That Aud Smell

Well, now, wait a second. I'm not down for the broad brush of "Sean the Wrestler a/k/a the Jesus freak" stuff. He may be in over his head on some of this strategic stuff, but he's done a more than commendable job on a lot of other key items, I think. Maybe he isn't cut out for the job. But the fact that he took a path that a lot of NFL coaches would probably take doesn't seem to indicate, per se, that he's out of his depth. There's something to this. And to this! OTOH, it makes me nuts that the team's HC wasn't weighing the team's playoff hopes in the context of an OT game in December.

According to one Tweet, McDermott later specifically said that his decision to punt with 4+ minutes to go in OT was not informed by potential playoff scenarios. I'm telling you, man. Geeeez. The one potential saving grace (ha!): He kinda sorta suggested that there were things he would learn from the scenario, even while acknowledging the decision worked out in that instance.

Evidently, McDermott in today's press conference intimated that he was NOT focusing on playoff implications when he decided to punt, that it was, at most, one of many variables he would consider. He also seemed to say that a tie might have helped them under some scenarios. Welp.

NFW. Reason being:

I guess he did say that, didn't he? That's nonsense, of course. NFW McDermott didn't know the W-L situation -- he just happened to think punting there gave the team the best chance to win. Which really does seem illogical to me. Would I rather take my chances on getting a long yard, or kick the ball away and put the other team in control of the ball? Webb's improbable throw and McCoy's dash in the snow totally bailed out McDermott.

In the context of one of his rants against the punt call, I heard Schopp chirp "faith-based" during the post-game show. Amen, I say. My youngest is now a relatively decent Madden player on his Playstation. There have been two, maybe three, distinct game-management situations that McDermott has botched (if forward-thinking, strategy-based logic is to be endorsed) that my kid, who's either just started or is not yet in middle school (depending on how you measure it), immediately rebuked and decried. (The other one I recall specifically is when McDermott, for no reason I could detect, ran the clock down to :09 before kicking a FG against the Chiefs before the half. Why not let it run to :04 or :03?) It seems astonishing that NFL coaches can't, won't, or don't get that sort of stuff. With regard to the Colts game, it seems like such a simple proposition: Taking into account the time remaining and what the team needs in order to preserve its playoff hopes, what are the odds of winning if you try to get a yard at your opponent's 41, versus the odds of winning if you kick it away. What does the data say? I am sure it strongly favors going for it. There must be more to it than McDermott just not knowing about this sort of stuff, or just not getting it. There must be. But what? Is there some human relation/motivation factor that's not being accounted for? Do HC's find that the D is primed, locked, and loaded if you pin the opponent behind their 20 and affirmatively turn the matter over to your D to help save the game? ANd do HC's find that the D is correspondingly on its heels if you turn it over on downs at the 41?

I legitimately know who no one is. Anymore.

Let's Go, Buffalo! Right there with you, bruvner.

I found this to be a really good articulation of what I've been feeling about this team. Bylsma perhaps did a commendable job of working around the limitations and patching up the flaws of this core group (even if that's not what he *meant* to do, per se -- but his style and system were able to hide a lot). Housley has taken the training wheels off, so to speak. There's no more hiding. It's sink or swim. (Sorry to mix metaphors.)

As LTS notes below, the modern game is such that defenders routinely launch themselves at intended receivers. It is part of the game. If you're an LB or DB trying to make an NFL club and don't have that sort of impact play on tape somewhere, you're not getting picked, signed, or invited to a camp. Agreed with most everything there, especially the bolded. I think that Mitchell does a fair job of pointing out the inherent hypocrisy in the NFL wanting those sorts of dangerous plays (because it's good for business), but also reserving the right to punish that sort of play when it's politically expedient for the league to do so.

I don't agree with everything he said, but you should give the Mitchell rant a listen (I'm inferring you did not). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQmhCGuC0wU Part of his point is that the game of football is so fluid, fast, and variable that some hits end up being unclean through no fault of the defensive player. He described a play he had on Eifert two years ago in which he had intended to jump so as to tackle Eifert in his midsection (gut), but then the ball was mis-thrown and so he wound up making contact with Eifert's head. It's a fair frickin' point.

This is an interesting inquiry. The current location is largely for the lifers, the varying shades of #BillsMafia (not just the table lunatics -- all of the game day diehards). It's definitely not for me. But if I could just go downtown to go to a game? That very well might change things for me.

Well, now I need Bulldog to stop lurking and come in here and back me up. Three separate times within 20 minutes of game play, I saw Eichel moving at a pace and with a purpose I had not seen from him in a while. Small sample size, etc. Even so.

Srsly. I'm not gonna know who anyone is. Which is probably a good experiment in and of itself.

I'm debating whether I should go with den udda lukten or den aud lukten. I sorta like the former, as it acknowledges the Aud/odd play on words a bit.

Agree with Bulldog on Twitter (from what I saw of the game): Eichel was skating like he hasn’t for ... a long time. Which is frustrating.

Wha—? Oh.

<bump>

Damn. Ah! So. Huh. Like, they wanted him nowhere near the organ-eye-zay-shun?

Yas, besh, yas.

Fair. What's of more value in the market: The guaranteed money that, say, a starting cornerback can make, or a degree in accounting? And by "value," I'd want to account for the uncertainties or unlikelihood associated with obtaining either outcome. Still. I'm not smart enough to do that. We need an actuary or something.

Russ Brandon strikes again.

I'm not even sure what (all of) my thoughts on the subject are. It'd be a massive topic. If I understand you correctly, then I disagree. I don't need to reach a conclusion on whether and to what extent the under-privileged and underclass are truly guided by free will on their way to the NFL in order to decide that the barbarism featured and promoted by the league is repugnant.

The matter of how and why under-served, disadvantaged kids do or don't use athletic achievement as a means to academic advancement is something I can't get into today -- or maybe ever. I understand your view on how the role of free will connects to an enjoyment of violent spectacle.