Califan007 The Constipated

Completely agree there...but we both know that, for a too-large segment of all fan bases, talking like they know more than the coaches is part of the enjoyment of sports lol...as I suspect so is pinning your hopes to the idea that the coaches rarely make mistakes so there "must" be something valuable to John Beck, dammit, or else coach wouldn't have traded for him! Super Bowl!!!!1!1! This is where we differ...I don't think we've simply had a 20 year string of coaches deluding themselves about their roster, how good they are, how close they are, etc, etc...and i don't feel as if Rivera and company are gonna use "falling ass-backwards into the playoffs due to a Bills player almost dying" as some sort of "Ha! we ARE good afterall!" vindication. There will be just a ****load of film study, analysis, pro personnel scouting reports, and everything else involved in determining whether or not, for example, to let Eric Flowers and Moses go or to not extend Scherff. It won't be anything like thinking "welp, we made the playoffs...all's good!" Completely agree there, too 👍...but I can see a valid argument for saying "fix the OLine and QB, and this is legitimately a consistent contender". For a coach, that might be considered "close".

So then, if at the last minute, it was determined that the playoff seeding in the AFC were determined by drawing numbers out of a hat while the NFC seeding remained as-is, no big deal? lol...

Everything you just described there is how fans view things, though lol…and fans usually consider themselves the judge of how things “actually are” with players and the team…so if/when the coach holds a different view it’s pretty much never “Well, maybe I don’t know as much as I think” and almost always “This coach is delusional!” lol…which usually translates to “why aren’t they seeing things the way I see them?” Plus, it’s not how you get there that matters, it’s what you do once you’re there that counts. Half the teams in the playoffs are gonna lose their first game in the playoffs no matter how they got there. So hanging on to that regular season record once in the playoffs seems useless.

Theoretically, it’s easier to win at home with a stadium full of your fans than, say, traveling thousands of miles to an away stadium full of your opponent’s fans…that’s why teams care about winning the top seed in the playoffs, it’s not just to get a bye. Familiar surroundings, no jet lag, possible extra practice while your opponent is busy traveling… The top seed in the NFC gets that. The Top seed in the AFC does not. So you want the coaching staff to view the team and players the exact same way the fans do? lol…

I wanna see Steve Carell in that role lol...

Before the game starts is my guess lol...

This ends up punishing two AFC teams that fought all season for home field advantage throughout the playoffs, while giving the top NFC team an advantage that the AFC team did not have. But I don't see any "fair" way of resolving this...and it's too late in the week to be making changes that would effect this weekend's games. So go for the least disruptive, I guess.

Did Santos forget what his name is again? lol...

For the record, I changed my Twitter profile...👍

This vote to adjourn is wild lol...

No, the point is believing his rep might be damaged by playing against the Cowboys--and thus put a dent in his off-season prospects--makes zero sense. I've heard numerous fans say "Heinicke is who he is" in terms of there being no need to play him in the preseason, as well as no need to play him this week. Now, for some reason, that line of thinking has gone out the window, and we're thinking he's making a 'business decision" in terms of how the league views him. And like I said, I don't for one minute buy that Heinicke convinced Rivera to let Howell start. It seems more likely that Rivera talked with Heinicke and let him know they were changing their minds, and Heinicke just said he understood and threw on something like "Howell deserves a chance to start." Nothing more than that...which I guess means I agree with you, there was no benevolent motive behind Heinicke's words lol (whatever they were)...but I don't agree that he was just looking out for himself.

Re: Heinicke not wanting to damage his rep by going up against Dallas lol: Unless Heinicke looks absolutely fantastic, no front office in the NFL is suddenly gonna say "Well, damn, I thought that Taylor guy was good. But I guess not." lol...He's had about 25 starts and a ton of film that will EASILY trump whatever happens against the Cowboys outside of just lighting up their starters. Remember, it was studing film on TH that apparently showed the entire league how to stop him and that he was a fraud lol...So the only thing he would lose is an extra $81K if they were to win. For the record, I'm not buying the Heinicke convinced Rivera to start Howell narrative, but then again I just stumbled upon it on this last page lol...so what do I know.

I'm on a roll lol...

^^ From the responses lol:

If you believe Gaetz, nothing can be done...

Roy was too distracted on his phone to know it was his turn to vote lol...

I think he loses each vote within like the first 50 votes.