Ron Robinsons Beard

That’s good perspective. Thanks. To be clear, I’m not in panic mode. I’m just at the point of where I’m raising an eyebrow. Of all the professional sports, the NBA has always been the one where regular season results matter the least. If we get to April and the Bucks haven't figured out how to inject more size into the lineup, I'll be worried. Because that means that Lopez hasn't come back yet, and they struck out on the trade/buyout market. They are getting eaten alive inside right now, which makes the decision to jettison Cousins all the more confusing.

It is easy to see why Mayock and Gruden were enamored with Ruggs. When you see what Tyreek Hill has turned into for the Chiefs, you could see a lot of very similar traits, like the speed, quickness, elusiveness and overall explosiveness. There was some perceived untapped upside there, along with some teams who downgraded both due to off-field concerns and maturity. Hill has managed to put most of that past him and become one of the most dangerous weapons in the NFL, even though he's still a scumball and screwball at times. Unfortunately Ruggs amplified Hill's scumball and screwball behavior multiple times over and it cost someone their life, and Ruggs his career.

EXACTLY! This, this, this! We'll see. Odds are still very favorable that he'll turn out to be just another guy.

He showed nothing in his short stint in the Brewers' pen that made it appear that he would be a long term piece. He was throwing batting practice fastballs at roughly 90 mph, and got slapped around pretty good. Sometimes it just doesn't work out at the place you want it to. We'll see if he develops into anything long term, of if he is just a flash in the pan for the Dodgers. Considering the volatility of non-elite relief pitchers, odds are he'll likely flame out. He pitched a total of 2 innings in his time with the Brewers. Of course he showed nothing. It’s ok to admit that maybe the Brewers front office made a mistake here. I'm sorry, but that's far from the whole story. Bickford is a guy the Brewers stood by for YEARS through his drug issues and suspensions, while his supposed high-end arm struggled to hit the mid-80s MPH pitching in the lower minors. He FINALLY figured some things out and pitched effectively in the minors, albeit without much of a discernible rise in MPH. They finally decided he was no longer worth the trouble for what upside they saw. Yes, they very well may have been wrong. But it isn't like Bickford was some sort of can't miss guy. The only reason he made the majors at all was that the Brewers didn't give up on him, even though he gave them many reasons to.

Hopefully David Moore is recovered and back up as the lead KR/PR for this game. He seemed sure-handed and sound back there, albeit in a very small sample.

In the end, there are plenty of reasons why the 49ers are the 6th seed, and barely made the playoffs. Sure, any team can get hot and go on a run, but this 49er team is injured and simply not very good to begin with, as their 10-7 record indicates. 50/50 game? Really? Honestly, the only way the Packers drop this game is if they have a full scale implosion.

I hate that take. It's the playoffs. All the teams are good. If you are freaking out already about the matchup in the Divisional, you likely had no faith in the team to begin with. The Packers are a stronger, healthier and substantially better team than the 49ers. Rodgers is leaps and bounds better than Garoppolo. The Packers are deeper at the skill positions (although Samuel is a matchup nightmare, and Kittle and Eli Mitchell very good). The Packers should win this one going away. Yes, something crazy may happen. It's the playoffs. But this is far from a bad scenario for the Packers. Garoppolo is the worst QB left in the field.

They are on cruise control. If we get to spring and they are still dealing with the same types of issues, then the worry will be legit.

He showed nothing in his short stint in the Brewers' pen that made it appear that he would be a long term piece. He was throwing batting practice fastballs at roughly 90 mph, and got slapped around pretty good. Sometimes it just doesn't work out at the place you want it to. We'll see if he develops into anything long term, of if he is just a flash in the pan for the Dodgers. Considering the volatility of non-elite relief pitchers, odds are he'll likely flame out.

For reference, Rodgers garnered 46 votes last season, to Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes' two apiece. Rodgers won last year's MVP award going away (44 votes, to 4 for Allen and 2 for Mahomes). The voting will likely be closer this year, but it is still very much Rodgers' award to lose.

This is such a poor take. Adell was 21 in 2020 making his debut where so many had a bad season. He had 55ks in 132PAs. 2021 he reduced that to 32 in 140PAs. He improved. Hiura a couple years his senior, did not. Adell will come with extra team control. Like I said Hiura=Tellez value of last year. Adell for Houser plus is being realistic and not through Brewer fan goggles. Which poster here asks these type of questions to the Fangraph chats? Go ahead and ask what would it take for the Brewers to get Adell? Houser or Hiura straight up? The answer is probably somewhere in the middle. You are likely overvaluing Adell a bit based on his prospect pedigree, while undervaluing Hiura based on his poor showing of late. Hiura still holds a lot of value as a former blue chip can't-miss prospect who raked in the minors, has had MLB success, and is still extremely young and cost-controlled.

I unfortunately have. It's terrible. Don't waste your time.

I would hope for a lot more from Bakh and Jaire but I agree, the further they get the more impact we will see from these guys. I assumed Mercilus had surgery and went home, the Packers must share nothing with the local beat writers. I knew there was a reason I stopped subscribing to the online MJS coverage, I am not that cheap the coverage just started to suck over the years. The MJS and the GB Press-Gazette used to compete with each other. But now that they are owned by the came conglomerate, it's all the same information.

Apparently this is legit. If he's able to play, they kept that about as quiet as possible. Getting Mercilus and Z back for the playoffs would make for a silly good rotation for pass rush situations. Whoa this is big. Mercilus + Z>>>>Galeai + Garvin I want to keep expectations somewhat tempered, but the news of all these reinforcements coming back for the playoffs is making that difficult. How crazy is it that this team is as healthy as it's been all season as they enter the playoffs, while the biggest NFC contenders have all been knocked down by huge injuries? Right now Jenkins and Tonyan are the only major contributors this team will be missing as it enters the playoff bracket. Granted those are big pieces, but it pales in comparison to what other contenders are dealing with. Shaping up to be potentially be an exciting January (and February).

Because Tom Brady playoff juju rivals St. Louis Cardinal playoff juju. The sooner that Brady is out of the playoffs, the better IMO. The Packers are better than any team they will be facing in this year's playoff field. But it's the playoffs. Any team can beat the Packers if Green Bay comes out playing like crap. But Tom Brady stands a much better chance of beating a cold Packers team than Jalen Hurts does.

This happens once in awhile. I remember Charles Haley coming out of retirement years ago in the 90s to play for the 49ers in the playoffs, a few years after he had officially retired. He wasn't effective. I can't imagine Weddle will be either. It seriously seems like the Rams' personnel department is run by the team's Twitter community.

NE was an AFC Championship game team that season at 12-4. Detroit yesterday was 2-13-1 eliminated from playoffs at least 5 weeks prior if not more. If Love were on Detroit and playing the Packers that would fit the kind of team Rodgers faced in that game. I don't know where his future is. Rodgers is here and he's on the bench. Rotting away the value that should have been a 1st+4th rd contributor to a 13-3 team. 2 more years of Rodgers equals the moment you either give Love a contract with his option or let him go away to Free Agency with barely a thing to show for it except a backup sitting on the bench. Which knowing Rodgers' contract prior to selecting Love made the decision, again, poor. Trading up even worse to do it. If Love doesn't qb a single season for GB everyone involved with that pick should be fired, no matter what prestige may occur before then. Aaron Rodgers' 2019 season, while a good season for most QBs, was definitely NOT up to the standard that Rodgers has created throughout his career. His accuracy was as bad as its ever been, and he struggled getting out of the pocket at times. It appeared that age was potentially catching up with him. The Packers' front office saw the same thing. That's why Jordan Love is a Packer. Who could have foresaw this absolute career renaissance that is likely to lead to two straight MVP awards? I certainly didn't. If you say you did, you are probably lying. I wasn't a big fan of the Love pick at the time, but it was actually easy to understand why they did it. The QB is the engine that makes every NFL team go. If they believe that Love can be the engine that runs this team for the next decade +, then it will end up looking like a genius pick. Maybe he will never be a great QB, but at least the team has a short- and long-term plan in place at the most important position in the NFL, which is better than 90% of NFL teams. And no, if Love doesn't QB a single season for GB, the people involved in that pick WILL NOT be fired (come on, seriously?). Because that would mean that Aaron Rodgers is still QB and playing at a high level, and they have likely traded off Love to recoup some draft capitol.

Jenkins tore his ACL, so he's done till at least August, if not into the 2022 season. Turner had an MCL tear, though, so he should theoretically be back. Other than Tonyan, Mercilus, and Jenkins, the only other players who were seeing any time who are out for the year are RB Kylin Hill and OLBs Randy Ramsey and Chauncey Rivers. I'm not sure what the statuses of Ty Summers or Malik Taylor are.

The Bucs were a much healthier team when they played the Eagles the first time as well. Now the team resembles a MASH unit. This weekend's game will be a true test of whether Brady's playoff juju can overcome a suspect surrounding cast.

With both the Bears and Vikings now looking at rebuilds, along with the Lions being, well, the Lions, it does make me wonder if the Packers will move heaven and earth to keep the band together for next season, regardless of what happens in this year's playoffs? Even having to make some tough cuts of some very good players to get under next year's cap, the Packers will be well positioned to maintain their stranglehold on the NFC North, should they find a way to bring Rodgers and Adams back.

I would say there's probably at least as good of a chance of one of the Eagles or 49ers winning as neither winning. Agreed. I see the Eagles putting up a very good fight against an extremely depleted Bucs team. 49ers are just plucky enough to give the Cowboys a game too. All three NFC matchups are going to be pretty fun next weekend, as Rams/Cards is a pretty even match. Not so much on the AFC side, though. I think the Bengals are going to whoop the Raiders, and the Bills should have no problem with the Patriots, at least on paper. The Chiefs are going to annihilate the Steelers.

Very rarely do you see teams get substantially healthier come playoff time, but it appears that Bahktiari, Alexander and Za'Darius, not to mention Myers, Cobb and Turner, could all be good to go for the Divisional round. Would have been nice to see a few of those guys who didn't get in there get some reps yesterday, but I'm sure they can ramp up in practice. I would imagine Alexander will take his typical boundary corner spot, pushing Douglas into the slot position. Z will likely be a designated pass rusher, but would be a welcome addition to Preston and Gary. And a O-line of Turner, Patrick, Myers, Runyan and Bahk, with Kelly, Newman and Nijman in reserve is very strong. Don't underestimate the value of having Cobb out there at Rodgers' security blanket too. Lazard has stepped into that role quite nicely, but Cobb and Rodgers have a mind meld.

I suggest you petition your league commissioner to NOT have a Week 18 Championship. Oof!

I agree. Playing for the tie strategically would have made some sense and certainly would have made me giggle. But it would be a very bad look. I don't really agree. If the point is extending your season it would've been completely acceptable at the end there. If they'd both come out and kneeled 100 times, yes, but there was clearly an earnest attempt on both sides to win by that point. In the last few seconds I think it would have been completely acceptable for OAK to decide a blocked kick isn't worth it and kneel. As far as game watchability goes, the Chargers would be a much more fun team to watch in the playoffs than watching the fossil of Big Ben throw 40 2-yard outs next week. The Steelers are an extremely boring team to watch. At least they won't last long, as I expect them to get curb stomped by the Chiefs next weekend.

The point is the contract squabbles and fights with management like between Rodgers and the Packers front office aren't rare. They happen every offseason, with many teams. It just so happens this one played out in a public forum with the guy who just won the MVP. Not sure who is responsible for leaking the info that Schefter eventually picked up on and posted on Twitter, but typically that kind of crap happens behind closed doors.