metzelaars_lives

Please fix the title of this thread. I helped my elderly neighbor move a cabinet this morning. That means you dropped the ball because you didn't help her first. The Bills do plenty for the community. This is not Bills news. It's well established that Terry Pegula is overly generous.

You need to fact check that one buddy. And yes I'm aware he played in the game against Tennessee.

I think it's BS that no Asian-Americans are being considered for NFL coaching positions. Here we have all these black coaches now and there still has never been an Asian-American head coach in the history of the league.

I would take Kuechly over Gilmore if pressed, but it's still very early. I'm still happy with the Gilmore pick.

I just heard his statement on WGR and while Chan was clearly choked up, I almost got choked up myself. He ended his statement by saying that it's the first team to let him go that he'll still pull for. What a classy thing to say. While I agree that he needed to be let go, I'm gonna miss that guy. Certainly couldn't say the same for the last three goobers that preceded him.

Wrong again. Gronk, Dalton/Kaepernick, Wilson- I actually agree with you. But if the Bills drafted Watt over Dareus at 3, Buddy Nix would've been committed to the looney bin. Troup/Aaron Williams/TJ Graham were the wrong picks AT THE TIME. Dareus was the right pick

Still can't take you seriously bro. Honestly I'm not cool with you bashing my QB when you back Tebow. When Tebow throws for 3,000 yards and 25 or so TD's for 3 straight years, let me know. To the OP: agree on all accounts.

Oh a thread with facts, how refreshing. How many times b/w the shoutbox and threads I've seen people say stuff like, "great, now we're picking 12th when we would've been picking 3rd" and stuff like that. Personally, I'll take the win and the slide from 6th to 8th. F*** the Jets.

Hell of a thread here. Thought-provoking post with original ideas that no one on here has ever dared invoke. Well done.

I really can't stand the whole "we're the only team that sucks" attitude. Dude the Jets' offense is considerably worse than the Bills' defense. I hope I'm wrong and they don't punt once for draft pick purposes, but come on man.

What I'm saying is either a) start only calling pass interference only when the receiver would've caught the ball otherwise. In other words, give the DB's a little bit more leeway. If not, then b) make pass interference 10 or 15 yards unless it is a blatant "the guy definitely would've caught it otherwise foul" (like your mugging example), in which case, keep it a spot foul.

Here we go...

It would just be another play that a coach could use his challenge on.

You clearly didn't read my article. A "mugging" would still constitute a spot foul. And DB's have been pretty successful against Calvin Johnson in the red zone this season. He only has 5 TD's. They simply double cover him every play once the Lions get close to the end zone.

They were able to make the distinction on face mask penalties- a rule they should have kept. It's very simple: it's a type B ten-yard penalty UNLESS it's noticeably egregious. Wow. I guess we can agree to disagree on that one.

From my personal blog, thought I'd share: I realize this article probably won’t be a great read unless you’re kind of a football geek, but the NFL sorely needs to address its current pass interference penalty. Not to insinuate that’s it’s going to be a great read even if you are, but you know what I mean. So the pass interference penalty in the NFL has been the same since I can remember: if an eligible receiver is interfered with, the offensive team gets the ball at the spot of the foul along with an automatic first down. This is an unjust rule on a number of levels and I’m going to do my best to illustrate why. Number one, in the rare instance that offensive pass interference is called, it’s a mere ten-yard penalty on the receiver. Translation: if a ball is thrown 45 yards downfield and the defensive back tackles the receiver, it’s a 45-yard penalty. Meanwhile, if that same receiver tackles the defensive back to prevent an interception, it’s a ten-yard penalty. This is a very unsubtle example of the NFL catering to the offensive side of the ball in an effort to inflate scoring. What you get as a result are coaches, who have weighed the risk and reward of the foul, encouraging their quarterbacks to heave the ball downfield once in a while even if the receiver is covered. It’s a smart play. Tom Brady does it all the time. Pass interference is called so much now that the reward far outweighs the risk- a loss of downs or offensive pass interference at worst. Even in the event that you throw an interception on the play, you’re still going to get enough pass interference calls throughout the season to more than compensate for it. My guess is that in the example mentioned above, if offensive pass interference cost the receiver that same 45 yards, you wouldn’t see teams heaving the ball just to try and draw a defensive pass interference call nearly as much. It is a play that is a black mark on the sport, much as it is for basketball when NBA players will jump into a defender and chuck the ball in the direction of the basket when the defender has left their feet in order to get to the foul line. Number two, speaking of basketball, in the NBA or any other sport for that matter, when a player is fouled, they are then given the opportunity to make up for the points they theoretically would have scored had they not been interfered with. So if you are fouled in basketball in the act of shooting, you go to the foul line to earn your two points. Similarly, if you are dragged down on a breakaway in hockey, you are awarded a penalty shot to try and beat the goaltender cleanly. Basketball decided many years ago that getting fouled while shooting shouldn’t be worth the same as actually putting the ball in the basket. However, with respect to the pass interference penalty in the NFL, getting interfered with is just as good as actually catching the ball. If the ball is thrown 45 yards downfield, it doesn’t matter if you catch it or if there is incidental contact between you and the defender, it’s worth the same 45 yards. It would be nearly identical to hockey officials awarding you a goal if you got hooked while attempting to score on a breakaway. Yes, while it’s true that they never actually award you a score in the NFL for a pass interference penalty, they do hand you the ball and give you a first down at the 1-yard line for a call in the end zone, which, without looking it up, has got to lead to a touchdown well over 90% of the time. This compared to hockey, where players are successful on a penalty shot attempt less than 50% of the time. In short, the penalty simply does not fit the crime. Number three, my issue is half with the rule itself and half with the way that it’s called nowadays. I feel like in the days of yesteryear, the defender really had to make a bad play on the ball to warrant a pass interference call; if he was beat, he would blatantly interfere with the receiver to prevent him from breaking an even bigger play. I have absolutely no issue with a play like that warranting a spot foul. But in recent years- and for whatever reason it seems to have hit a breaking point with fans this season- you are seeing ticky-tack pass interference calls nearly every single game. It has become harder and harder to be a defensive back in the NFL and, quite frankly, easier to be a receiver. In a recent Sunday night game between the Patriots and 49ers, there was a play in the third quarter that perfectly illustrated my frustration with the rule. Brandon Lloyd was streaking down the middle of the field, covered well by a 49ers’ defender. Tom Brady overthrew Lloyd and on a wet field, Lloyd clearly realized that there was no way he was going to catch the ball. So in a tactical move, he simply slowed down just enough to kind of become slightly entangled/make contact with the defender while putting on a little act that included flailing his arms. The ball landed five yards from the two players, yet soon too did the yellow flag. This was a ball that no one was catching. Yet Brandon Lloyd very smartly took advantage of a very flimsy, ambiguous rule and just like that, the Patriots get the ball 50 yards downfield. Again, this penalty cost the 49ers every bit as much as had Lloyd actually caught the ball. Rarely does a conundrum like this one have such a simple solution. In fact, most football aficionados with whom I’ve had a chance to discuss this very topic have volunteered the same solution to me before I even have a chance to tell them myself. As a football purist, what I wish they’d do is just start calling pass interference only in situations where the ball clearly would have otherwise been caught and give the defensive backs some of their leverage back. But since that won’t happen, what the NFL needs to do is institute a second pass interference call for less egregious fouls. This way, you continue to have a spot foul for pass interference type A and say, a ten-yard penalty for the more incidental, more common type B calls. Most people will suggest going with the college format of 15-yard pass interference calls in that situation and that would certainly be a marked improvement, but I think 15 yards is still a little harsh. And make it reviewable and challengeable while you’re at it. Why is there this silly rule that judgment calls cannot be reviewed? If we can put a man on the moon, we can allow referees to review judgment calls in a football game. And I hesitate to blame the refs themselves. The game moves fast and they are calling the plays the way the rule currently dictates and undoubtedly the way they are encouraged to by league officals. What they need to do is change the rule. I realize there are much more important things to worry about as we turn the calendar to a new year, but I love the NFL and I want it to be the best product that it can be. As I see it, this is far and away the biggest issue facing the game today from an on field standpoint. It’s gotten to the point that when the Bills benefit from one of these marginal pass interference calls way downfield, I even feel guilty- like they don’t rightly deserve the yards. And I’ll take anything I can get when it comes to the Bills. Clearly I’m not alone: a simple google search on the subject will yield an article in which former Vice President of Officiating for the NFL Mike Pereira echoes many of my same sentiments. The NFL isn’t the best league in the world by accident. It appears to me that the situation has in fact gotten to the point that the NFL is aware of it and will address it this offseason. That’s my prediction. I guess we’ll find out.

Dude I have a framed Thurman Thomas autographed plaque hanging in my office. Maybe my favorite PLAYER to ever watch on the Bills. Go to his twitter page and look at his tweets. He is a douche. What kind of grown man says, "It's on like a MOFO?" And not to turn this into a political thread, but you do know he was an adamant Carl Paladino supporter right up til the end?

Hell of a running back. Should've been a first-ballot hall of famer. Kind of a douche.

I too am rooting for them to loose on Sunday. I think it may maake the difference between being able to draaft the second QB available without having to traade up.

I remember when it used to snow in Buffalo.

Here we go.

YOU ARE WRONG. This is an outdated, antiquated notion. LOOK AROUND THE LEAGUE. You are seeing first-year coaches AND first-year QB's succeeding right away. This idea that if we got a new coach that we're "starting from scratch" is utterly ridiculous. We could and probably would improve right away in year 1 with a coach who knows how to manage a freaking clock. Football is complicated, but not as complicated as you're trying to make it out to be.

Maybe in the 80's. If the Bills had a) a stud QB like any number of other teams or b) Jim Harbaugh, they would've made the playoffs this season. They're not that far off. What are you afraid of the Bengals? The Ravens? The Steelers? The Jets? As much as it sucks, if they could just tweak a few MAJOR positions, they could very easily make the playoffs next season.

McKelvin and Willis were not in the same draft but I understand your point nonetheless.