thebandit27

Good question...not sure about the commonality of automatically checking to man when the backfield gets emptied, but I can guarantee you that NE knew what they were going to do. I mean, if I recognized it from the stands, you can bet better than even money that Brady knew.

I thought so at first as well, because my seats are on the visitor's sideline. The replay angle from the Bills' sideline shows me he wasn't all that close.

I don't see any miscommunication on the Gronk TD--in fact, it was great communication. Every player in the back 7 got the call to check RAT, and they did. Good communication; bad defensive scheme. My exact reaction was: "they just checked rat; it's man coverage...oh ****."

You're missing the point. Nobody is asking Tyrod to be Brady. Folks are asking him to make an NFL throw on more than half of his passes, and right now, he's not. That he can't do it creates a mile-wide chasm between him and Brady, and that's too great a difference to overcome if you want to win in this league. As to the last point, I've seen maybe 2 posters ask for him to be pulled; there's no point in even debating that. There is, however, a great deal of concern regarding who should start for this team next year.

See the clip below--when NE went empty, Buffalo checked to RAT, which is man-up I'm willing to bet on it.

I believe it was a "Rat Check" from a different defensive call. I remember watching it in real time and seeing each defender make the same call, which made me believe they checked "rat", which places each defender in man coverage against the closest eligible receiver. I'll see if I can find the page out of Rex's playbook... EDIT: found it...

These are non-sequitur arguments. The OP is saying that Taylor isn't the problem, and many of us believe that he is actually the biggest thing holding back the offense (which is a shame, because I really like the guy). If the argument is that he's the best we've got right now, I don't see many folks disagreeing with that. If the discussion is whether or not he should stay with the team next year at a near-$16M cap hit, well, I'm finding it rather difficult to support the idea that he's proven himself worthy of that.

Please. The team attempted 38 passes yesterday, and there maybe 4 drops. That leaves 15 incompletions that weren't drops...and it goes well beyond incompletions. The much bigger issue out there yesterday was that Taylor simply isn't seeing open WRs, and isn't willing to pull the trigger before guys come out of their break. I'm not saying that he needs to be Brady, but there's a mile-wide gap between watching Brady throw with anticipation and watching Taylor wait a full second too long before letting the ball go. It's the very reason that Brandon Tate has a concussion and that Nick O'Leary didn't see a target until the 4th quarter. Guys are getting open, and they're doing it quickly. Tyrod either isn't seeing them or doesn't trust himself to make the throws, because he's not making them. I disagree that it's accurate to focus in on one ill-advised play call and deem it a microcosm of a poorly-called game by the OC. When you're down 3 TDs in the 4th quarter, it isn't time to play smash-mouth ball. Defensively, the issue was the secondary. Period. The pass rush was actually very good--Brady was sacked 5 times and hit several other times; he simply managed to make throws anyway. The run defense was stout when called upon.

Which is scary, because coming into yesterday's game he was rated significantly higher than Darby by PFF (and for good reason I might add)

The Bills had two definite problems yesterday: the secondary and the QB

He simply doesn't see the field. Guys are open, and open early...the problem is that he won't throw with anticipation (i.e. before a guy comes out of his break), doesn't make an effort to throw guys open (a phrase that is over-used in most cases, but truly does apply to Tyrod), and is often late with his delivery. I really like Tyrod, but he is too limited to be a franchise QB.

He's had more than 1 poor game this year, but this statement is massive hyperbole. He's a very good player that has more mental lapses than is acceptable for a guy that wants the money that he wants.

Name a "truly great" corner and we'll test this hypothesis

Hey Curitiba. Just got the kids to bed, so forgive my lateness As always I'm going to call it like I see it...Gilmore was awful today. His 2nd awful game of the season. My problem with him this year has been the inconsistency, because he's been excellent in 3 games as well. I mean, he hadn't allowed a TD this season until today. More worrisome than Gilmore's play today is that the whole defense cannot get on the same page for more than a series or two. As to Gilmore himself, games like this put him closer to playing his way into UFA.

You know what? The heck with it...any given Sunday baby! Bills - 16 Pats**** - 14

His best performance as a pro came the week after the Wilson hit against SD, for whatever that's worth

I don't know...he was soooo bad against Va Tech

He was probably doing sled drags or pushups and the chains are for added upper-body resistance.

Hey, I try to give people the benefit of the doubt for as long as possible.

So he's due to lose one, yes?

You know what? Any given Sunday baby!

I always felt that the plan would be for him to be here in 2017 barring a total collapse, and I think that he's done a good enough job to warrant that--specifically how he handled the coordinator spots. I don't think he's getting a "pass" per se, but rather that he hasn't collapsed and thus gets his 3rd year. That said, 2017 better be a real step forward, else he should be shown the door.

How so? He hadn't missed more than 1 game in any season until he came to Buffalo.

I don't know about that. Yes, the stat is crazy, but the idea that he stands a good chance to out-pace Tyrod's yardage total by 297 yards seems unfounded. Even if Tyrod throws for 100 yards, which would be his lowest passing yardage total of the season, Brady would need to put up 398 yards on Buffalo's defense. Is it possible? Sure, and that's the crazy part. Is it likely? No.