick have to resort to halfback options passes and non-eligible receivers to beat us again? At least the non-eligible receiver rule got changed. (probably the same will happen to holding on game ending safeties).

In the 5 losses against the Bengals, A. J. Green has averaged 6 catches and 120 yards and has scored at least one touchdown in each of them.

I was a Commanding Officer in the Air Force for 9 years. Leadership comes in all forms. There is nothing wrong with a quiet leadership style. Let us not forget that Joe is 11th all time in playoff wins and currently 40th all time in overall wins.


I am also a physician and it is clear that there are still issues with Joe's knee. They could be physical related to playing with a knew brace for the first time. They could be subconscious after getting hit last year.


This tale has not yet been fully told.

Perhaps Joe's knee brace is more of a hindrance than a help?

I am a pediatrician. One of the things I have to teach parents is the difference between bad children and bad deeds. We love our children but sometimes they run out in front of a car. That does not make then a bad child. Sometimes good players make bad plays. The goal is to minimize that. And that is what good players do.

However, with the missed opportunity, the Giants get the ball on the 2 and only get to the 20 and have to punt so we go down and get the field goal anyway. In actuality, it is like we got the field goal after all.

Let's not forget that we are looking at a Gary Kubiak run scheme compared to a Mark Trestman run scheme. I would not be surprised to see Forsett wind up as C. J Anderson's backup as Mike Garofalo suggested.

I was at the game yesterday. The one I watched was a nail biter. The desire to blow up the team here sounds like we got blown out by a weak opponent.

Part of the problem with the punt return team was that Kamar Aiken did not have a good day. He was first one down and missed the tackle on the long punt return. He was at the 2 yard line on a later punt and did not track the ball so it hit next to him on the two yard line and bounced into the end zone for a touchback. He later had a penalty on a fair catch that gave them 15 yards out from what would have been a punt inside the 10 yard line.

There is plenty enough blame to go around.

Given Del Rio's aggressiveness, it is likely that he would have gone for it on fourth and a long 1.

Last year's first two games included incomplete touchdown attempts to Steve Smith and Crockett Gilmore in the opener and a non-existent penalty on a Will Hill interception to seal the Oakland game. Bottom line 0-2 start.
If we had won both of those games, we would have seen the same whining about the competition being poor and we barely beat them.
A win is a win even if it is close. Last season should have taught us that if nothing else.

Lost in all the praise for the defensive stop and the offense running out the clock was the coach's decision to take 3 points off the board at the 7 plus minute point. The ensuing drive took two additional minutes off the clock before Tucker's repeat field goal. That's two less minutes for the offense to hold the ball at the end of the game.

Everyone is laughing about the bats on the field. However, bats carry rabies and have been reported to spread it without a bite (granted usually in an enclosed space). However, it is not farfetched to have a player with an open cut fall on that area of the field and inoculate the wound.

Same thing with Vegas odds. They are purely based on what it takes to get people to bet money. Discussing them is a waste of time.

Did anyone catch the Kudos to the Ravens defense on CNN today? Hines Ward is their new sports reporter. He was reporting on the Army Golden Knights. He jumped out a plane with them. When asked how it felt, he indicated that that it was even scarier than playing the Ravens. Second place to jumping out of an airplane is not too shabby.

At least this off-season we won't have to listen to the drivel about him getting together with his receivers for a workout.

Another option is to get a backup for Monroe once teams start shedding players after training camp. It does not look like James Hurst is the best they could do.