Game Day Thread Official Post Game Thread - #1 Seed Pats beat the Bills

[PScottman]

Patriots sign TE Hunter Henry (3 years, $37.5 million; $25 million guaranteed): F Grade
Did Bill Belichick bang his head on something? Has the spirit of Bill O'Brien possessed him? Is Matt Millen holding him at gunpoint? These are three scenarios that may explain his reckless spending spree. It's a new day of free agency, yet the bad signings haven't stopped.

Spending this much money for a non-elite tight end is a mistake, but don't take my word for it. Here's a deep dive of every single big contract ($20 million or more) given to a non-elite tight end (Travis Kelce, George Kittle) over the past four years:

Browns sign TE Austin Hooper (4 years, $44 million)
Buccaneers re-sign TE Cameron Brate (6 years, $41 million; $18 million guaranteed)
Rams re-sign TE Tyler Higbee (4 years, $36 million; $15.5 million guaranteed)
Vikings re-sign TE Kyle Rudolph (4 years, $36 million)
49ers sign TE Vance McDonald (5 years, $35 million; $16 million guaranteed) Bears sign TE Trey Burton (4 years, $32 million)
Packers sign TE Jimmy Graham (3 years, $30 million)
Cardinals re-sign TE Jermaine Gresham (4 years, $28 million)
Lions sign TE Jesse James (4 years, $25 million; $11 million guaranteed)
Cowboys re-sign TE Blake Jarwin (3 years, $24.25 million)
Texans re-sign TE C.J. Fiedorowicz (3 years, $21.5 million; $10 million guaranteed)
Packers sign TE Martellus Bennett (3 years, $21 million)

Can you find one signing there that worked? I'll save you some time: Signing non-elite tight ends to big contracts has a 100-percent failure rate over the past four years. One hundred percent!

Why do teams continue to do this? When will they learn to stop overvaluing tight ends not named Kelce or Kittle?

Hunter Henry is talented, and he's closer to Kelce or Kittle than some of the names on that list, but he has a very dubious injury history. He has never played a full season. I don't know how the Patriots can trust him to stay healthy.

I'm going to vow to grade all of these signings as an "F" going forward until NFL teams learn to stop giving absurd contracts to tight ends.


Patriots sign WR Kendrick Bourne (3 years, $22.5 million): D+ Grade
Man, the Patriots cannot evaluate receiving talent. I understand this contract even less than the Nelson Agholor deal, and that one didn't make much sense either.

It's crazy that the Patriots spent nearly $50 million on two receivers today, yet they still have a big need at the position. Kendrick Bourne is just an OK player. He's versatile, but doesn't have much talent. He'll be a fine role player, but you shouldn't pay role players $22.5 million.


Patriots sign DE/OLB Matthew Judon (4 years, $56 million): C+ Grade
The Patriots are spending money like drunken sailors today. They've made some dubious signings, and while this one is much better than the Jonnu Smith move, it doesn't seem like a slam dunk either.

Matthew Judon has been a solid player for the Ravens, but never a great one. He has never logged more than 10 sacks in a single season, and Baltimore didn't view him as a great pass rusher because it traded for Yannick Ngakoue during the 2020 season. The Ravens also refused to give Judon the contract he wanted, which is telling, given that they're the team most familiar with him in the entire league. It's not like the Ravens missevaluate talent often, so why didn't they want to pay Judon the big bucks?

It could be that the Ravens knew Judon would be overpaid on the open market, like he was in this instance. Judon isn't very young either; he turns 29 soon, so he'll be spending the majority of this contract in his 30s, which is far from ideal.

In summary, I don't hate this signing. Judon will help the Patriots' pass rush, which was in need of an upgrade. However, this was an overpay, and there's a good chance the Patriots will regret this contract down the road.

It's like many of the "Bill the GM is killing Bill the Coach" forum posters here wrote this - like verbatim.

 

[Hammer of Thor]

Rob Ninkovich goes off on Sean McDermott. Warning - ESPN link.

 

[sieglo]

View attachment 38434

Make it happen and watch the meltdown on ChiefsPlanet!

technically he’d have to throw up for 2 weeks.

 

[DaBruinz]

If it's a full rupture then yes but with a partial tear he would be able to stand perfectly well but a partial tear can still take many weeks to heal. i'm responding to the poster who was saying he would be fine for two weeks when he can't know that at all based on what we know.

Maybe with a Grade 1 pull, you could stand there perfectly well. But not with a Grade 2 Hamstring strain (aka partial tear). With a partial tear the hamstring is weak and the pain is such that you generally can't hide it. And they're able to tell the difference between the two pretty easily because the strain will typically swell up rather quickly and have bruising.

A grade 1 pulled hamstring can be ready to go in two weeks with PT and proper care. It's the Grade 2 and higher issues that take significantly longer.

 

[Vindicate]

a favorite artist of mine that popped on today and made me think of all the "Josh Allen has the arm to throw in the wind, they should've thrown more"

Freddie Gibbs put it best "Ball till ya fall all goddamn long, but understand when ya fall, you can fall face first."

And they did.

 

[ausbacker]

He also crapped on f the Patriots free agent signings. Here are some of his write ups:

Patriots sign TE Hunter Henry (3 years, $37.5 million; $25 million guaranteed): F Grade
Did Bill Belichick bang his head on something? Has the spirit of Bill O'Brien possessed him? Is Matt Millen holding him at gunpoint? These are three scenarios that may explain his reckless spending spree. It's a new day of free agency, yet the bad signings haven't stopped.

Spending this much money for a non-elite tight end is a mistake, but don't take my word for it. Here's a deep dive of every single big contract ($20 million or more) given to a non-elite tight end (Travis Kelce, George Kittle) over the past four years:

Browns sign TE Austin Hooper (4 years, $44 million)
Buccaneers re-sign TE Cameron Brate (6 years, $41 million; $18 million guaranteed)
Rams re-sign TE Tyler Higbee (4 years, $36 million; $15.5 million guaranteed)
Vikings re-sign TE Kyle Rudolph (4 years, $36 million)
49ers sign TE Vance McDonald (5 years, $35 million; $16 million guaranteed) Bears sign TE Trey Burton (4 years, $32 million)
Packers sign TE Jimmy Graham (3 years, $30 million)
Cardinals re-sign TE Jermaine Gresham (4 years, $28 million)
Lions sign TE Jesse James (4 years, $25 million; $11 million guaranteed)
Cowboys re-sign TE Blake Jarwin (3 years, $24.25 million)
Texans re-sign TE C.J. Fiedorowicz (3 years, $21.5 million; $10 million guaranteed)
Packers sign TE Martellus Bennett (3 years, $21 million)

Can you find one signing there that worked? I'll save you some time: Signing non-elite tight ends to big contracts has a 100-percent failure rate over the past four years. One hundred percent!

Why do teams continue to do this? When will they learn to stop overvaluing tight ends not named Kelce or Kittle?

Hunter Henry is talented, and he's closer to Kelce or Kittle than some of the names on that list, but he has a very dubious injury history. He has never played a full season. I don't know how the Patriots can trust him to stay healthy.

I'm going to vow to grade all of these signings as an "F" going forward until NFL teams learn to stop giving absurd contracts to tight ends.


Patriots sign WR Kendrick Bourne (3 years, $22.5 million): D+ Grade
Man, the Patriots cannot evaluate receiving talent. I understand this contract even less than the Nelson Agholor deal, and that one didn't make much sense either.

It's crazy that the Patriots spent nearly $50 million on two receivers today, yet they still have a big need at the position. Kendrick Bourne is just an OK player. He's versatile, but doesn't have much talent. He'll be a fine role player, but you shouldn't pay role players $22.5 million.


Patriots sign DE/OLB Matthew Judon (4 years, $56 million): C+ Grade
The Patriots are spending money like drunken sailors today. They've made some dubious signings, and while this one is much better than the Jonnu Smith move, it doesn't seem like a slam dunk either.

Matthew Judon has been a solid player for the Ravens, but never a great one. He has never logged more than 10 sacks in a single season, and Baltimore didn't view him as a great pass rusher because it traded for Yannick Ngakoue during the 2020 season. The Ravens also refused to give Judon the contract he wanted, which is telling, given that they're the team most familiar with him in the entire league. It's not like the Ravens missevaluate talent often, so why didn't they want to pay Judon the big bucks?

It could be that the Ravens knew Judon would be overpaid on the open market, like he was in this instance. Judon isn't very young either; he turns 29 soon, so he'll be spending the majority of this contract in his 30s, which is far from ideal.

In summary, I don't hate this signing. Judon will help the Patriots' pass rush, which was in need of an upgrade. However, this was an overpay, and there's a good chance the Patriots will regret this contract down the road.

NFL Free Agent Signing Grades – Latest Signing Grades for 2024 NFL Free Agency – WalterFootball

walterfootball.com

When I first discovered WF years and years and years ago, I thought, geez, this guy goes to a lot of effort with his draft profiles and projections and his writing seems well-supported and opinions well formed... then I started in-depth reading and realised he's the draftnik equivalent of those annoying Youtubers who create and regurgitate unoriginal crap designed to garner clicks and views. At best, he's a cursory look, at worst, a fan pretending to know more than he does.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

Because Buffalo had seen the conditions played out live for 2 quarters and knew the score of the game and what would be needed in the 2nd half. The Pats had a 0-0 game and general estimates of game conditions but not having yet seen it live.

General estimates of the game conditions? Were they not standing in the stadium? BB said previous conditions were far worse, so what did he need to see live since he had already experienced worse?

It seems like a stretch to say the Pats were unknowing in the 1st Q, but the Bills were stupid in the 3rd Q.

 

[Rob0729]

When I first discovered WF years and years and years ago, I thought, geez, this guy goes to a lot of effort with his draft profiles and projections and his writing seems well-supported and opinions well formed... then I started in-depth reading and realised he's the draftnik equivalent of those annoying Youtubers who create and regurgitate unoriginal crap designed to garner clicks and views. At best, he's a cursory look, at worst, a fan pretending to know more than he does.

He does a decent job previewing free agency and the top free agents at each position, but his site is mostly for sh*ts and giggles. I have found if you know his team biases for and against teams and players, you can make a lot of money betting against his betting picks. For example, the last two weeks he has said the best bets of the week was betting against the Pats and the spread.

 

[n6249c]

Rob Ninkovich goes off on Sean McDermott. Warning - ESPN link.

Nink wasn’t the only one going off on Sean and the Bills in that clip. Seemed pretty universal.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Nink wasn’t the only one going off on Sean and the Bills in that clip. Seemed pretty universal.

MickyD embarrassed himself. Clown.

 

[DropKickFlutie]

When I first discovered WF years and years and years ago, I thought, geez, this guy goes to a lot of effort with his draft profiles and projections and his writing seems well-supported and opinions well formed... then I started in-depth reading and realised he's the draftnik equivalent of those annoying Youtubers who create and regurgitate unoriginal crap designed to garner clicks and views. At best, he's a cursory look, at worst, a fan pretending to know more than he does.

Yup. Fake experts who spend a ton of time on crappy draft analysis and are just flat out wrong a lot, are a total waste of time.

 

[Bill Lee]

technically he’d have to throw up for 2 weeks.

a favorite artist of mine that popped on today and made me think of all the "Josh Allen has the arm to throw in the wind, they should've thrown more"

Freddie Gibbs put it best "Ball till ya fall all goddamn long, but understand when ya fall, you can fall face first."

And they did.

Speaking of throwing up and falling face first, I bet this is how this classy Buffalo fan ends her night:




At least I hope she can blame alcohol for her behavior.

I bet she makes a good ex-wife!

 

[Keep Up With The Joneses]

Sorry if it's been addressed, but does anyone have an update on Harris? Not much I can find since 12/7.

 

[DropKickFlutie]

Sorry if it's been addressed, but does anyone have an update on Harris? Not much I can find since 12/7.

I think we've seen enough to know that Harris is awesome when he plays, but gets dinged up a lot. So the Thunder and Thunder tandem is perfect to split carries with Stevenson.

.

 

[jah]

When I first discovered WF years and years and years ago, I thought, geez, this guy goes to a lot of effort with his draft profiles and projections and his writing seems well-supported and opinions well formed... then I started in-depth reading and realised he's the draftnik equivalent of those annoying Youtubers who create and regurgitate unoriginal crap designed to garner clicks and views. At best, he's a cursory look, at worst, a fan pretending to know more than he does.

I used to go to his site for mock drafts and pick/signing/trade grades all the time because it was a nice, readable format with bite sized analysis. Over the years, I've slowly realized I barely ever agree with his football assessments and he's very consistently wrong.

To put the cherry on top, I gave the site a visit just last week. He thinks the Patriots are one of the most overrated teams in the NFL, and his entire merch section on the site is antivax culture war T shirts.

 

[rochrist]

Sorry if it's been addressed, but does anyone have an update on Harris? Not much I can find since 12/7.

You know they aren't going to say **** until the first required injury report and then it will be as vague and noncommittal as possible.

 

[Jercules]

Rob Ninkovich goes off on Sean McDermott. Warning - ESPN link.

I haven't read the whole thread, so apologies if this has been discussed already, but I think the aspect of Monday getting missed is the psychological component.

There was no need to throw only three times. They could've risked some short stuff, screens, dump offs, etc. They were in 3rd and longs lining up in heavy formations, not even pretending to pass. It's not a recipe for success unless...

You are Belichick, and you have an appreciation for the psychological component. Bill turned this into a game that will have repercussions for years. He went into his chief division rival's house, and bullied the hell out of them. He recognized a small, soft defense, saw the weather would be bad, and decided to just smash them, over and over. The game plan was not brilliant, it was incredibly simple, that's what makes it so insulting. The fragile confidence of an emerging power has been utterly shattered. Bill broke the horse.

The Patriots re-established themselves as the alpha dog in the AFC East. That means more than just having the best record, at this particular point in time.

 

[n6249c]

…You are Belichick, and you have an appreciation for the psychological component. Bill turned this into a game that will have repercussions for years. He went into his chief division rival's house, and bullied the hell out of them. He recognized a small, soft defense, saw the weather would be bad, and decided to just smash them, over and over. The game plan was not brilliant, it was incredibly simple, that's what makes it so insulting. The fragile confidence of an emerging power has been utterly shattered. Bill broke the horse.

The Patriots re-established themselves as the alpha dog in the AFC East. That means more than just having the best record, at this particular point in time.

agree. Except…

the game plan was brilliant, because of the psychological dimension. I think Bill has a tremendous appreciation for that dimension. He absolutely game plans it, and uses it in decision making during games (no timeout, just “Go, Malcolm. Go.”). Bill is still the AFC’s daddy because of things like this.

 

[Jercules]

agree. Except…

the game plan was brilliant, because of the psychological dimension. I think Bill has a tremendous appreciation for that dimension. He absolutely game plans it, and uses it in decision making during games (no timeout, just “Go, Malcolm. Go.”). Bill is still the AFC’s daddy because of things like this.

When they killed the Jets in 2010 (or 2011, can't remember), one of their players later on said "they tried to end our season". That game ended up being 45-3, and at the start of the 4th quarter Belichick had the whole team huddle up to demand they play for 60 minutes. I think that player was right: it was a deliberate effort to deal them a psychological blow so profound, it would tank them going forward. Sadly, that particular team came back and knocked the Pats off when it counted, but still...

 

[sb1]

He also crapped on f the Patriots free agent signings. Here are some of his write ups:

Patriots sign TE Hunter Henry (3 years, $37.5 million; $25 million guaranteed): F Grade
Did Bill Belichick bang his head on something? Has the spirit of Bill O'Brien possessed him? Is Matt Millen holding him at gunpoint? These are three scenarios that may explain his reckless spending spree. It's a new day of free agency, yet the bad signings haven't stopped.

Spending this much money for a non-elite tight end is a mistake, but don't take my word for it. Here's a deep dive of every single big contract ($20 million or more) given to a non-elite tight end (Travis Kelce, George Kittle) over the past four years:

Browns sign TE Austin Hooper (4 years, $44 million)
Buccaneers re-sign TE Cameron Brate (6 years, $41 million; $18 million guaranteed)
Rams re-sign TE Tyler Higbee (4 years, $36 million; $15.5 million guaranteed)
Vikings re-sign TE Kyle Rudolph (4 years, $36 million)
49ers sign TE Vance McDonald (5 years, $35 million; $16 million guaranteed) Bears sign TE Trey Burton (4 years, $32 million)
Packers sign TE Jimmy Graham (3 years, $30 million)
Cardinals re-sign TE Jermaine Gresham (4 years, $28 million)
Lions sign TE Jesse James (4 years, $25 million; $11 million guaranteed)
Cowboys re-sign TE Blake Jarwin (3 years, $24.25 million)
Texans re-sign TE C.J. Fiedorowicz (3 years, $21.5 million; $10 million guaranteed)
Packers sign TE Martellus Bennett (3 years, $21 million)

Can you find one signing there that worked? I'll save you some time: Signing non-elite tight ends to big contracts has a 100-percent failure rate over the past four years. One hundred percent!

Why do teams continue to do this? When will they learn to stop overvaluing tight ends not named Kelce or Kittle?

Hunter Henry is talented, and he's closer to Kelce or Kittle than some of the names on that list, but he has a very dubious injury history. He has never played a full season. I don't know how the Patriots can trust him to stay healthy.

I'm going to vow to grade all of these signings as an "F" going forward until NFL teams learn to stop giving absurd contracts to tight ends.


Patriots sign WR Kendrick Bourne (3 years, $22.5 million): D+ Grade
Man, the Patriots cannot evaluate receiving talent. I understand this contract even less than the Nelson Agholor deal, and that one didn't make much sense either.

It's crazy that the Patriots spent nearly $50 million on two receivers today, yet they still have a big need at the position. Kendrick Bourne is just an OK player. He's versatile, but doesn't have much talent. He'll be a fine role player, but you shouldn't pay role players $22.5 million.


Patriots sign DE/OLB Matthew Judon (4 years, $56 million): C+ Grade
The Patriots are spending money like drunken sailors today. They've made some dubious signings, and while this one is much better than the Jonnu Smith move, it doesn't seem like a slam dunk either.

Matthew Judon has been a solid player for the Ravens, but never a great one. He has never logged more than 10 sacks in a single season, and Baltimore didn't view him as a great pass rusher because it traded for Yannick Ngakoue during the 2020 season. The Ravens also refused to give Judon the contract he wanted, which is telling, given that they're the team most familiar with him in the entire league. It's not like the Ravens missevaluate talent often, so why didn't they want to pay Judon the big bucks?

It could be that the Ravens knew Judon would be overpaid on the open market, like he was in this instance. Judon isn't very young either; he turns 29 soon, so he'll be spending the majority of this contract in his 30s, which is far from ideal.

In summary, I don't hate this signing. Judon will help the Patriots' pass rush, which was in need of an upgrade. However, this was an overpay, and there's a good chance the Patriots will regret this contract down the road.

NFL Free Agent Signing Grades – Latest Signing Grades for 2024 NFL Free Agency – WalterFootball

walterfootball.com

Panthers sign QB Cam Newton (1 year, $10 million): A- Grade

He did call Jamie Collins an A grade signing so there’s that…