Pavlov

The Jets were 1.5 point favorites in that game.

I subbed Fitz for AJ Green. And I also started Maclin.

Me, for starting AJ Green and Maclin today.

Return is probable, he's jogging and looking ok.

Leavy has an excellent piece on this over at Grantland.

It's tough to argue with this list. Foster and McFadden come with mandatory handcuffs.

Agreed. Especially with the possibility of Forte being on a different team, I think you have to consider a healthy Charles a top 5 RB.

Sometimes I don't understand people. This trade is fine. The only way this is a problem is if they trade back after the bye.

If all I get out of Murray is Harrison's end-of-year production from 2009, I'll be thrilled. All I need is a reliable #2 RB.

No quality competition? Yeah, I keep forgetting what pushovers Manning and Tomlinson in their primes were.

You cannot draft someone first overall and have him sit on the bench for a few years. Outside of this issue, I hope Manning retires simply because the damage done to his neck makes me nervous that he would be at substantial risk if he ever played again. If Manning comes back, the Colts need to trade Manning and draft Luck as the QB for the next 10 years. It's cutthroat and Manning deserves better, but it's what would be best for the team in the long term.

Carolina looks good and I'm giving serious thought to Seattle +6.5. Seattle is good (ATS) at home and the Ravens seem to have trouble stringing together back-to-back good efforts.

First off, Seattle has the 6th-best run defense (adjusted DVOA). So not quite as good as some people will tell you, but still very very good. If you haven't had a chance to watch Murray run, do it. I'm not suggesting he's the next Sayers, but he has a fantastically long stride that covers ground amazingly quickly, even though he doesn't "look" fast because his rotation isn't as compact as some runners you see. He runs with power and is decent at turning the outside corner. Simply eyeballing him and using the tiny sample size, I'd peg him as a viable RB2 with decent upside (obviously, given his break out performance).

Pats win the division, Pats and Jets make the playoffs. Wildcards come from the north and east as always.

I don't mind the day 2 draft spots, I mind the roster spots being wasted for half a season with a team that obviously needs to improve if it's going to go deep in the playoffs.

1. Read some Greek tragedies. Or, if time is short, look up the word "hubris." 2. There is an established pattern of Super Bowl losers not making the playoffs the next year. It's the "Super Bowl Hangover." It has its own wikipedia page. 3. Well, all those teams were NFC teams (post-merger), so I still like the Pats' chances of making the Super Bowl. Also, it's not a very convincing argument when you say, "Team X must suck because they would lose to the most dominate teams in the history of the game!" 4. Just another coach with the second-best winning percentage all time. 5. Again, a bad comparison. No one has beaten the Packers this year, so it's a meaningless metric. Also, be wary of talking about how dominant your undefeated team is. I recall a team going 16-0 in the regular season recently and everyone remembers them as a disappointment. 6. I'm sure Packer fans will look back fondly at the first half of 2011 season for years to come.

Haynesworth was cut today. Sigh. This defense started below average and now looks like it's trying to become the 33rd worst defense in the league.

Yeah, I should've put an asterisk next to never. Sometimes the value is there and you can't pass it up. I'm wary of ignoring bye weeks. You set yourself up for 1-2 weak games out of the gate. A few key injuries and you're really behind the 8 ball.

Never draft starters in the same position who share a buy week. Not only does your team's potential ceiling for points take a hit, but you're also forced to carry extra players on your bench to make up for the fact that you now need to start RB3 + RB4 instead of Forte + RB3 and McFadden + RB3. Go into next year's draft with a cheat sheet of each team's bye week.

Man, that cheating canard never seems to get old for some people. And last year, Brady was the league MVP, throwing for more TDs, fewer INTs, and a higher QB rating than Rogers. Sorry.

The secondary is terrible and you obviously have to look at BB. I still don't mind the Meriweather cut, but the Sanders cut still makes little sense to me. The Bodden cut makes sense from a dollars standpoint, but not a "win now" standpoint. All that said, there isn't a single GM in the league who hits all the time so it's difficult to think of a single guy I'd wish would swoop in and take over the franchise, and certainly not from a coaching standpoint. Is he perfect? No, obviously not. But people are so quick to jump on every single mistake BB makes that it gives the sense that he's *supposed* to be perfect somehow. His teams are perennial contenders, he coaches the best QB in the league (although this year the award goes to Rogers), he's won the only championships in franchise history. We could do a lot worse.

My opponent for starting Ben Tate for some reason.

7 favorites with 4 over the key number of 7? I wouldn't take Philly (the Bears can run), KC (Miami is bad, but plays hard and has been in most of its games), SF (shady line), or Dallas (I'm done betting on Romo).

If starting the Raiders DST counts, then I'm in.

Seriously? Someone thinks that wasn't a face mask? Are you spending a little too much time on Carson St.? There were some terrible (non) calls in that game--bad spot of the ball, the Gronk TD that wasn't, Troy punching the ball for a safety, and the face mask. But, before I start sounding like a Seattle fan, the Pats weren't going to win that game--the calls were bad and frustrating, but didn't affect the outcome.