WhitewalkerInPhilly

I heard it the other day on Philly radio. In this, I see all win for Buffalo. The Bills don't play the Browns this year. Tenn remains a tire fire. The Eagles trade their first this year and next, already without a 2nd, to get Mariota, which leaves a rookie QB with a WR group that makes me long for Donald Jones and Nelson. Name the down side.

As usual CBF, you are typically on point. Best special teams coach I've ever seen. I would take him back in a hot second, even after Crossman did a surprisingly able job last year. I do miss the man. I know that he and Rex have irreconcilable differences in philosophy, and while I am happy with Rex, had we promoted him to HC and brought in Roman I would likely be equally happy.

I was really impressed with him stepping up last year. I'll admit, I was thinking that he was an insurance policy in case Spikes was a dud, or if he played so well he could command a huge contract. But Brown has a run stopping ability that is similar, minus the personal fouls, plus coverage ability. A strong rookie season is likely why we aren't seeing Spikes brought back.

To be fair, I think he is a phenomenal offensive coordinator. He is really talented at drawing up schemes. But I can't help but think that Chip the GM can't get out of the way of Chip the coach.

Naturally back in time to play the Bills.

Rex is very flexible. I watched a lot of Eagles games, and Chip is very good. He rolls up a lot of points against bad and average defenses. But against top 5 defenses like the Seahawks and the 49ers they averaged less than 18 points a game. One of the fair knocks is that Chip has a hard time slowing it down and high tempo three and outs are killers. Edit: I double checked the 49ers game. All of their points were a blocked punt for a touchdown, a pick six and a punt return touchdown. The offense scored zero points.

Kind of in a similar vein, this is how I see us matching up to the Eagles. Even if you buy that Bradford can have a healthy, productive season, they've lost their most dynamic offensive weapons on the outside. I'm seeing little reason not to put 8 men in the box for standard formations and we have the CB depth to play man if they go to the spread.

Me too Dome teams from Texas playing in Buffalo in December.

Thoughts on the matter... Pros: -Overall, the opponents have a weaker victory strength from last year. The AFC South has been pretty bad the past few years, and the NFC East, while having some good teams, aren't in the same tier as the Pats, Broncos, Packers and Seahawks. The Giants were only good last year in the eyes of homeriffic NYC based ESPN and NFL network writers and the 'Skins still look like a tire fire. -I don't mind the home opener. We were going to have to play the Colts at some point, and preparation favors the defense. Rex gets months of breaking down what the Pats did to Luck in the AFC Champ game. While the Colts are good, they are the the division winner I would be the most willing to face. They did well, but did it rolling up the Jags and Titans twice a year, and playing the weaker NFC East. It's a tough game, but the Bills should have a realistic shock with the fans bringing it for the home opener. -If the Bills are still in the hunt in December, they are in decent shape. They play their NFC teams, play the two Texas teams at home in cold weather, and close out the season with home field advantage against the Jets. Cons: -Seriously, do the Pats need any more of an advantage to start the season? They open with the Steelers without Bell, and then get a 10 day rest before taking on their biggest division rival. -The 3 division games over 16 games is BS, and is stringing along three NFC teams in a row. Would it really be that hard to mix it up a little? But as a mixed blessing, the only team the Bills really get screwed on are the Jets. They get a bye for Miami, and then return the favor to NE by getting a 10 day rest. -What is up with the massive roadtrip?Three straight road games is brutal, especially with it capping off at Arrowhead. -Again, no home PT game. In summation, the middle of the schedule sucks, but everything up until the away Jets game things aren't so bad and they finish strong. You consider the Colts and Cowboys juggernauts?

He still would be a good fit for what Pettine ran to years ago. Whether or not what Rex is trying to do this year is close enough to overlap,but he would be a 5-tech that could complete the D-line,and I bet he comes cheap.

Good interview. The Kiko thing...look, I love the guy, and will root for him when not against the Bills but I get it. But what really strikes a chord for me is that a lot of this team is the Island of Misfit Toys. Rex is a fantastic defensive coordinator who had his best players cut away. Roman is the run game mastermind who got abandoned when his boss got into a feud with the owner. McCoy was a franchise RB who got traded because he didn't give a smile and a yessir to the new Kommendant on his team.This is a team of new starts, fresh starts, and I am eager to see what happens.

They do make a point that he was ridiculously effective operating out of the I in college. From what I saw, I'm excited.

I'm also interested, even if I'm conflicted. (My girlfriend is an Eagles fan, and we plan to go together) I know there's a group of Bills Backers in the area. Perhaps they have something going.

I've heard a couple of different reports of what they wanted. But, in all fairness, we're going to need those draft picks, and Bradham stepped up to replace Kiko.

Are you going with the local Bills Backers group? I have a few options, but I'm sure there will be a tailgating contingent.

Honestly, all my experiences with Philly fans haven't been as bad as advertised. I remember watching a Sabres vs. Flyers game in a bar and the Flyers fans were shocking civil. They're passionate about their teams but they're better than NY fans IMHO.

Believe me, I've considered the idea. He has been considered before, especially after the 49ers deep runs the past few years. It could happen, but if it does, it means that he does something special with the offense with an average (at best ) QB. And if we get that, with a defense even close to as good as last year, that's a playoff team.

Philly for me. I live maybe a half hour from the stadium and my girlfriend is a die hard Eagles fan. We're already smack talking and we don't even know when it's going to be.

Yeesh, uncle, uncle.

Funny, I could have sworn this was a thread about Landry. Look, I can get how any discussion about a QB works back to EJ, but I have no idea how a safety relates to our O-line. But yeah, Landry seems like a better Leonard.

Yeah. If they can get a better SS than Seacry, for less money than Seacry I'm all for it.

Possibly the fact that he's 32, going to be 33 by the end of the season, only about a month younger than Jim Leonard. It doesn't bode well for a few years down the road, but he's posted back to back 100 tackle seasons. He's a hard hitting box safety. At worse, he could probably be a tweener in nickel sets to run the Heavy Nickel.

This makes me even more mystified. Yes, age is a factor, and PFF isn't everything, but you'd think that we were signing a rookie UDFA scrub instead of a solid veteran.

I'm a little surprised that people aren't more interested. I know PFF isn't everything and their grading needs to be taken with a grain of salt, but he was there 9th ranked safety last year. He fills the gap left by Seacry as a primarily hard hitting box safety. It seems like the only concern is his age. While we shouldn't just throw money at him, by now he should be a bargain.

Pretty much this. A lot of people would be annoyed at getting transferred to another city for work without having them talk to you first. Doubly so when you find out your old boss was lying through his teeth about why he did it.