JESSEFEFFER

I can hear Keith Jackson now!

The Bills went max protect and a triple teamed defender, Mercilus, beat the protection and caused the fumble. So many plays in that game would have made for some tough video review. TJ Watt punches should be illegal. When he misses it becomes more akin to a PF. I don't ever recall any other player going after the ball like that. He got Singletary to fumble.

I think in regards to the Houston game fumble, Josh had decided to make a throw. His eyes were fixed down field and his left had had just come off the ball but category 3 is the better match over 1. Mercilus beat Kroft, Singletary and Dawkins on the play and accidentally poke checked it from Josh's right hand with the back of his. Sorry, I have had a thing with reviewing those strange plays that went wrong from that game. The excuse I see for fumbles of the #2 type is that QBs are not only not hit in practice but they aren't even to be touched. I think that does not prepare them well for in game defenders making a play on him.

Ball security for a QB is impossible to simulate in a practice setting. No one is allowed to make any contact with them that comes anywhere near what defenders produce during a game. As for the injury concerns I think the hits he takes in the pocket are just as dangerous. So I am resigned to hoping he learns to protect the ball and himself better as time goes on but not necessarily run less.

Careful Bills. You might get Gase fired at halftime.

I think it was only reduced. From a ridiculous $25K to $5K or so. For the record Cody made contact with his arms down and head up. The defender saw it coming and defended himself and only took two steps back after the bump of a block. More like a pick in basketball than something threatening injury. The league video that showed examples of plays the new rule would apply to were all "decleters" where the defender was laid out to his back and an injury threat was very real.

I agree. Bills actually have matchup advantages all over the field in a way that we have forgotten about what it means. Spread the field, 11 or 10 personnel maybe no huddle. No DiMarco or a real attempt to replace him means something to me. But...............

I will engage here. Sure there has been progress. That is mostly the story of our country. But, the story is not finished and there should be widespread awareness about all the forces at play. The arc of history may bend toward justice but there are forces that are counter opposed trying to influence our culture one way or another. What to do about racists with badges? Certainly police culture does not actively root them out. They deal with the worst among us, often having the worst day of their lives while often bearing arms. They are systematically disrespected by many, overly stressed, with their fingers are on the trigger. When they do a traffic stop or answer a domestic disturbance call their minds are full of crap that can go wrong. Thus, they are culturally reluctant to hold their peers accountable and becoming jaded towards the communities they police is a fairly normal, human outcome. Judge not lest you be judged is the mantra. Bad outcomes or policing mistakes are best covered up lest the crap hits the fan. I think it's much the same with military in active combat zones. Rooting out the bad apples is not a priority. But, imo, the newest and biggest force working to do so is cameras of the cell phone and body worn type. How long have they been in wide existence? None of this happens without the videos which bear witness to the events. These often exonerate the actions of the police which is a good thing too. So this is a powerful cultural force recently injected into the equation but I sense police do not like being recorded doing their jobs.

I like this thinking. It may be that having an offensive minded head coach vs. a defensive minded head coach bakes certain situational biases into the cake but capable, even stellar offensive play will eventually change McD's mindset.

Some are very offended by players kneeling as a protest against systemic racial inequality in matters of policing and criminal justice. Some are very offended by police kneeling on a handcuffed person's neck for 6 minutes until he died. The majority of us are somewhere in the middle of the spectrum of being offended. Offended to one way or another but not enough so to actively protest or triggered enough to assail those who do. Our country has only been the best version of itself when we collectively care about offering all its citizens "liberty and justice" in equal measure. But, our history tells us this has always been a struggle.

Back on page 4 Lurker posted a spreadsheet of all his 2019 punts. A few obvious shanks but I think it supports Promo's view. He had some very nice games vs. Titans, Browns and Broncos. More consistency hitting them and maybe better directional control would be ways for him to improve and it's not like he can't still improve.

He would have had to wait a year to get that deal, imo. The whole point was that he got that deal done a year sooner rather than a potentially bigger deal later.

BN on Bojorquez. Maybe not as bad as we think or maybe there is not a comprehensive measure of how well punters perform although there have been recent attempts that are attempting to do that. The first search beat the paywall although now it won't. Mark Gaughn article from February that made a case that he was effective by maxing fair catches and limiting returns.

If Rivers can't play for Reich/Sirianni behind the best OL in the league then he is done.

Trent could have a restructure deal on the table with less cap hit and more guaranteed like Kroft. It could be up in the air pending an answer.

Here are Mike Clay's rankings. Not directly comparable but qualitatively so. No improvement for Josh, very low IDL, the WR group is way down from where he had them in the spring, 9 projected wins, an overall team ranking of 19. I don't know if she's the worst but I like hers more as a Bills fan. She's saying somewhere in the top 10 and he's saying bottom half.

Me too. I think that is high based on last year but maybe she is projecting a big improvement based on the continuity they have among that group and the offensive coaching staff in general.

Here are all of them. QB.......15 RB.......13 WR......05 OL.......05 DL.......07 LB.......12 CB.......02 S.........02

Good point. I did not remember it being done and it turns out that she did not include them as a position group.

Here's the entire video of all position groups. It's 18+ minutes but is very favorable to the Bills. All position groups for all 32 teams ranked.

I saw a YT video of all position groups as ranked by Frelund. She had Bills QBs at 15 which is fair, imo. That was the worst position rank for the entire team. Amazing Grand Master Wizardry by Beane putting this roster together and by McD and staff making a team of it. They could be something special.

The only thing worse than 4 preseason games is 0 preseason games. It's sort of like going to a movie theater to watch a well made comedy. The movie is funnier if you can share that emotion with a multitude of fellow movie goers. There is no emotional connection to the preseason with the way this was handled and the Bills Manhatten Project type secrecy has not helped. I hope that once the games start that changes but it seems more than likely it will be just another example of where nothing can be fully enjoyed, if it can be enjoyed at all.

Looking at the standard NFL passer rating measure, Josh was a strong performer in RZ, 4th quarter, 3rd and 10+ and road games. The numbers are 94.2, 109.7, 108.2 and 92.6, respectively. This totally ignores what he adds as a runner, which we know is elite. I think it's odd to say that he wasn't helping them win.

I thought the same thing. Nothing like spiking the ball at the 5 yard line for being a bad look.

Without seeing any video to form my own opinion, I will say this. We want Josh to throw "with anticipation," "before the break," or "the receiver open." Say it anyway you want but any disruption in the route, usually at the break, will make the QB look very bad. One drop, one throw away on a protection failure and two where the intended receiver stumbled adds up to some bad looks. It may all be the difference between playing the #1 defense vs. the #2.