thewildrabbit

Yea, better keep using him as a decoy...morons I yearn for some real NFL coaches.

Its talent, or lack thereof...last year Colin Brown proved big isn't always better. My argument with the O line under Gailey 2010- 2011- 2012, and his use of Fitz and the spread offense was that his scheme made the RB & O line look far better then what it actually was. Here is why, Fitz had an uncanny ability to find the open receiver (SJ mostly) in 2.5 seconds or under. Because of that speed it almost completely negated the opposing pass rush to about all they could do is get their hands up, and hope for a knockdown. The other choice was to try and jam the receivers on the line, and put multiple coverage's on Stevie to take him away. So Levitre wasn't nearly worth what the Titans paid him. Then the same thing can be said about the RB's, and mostly CJ Spiller who really benefited from running behind that spread out O line, and getting the hand-off out of a passing shotgun formation. By 2012 opposing teams had figured out Gailey's quick-short passing scheme, and his running from passing formations and basically stopped it. They realized that Fitz's deep passing accuracy wasn't very good, and so they would stack the box to shut down the run lanes while jamming Stevie at the line. Suddenly Gailey's simplistic one dimensional passing / run offense was stopped. In 2013 under Marrone / Hackett the Bills wanted to run the ball until Spiller threw up, and not really knowing what they were doing they proceeded to slam Spiller / Freddie up the middle +70% of the time. Hence leading the league in rushing attempts, and #2 in rushing yards. Yet, only went 6-10, had almost no ball control because of poor O line play. The Bills were one of the worst teams in the NFL in 3 downs and out, and garnered the nickname the "hurry up and punt" offense. The Bills no longer had a QB who could get the ball out so quickly, and the result was also very poor pass protection. Now when you have so much lack of talent on that line it causes the better players to look bad because now they are not only focusing on their own jobs, they now have to worry about the bad players properly doing their jobs. It causes a loss of continuity. RT Henderson would be doing better if he had a solid player at RG next to him, and instead he has a player who shouldn't be playing OG. Cordy Glenn came out of that Vikings game with a very unlike him (-2.4) grade. 4 pressures, 2 sacks, one hit, one hurry. Rookie RT Henderson grades at (-19.1) Pears has a grade of (-17.2). It makes me wonder why Hairston hasn't gotten a shot at RT or RG. The Bills have two OG's on their PS, and you would think one of them has to be better then Pears. Anyway, there is a real reason as to why other teams draft OG's & OT's in the first round. The Dallas Cowboys spent their last two first round draft picks (2013-2014) on their O line, and it has helped them immensely in protecting their QB, and building a very potent run game. The 6-1 Cowboys are the #1 rushing team by yards, and first downs by rushing. The Bills need a serious influx of talent for that line, and some better coaching. JMO

http://sports.yahoo....-181737491.html The mere fact that Sammy currently has around the same stats as Kelvin Benjamin drafted with the 28th pick shows that the Bills overpaid in giving up an extra 2015 #1 & #4....at this time! Now, should the moron Mr Can't Hackett stop using the Bills best weapon as a decoy...well then, Sammy would be far ahead of kelvin. Just think what a real NFL OC could do with Sammy in getting him more involved in every aspect of the offense. At RB in reverses, fake reverses, Slot WR, end arounds, and all sorts of trick plays just to get the ball in his hands more then just 2-3 times a game. We see flashes of real greatness, but not nearly enough every game. That said, the only way Sammy trade becomes a non argument is that if Orton or EJ stays the starter, and gets the team to the plays this year or next. Simply because the need for a franchise QB overrides every other position.

Who is responsible for that lack of talent on that line for two years now? and just think, this coaching staff had a young, inexperienced QB behind that line in EJ. A guy who didn't know enough to read the defense and call the appropriate play out of the crap play Hackett called like Orton does. Then Hackett started screwing up the offense against the Chargers by calling 40 passes vs 20 rushes. He did the same against Houston, a team at the time was 27th against the run. Hackett may just as well have put EJ on a sacrificial alter to have JJ Watt cut his heart out. The offense is a joke with that O line, and Hackett calling plays.

I have a difficult time believing there are still some here defending the guy, and then blaming his ineptitude on the shortcomings of the RB's, O line, QB, head coach. He is responsible for the entire offense, including the O line, the run game, the QB. That #2 rushing offense from last year is now 16th. The team is now 24th in total offense, 27th in first downs. 256 passing attempts vs 175 rushing attempts The Bills won those first two games (Chicago-Miami) with a very good run game, 33 rushes vs 22 passes and then went pass happy against the Chargers, and haven't stopped being pass happy since. The Bills went 2-3 since going pass happy and are lucky to have Orton pulling out two of those games with last minute drives. The only good thing to come from both Spiller & Jackson being out is that now Hackett finally has his up the middle, 3 yards and a cloud of dust RB. At 6'1'' 233 Boobie is perfect for that style of offense.

Can he play guard?

I just hope EJ is learning from what he sees Orton doing on the field. Simply because I think its only a matter of time before the line gets Orton killed.

I agree with the OP, and think Hackett is in way over his head. Hackett failed miserably to properly develop EJ, and it showed. Its an absolute great thing that Orton was there to help out in Hackett's recent pass happy offense. Mostly because Orton can read the defense and change the play at the line, and the play usually works despite the crap play called by Hackett. Lets face it, the coaching on this team sucks. From way, way to many penalties. Bad player selection, and development for the O line. Bad play calls, game plans, scheme. This team is darn lucky to be 4-3 with 135 PF- 142 PA.

The Bills have 6 CB's-4 safeties on the roster, and apparently none can cover TE Rob Gronkowski like the Chiefs did in week four against the Patriots. The Bills have a better defense in almost every statistic then the Chiefs, and yet they couldn't contain Brady or even slow down his passing. At some point it would be nice to be able to hire a DC that can find a way to stifle Brady, and throughout the years that has shown to be almost impossible by so many teams. The Bills clearly had no answer to cover Gronkowski, and because of that it opened up their offense for the other receivers. The Bills shut down the Patriots run game, and it didn't matter at all because the Brady picked them apart for 13 first downs, and 4 TD's. The Patriots were also helped by the Refs, and stupid Bills players to the tune of 5 first downs by penalties. The Bills just rushing their front four let Fitz back into the game at Houston enough to win it for them. Then not blitzing enough almost cost them games against both Detroit & Minnesota, and it did cost them games against the Chargers, Patriots IMO. While Schwartz might have one of the best run stopping defenses in the league (5th) with his wide nine defense, what good is it if its a "passing league" and you have the 27th ranked pass defense? Kinda funny how Schwartz leaves Detroit, and now with almost the same players they have the #1 team in total defense, and were #16 last year. Personally I hate the just rush with the front four tactic, and loved watching Pettine run his blitzes. This defense reminds me of the frustration that Dave Wannstedt caused with his non blitzing schemes. The Bills could maybe get away with that if they ran the ball 40 times a game, and kept the defense on the bench. So that the starting front four, and secondary weren't worn down, and panting like dogs by the fourth quarter. JMO

The Bills have Bryce Brown to help Boobie along with the FB Summers. That should hold them until Fred gets healthy. Time to see if that 4th rounder for Brown was worth it.

It hasn't been since the switch, as Hackett had EJ come out throwing at Houston. 40+ passes vs 20 rushes and he tried to get EJ killed. I think Hackett is in over his head trying to develop a rookie QB for the NFL, and its a good thing the Bills signed a vet QB with enough smarts to change plays out of the crap Hackett called. Even this game only 19 rushes with the Bills averaging 6.2 yards per carry vs 43 passes again. Granted both the starting RB's were injured, and out. Boobie looked very winded at times, so I can't really fault Hackett that much. Still 3 first downs rushing, 17 first downs passing, and this type of scheme with this bad O line is an unsustainable way to win games. Time to see if Bryce Brown was worth a 4th round pick. About the only good thing is that Boobie @ 6'1'' 233 lbs is about the perfect type of RB to fit Hackett's 70% up the middle running attack

Sometimes its better to be lucky then good, and the Bills got lucky again. Some spectacular passes, and catches at the end, and luck. Like the 4th down catch by Chandler. Like the big catch by Hogan, and that last TD to Sammy with one second left on the clock. Like the pass thrown behind Watkins , and he turns, and deflects it before its intercepted. It shouldn't have come to that, as the Vikings were a bad team that the Bills should have dominated on defense at home. The Bills only rushing four, and dropping in coverage allowed way to many rushing yards. Then they made a rookie QB look like an all pro at times. Minnesota is 30th in offense, and yet almost won. Frustrating game to watch, and yet exciting at the end.

Stuff like that happens when there is no continuity, and the good players on the line suddenly need to worry about other players doing their job correctly. Both Wood and Glenn benefited from the better play at LG from Levitre because they only needed to be concerned about their own jobs. I have no idea why Whaley hasn't figured out how to evaluate O line talent, or brought in some decent players to help the situation. If that Orten guy does go down with a serious injury I think we can forget about this year.

Yea I agree. As much as some of the bad we have seen from Orton, I think it would be 10x as bad with EJ for the simple reason he doesn't have the experience needed to read the defense and change the play at the line. Then make the play happen despite the crap called play. Its a good thing EJ is benched, and Orton is better at running this team, and for the entire teams sake. My only problem is he is making the play calling somewhat palatable because of his experience, so the offensive coaching looks better then what it is. This is a bad team right now, with lousy coaching, a really bad O line with three rookies. A DC that doesn't want to blitz very often, and still gets burned by rookie scrub QB's. Orton led the team back from behind to win in two games. So, the Bills can beat bad teams at home. I gotta wonder what they will look like on the road at the Jets. Its gonna be all on Orton because I doubt the coaching staff sets up the winning game plan.

I think what a lot of fans don't see is Orton's veteran experience paying off bigtime. He is often changing the play at the line, and the play works despite whatever crap Hackett called. Lets hope EJ is learning from watching Orton make his reads. Love Sammy, and sure hope they don't use him as a decoy anymore. Hope Fredex, and CJ a speedy recovery. This team almost lost to a bad team at home. I used to like Schwartz a lot, and not so much anymore with that rush only four strat that makes rookie QB's look like all pros.

That depends on how many times the OC wants to use him as a decoy again the rest of the year.

and the difference being that Orton is experienced enough to option out of Hackett's crap play call, and make the play. Then it helps to have great luck in the WR's making some great catches. I swear I saw Orton throw an EJ pass behind Watkins that could have ended that last drive.

It was an ugly win, and frustrating all the way up until that last series. Then it became exciting 4th down, 1st down. 5 seconds left, one play...TD Sammy

Unfortunately I will...

Ugly win, yet exciting!

SAMMY TD!

The Bills make things exciting don't they!! 5 seconds one play from the one!

WOW 7/11

We can do eeettt!!!

Orton throws an EJ type pass to an open Watkins