WhitewalkerInPhilly

This. In my humble opinion,the theory how how to best prepare the coordination of the half of the field you don't know about goes something like this: -Decide your philosophy of how you want to win games. In our case, it's to emphasize ball control, the running game, and beating down your opposing D so they're gassed when it counts. The defense generates turnovers, gives favorable field position, and cuts down on the points to O needs to win. -You hire a coordinator who can bring your vision to life. Roman has a track record of being innovative in the run game. He has a track record of success with both a drop back passer who can dink and dunk and let skill players do their job (Smith/Cassel) and an athletic runner who can make plays with his legs, forcing an opponent to send an extra player to spy the QB. (Kaep/Taylor). -The two discuss what plays best fit their scheme and philosophy. I really hope that Rex really listens to GRo. It is his call at the end of day, but Rex has made numerous mistakes at QB and I really hope he defers if they disagree. But I really hope that they're talking. If Roman says "I prefer this guy, but I can make the other guy work" I'm ok with Rex picking.

Huh? Our CBs are pretty good, but they get a lot of help from the pass rush. And Darby now looks like an incredibly smart pick with McKelvin on the sideline.

I agree that the formatting is bad. But I agree with most of his points. If Taylor wins the starting job, the speed of Sammy, Harvin and Shady, plus TT's legs is a terrifying matchup.

Hey, if we can get something for Thompson, I'm all for it. Whaley did a good job with mid-round picks this year, and realistically speaking, we're talking about a 5th or 6th string WR when everyone is healthy.

And now we have a Willis! Is Rex creating a new TV block?

I'm certainly not underestimating our skill position players. I really do think they look like a special group. I just have a hard time believing that the man on our roster best suited to maximize those talents is Matt Cassel. At some point, the defense starts playing close to the line. They see the quick pass coming. When Geno Smith was hurt, I remember us joking that as long as Fitz was running the show, all people had to do was guard 15 yards back, because anything past that wouldn't reach its target. Well, I trust Fitz more than I do Cassel. If you want to talk about how people will "gameplan" for Taylor's running, it seems only fair to acknowledge what they'll do against Cassel. You can have a thriving offense with dink and dunk passes...if you're Tom Brady. I have not seen Brady level accuracy from Cassel. Tayor seems to be able to make the high percentage passes at a level similar to Cassel. We've seen arm strength that is greater. We've seen a running ability. This isn't to say that Taylor is going to be amazing, or that even if he wins the job that it would be crazy to look at drafting a new QB. But it boggles my mind that Cassel of all people would be the best option.

Link please? I can't imagine anyone preferring Cassel at this point. He has not looked terribly impressive so far. He's, what, made a couple high percentage throws and limped through. If you want high accuracy, Taylor was better week two, and did it with worse receivers, never mind the running ability.

Just curious...where the hell did you see that? I hAve seen nothing of the sort declaring Roman wanted Cassel.

40 yards in one game by the running backs is "reasonably effective"?

Is it unrestricted now? Last year, it was only available to students, people living in apartment complexes and people in certain metropolitan areas.

Exhibit A Why I am not worried about who wins at RT. We'll be finding ways to use both of them at the same time. I suppose it is worth saying that, once the regular season begins, it does matter how much time you grind on the first, even if it's just a field goal. It keeps your Luck and Brady off the field and helps gas the D once you have a limited roster to make subs.

I would like to point out, again, that game planning against Taylor means *not* sending those blitz packages that you usually can't get away with unless your skill players are shot.

You mean, except for the two touchdown drives last week, when he actually had a running back and not a shambling corpse? And oh, he's on the roster through 2017, and dirt cheap: http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/buffalo-bills/tyrod-taylor/

My worry is a little tempered by the biggest comparison we've been aspiring to: the 2000 Ravens. They had multiple games where the defense outscored the offense. I'm ok with being agressive if you think that will get pressure and turnovers, but if you do you better get a clean tackle with the first defender.

Honestly last night I saw a lot of things Rex Ryan would want, things Roman has worked with to great success in the past, and scenarios that likely would have played out very differently with our full lineup of starters. 15 play, 7 minute drives? 4/6 on 3rd down conversion percentages? The ability to run to escape a blitz and make them pay downfield? The ability to make the throw to the open man when the blitz is faked and defenders drop into coverage? A 70% accuracy percentage. These things I worried about Taylor being capable of. Tonight, he was more Matt Cassel than Matt Cassel passing, only with some upside while running. 50-70% for me.

1) I dont read too much into Cassel sitting the entire game. We all know what Cassel is, and isnt. He is not someone who makes his skill players look better than they actually are. He is someone who lets his skill plays make him look better. That can work for you, but when theyre all out, it would have looked even uglier than what we would have seen. The lack of skill players made it tough to get an honest evaluation of TT and EJ, I dont want to imagine how Cassel would have looked. 2) It wasnt always pretty, but I think Taylors performance should put to bed some of the more outlandish and over-exaggerated claims as to flaws in his game. He did not take off running at every possible chance, though he did when a planned bubble screen was blown up, and on a designed read option play. While his numbers did not blow you out of the water, he was able at times to sit back in the pocket and deliver the ball. I believe that he was something like 4/5 on third down conversions when throwing the ball. 3) That said, we shouldnt ignore an honest critique of Taylors flaws. He got too cute trying to make a play on his first drive and that sack made it that much harder on Carpenter. (Ill touch on that later). His lone pass to the EZ from the red zone was a bit late, and while his accuracy was 70%, his YPA was 6.5, barely better than what EJ did last year before getting benched. He has yet to show he can make deep throws over the middle. Still, I think he looked alright. 4) Speaking of that End Zone throw, man I think the refs were brutally inconsistent on how their called penalties on the respective secondaries. If Darbys call for PI, and Aaron Williams personal foul are going to get called, I dont see how when Deonte had an arm wrapped around his waist in the EZ, and when he got his clock cleaned on a Manuel overthrow how that doesnt get called. 5) Jesus our running backs looked bad. I know that our top 5 players our depth chart were gone, and that we were running with guys who wont find stable work in three weeks, but man that was ugly. Get well soon Shady, Fred, Boobie, Karlos and Bryce 6) EJ does look improved. He was able to feel the pocket a bit better, and at times was able to take the first and second guy miss. It was a pity that the second strong OL is so bad that the 3rd and 4th guys were right behind. 7) I was worried about Darby with the PI early, but he definitely cleaned up his game. It seems that Rexs strategy of throwing him into the deep end of the pool is working, and those two interceptions seem good indicators that those ball skills that we were worried about were coming along. 8) Im sorry, but Im a little worried about the defense. I know its still early, but Im getting Pettine flashbacks: constant pressure, flashy turnovers, but a lot of broken tackles and conversion on third and long. Rex had better be pissed. 9) Carpenters miss didnt make me happy, but Id rather he get the rust off now rather than week 1.

I don't think some of those, like the Thompson throw and the one to Goodwin on 3rd when the Browns faked the blitz are what I would call "short" And if EJ had a worse O-line, he had the same WRs against a worse secondary. I'm not trying to rag on EJ, who I like, I'm just annoyed at the fact that you twist the narrative on TT.

If the first string looked bad to you, I don't even want to get started on the second string... The guy who had a 70% accuracy throwing to guys who are scraping to make the team against Cleveland's first string defense is a one trick pony? That isn't to say that Tyrod doesn't have his flaws. We saw them: A little too willing to run, not perfect ball placement, and for the love of crap he has to stop leading with his body when he has the first down. But with a depleted roster and a grand total of zero of his explosive skill players, he still moved them up and down the field.

But for serious, that O-line looks godawful when you go to the second teams.

Holy Schmidt!

Oh wow, the second string o line looks terrible.

Oh jeez! How do they call fouls on Darby and AW but not when the CB takes the head off one of ours?

Yes. Are the Browns blitzing every down or does our O line suck?

I take back my worries about Darby. Hes bouncing back in a big way.

Ok, I'm getting worried about darby