JESSEFEFFER

Tracking a ball over one's shoulder and adjusting to it is not easy. Beasley had one hit him in the helmet in Jets1 and one through his hands vs Ravens. It seems to not be his thing. Brown is good at it I think. Zay was poor and Foster not so much either. I think Duke has shown to be pretty good at it in a few game settings and in some of the practice highlights we have seen. The EZ post TD against the Titans is another strong route for Duke. It is tough for a DB to make a play on the ball around Duke's wider body.

Joe Marino--Locked on Bills Very good podcast. Has a good, professional broadcast voice, his family lived on Grand Island for a time before moving to NC, he is a Bills fan and he does draft evaluations for the The Draft Network which I find to be better than most.

I'll trust Joe Marino's take. He says it's not Duke over McKenzie or Foster. It's Duke over Kurt Coleman as the roster choice. Also, I have not heard/read any evaluation of Duke's run blocking post Jets game but I thought it was very good against the Titans. I prefer physical tenacity over finesse in most offensive situations. I'd think he could win most any matchup vs. a DB3.

Graded against the measure of all NFL QBs I'd say C+. Redzone, 4th quarter, improved ball security and clutch running ability elevate his grade beyond his raw passing stats which aren't so impressive. Measured against last year or the standard of 2nd year NFL starting QBs, he rates a solid B. Some nice playoff performances could take the final grade higher.

Tracking the ball over the shoulder and adjusting to it is not easy. Maybe JB is the only other wr any good at it.

Poorly done, imo. Crowd wasn't expecting it in the first quarter. They ran a video of him for the Walter Payton award shortly after and that got a bigger response but many fans tune out the Jumbotron during times out. Not in the 1st quarter. Fans were not dialed in for it to happen then, imo.

I basically remember who or what I fault when things go poorly. For some reason that's what sticks with me.

Details long forgotten by me. Woodford leaving via the means he did hurt. The fact that there was not an at the replacement for him made the hurt linger.

Ha! I took to long to type my answer but at least we agreed on the o-line point. As to Jeff Wright, he may have been among the Bills best defenders in Super Bowl XXV. Conlan had a great game too but neither was involved in that Mark Ingram 3rd and 13 play that killed their chance to end that first Giants drive of the 3rd quarter.

Off hand I would say that John Butler tried to keep the team intact as best he could for one last run. By that time age, free agency salary cap crap and such meant that the end was approaching in some inevitable way. It was jsut a matter of when. One big issue that I remember was the decline of the o-line. The Bills lost both tackles (Wohlford and Ballard) to free agency, Wohlford in 93 to some shady contract language that prevented the Bills from matching which has since been made illegal. Ballard was replaced by Jerry Crafts who I likened to a bank vault door swiveling on a hinge. The Bills got caught without a decent replacement for Ballard, and Crafts was the weak link of that line who was huge by the standards of 25 years ago but was remarkably slow footed, imo.

I think what was described rings true. During the open part of practice, the Bills were working on some fake punts and Fairburn reported on it. Coach confronted him and went sort of McDeranged, got in his grill and accused him of not being "on the team" mixed in with some profanities. Fairburn never reported on the exchange because good reporters never want to become part of the story. This was mixed with the preGiant game postings around the AdPro facility about Shurmur's low bar assessment of Josh Allen. These were left in places where the press had easy access and McD seemed to be uncomfortable even talking about it after the reporting. My take is that McD is that details kind of guy that the Pegulas wanted their next HC to be. The thing about people like him is that they think every little detail is important because they believe some small, unforeseen detail can be what gets them beat. It's the "for want of a nail a kingdom was lost" mindset that defines the style of many successful leaders. We know Rex is not that type of leader and we know how his Bills teams lost some critical games which left most of us wanting an anti Rex HC. If all of this is as presented, I think Sean was out of line in how he handled it, given that it was in the open part of practice and Fairburn was just doing his job, imo. He could have made it clear where he thinks the line is without the physical intimidation part but I doubt he would see it that way. Again, he would see it as some small detail that could get his team beat and that he needed to forcefully address it with crystal clear intent. I think the Bills are in good hands but would not be surprised if such things happen again. Thinking of Belichick's staff (+ son) watching the Bills pregame warmup.

Imo, his completion % is more the result of "stuff" and less the cause of "stuff." I think the Bills offense would function well in Houston. It would almost be a treat for them to play in a climate controlled domed stadium much like it was for them in Dallas.

100%. All it would take is for a slight tip or a bobble and it would be picked. By the distance they would appear to be easy throws but when you see the replay you realize what having a big time arm actually provides. It's not a 60 yard throw, it's more what it can do with limited time in small spaces.

I thought the Patriots owned the lines on both sides of the ball. How many times was Brady hit vs Josh? How much did the Bills get from their run game vs what the Pats got from theirs? Playcalling and QB playmaking look different through the lens of overmatched lineplay. OT would have been fun but the Pats would have had the advantage there due to their line play. Brady had a much easier game than Josh, imo.

Nice technique to avoid an overthrown deep ball.

Something like: Bills beat Pats = 40% Bills beat Jets = 75% Phins beat Pats = 13% .4 x .75 x .13 = .039

My gut feeling is that a 23 year old QB that plays well relative to his peers in Redzone, 4th quarter and 3rd and long must have some special qualities. Winning while learning is not easy and you have to wonder what it will look like once he has it figured out.

I would need to watch a day's worth of highlight videos to get the image of Josh stiff arming his face into the New Era turf on the QB draw last year.

Gore has been very good as the closer RB. Ball security, tough yards and some first downs when the D knows he will be running it. The heavy short yardage is a fail all over the league, imo, as one failed block lets a defender meet the ball carrier 2 yards behind the line.

Not many of us that are happy to admit it. I am partial to MSB's "My Town." I know Cleveland kind of "owns" it but is the anthem of Great Lakes Rust Belt cities and their proud residents defiantly fighting for a comeback. But, I am pretty old now and have entered Classic Rock status myself. For instance, I never know any of those songs that they run the polls on during the home games and see no connection between them and football/Bills.

Outdoors in the NE in late November/December/January is not conducive to looking good on offense. It just isn't. I think just as in the Dallas game, the Bills offense will view it as a bonus to play in a domed stadium in January. It would be in their comfort zone.

The baby photos of the Edmunds boys with their dad, William and Mary College clips of Tomlin and McDermott with shots of their college coach at the game is all good. His McNasty nickname was new to me. With everyone complaining about Collinsworth's commentary, you seem to be wishing there was more of it. It was nice seeing my team get the star treatment for the first time in decades. If things as well as I think they will we are all going to need to get used to it. This will all become more routine.

Eric Wood is the next roastee for WGR550 charity celebrity roast event. It's at Riverworks next year and Fitz brought the house down when Fred Jackson was the roastee. I would think Fitz couldn't stay away from Eric's event. Fitz does his Fitzmajic thing and pulls the upset, we go crazy collecting money for his charity and present the check to him at Eric's roast. Sounds perfect to me.

I think the one Watt attempted on Josh that just barely missed was even more "vicious." A direct hit on the ball with that punch move is going to dislodge it the majority of the time.

I agree with most of this and will add to it. The way they treat their fans, players and employees is first class. It's not that way everywhere in the NFL. They are patient with the results but will pull the trigger and make changes when they realize that the right people are not in place, even when it costs them money to do so (Rex, for instance.) It's easy to blame these changes on "being in over their heads" or "inexperienced" owners but really its much the same as drafting a QB. You look for traits that you think will matter and hope it works out. Rex had some credibilty as to running the show but was mostly covered by b.s. and sabotaged by lack of attention to details. You think Kim and Terry learned something about what traits are most important for a HC? Once they get things right I doubt that their egos would be why they fail to keep it intact.