uniwildcat38

I thought I was the furthest south, until I spotted Ben down in Antarctica!

uniwildcat38 - Jonathan Allen - 172

On that first hit, it looks to me like the Jets receiver deliberately kicks Iloka? https://vine.co/v/5JTbwehxqJX/

If Burfict is suspended, can we play our backup linebacker Fontaze Burdock?

Three times in a game-and-a-half of action during the past two weeks, McCarron has thrown passes that traveled 30 or more yards downfield. Starter Andy Dalton hadn't done that all year before injuring his right thumb last week. Huh? I recall Dalton throwing plenty of deep balls this year. Jones vs SD, 45 yards through the air. Tate vs KC, 45 yards in the air. Green vs CLE, 44 yards in the air. Green vs ARI, 36 yards in the air.

Has there ever been a better example of neither team being able to win than the last 2 minutes of that game? Baltimore totally botch the clock to give Cleveland a chance at a late FG. Cleveland promptly return the favour. Schaub Schaubs, and then the blocked FG for the win! Crazy stuff.

A Steeler that has some sort of grip on reality? Who would have thunk it?

I wonder if this is another example of the compensatory picks strategy the Bengals have been following in recent years. Draft the replacement tackles now, let Whit and Andre leave next year, and score some compensatory picks for the 2017 draft?

Rivers is actually an interesting comparison to Dalton at this stage in his career. The table below shows that through their first 4 years, Rivers and Dalton put up similar numbers - QB rating, completion %, yds per attempt, TDs per attempt and sack rate are all very close (I've converted values to per game to account for Rivers barely playing in his first two years). The only area where Rivers looks clearly better is interception %, and that is somewhat offset by his propensity for fumbling (I actually though Andy had fumbling issues, so was surprised by that aspect of the comparison).   Rivers' 5th year was a real turning point in his career with a marked jump in almost every category. Hopefully Dalton's career can follow the same trajectory!   Dalton Rivers (first 4 years) Rivers (after first 4 years) Att/G 33 26.4 33.3 Comp/G 20.3 16.1 21.8 Completion % 61.6 60.8 65.6 Yds/G 230.6 185.8 267.6 Yds/Att 6.99 7.04 8.04 TD % 4.69 4.63 5.58 Int % 3.13 2.63 2.6 QB rating 85.2 86.6 98 Fumbles/game 0.23 0.61 0.5 Sacks/att 5.68 5.58 6.25

  0:47 is Gresham-like, right up to the point where he doesn't fumble.

I tried to do this yesterday, and the results are interesting - in almost every case the player fumbled less often as a Patriot. Disclaimer: The fumble stats on nfl.com include kick and punt returns, whereas for the number of plays I've used rushes plus receptions as I couldn't easily find the number of return plays. For eac player I've listed their plays, fumbles and plays per fumble as a Pat and then the same figures combined across all other teams they played for. Blount 219 3 73; 518 10 52 Amendola 82 0 infinite; 208 10 21 Woodhead 342 2 171; 225 2 112.5 Welker 691 11 63; 218 9 24 (this leaves out 4 fumbles from his rookie season when he had no touches on offense) Lloyd 74 0 infinite; 326 3 109 Green-Ellis 902 0 infinite; 524 5 105 Branch 352 2 176; 205 1 205 Taylor 110 1 110; 2714 26 104 Maroney 622 5 124; 40 1 40 Morris 383 4 96; 519 8 65 Moss 261 5 52; 746 11 68 So only Moss and Branch were slighly worse as a Pat. Everyone else was slightly to much, much better. Also a couple of specials cases. Kevin Faulk only played for the Pats but pre 2007 he had 23 fumbles in 908 plays (1 every 39 plays) and from 2007 on he had just 2 in 387 plays. Similarly Brady pre 2007 (counting only sacks and rushes as plays) had 59 fumbles 421 plays (7.1) and since then has 36 in 413 plays (11.5). That could be just him maturing as a player, but I've looked at other qbs who've played at least 10 years, and none of them show that sort of large change at that point in their career. It's still very much circumstantial evidence, but it does suggest that there is something about playing for the Pats that reduces fumble rates, and as it doesn't seem to carry over when players move on it doesn't look like it's a technique issue.

BJGE had 0 fumbles on 902 possesions as a Patriot, and then 5 on 524 possessions as a Bengal. Coincidence?

  3 personal fouls called on the Stealers so far by my count - has Goodell already stood down as Commissioner?

I was interested to see how many of these deals worked out well for the Bengals. Here's my verdict on each of them: [i]APRIL 24, 2004: Bengals dealt 17th pick in draft to Denver for CB Deltha O'Neal, the 24th pick in the first round and a fourth-rounder. With the 117th selection, in the fourth round, they took Georgia defensive end Robert Geathers, heading into his ninth season with 88 starts. O'Neal played 55 games for Bengals with 16 interceptions and set a club record with 10 in Pro Bowl season of 2005.[/i] WIN. Between O'Neal's ProBowl appearance and Geather's career, this was well worth the trade-down. [i]APRIL 24, 2004: Bengals dealt 24th pick to St. Louis for 26th pick in first round and a fourth-rounder. With 26th pick they took Michigan running back Chris Perry, whose injury-riddled career ended in the middle of the 2008 season with 177 carries for 606 yards. In the fourth round, with the 123rd pick, they took Mississippi tackle Stacy Andrews, better known as a track athlete who ended up starting 32 games at guard and tackle before he left as a free agent after the '08 season. He's started 17 games for three teams since.[/i] [i]With that 24th pick the Rams took Oregon State running back Steven Jackson, a three-time Pro Bowler and the consummate NFL thoroughbred who is still playing and is less than 1,000 yards from a career 10 grand. [/i] LOSS. I would rather have had Jackson than Perry + Andrews, although I'm not sure the Bengals would have taken Jackson even if they hadn't traded down. [i]APRIL 24, 2004: Bengals traded RB Corey Dillon to New England for a second-round pick. With the 56th choice they took Maryland safety Madieu Williams, who had four sacks and nine interceptions in 45 starts in four seasons before leaving for free agency after '07. He's had half a sack and three picks for two clubs since he left. Dillon made the last of his four Pro Bowls in 2004 with a career-high 1,635 yards and helped the Pats win the Super Bowl before gaining 1,545 the next two seasons and retiring after 2006.[/i] WIN. A clear case of addition by subtraction regardless of what they received in return - Williams' decent play for 4 years was a bonus. [i]MAY 7, 2009: Bengals dealt defensive tackle Orien Harris to Rams for running back Brian Leonard. Leonard, a second-round pick in 2007, heads into his fourth season as a Bengal as a third-down staple with 72 catches and 4.3-yard per his 53 carries. Harris, a fourth-round pick of the Steelers in 2006, never played for Pittsburgh and played 18 of his 20 NFL games for the Bengals, his last four in '09 when he re-joined the Bengals and Leonard after the Rams released him.[/i] WIN. Traded away nothing in return for many key plays from Leonard. [i]SEPT 4, 2010: Bengals traded CB David Jones and conditional 2012 pick to Jacksonville for safety Reggie Nelson. Nelson had best season of his career in 2011, earning biggest safety deal in free agency last month to stay with Bengals. Jones played 21 games in Jacksonville with five starts before being released last season. Jags get the Bengals' seventh-round pick in this year's draft.[/i] WIN. Worthwhile for Nelson's 2010 and 2011 play, and looks particularly good with him re-signing. [i]JULY 28, 2011: Bengals traded WR Chad Ochocinco to New England for fifth-round pick in 2012 and sixth-round pick in 2013. The Ocho, the Bengals' all-time leading receiver, had 15 catches and a TD in 15 games, as well as a catch in New England's Super Bowl loss to the Giants.[/i] WIN. Would AJ Green be in stripes without this trade? Plus trade-up ammo for future drafts. [i]AUG. 23, 2011: Bengals traded 2013 seventh-rounder to San Francisco for S Taylor Mays. Mays, a second-round pick in 2010 who played nearly 500 snaps as a rookie, was limited to just 60 snaps because of injury in 2011. He looks to be odds-on favorite to begin season starting opposite Nelson.[/i] TENTATIVE WIN. Too early for a definitive call, but if Mays does start as expected and plays ok, that's good value for a future 7th rounder. [i]AUG. 29, 2011: Bengals traded DT Clinton McDonald to Seattle for CB Kelly Jennings. With third corner Adam Jones sidelined with a neck injury, the Bengals picked up a former first-round pick in Jennings. His role became even more prominent in mid-season when Jones returned as starter Leon Hall ripped his Achilles. Jennings played 416 snaps and had no picks, five passes defensed, and a sack while McDonald, on the Cincinnati roster bubble as preseason wound down, took 436 snaps in Seattle that were pretty much split between passes and runs and had 25 tackles, 10 quarterback pressures, and four QB hits, according to profootballfocus.com. Jennings won't return to Cincinnati after they re-signed Jones and signed free agents Jason Allen and Terence Newman.[/i] WIN (for both sides). Both players produced at a reasonable level, but the Bengals need CB help more than DT last year. [i]OCT. 18, 2011: Bengals traded QB Carson Palmer to Oakland for first-round pick in 2012 and second-round pick in 2013. Palmer, sitting out the season, just missed leading the Raiders to the playoffs with a 4-5 record as a starter. In a year Bengals rookie Andy Dalton went to the Pro Bowl with 20 TDs and 13 interceptions, Palmer had 13 TDs and 16 interceptions. The Bengals go into the April 26 first-round with the Raiders' 17th pick.[/i] MEGA-WIN. Potentially the biggest moment in Bengals franchise history. [i]APRIL 12, 2012: Bengals traded WILL outside linebacker Keith Rivers to the Giants for 2012 fifth-rounder. Rivers, a 2008 first-round pick, missed all of 2011 with an injured wrist and nine games of his rookie season with a broken jaw and played primarily first and second down in '09 and '10 with 196 tackles, two sacks, an interception, six passes defensed, no forced fumbles and no fumble recoveries.[/i] UNDECIDED. Too early to call - seems unlikely the 5th round pick will produce a player as good as Rivers, but may give some flexibility to trade up in the draft. All up that's about 7.5 wins from 10 trades, with only 1 loser. Throw in some additional weighting for just how good the Palmer trade was, and the Bengals have close to a 100% succcess record in these recent trades.