CrackerDog

I think many here predicted this. And I'm fine with it as long as it doesn't lead to Long getting injured in the first game or two of the season. These position switches can be tricky. Long should be able to move his feet well enough to stay with the edge rushers and keep his legs out of harms way.

I agree 100% with both of these statements. And with the new blocking scheme (I assume) we should have good success with whoever we plug in back there.

Sounds like a winner. LINK

Link For those who have never made it, give it a try! I've always found it fun. And if you have young kids they'll love it.

I agree with the OP almost entirely. I may be the only optimist here about Cutler being able to step up and be a top 10 or even better QB this year but that's OK. If he doesn't, with this OC, the improvement of the OL and this set of receivers, I'll want him GONE. I think despite our difficult schedule I now expect this team to be respectable.

Yep. But seriously, 12 to 15 sacks puts him anywhere from the top 10 in the NFL to the top 5 (based on last year's regular season) so I'd say that's pretty studly. And I'll take it!

Bowen is awesome. I hope he's right about McPhee.

Dude, 12 to 15 sacks a year is a friggen stud!

You may be stretching a bit here but I agree with you nonetheless because the point is exactly what you're saying: Where do you draw the line on letting players (or teams) decide which rules are real and which aren't? The rule exists, he used other people to break it, it's clear he knew what was going on, he deserves punishment. And the team was supportive of the rule breaking so they got what they deserved too.

I like the pause for the more-or-less meaningless kick. Gives you a minute to process the fact your team just gave up a score and/or to celebrate.

It was just announced that the Pats will not appeal. Good decision IMO.

They should leave it the hell alone! I sure don't want a W/L decided by some idiot kicker missing an extra point because they shifted the rule around from what it's been throughout the history of the damn game. The extra point is supposed to be easy, that's the whole point! It makes going for two all that much more risky. A single W/L due to this stupid change could put an overall inferior team in the playoffs simply because they played in a dome (where it isn't as windy, for example) or whatnot. This is like baseball trying to make the All Star Game worth something. Stupid assholes.

What I found interesting about your list was the near complete absence of any candidates from 1974 to 1986 while Finks and Vainisi were GM'ing the team.

I'd say I expect a few hundred more yards and a few more picks than you've got there. It is Jay, afterall. But generally this would be enough to keep him around and perhaps even enough to get us into playoff contention, depending on how far the D comes this year and how healthy we stay, of course.

Correct. But as you mention later in your post, it'll depend on the wording of the CBA and how much discretion is given to the Commissioner. If Goodell followed the letter of the CBA then the courts won't even take the case. And again, I don't think Brady and the Pats want this ending up there, regardless. This is them blowing smoke to try to garner some public support. Thus far it's failing miserably.

If I'm the Pats I want this to go away faster. Goodell is the Commissioner and any decision he makes regarding one team or another is going to be dissatisfactory to that team. Most of the other execs from around the league I've heard talk about this are with Roger. The Pats look like huge assholes in this and dragging it out will only make that worse. Now I'm disappointed he didn't suspend Brady for a full season. At least then all this whining would make some sense.

Yep. Contrary to the bad feelings of one member of this board, I really can't find fault in anything Pace has done thus far. I think he's done an A+ job. Time will certainly tell, of course, but who can complain about the coaching, scouting or personnel decisions made at this point? I never thought it could all be done in one season but I'm starting to think that despite a grinder of a schedule we might be able to get back to respectable this season. And after that, with the pieces he's put in place, I think we've got a professional staff that could lead this team to great things.

#Bears hired Anthony “Champ” Kelly to become their new director of pro personnel. Kelly was previously with the Broncos. - Dan Durkin Ravens national scout Joe Douglas, who has been with team for 15 years, is going to Chicago Bears as college scouting director, per source. - Adam Schefter

Stan Thomas

Yeah, the idea that there's no detectable difference is ludicrous. And for Jason to say he handles thousands. Yes, they're all likely properly inflated! Unless he was officiating a Patriots game, that is! Look, I think most of us have played a little football here and there. Some more than others. And when I play with an official ball, properly inflated, my hand isn't strong enough to grip it well for a consistent spiral. So I take a pound or two out to make it fit my hand better. I'm a 50 year old suburban dude, not an NFL QB. If you can't play with the ball as specified in the god damn rules, hang em up sport! You're done. And then all this BS with the Pats now saying the deflator, a guy they suspended, was calling himself that because he was losing weigh. PLEASE! They're embarrassing themselves now. Just shut up and take your punishment like a man. Geez.

Good point. I think the Pats and Brady are very unlikely to drag this into court. But they could appeal via the union and regular appeals process for Brady. That way he can likely keep his secrets. But the more I think about this the more they complain and drag this out, it lengthens the black eye they're taking here. So unless they want to wage a war over "principle" I doubt they push this crybaby routine for much longer. They KNOW they cheated and they don't want to keep driving that point home for any longer than necessary. I expect they'll take their medicine and STFU pretty soon. But I could be wrong.

Does that matter? No. Paying someone else to manipulate the tools of the game is clearly a violation of the integrity clause. And in the estimation of the Commish, that's enough to levy the fines he hit them with. All of the side arguments about whether it would've changed the results of the game are straw men.

It'll be interesting to see if these fines get reduced on appeal. I'm one that thinks they won't be. I realize that's the trend but those instances are typically players, through their union, doing something outside the game where there's precedent set. This is honestly one of those occasions where the Commissioner has discretion and there's nothing else to compare this to other than New Orleans who was fined much more severely.

Fact is it sounds like Brady was paying (signed items, etc.) for those chumps to do his dirty work with the balls. That's enough for me to say he's got to get some sort of penalty. He paid someone else to break rules. Talk about integrity of the game. The team deserves a penalty because there's clearly been an orchestrated effort by the Pats to keep evidence away from the league. Despite that, the league found enough evidence to find them guilty. Therefore, because they're guilty and because they're trying to cover it up, they should get punished. Not sure if the penalty was harsh enough, not sure if it's too harsh. That's why the league gives that discretion to a commissioner. What I do know is that both sides will have their "day in court" because the Pats aren't going to let this go without a fight.

Looks like they only have 1 first rounder and everyone else is saying they lost two total picks. Just bad writing by PFT. But, with Brady out for four games, the pick they're losing is bound to be higher than it would've been. That's good news!