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I was watching Red Zone and saw a lot of that game. The Skins didn't look terrible. Their weakness was giving up big plays. Other than that, they looked good. McLaurin is going to be a stud.

By the way, last night Tomlin said defense wasn't the problem. This is his defense that's in place now, so of course that's not the problem.

They gave up over 10 passes for 15+ yards, something Brady has only done 7 times in his career.

Nope, it was all the offense's fault. The offense clearly gave up 33 points, and honestly could have been 70. I'm convinced Belichick doesn't run up the score on Tomlin because he doesn't want that easy playoff win fired.

This season is already over. NE 19-0, Miami 0-16...

Steelers just traded Joshua Dobbs to Jacksonville for a 5th rounder.

Getting rid of him is probably the best roster move they've made in a while.

MSM now pushing the "AB to Pats" didn't happen by accident.

I had forgotten that Blount did this exact same thing a few years back.

At what point is the NFL going to step in and stop the Pats from bending (and breaking) every rule in the book?

Not defending the Patriots. . . just curious. What rule did they break? Knowing only what was in the article (clueless of the situation outside of that), it seems there may have been collusion between Oakland, Patriots, and the player. But isn't that common? They show stuff like that in the movies all the time! (Any Given Sunday, Jerry McGuier and other movies like that as my source).

Collusion is very much not common and against the rules. In this case it'd be tampering. Tampering is punishable and teams have been punished for it previously.

Basically, if the Patriots had any knowledge of AB's plan to get out of Pittsburgh and/or Oakland with the intention of signing him, they were cheating. As the article states, they've done this exact thing before.

So if a team "A" knows a player wants to leave their current team, team "A" can't sign him because they knew he wanted to leave? Or is it that he wanted to leave, then sabotaging his current team to get fired/released, so that he could join the new team?

And maybe collusion is the wrong term. I'm refering to:
I want player "A" from Team "1".
Team "1" wants player "B" from Team "2".
Team "2" wants my player "C".

So I give Team "2" my player "C" for player "B". I then give player "B" to Team "1" so that I end up with Player "A". That's from a Kevin Costner movie I think.

It's not about just knowing, it's about helping, encouraging, and making a deal before the guy is off their previous team. In the NFL rulebook, it's called Tampering.

A few years back, Blount was playing for the Steelers. About midway through the season he started acting out. Stopped showing up, was showing up late, giving attitude, etc. The Steelers, acting like any employer, cut him. He was then immediately picked up by the Patriots, his former team, who let him go in the offseason, but had now suffered multiple injuries to RBs. Asked if he knew they were going to sign him, and thus, he orchestrated his release by acting out, he refuses to deny it.

Now you have AB who didn't show up in the final game of the season last year for the Steelers. Starting acting insane so the Steelers traded him. They turned down a first round draft pick from NE because they didn't want to face him in the playoffs. So he ended up in Oakland.

Important note: They initially had a trade set up with the Bills, but AB said he'd retire rather than go there. This is important because the Bills wouldn't have acted in a way to allow him to go to NE either.

In Oakland, he was an absolute nut job. The fucking guy threatened his boss and called him a racial slur. Not sure why the fucking NFL is just sitting back doing nothing about that. He forced his way out, and within four hours had a signed deal with NE.

In an interview with Bill Simmons prior to starting with Oakland, Simmons asked AB what offenses in the AFC he fits. AB's response was NE and KC.

Not sure if you saw this, but here's AB's "reaction" to getting released from the Raiders:
https://youtu.be/o-gwWVYmW7Y

Nothing about that is genuine. This was all planned.

Fun facts:
-The NE Patriots have long had a very strong relationship with Drew Rosenhaus who is the agent for many of their players.
-Blount's agent is Drew Rosenhaus.
-AB's agent is Drew Rosenhaus.

If NE, in any way, let AB or AB's agent know they wanted him on their team either when he was with Pittsburgh or Oakland, then it's tampering.

This shit goes on in the NBA non-stop and it has completely destroyed the ability for teams in that league to fairly compete. It is a massive problem that the NBA leadership knows they have to fix, but they have no solution right now. While they do nothing over half their teams can't sign anyone and become competitive, draw in fans, and thus, is costing them millions. If the NFL sits on its hands and does nothing here, they're opening the door for the same shit.

I lost this week in fantasy and was looking at the stats. I would have defeated 6 other teams. Swapping out my QBs I would have beaten all but 2 teams. Everyone in my lineup and bench, with 2 exception, scored at or above their projections.

I hate weeks like that. Makes you believe your team is just shitty, even though it clearly isn't.

Leisher wrote: I lost this week in fantasy and was looking at the stats. I would have defeated 6 other teams. Swapping out my QBs I would have beaten all but 2 teams. Everyone in my lineup and bench, with 2 exception, scored at or above their projections.

I hate weeks like that. Makes you believe your team is just shitty, even though it clearly isn't.

My team's bad. I would have beaten Malcolm's team though, in the league we're in.

I forgot you still have contact with him. I genuinely hope the guy finds peace.

And I secretly enjoy that he would get pissed off by that.

I also posted this in the Sex Scandals thread for posterity...

Sexual Assault lawsuit filed in federal court against AB.

Heard last night somewhere, and I seriously cannot recall where, that Goodell might use the "Commissioner's exemption" power on AB. What that would mean is everything freezes for AB. He wouldn't be able to play, he wouldn't get paid, but he wouldn't be fined either. The reason for doing this would be to protect the league as it investigates the details of this rape allegation. The league just found out about it last night with the rest of the world.

Leisher wrote: Heard last night somewhere, and I seriously cannot recall where, that Goodell might use the "Commissioner's exemption" power on AB. What that would mean is everything freezes for AB. He wouldn't be able to play, he wouldn't get paid, but he wouldn't be fined either. The reason for doing this would be to protect the league as it investigates the details of this rape allegation. The league just found out about it last night with the rest of the world.

I'm all for anything that screws the Patriots, but this seems like a kinda weak claim.

TheCatt wrote: I'm all for anything that screws the Patriots, but this seems like a kinda weak claim.

The rape claim? According to a lot of the talking heads, he admits doing stuff to her without her consent in the texts. I, literally, cannot read them, so I can't confirm nor deny those claims.

Even Simmons, the world's biggest Patriots defender, called the claims "disgusting" in a tweet last night and removed an AB discussion from his most recent podcast. This is a guy who still claims the Patriots didn't tape anyone, Brady was a scapegoat, and that charges were dropped against Kraft.

The bad news for AB is after making his life a circus over the past year, clever plan or not, the public is now far more willing to believe these allegations. Particularly with all his other run ins with the law over the past year, like when he threw the furniture off the balcony and almost killed a father and his kid in Florida.

BTW, one under reported note about AB's move to the Patriots is that he lost $20M leaving Oakland the way he did. That's money he left on the table.

Leisher wrote: I, literally, cannot read them, so I can't confirm nor deny those claims.

I tried, and it was confusing.

Leisher wrote: The bad news for AB is after making his life a circus over the past year, clever plan or not, the public is now far more willing to believe these allegations. Particularly with all his other run ins with the law over the past year, like when he threw the furniture off the balcony and almost killed a father and his kid in Florida.

True.