JESSEFEFFER

For college QBs, sacks and the lost yardage count as rush attempts so that 5.5 ypc average is likely closer to 7 on actual runs/scrambles.

QBs holding the ball with their back turned to the D is a bit of a gamble. If there is a defender in his grill when he turns his head around it could go poorly. Josh getting depth and sprinting out would create extra space between him and any edge defender who did not take the bait and Josh with a little extra time and space is very dangerous. If needed, he then could juke, stiff arm and/or pump fake and keep rolling to then either run or throw. I feel like any RZ possession where the Bills failed to get the TD and Josh did not run the ball or use boot/waggle action was not a serious attempt to score.

I can't see the article because of ad blocks but I would think that NFL Ticket Exchange policy would be unaffected. Private sales requiring transfer are the only ones affected?

Guys play hurt all the time, often with whatever relief modern medicine can offer. Guys try to play injured too, and then play like crap and it hurts their team and their reputation. It's almost no win for them. Try and fail and you suck, don't try and the team loses then you were weak, not tough enough, slacking, selfish or whatever.

I think Nantz/Romo have done all of 4 Bills games since Josh became QB1. 2018 vs. Vikings, 2019 vs. Cowboys Thanksgiving, 2021 AFC Championship and this season vs. Tampa Bay. Maybe I am missing some. I'd say the reason for this is because they are usually in higher viewership 4 to 7 window. They have been largely entertained by what they have seen and fair with their commentary, imo. They talk like they have seen some of the Bill's games above and beyond the ones they covered. Others talk like they are seeing the Bills play for the first time and are basing play descriptions solely on hearsay/reputation.

I have taken the opportunity to mention how I think he could/would out do Tony Romo as a color analyst. He knows just as much football, has more humor/personality, has played for 9 different NFL franchises and coaching staffs, has more relationships throughout the NFL world and likely has more league wide good will than any other human being on the planet. He could make Romo kind of money doing that job which would trump the money he made as a QB.

That has him for 61 games which would be the number of career regular season games in which he has appeared.

This is tough everywhere. I spent some time in the Charlotte/Matthews area for work on 3 occasions and had trouble finding anything open to watch the TNF games. Best I could do was a Buffalo Wild Wings. Depending on which direction you head, this may be an option. It is SouthWest of the stadium and the traffic is much less than in most any other direction. You could get there. denny's hamburg.pdf

Actually, this posts reminds me that for the Bills preseason game vs. Packers on 8/28 it was 91F which I remember hearing was their hottest home game on record. Our seats were in the shade but those in the direct sun were suffering and that side of the stadium soon cleared out. Some were taken out on stretchers. I said to those around me that we should remember this day come December when we are here all bundled up and trying to get through the game.

Having a 5th home game since the start of December is crazy, stupid scheduling. I have an extra pair one section over from where I sit with my brother. They have been used by other family or me 5 times, resold twice, and never sold twice including at 80% of face value for the Patriots MNF game. I tried to list them for this game at $40 but it autocorrected to $45. The resale market has been weak and shrinking all season due to the factors already discussed. Making a profit has not been on the radar this year. Trying and failing to break even has me thinking twice about reupping for next year.

I watched some of the end-of-season season presser he had along with Joe Douglas. I like his demeanor. He seems like a trust the process kind of leader. In the 3 games he faced the Bills (2020 with SF) he got fully immersed in all the problems the Bills can create for an opponent. His answer makes total sense to me based on those 3 games alone.

I want to see the day when the NFL decides to embed a GPS chip at both ends of the ball or maybe the TV networks can just track it the same way they do for baseball and golf. Launch angle, launch velocity, RPMs, time of flight, the wind effects on flight, etc, I'd like to know the numbers from one direction to another, one QB, P or Pk to the next. At the very least, they probably could do a much better job at marking the ball for first downs and TDs. For windy days, shallow crossing routes with picks/rubs, screen passes and QB scramble runs are great ways to get 1st downs. Unfortunately, the Bills don't do these things much for whatever reason. In extreme cold, hard throws should ideally be to the body and touch throws should be on routes where the receiver can have eyes on the ball as early as possible to track and adjust to the flight of the ball.

Bottom of the legal limit at locker room temp of ~72F and then take them outside at ~5F temp and they should be about perfect.

I park at ECC off of Rt 20 ($35--look in the lot near the football field if the attendant says the lower lot is full) or across RT 20 at Bert's Bikes ($25 it's about a mile from there to my seat.) The traffic light there is a huge plus. Once you clear the blinking yellow light at Big Tree/Tops parking lot, it's normal traffic flow all the way home. There's new Dollar General (those places sprout out of nowhere--like weeds I say) next to the bike shop that looks ready to open. That will be a busy place on gamedays.

I think this is what they have convinced themselves is the basic truth. While the Bills defense may be very good they are more finesse than fierce and can be pushed around and though Josh was fantastic in the second game, the Pats were within one score in the 4th quarter and the Bills were one mistake away from being beaten. It is statistically unlikely that Josh can be that great in back to back games. It's not analysis, it's fandom.

Any QB metrics that don't grade on a curve for weather conditions are inherently biased. As far as I know, none even attempt to do so. Those that say "It's Buffalo--what do you expect?" I say most home games have been weekly outliers. Nicer days before or after the game and worse on gamedays. Deep shots into or with the wind come with a built in extra degree of variance. Touch passes are more susceptible to wind effects, so that's why Josh is throwing rockets. With the colder weather, his passes are even more difficult to catch so everyone is wanting Josh to power down. Also, a slower ball = slower release = more time for pass rushers and defenders to react. Most every QB in the NFL is no match for the Bills defense + tough weather. Our QB can still make plays and is willing to try, so embrace it.

Tipped passes and what happens thereafter are pretty much random events. Mahomes had 2 on consecutive plays.

I think the conclusion is correct but basing it on the QBR of opponents is whacky. Home losses to the Pats and Colts had next to nothing to do with QB play. Imo, the Bills struggled in games where their OL/DL struggled. I can't explain it any other way. They look better now in that department than they have all season.

What I am pointing to is that the demand for in person attendance and thus the resale market in general, has been down the entire season. I have an extra pair which I have resold for 3 games. Pitt game prices dropped significantly when it was announced in August that the border would stay closed. Those seats for the Patriots game never sold at less than face value. The $8 resale market for this game is the continuation of a season-long, downward trend.

Vaccine mandate, closed and restrictive border crossing, deteriorating weather (this is a thing--the weather on days surrounding the actual gamedays has been much better) cluster of games before and after Christmas including a 9th home game that was added on in January instead of September where it should have been. All of that shrinks demand as we approach the week 18 game. But the lifting of the TV blackout rule in 2015 is bigger than the sum of all the other factors, imo. The TV broadcasts are digital signals on HD, much more affordable big screen TVs and cost near nothing to watch. The food and drink are better and cheaper and you can choose with whom you "attend." You miss none of to very little of the other games offered before or after. The costs in terms of time and money for in person attendance keep going up and the home viewing experience keeps getting better.

It is silly that the Bills have had 4 home games scheduled after December 1 with two after Christmas. With at least 1 home playoff looming and no threat of any blackouts, staying home and watching on a high definition, big screen TV seems like a great idea to me.

Exactly.

I have not watched the Fox broadcast yet. I thought Sanchez might offer some insight into Josh's playing style because of their association through the QB summit so all the complaints about his commentary surprised me some. When Josh did the podcast interview with Mark, which was very good, Sanchez seemed genuinely concerned with the hits Josh allows himself to take and wanting him to play with more discretion which is a concern many Bills fans share. The debate we had about NFL passer rating vs. ESPN's Total QBR was starkly contrasted in this game. Passer rating was 17 and QBR was a respectable 61. Seems like Kubiak agrees with the latter. You beat me to it while I was creating my post. QBR is a mystery but I like it when it passes my eye test.

I believe that the pocket is more dangerous for a QB with defenders falling and rolling into their legs (Theisman, Jim Kelly, Alex Smith) and blindside hits to ribs and back. Russell Wilson smashed his thumb on a helmet and missed a month and Tua got his ribs cracked afer getting crushed by AJ. I have noticed Josh do some smart things in the pocket to avoid injury. A post throw hop to get his feet off the ground with OL/DL falling into his legs. A short arm, flick of a throw to avoid an oncoming defender's helmet. Josh seems rare with how he absorbs hits. After the concussion hit, he ran off the field to the locker room. After the foot thing vs. TB he was still ripping off big runs. I think he does slide but mostly when he sees a bigger defender in his way and he is happy with the yards he got. The littler DBs are like bowling pins to him. Hurdling is one way to avoid them. The worst one I can think of is the twisting tackle Bosa made last year. It looked bad in the moment. I think about are Brett Favre being addicted to pain killers because he needed them to play every week and Andrew Luck retiring early because of the constant cycle of injury, pain, surgery and rehab. Another is Josh's first ever run while at Wyoming that broke his collar bone. That's not likely to be the type of injury one would get in the pocket. It's a brutal, brutal game that, as Doug Whaley clumsily said, humans shouldn't play. Josh seems unaffected after most games. Like he had been playing Frisbee at the park. I know that can't be true.

The worst weather games the Bills play in have almost always been home. Imo, the differential is almost totally due to weather effects on the passing game but mostly isolated to just a few games where QB numbers were pretty bad on both sides. The Bills passing D is great but if it weren't for bad weather home games I doubt they would be the #1 pass defense since 2017 when Sean took over. The 2019 games vs. Philadelphia and Baltimore, 2020 vs. NE and LAC and most every game this season have been wind affected, even the Steelers game. There are some throws that are just much tougher to complete and are almost not worth attempting. That over throw of wide open Diggs vs. the Steelers in week 1 was into the wind which was 16-20 mph. Josh probably just put too much on it and overcompensated. Even if Josh puts the ball where it needs to be, the ball is tougher to track and catch as it will tend move in unpredictable ways as evidence by the ball that hit Diggs in the elbow vs. the Pats. I do not think Josh and/or Daboll have had smart high wind game plans. Over the years I have seen Phil Rivers (2013) and Carson Wentz be very effective with shallow crossing rub routes going for big YAC and screens plus QB scrambles to convert 3rd downs, respectively. It looks like the Bills try to run their normal offense and hope Josh can still make enough plays. Josh not taking any velocity off his short, over the middle throws in 26F weather is one example of what I mean. There are adjustments to playing in bad weather and I don't think Bills have been good at making them.