Strafford

I like it

Yep it has been frustrating. Macca has mooted changes for next season, perhaps half a point for two out of three just to make us feel better Lacklustre perhaps mate, but now the only undefeated team. Who would have thunk it

Brady has looked out of synch with his receivers for most of the season. You can see the steam venting from his ears. It is not an easy scheme to learn and it is obvious that more often than not guys just aren't where Brady expects them to to be. After watching the Bengals game all I can say is that Megatron is a beast...just wow. Yes Hall was a big loss for us and the Lions continually converting on third and long which shows just how much we are going to miss him, but Megatron is awesome. Dalton is a toughie. He is a good QB he will just never be great. He really doesn't have a great deepball and he probably cost AJ a couple of touchdowns today due to underthrowing deepballs due to his arm strength issues. Even the 82 yard reception AJ had to come back for rather than hitting him in stride. Two thirds of Andy's yards last week were actually yards after the catch rather than through the air. You just have to use him the right way, although even then he does come up with some head scratching interceptions. Problem is Gruden our OC is continually auditioning for a head coaching job and thus running the ball and using slants and screens doesn't grab the attention like a high octane deep ball offence does. We could win a superbowl with Andy some day, but it is also just as likely that a few years down the track he flames out like Schaub seems to be doing.

Not sure which one I am more excited about, the Bengals win or picking three winners, I'm coming for you Cowboy It sounds like it was a good game so it should be fun to sit down and watch it tonight. Tragic news about Hall though, another achilles, he could be done for good and he is by far our best corner. A bad day for serious injuries around the league.

Context mate. Look at the post I was replying to. It will probably do some of our more intense guys, such as Dawsey for example,a world of good having a bloke who looks on the lighter side of life a bit more. In my view we just have to try and avoid gilding the lily a bit and building him up into someone he isn't. Just as Shaw has with the Pies, Vince had run his race with the Crows. That doesn't mean they can't play. As I said we will see how he goes. Someone needs to organise after game drinks anyway

We will see how he goes. Undoubtedly a popular clubman, but I had the impression that a lot of that was to do with him being a bit of a lad. As recently as 2012 the CEO of the Crows said this about him, and I quote " But it's another silly action, the latest in a few silly actions that Bernie has taken. At what point does our club say 'enough is enough'? In so many ways Bernie is an integral part of our organisation, but the silliness that goes with it sometimes Is a distraction to us." Hopefully the move will do him good, but I actually thought Vince was a party guy, so in more ways than one we are replacing like for like

Another way of looking at it is that all of those guys would still be available at pick 9 as well, including Shuey who was taken at 18 and thus wouldn't be available at 20 or 22, as I think the pick has ended up being. The trick is identifying the talent and then developing it properly, with fingers crossed that they don't suffer a career hampering injury. There are no guarantees,just a higher likelihood of success the higher the pick, with a few strange ones thrown up, such as pick 6 for example, until possibly recently. It will come down to how successful Tyson and who we pick at 9, up against who GWS pick at 2 and 20. As GWS probably won't use their pick in the seventies on a new player we could gain an advantage by picking up a Paul Puopolo or Alex Johnson with pick 57, unlikely in the modern era to get a good player here, but who knows. Time is the only way we will know who won or lost on this one. We still don't even know which players the clubs are taking with their respective picks.

That was tragic news, I just can't understand that sort of stuff.

I think it was Judd and 46 for Kennedy, 3 and 20, which means the Blues gave up even more than you thought. I thought we were using our compo pick for Vince now, which doesn't impact on the trade. Each draft is different, as are the circumstances and needs of each club going into them. Thus the subjective value of each draft pick changes from year to year. West Coast had Richmond playing spoiler and the perception that there was a significant difference in abilty from the top 2 players to the rest of the draft. The Eagles leveraged this beautifully and Carlton blinked. We didn't have that situation. If Buddy went to GWS then things might have been different as Boyd who is coveted by a number of clubs may have come into play at 2. I think the wheeling and dealing around the number 1 and 2 draft picks may have been intense. They obviously have a mid in mind with our pick so would they have held onto the number 1 to get him thus making our number 2 pick very valuable? We will never know. It just comes down to the views of the recruiters, GWS view one of the mids to be significantly better than the others, we obviously don't. Time will tell as to who came out with the better deal and just as with the Judd trade views will fluctuate from year to year. As you mention Kennedy was an unproven player when traded as is Tyson, lets hope Dom works out as well

Seahawks Chargers Niners Are we already sending Cowboy our non prize?

Best of the luck for the upcoming games everyone. Except for Bills fans, for this weekend at least...and Browns fans every weekend, and ummm...Ravens fans, plus Steelers fans....yep you guessed it not Niners fans either...I think I'll stop now. I meant well...

Rivalry games are always tough to pick. It gives you hope if you are the underdog, but always makes you nervous as hell when your team is picked to win.

Bengals Colts Eagles I make these picks with a sense of impending doom....

Mike Zimmer our defensive co-ordinator is a genius. If he wasn't such a foul mouthed curmudgeon he would be a head coach by now. Good for us and probably good for him as I don't think he could handle a top job. Dalton, despite his first ever interception thrown in the red zone was pretty good. He really made a couple of clutch plays, even one with his legs. The play of the game was Dalton third and long on his own 1 yard line, just after being sacked, hitting Marvin Jones for 28 yards down the sideline for a first down. The drive ended up with the only touchdown of the game. Also my aplogies to Chris Crocker for comparing his athletic abilities to Clive Palmer, he was actually pretty good I also wish to apologise on behalf of the Bengals for mucking up so many of our comp picks, by losing last week and winning this week.

It sure isn't... Even our fifth corner who came into the team has gone down and those actually suiting up are playing hurt. We are down to bringing in off his couch, our fifth safety, who we keep on cutting every year. He will be playing slot corner. I think Clive Palmer would outrun him as they both waved at the snail flying past.

You expect injuries, but hope they aren't concentrated too much in one area. Our secondary has been devastated. I thought that the Ravens and Steelers would crash last season due to so many of their key players starting to age, it seems to have caught up with them this season instead. I still can't believe the Ravens won the bowl as I didn't think they were that good. Just goes to show if you win your division and get hot at the right time anything can happen. With the powerhouses of our division in transition I thought we had a window...doubts are starting to creep in. Our QB and AJ Green just don't seem to be on the same page at the moment and considering how many times we target him that is not good. AJ is starting to acquire a few Diva traits which is a shame as he was a pretty modest young guy.

Injuries are never nice and it is especially tragic for this bloke who seemed to be taking his chance and running with it. Holmes is a nut

I tried to reply to this yesterday, but the site ate what I'm sure you will appreciate was an insightful and terribly articulate response. Unfortunately you will now have to put up with my usual fare I'm not sure nervous would be the word I would use, more like frustrated. I do believe the Browns have some nice players, but in my view we still should be beating them, as should the Ravens. If we finish in front of the Ravens we will win the division. I was pretty confident we could do that...now not so sure.

For all those who have taken the Patriots to beat the Bengals, I have a little news that should help you sleep all nice and cosy at night...we don't have any healthy corners. Not the best situation when facing Brady, even if he is throwing to a bunch of no names. How can so many of our guys be injured this early in the season?

More to do with Hoyer I think. Weeden has a big arm, but thats about it. Hoyer actually has a proper understanding of the game. Their defence is pretty good, they just need a QB who doesn't keep on giving the opposition short fields to help them out. If the plan was to tank to pick up a QB then I expect to see Weeden back Although that might not be the plan as their new GM has been a fan of Hoyer since before he took the Browns job.

I think Freeman is probably an anti Peyton Manning, who doesn't live and breathe football. Gifted, but not a hard enough worker. Might have a substance abuse problem, although he does have an attention deficit disorder diagnosis. I do take that diagnosis with a bit of a grain of salt, as sometimes coming to that conclusion can be a bit bogus and is a bit of a hotly debated area these days. If only Andy Dalton had his gifts, because he certainly doesn't lack Peyton's application...if only

I think that is sometimes the problem with a QB with a big arm. Overconfidence, as they think they can make any throw, rather than play the percentages, their touch passes can be out a bit as well. Although as I wrote I don't think your OC gives him enough in the way of easy throws from the limited number of times I have watched your guys. Too many backs come out of college that can't block.

Hopefully the Bengals?

I had that feeling last round...I hope you fare better than I did The Browns...sigh.

Chargers Broncos Saints Although I knew it would be a tough game, rather than the walk over most predicted, how dare my Bengals let me down and be so awful. I could have been one from one in this comp darn them Way to go CFH...