Does their homerism know no bounds?

[Henry]

Really don't know what you base that on, Alexander... last year was Casey's first as a starter (in his 3 years before that, he had started 7 of 26 games he played in), and the offense he started for absolutely sucked...

It's just too simplistic to lay it all off on Boller, the offensive line is part of the reason he sucked so bad... they were a fair to middlin' run blocking unit, but their pass blocking was just horrendous...

Last season Baltimore averaged 4.2 yards per rush, Dallas averaged 3.9, Washington 3.7.
Last season Baltimore allowed 35 sacks, Dallas 36, Washington 38.

Even if you wish to incorrectly discount horrid QB play from Boller, I think it's safe to say Baltimore's line was better than either of ours. And Rabach, despite whatever conclusions that silver and blue light you bestow upon his performance leads you to, is an upgrade at the spot. And since our starter from last year will be backing him up, it's a depth upgrade as well.

And since you are so put off by simplicity, perhaps attempting to minimize the return of a top starter on the OL with a throwaway line such as "OK, the return of Jon Jansen will help them" isn't the best way to go. Any team that loses its best starting OL in the pre-season is going to have depth problems the rest of the way. Pointing this out doesn't exactly make you the Amazing Kreskin. But hey, if you are banking on the Commanders losing another lineman for 16 games this season to make your point come to fruition, I say go for it. I promise to continue to be impressed with your prognositcating prowess.

And according to what I read late last season, a lot of that pressure was coming from straight up the middle... right over Rabach...

According to what I read this offseason, Rabach was a top free agent. Go figure.

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

Long time No see Henry....hope life has been treating you well.

 

[Henry]

Long time No see Henry....hope life has been treating you well.

Yeah, been trying to stay away from the smack forum, but every once in awhile Silver throws out a zinger and I just have to say something.

I gotta work on that.

 

[silverbear]

Last season Baltimore averaged 4.2 yards per rush, Dallas averaged 3.9, Washington 3.7.
Last season Baltimore allowed 35 sacks, Dallas 36, Washington 38.

Look, kiddies, he's playing FUN WITH STATISTICS...

Even when he tries to cull out stats that seem to back him up, he has to go to the Cowboys' and Skins' offensive lines to make the comparison "work"... of course, neither the Skins' nor the Cowboys' offensive lines were anything to brag about...

And Rabach, despite whatever conclusions that silver and blue light you bestow upon his performance leads you to, is an upgrade at the spot. And since our starter from last year will be backing him up, it's a depth upgrade as well.

LOL... since your starter last year SUCKED badly enough for the Skins to pursue Rabach in the first place, Rabach's being an "upgrade" isn't all that impressive, and neither is your new-found "depth"...

And since you are so put off by simplicity, perhaps attempting to minimize the return of a top starter on the OL with a throwaway line such as "OK, the return of Jon Jansen will help them" isn't the best way to go.

Ain't it strange how Jansen became "your best offensive lineman", the second he went down to injury?? Before that, most Skins fans would have told you he was their THIRD best offensive lineman, behind former Pro Bowler Chris Samuels and Randy Thomas...

The reason I "minimized" the return of Jansen is that he suffered a VERY serious injury... in fact, if he played any of the "speed" positions, that injury might well have been career ending... so we just don't know if that repaired Achilles will hold up or not... if it does, Jansen is quite serviceable, though nobody in his right mind would ever consider him Pro Bowl caliber...

Any team that loses its best starting OL in the pre-season is going to have depth problems the rest of the way. Pointing this out doesn't exactly make you the Amazing Kreskin.

Actually, that was my way of pointing out that the Skins have zippo in the way of quality depth... when Jansen went down last year, they were screwed, and if they sustain an injury or two to their starters at any point this year, they will again be screwed...

But hey, if you are banking on the Commanders losing another lineman for 16 games this season to make your point come to fruition, I say go for it. I promise to continue to be impressed with your prognositcating prowess.

Well, let's just say that along about this time LAST year, I was telling Skins fans over on the NFC East Rantatorium that their offensive line blew goats (though I tried to phrase it a LITTLE more diplomatically than that, LOL)... naturally, they were indignant, and I responded to lots and lots of posts just like yours here, mocking my "prognostication skillz"... said that the mere return of Saint Joe of Bugel would magically make everything all better... well, by season's end it was shown quite clearly that my criticisms were quite accurate, actually...

According to what I read this offseason, Rabach was a top free agent. Go figure.

Yeah, Rabach was the top rated center on the board... which is a tribute to just how completely crappy the center group was this year, nothing more... like I said, here's a guy who started 7 of 26 games in his first 3 NFL seasons, then became the starter by default last season, and was the "anchor" of a really bad offensive line...

I actually read that Gibbs liked him because he had the ability to pull and trap, because he ran pretty well... and that WOULD be a useful skill if Gibbs is thinking about leaning heavily on the ol' counter trey... but I still have a hunch that by season's end, you're gonna be quite put out with your new center...

 

[Henry]

Look, kiddies, he's playing FUN WITH STATISTICS...

This coming from the guy who blindly stated that the Baltimore offense was second to last in the league as justification for slamming their center, and yet claims to avoid simplicity? I was just adding some relevant information to your over-simplified analysis.

Even when he tries to cull out stats that seem to back him up, he has to go to the Cowboys' and Skins' offensive lines to make the comparison "work"... of course, neither the Skins' nor the Cowboys' offensive lines were anything to brag about...

Seeing as you're the only one bragging I don't see a conflict of interest here. Next time I claim the Commanders are superbowl bound based on the performance of our center, feel free to bring this insight up again.

However, if you wish I will simply say that the Baltimore offense was 9th in rushing and 12th in sacks allowed, which isn't exactly consistant with your "middling" rushing attack or "horrendous" pass-blocking assertations.

Fun with statistics may be open to ridicule, but even moreso is talking out of one's posterior.

LOL... since your starter last year SUCKED badly enough for the Skins to pursue Rabach in the first place, Rabach's being an "upgrade" isn't all that impressive, and neither is your new-found "depth"...

As broken-hearted as I am that you are not impressed with our upgrade, it is an upgrade nonetheless. And it is more depth. Your "yeah? so?" arguement here is amusing to say the least, though not really substantive in any way. An example perhaps would be for me to point out that while Bledsoe is better than Testeverde, he still sucks, so you have pretty much the same QB you had last year. Uh, no you don't. Your QB is better. A fact of life I can accept without closing my eyes and clenching my fists.

Ain't it strange how Jansen became "your best offensive lineman", the second he went down to injury?? Before that, most Skins fans would have told you he was their THIRD best offensive lineman, behind former Pro Bowler Chris Samuels and Randy Thomas...

I said a top starter. Nobody last year would tell you Samuels was anything but overrated. I think an arguement could be made that Thomas is the better player, but as Jansen plays a more important position his pre-season loss would be just as devastating. But if nitpicking is your bag, go to town.

The reason I "minimized" the return of Jansen is that he suffered a VERY serious injury... in fact, if he played any of the "speed" positions, that injury might well have been career ending... so we just don't know if that repaired Achilles will hold up or not... if it does, Jansen is quite serviceable, though nobody in his right mind would ever consider him Pro Bowl caliber...

Yes, pro-bowl tackles are generally left tackles, since the two positions are not differentiated in pro-bowl selections. He was considered a top RIGHT tackle though. We'll see if that holds up after his injury. But even a hobbled Jansen will be better than Ray Brown, a 42 year-old guard playing out of position.

Actually, that was my way of pointing out that the Skins have zippo in the way of quality depth... when Jansen went down last year, they were screwed, and if they sustain an injury or two to their starters at any point this year, they will again be screwed...

Analyzing depth is a tricky thing. I'll wait and see if Molinaro and Wilson have developed at all before making or refuting that claim. They both made the team and saw playing time last year, so there is hope they continue to improve and provide that depth you bash with such zeal. Building through the draft ... isn't that the Cowboy fan battle cry these days? Yet when we do it, it is conveniently ignored. I'll remember that the next time a Cowboy fan tells me how great their pass rush is going to be this year.

Well, let's just say that along about this time LAST year, I was telling Skins fans over on the NFC East Rantatorium that their offensive line blew goats (though I tried to phrase it a LITTLE more diplomatically than that, LOL)... naturally, they were indignant, and I responded to lots and lots of posts just like yours here, mocking my "prognostication skillz"... said that the mere return of Saint Joe of Bugel would magically make everything all better... well, by season's end it was shown quite clearly that my criticisms were quite accurate, actually...

I gotta let you in on a little secret. I don't give a crap what you said or didn't say on some board I never read. You spend an awful lot of time telling us what you told us, as if that somehow supposed to mean something to me. C'mon man! You are the self-titled King of all Smack, aintcha? "I told my buddy Bob in 1977 the Cowboys would win the Superbowl" is hardly worthy of such a lofty position. Seriously.

Basing my opinion on what I've actually read, I see a guy waving his hand dismissively at two significant upgrades with the statement "he's gonna have pretty much the same offensive line he had last year." A blatantly false statement, backed by little more than your claims of brilliance from years past. Spin it any way you like, two-fifths of a line is a significant portion to change. That change may work out, or it may not, but in either case it's not "pretty much the same" as last year.

Yeah, Rabach was the top rated center on the board... which is a tribute to just how completely crappy the center group was this year, nothing more... like I said, here's a guy who started 7 of 26 games in his first 3 NFL seasons, then became the starter by default last season, and was the "anchor" of a really bad offensive line...

Ah, so according to you players, especially linemen, can't ever develop into decent starters. I suppose if you believe that your arguements all make perfect sense.

I actually read that Gibbs liked him because he had the ability to pull and trap, because he ran pretty well... and that WOULD be a useful skill if Gibbs is thinking about leaning heavily on the ol' counter trey... but I still have a hunch that by season's end, you're gonna be quite put out with your new center...

Yes, pulling and trapping are only useful in running the counter trey. More brilliant analysis. I will happily concede that if we lean heavily on the CT circa 1990 this year I will be 'put out' with the whole offense. But I doubt I will hang that all on Rabach.

 

[silverbear]

This coming from the guy who blindly stated that the Baltimore offense was second to last in the league as justification for slamming their center,

Any offense is only as good, or as bad, as its offensive line... it really is just that simple... so if you find a team that has put up good offensive numbers, it's pretty safe to assume that team got good offensive line play... conversely, if you find a team that has put up really rotten numbers, it's a pretty strong indication that their offensive line sucked...

Basically, any team that had Jamal Lewis and a GOOD offensive line would not have finished next to last in total offense...

and yet claims to avoid simplicity? I was just adding some relevant information to your over-simplified analysis.

Nope, you culled out what stats were available to try to rebut my argument... of course, my stat about finishing next to last in the league in total offense is more of a "big picture" stat, as opposed to your selective use of them... you might want to tell yourself that their lousy ranking is entirely on Boller, but of course a stat like that is ALWAYS an indication that the guys up front weren't getting the job done...

Seeing as you're the only one bragging

Oh??? Exactly what is it I'm supposed to be "bragging" about?? In point of fact, I just said that the Cowboys' offensive line was no great shakes last year either... but I'm "bragging"...

However, if you wish I will simply say that the Baltimore offense was 9th in rushing and 12th in sacks allowed, which isn't exactly consistant with your "middling" rushing attack or "horrendous" pass-blocking assertations.

Personally, I'd say that finishing ninth in the league in rushing is rather mediocre... particularly when they had the 8th most rushing attempts... particularly when they have a running back with 2000 yard potential...

As for the sack stats, of course there's more to whether or not a team's pass blocking is adequate than that stat alone... consider that the Ravens ranked 26th in passes ATTEMPTED, with 29.1 per game... generally speaking, the less you throw the ball, the less likely you are to be sacked... to turn your own stats back on you, the Cowboys DID give up 36 sacks-- in 519 attempts... that works out to 6.8 per cent... the Skins DID give up 38 sacks-- in 514 attempts... that works out to 7.0 per cent... meanwhile, the Ravens DID give up 35 sacks-- in 465 attempts... that works out to 7.5 per cent...

So, while you used the stats improperly, to create the impression that the Cowboys and Commanders had even worse problems with pass blocking than the Ravens did, in point of fact that's not true... the Ravens were clearly more prone to giving up a sack on any given passing play... and like I said, the Skins' and Cowboys' offensive lines weren't what you'd call good last year...

In addition, Boller ranked near the bottom of the league in yards per attempt (at 5.52 yards per attempt)... of the 34 quarterbacks who threw at least 200 passes (I included Eli Manning, though he only threw 197), Boller ranked 30th in yards per attempt (Brunell was dead last, at 5.04 YPA)...

Further, Boller had 28 completions of over 20 yards last season, which ranked him next to last among quarterbacks with at least 350 attempts... only AJ Feeley had fewer completions of over 20 yards, with just 15...

These last 2 paragraphs clearly demonstrate just how reliant the Ravens were on the short passing game... and of course, a quarterback who lives by the short passing game is a bit more difficult to sack than one who takes his shots downfield... IOW, the Ravens recognized they had a problem with their pass blocking, and adjusted their offense in recognition of that weakness...

And they STILL gave up 35 sacks...

Fun with statistics may be open to ridicule, but even moreso is talking out of one's posterior.

Then you should stop doing it...

As broken-hearted as I am that you are not impressed with our upgrade, it is an upgrade nonetheless.

Hey, if upgrading from "completely pathetic" to "borderline impotent" gives you pleasure, who am I to deny you??

And it is more depth.

The Skins are still inadequate at center...

I said a top starter.

Uhhh, no, you didn't... here's what you said:

Any team that loses its best starting OL in the pre-season is going to have depth problems the rest of the way.

Nobody last year would tell you Samuels was anything but overrated.

And yet, Skins fans on the NFC East Rantatorium last year were talking about how Samuels was a "Pro Bowler", and "one of the best left tackles in the game"...

Yes, pro-bowl tackles are generally left tackles, since the two positions are not differentiated in pro-bowl selections. He was considered a top RIGHT tackle though. We'll see if that holds up after his injury. But even a hobbled Jansen will be better than Ray Brown, a 42 year-old guard playing out of position.

No argument there... then again, I have said all along that the Skins' starting five is decent (but no more than decent), it's their utter lack of quality depth that is their problem... it was that way last year, and sure enough, when the injury bug bit, the Skins wound up suffering through subpar offensive line play... exhibit A is Clinton Portis, who averaged 5.5 yards per carry in his days with the Broncos, but only 3.8 YPC with the Skins...

And basically, the only changes on that line will be the return of Jansen, and the addition of Rabach... and as I think I've made abundantly clear, the latter move doesn't impress me all that much... given all that, I see the potential for a LITTLE improvement if the offensive line stays pretty healthy, but if they get bit by the injury bug, the quality of the line play will drop off significantly...

Analyzing depth is a tricky thing. I'll wait and see if Molinaro and Wilson have developed at all before making or refuting that claim. They both made the team and saw playing time last year, so there is hope they continue to improve and provide that depth you bash with such zeal.

Let's just say that I'll take the Cowboys' OL depth over the Skins' these days... but of course you're right, either Molinaro or Wilson might take that large step forward this offseason... my point is that you're basically reduced to HOPING that somebody steps up to provide depth, and that in itself is a pretty strong indication that you don't have any PROVEN depth...

I gotta let you in on a little secret. I don't give a crap what you said or didn't say on some board I never read.

You might not give a crap, but it's all there, on the record, for anybody who cares to check it out... I offered those observations to demonstrate that I DO know a little bit about your favorite team, in fact I pay pretty close attention to them... and I have a proven track record for being able to analyze your team's weaknesses... in fact, I've found that I can do a better job analyzing your roster than I can the Cowboys', which is kinda weird... I just figure that's because I can analyze the other teams in the NFC East more dispassionately than I can the Boys...

FWIW, in years past I have had similar stats wars with Iggles fans, and was ultimately proven right with them, too... in one particularly impressive bit of prognostication, an Iggles troll came into the Cowboys' newsgroup midway through Corey Simon's rookie season, woofin' about how Corey was a lock for Defensive Rookie of the Year... I told them that he'd finish third, and listed the 2 players who would finish ahead of him... at season's end, I had nailed the exact order of finish...

You spend an awful lot of time telling us what you told us, as if that somehow supposed to mean something to me. C'mon man! You are the self-titled King of all Smack, aintcha?

Gee, though this is the Smack board, I thought you and me were arguing football, not just engaging in a smack war...

Again, my past track record when it comes to analyzing the Skins' strengths and weaknesses IS relevant, when you attempt to play down my football IQ the way you have...

"I told my buddy Bob in 1977 the Cowboys would win the Superbowl" is hardly worthy of such a lofty position. Seriously.

And yet, it seems to annoy you... if this IS a smack thread, it would seem that I have achieved my goal...

Basing my opinion on what I've actually read, I see a guy waving his hand dismissively at two significant upgrades with the statement "he's gonna have pretty much the same offensive line he had last year."

Again, YOU characterize the addition of Rabach as "significant"... I most assuredly don't, and have offered you solid statistical reasoning to explain my position...

But your basic point is correct, I am completely unimpressed with the Commanders' offensive line going into this season... no, let me correct that; I'm actually FLABBERGASTED that Gibbs hasn't made rebuilding that OL priority one since he came back to Commanders Park... I can't even begin to understand what he's thinking... I mean, in his first run with the Skins, they were known mostly for the Hogs, that was Gibbs' trademark-- a dominating offensive line...

Ah, so according to you players, especially linemen, can't ever develop into decent starters.

Exactly where did I say that?? I merely pointed out that Casey took two full seasons to work his way into the starting lineup, and once there, he was part of a downright bad offensive line...

Now, you seem to be desperate to tell yourself that he was the only good blocker on that otherwise miserable line, but you can't seem to offer any FACTUAL arguments in support of that blindly homeristic, uber-optimistic take...

 

[Henry]

Any offense is only as good, or as bad, as its offensive line... it really is just that simple... so if you find a team that has put up good offensive numbers, it's pretty safe to assume that team got good offensive line play... conversely, if you find a team that has put up really rotten numbers, it's a pretty strong indication that their offensive line sucked...

Indeed. I think you can equally say an offense is only as good or as bad it's quarterback. This is ESPECIALLY evident when the offense runs the ball well but cannot pass the ball at all.

Basically, any team that had Jamal Lewis and a GOOD offensive line would not have finished next to last in total offense...

Or they didn't have a QB. Funny thing. Jamal Lewis only played in 12 games this season and still broke 1000 yards, and the offense still finished in the top ten in rushing. And this with a second year QB who's only claim to fame is the ability to throw the ball fifity yards while standing on his knees.

Nope, you culled out what stats were available to try to rebut my argument... of course, my stat about finishing next to last in the league in total offense is more of a "big picture" stat, as opposed to your selective use of them... you might want to tell yourself that their lousy ranking is entirely on Boller, but of course a stat like that is ALWAYS an indication that the guys up front weren't getting the job done...

They walked off the field and were replaced by another unit for running plays? "Big picture" indeed. One that conveniently washes over details that don't support your opinion.

Personally, I'd say that finishing ninth in the league in rushing is rather mediocre... particularly when they had the 8th most rushing attempts... particularly when they have a running back with 2000 yard potential...

Who missed four games. All you're saying here is that the Ravens were a running team ... A sound decision for a team with a developing second year QB ... and that they were successful in being a running team. Despite missing their pro-bowl back for a quarter of the season they STILL finished 11th in yards per rush. In a league of 32 teams, that's above average, no matter how many times you cry 'mediocre.'

As for the sack stats, of course there's more to whether or not a team's pass blocking is adequate than that stat alone... consider that the Ravens ranked 26th in passes ATTEMPTED, with 29.1 per game... generally speaking, the less you throw the ball, the less likely you are to be sacked... to turn your own stats back on you, the Cowboys DID give up 36 sacks-- in 519 attempts... that works out to 6.8 per cent... the Skins DID give up 38 sacks-- in 514 attempts... that works out to 7.0 per cent... meanwhile, the Ravens DID give up 35 sacks-- in 465 attempts... that works out to 7.5 per cent...

So, while you used the stats improperly, to create the impression that the Cowboys and Commanders had even worse problems with pass blocking than the Ravens did, in point of fact that's not true... the Ravens were clearly more prone to giving up a sack on any given passing play... and like I said, the Skins' and Cowboys' offensive lines weren't what you'd call good last year...

As it turns out the Ravens were 19th in sacks allowed/attempt. An average stat to go with a lousy passing game. Considering Boller was 30th in passer rating I'd say getting sacked wasn't his big problem.

In addition, Boller ranked near the bottom of the league in yards per attempt (at 5.52 yards per attempt)... of the 34 quarterbacks who threw at least 200 passes (I included Eli Manning, though he only threw 197), Boller ranked 30th in yards per attempt (Brunell was dead last, at 5.04 YPA)...

Which is consistant with his horrid completion percantage, which was 31st amongst those QBs.

Further, Boller had 28 completions of over 20 yards last season, which ranked him next to last among quarterbacks with at least 350 attempts... only AJ Feeley had fewer completions of over 20 yards, with just 15...

These last 2 paragraphs clearly demonstrate just how reliant the Ravens were on the short passing game... and of course, a quarterback who lives by the short passing game is a bit more difficult to sack than one who takes his shots downfield... IOW, the Ravens recognized they had a problem with their pass blocking, and adjusted their offense in recognition of that weakness...

And when you look at how terrible Boller was at completing even those short passes, you can see it was more than the line. It was the QB. A good example of this is Brunell and the Commanders. Brunell went 3-6 as a starter with a 49% completion percentage (dead last amongst those QBs you list) yet when Ramsey took over as a starter, his completion percentage went up to 62.1, YPA went up to 6.12 (from the aforementioned 5.04) and we went 3-4, with three of those losses going against the Eagles twice and the Steelers, our three toughest games of the season. Did the OL suddenly get better, or did maybe, perhaps the guy UNDER center have something to do with that.

And they STILL gave up 35 sacks..

Again, they did a better job of that then 13 other teams. Does that mean none of those other teams had a decent center?

Uhhh, no, you didn't... here's what you said:

Any team that loses its best starting OL in the pre-season is going to have depth problems the rest of the way.



And yet, Skins fans on the NFC East Rantatorium last year were talking about how Samuels was a "Pro Bowler", and "one of the best left tackles in the game"...

Man, you need to go back tot he rantatorium and talk to them then. I can only assume you are more convincing over there, which would explain why you keep bringing them up.

No argument there... then again, I have said all along that the Skins' starting five is decent (but no more than decent), it's their utter lack of quality depth that is their problem... it was that way last year, and sure enough, when the injury bug bit, the Skins wound up suffering through subpar offensive line play... exhibit A is Clinton Portis, who averaged 5.5 yards per carry in his days with the Broncos, but only 3.8 YPC with the Skins...

And basically, the only changes on that line will be the return of Jansen, and the addition of Rabach... and as I think I've made abundantly clear, the latter move doesn't impress me all that much... given all that, I see the potential for a LITTLE improvement if the offensive line stays pretty healthy, but if they get bit by the injury bug, the quality of the line play will drop off significantly...

Is our starting five decent or 'borderline pathetic'? Make up your mind and get back to me. If Samuels and Thomas are, in fact, our top two linemen, then upgrades at two of the other spots, while retaining the guys that played there the year before, would be considered an improvement, or at LEAST better depth. It's simple math, dude.

Let's just say that I'll take the Cowboys' OL depth over the Skins' these days... but of course you're right, either Molinaro or Wilson might take that large step forward this offseason... my point is that you're basically reduced to HOPING that somebody steps up to provide depth, and that in itself is a pretty strong indication that you don't have any PROVEN depth...

Actually, I'm hoping nobody gets lost for the year during the pre-season. You're damn right I'm hoping that. Then again, I hope that every year. I'm pretty sure most fans of most teams hope that. Go figure.

You might not give a crap, but it's all there, on the record, for anybody who cares to check it out... I offered those observations to demonstrate that I DO know a little bit about your favorite team, in fact I pay pretty close attention to them... and I have a proven track record for being able to analyze your team's weaknesses... in fact, I've found that I can do a better job analyzing your roster than I can the Cowboys', which is kinda weird... I just figure that's because I can analyze the other teams in the NFC East more dispassionately than I can the Boys...

FWIW, in years past I have had similar stats wars with Iggles fans, and was ultimately proven right with them, too... in one particularly impressive bit of prognostication, an Iggles troll came into the Cowboys' newsgroup midway through Corey Simon's rookie season, woofin' about how Corey was a lock for Defensive Rookie of the Year... I told them that he'd finish third, and listed the 2 players who would finish ahead of him... at season's end, I had nailed the exact order of finish...

A lot of my observations are out there on record somewhere too. And I'm right a lot too. Big deal. If you've got to constantly tell me about how smart you are, it tends to call into question how smart you are. Either your arguments in this thread speak for themselves on their own or they don't. Clearly up to this point they don't. Or at least you don't think they do.

Gee, though this is the Smack board, I thought you and me were arguing football, not just engaging in a smack war...

Again, my past track record when it comes to analyzing the Skins' strengths and weaknesses IS relevant, when you attempt to play down my football IQ the way you have...

Silver, you are a big boy who dishes it out all the time so I figure you can take it. My initial post in this thread was pretty tame, but if I'm coming at you too hard I'll gladly scale back for ya. Given the nature and the frequency of threads like this where you and your cohorts repeatedly state how gol dern stoopid we Commander fans are I'd like to think hides are a little thicker around here.

And yet, it seems to annoy you... if this IS a smack thread, it would seem that I have achieved my goal...

You still talking about this? I seem to have struck a nerve. Forget I mentioned it. You're a freakin genius.

Again, YOU characterize the addition of Rabach as "significant"... I most assuredly don't, and have offered you solid statistical reasoning to explain my position...

Well, at least you've done a little research now. I'll give you that. 'Solid' is open to interpretation at this point, however. But if you've convinced yourself, I'm good letting it go at this point, before we start talking ourselves in circles.

Now, you seem to be desperate to tell yourself that he was the only good blocker on that otherwise miserable line, but you can't seem to offer any FACTUAL arguments in support of that blindly homeristic, uber-optimistic take...

Exactly where did I say that? I said the line wasn't miserable. I was agreeing with the guy who claimed it was primarily Boller stalling the Baltimore offense, based on the fact that the running game still churned out yards just fine even without Lewis (in fact, Lewis' backup averaged more ypc than Lewis did) and the line didn't give up a horrendous amount of sacks. Clearly it was something other than the line. But you can't seem to offer much up to refute that yourself, other than to point out how terrible Boller was. Again, we'll be talking in circles at this point so I'm done here. Rest assured, your opinion has been noted.

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

Not to get into the middle of the testosterone feud :

However one thing of note with the ravens last year....Lewis was not healthy all season (their number one running back of course) and nor was Todd Heap who it is a legit argument to say is their top receiving threat.

So for a young QB, that has not looked too impressive anyways, did not always have his number 1 and number 2 most important player on offense.

Ok...carry on with the fun.


One last thing.....

Silverbear...if the majority of the same crew is hanging out at the Rantorium, then chances are it would not be too hard to get the better of them as there were (once again do not know who is there now) only a few people who could actually talk football while the rest were just too busy calling people names and ragging on others.....hence the reason I gave up being a mod there and have only been back a few times.

 

[Henry]

Nah. I'm done. It's just been a slow few days at work.

You know it's a slow offseason when we're going fifteen rounds over a center.

 

[silverbear]

Nah. I'm done. It's just been a slow few days at work.

LOL... same with me, Henry... I just HATE this time of the offseason, there won't be jack to talk about for another six weeks or so...

You know it's a slow offseason when we're going fifteen rounds over a center.

Aw, it helps pass the time... trust me when I say there has been no bad feelings coming from this end of the dialogue... from where I sit, we've just been having a good old-fashioned football argument...

And I've decided to let you have the last word in it, rather than respond yet again to your most recent rebuttal... looks like we were startin' to go around in circles...

BrainPaint, it is pretty much the same crew over at the Rantatorium, except a few of the real knuckleheads got themselves weeded out... however, I have found the Skins fans over there to be pretty representative of the kinds of fans we keep reading about in assorted threads on assorted Cowboys message boards... they all seem to be blindly optimistic, downright homeristic in fact...

This annoys many of the Cowboys fans observing this phenomenon, but I just remind myself that when reality sets in, we'll be treated to much wailing and gnashing of teeth and rending of garments...

Just like last year... and the year before that... so I have gotten to the point where I ENJOY their pie-eyed optimism, knowing that they're setting themselves up for yet another disappointment...

 

[Henry]

Aw, it helps pass the time... trust me when I say there has been no bad feelings coming from this end of the dialogue... from where I sit, we've just been having a good old-fashioned football argument...

Agreed. Just so you know, I have absolutely no problem with a little verbal sparring now and then. Keeps the brain fresh. Rest assured, I knew what I was getting into and who I was getting into it with.

Frankly, if this forum contained more discussions like this and less of the junior high note-passing variety I'd be around a lot more often.

Anyway, keep on hating the Skins!

H

 

[KINGBRICE_28]

awww......I missed all the fun.....