All_Pro_Bills

You knew coming into the game that Watt and the Houston pass rush was going to give the Bills line trouble. But I didn't see Hackett design anything unique for this game to counter that or perhaps focus on the run game against a defense giving up 5.5 yards per rush so far this season. A steady dose of FJ to the tune of 25+ carries (he got 7) was called for here and we didn't get that. The call and outcome on the red zone interception was a flashback to the KC game last season. A game where you were running all over the defense to that point. If that's your go-to move then just kick the FG on 3rd down. But if you want perfect pass protection and receivers running clean routes and never dropping passes you can make me the QB and I'll hit 60%. I'm afraid that EJ just doesn't have 'IT'. And the players know that too. Just seeing their body language tells you the story. Your QB has to make a play or two during the game that makes the difference. Some here believe time and experience are what's needed for him to develop into a competent QB. So at this point it looks like we're going to spend this season and maybe next finding out that's not going to happen. We have a playoff defense, good special teams, and a good group of skill players on offense. There's no way we go into Detroit next weekend and come away with a win based on this week's offensive performance. And then there's NE next. How does a 2-4 look and a win against the Vikings and a loss to the Jets to finish the first half of the season at 3-5? Make the change now before its too late for this year.

I want to see some 'speed' packages with Watkins, Goodwin, and Spiller split out. Utilize these 3 players with elite top end speed to pressure the defense mentally and physically. Linebackers aren't going to cover Spiller and you should be able to set up some mismatches and single coverage without help over the top with the defense. If they go to the nickel you can shift back to the run against 6 or 7 in the box instead of the 8 we're seeing now with the offense designed to set up a 3rd and 7 after 1st and 2nd down runs up the middle for a total of 3 yards. Look at what Chip Kelly is doing in Philly. Along with operating at a faster pace he's designed the offense to set up mismatches in space that favor the offensive player. That's dictating the pace, terms, and matchups of play to the defense. We have the receivers to do things consistent with that philosophy and it might even simplify read and recognition for EJ and get him into some kind of comfort zone which it is obvious he isn't in now.

McKelvin, he consistently catches punts but drops interceptions. Can't fugure that one out..

The implilcation would have been it was the Eagles that reached on a 1st round pick rather than the Bills and they'd have probably picked a different 'project' QB later in the 2013 draft or in 2014. And we'd probably still have Fitzpatrick under center which might be have been sligtly better as far as offensive productivity. I don't expect it but if Fitzpatrick lights up the Bills defense on Sunday this board is going to go Bill-istic!

I too hope EJ works out but why did the Bills braintrust 'reach' for a guy they more than likely could have picked in the 2nd and maybe the 3rd while using that 1st rounder to address another area? I seriously doubt any other team had Manuel rated as high. To me that's an element of the evaluation of his performance. From where I sit, he just doesn't play the position the way I expect a 1st round choice to play and while others claim to 'see' some incremental improvement I am not so sure. I think many of the negative views on EJ are judged not solely on his performance but his performance relative to where he was selected in the draft. If he was a 3rd round choice would we judge his performance in the manner we do or would our views be adjusted to expectations of a 3rd round choice vs. a 1st round choice. The way I see it part of the frustration and disillusionment is the inability of this organization to identify and acquire a competent player at the QB spot. And I think we take out some of that frustration on EJ when he just is what he is.

Here's the truth they never mention about cities where there's 'a lot to do'. 99% of the people there don't do any of those things.

Appreciate the time and effort you put into your analysis and I agree EJ is a 'project'. But here is where I differ. A project is a series of steps that reaches some objective. In this case taking a 'raw' QB talent and transforming him into a competent NFL starting QB. So you should be able to measure progress using some kind of assessment. So given a full off-season of workouts, working on mechanics, soliciting input from other QB's, working with his receivers, rehabing injury, studying film, the playbook, and working on the mental aspects of the game, along with a full 5 game pre-season and training camp, what measureable progress do you see? I still see a guy that throws an occasional good ball with good mechanics and footwork but the majority of time he has bad mechanics, poor throwing motion and lousy footwork. I see a few good accurate throws but mostly high and behind the receiver, generally off target. His screen passes are terrible for example. I don't see a QB that has a better handle on pre-snap reads, or works through his progressions effectively unless he's got perfect protection. So what improvements does anyone see between his last few performance of last season and the three game so far other than they are 2-1 this season to date? Because what I see is a QB that shows flashes of good play but generally substandard performance and there isn't any measureable improvement between this seasons work and last seasons.

I expect EJ to be able to execute some basic throws with consistency and accuracy. This is not really too much to ask for from somebody coming out of a major college football program. Like consistently hit an open receiver on a 5 yard crossing pattern placing the ball in front of the receiver, at shoulder level, and hitting him in stride rather than throwing the ball high and behind similar to the throw that almost got Goodwin killed yesterday. I expect the QB to be able to execute a screen pass that doesn't require the running back to jump with arms extended to catch a high, floating pass that allows the defense to close on the play which turns a potential 10+ yard play into a 3 yard play. I expect the quarterback to be able to consistently execute basic 15-20 yard throws rather than miss wide open receivers high and wide. I expect a QB that is said to have 'arm strength' to be able to deliver the ball with velocity and 'on a rope' vs. floating a flopping spiral that's up for grabs. What I see instead is a QB that is not showing a lot of positive body language and a throwing motion more like a guy trying to 'aim' a football through a tire at the carnival rather than the delivery motion of an NFL quarterback.

The Houston game is winable but there's no way this team goes into Detroit and comes away with a win unless they get better play out of the offense and more production out of the QB position. 10 points isn't going to win many games. And while I'm down on EJ because of his accuracy and checking down way too much there are other issues here. The coaching staff has him overthinking and fearful of mistakes. So they need to take the training wheels off and let him take some chances, rely on his instincts, get him into space more, etc. Maybe its my limited understanding about offensive game planning but the approach to the games over 3 weeks seems way too vanilla and conservative to me. Whatever it is, just by watching you can see EJ is not in any kind of comfort zone. They need to open things up vs. all the runs up the middle calls. As another poster mentioned before at the end of the game they're down 2 scores and are content to dink and dunk down the field looking to lose 22-17. You are going burn the entire clock and lose doing that so there's no reason not to take the risk of pushing the ball down the field. You need to get yards in chunks. And if you mess up and the final score ends up 29-10, so what? You lose anyway without trying. This is another indication of playing scared. In this case you're scared to lose by more than 12 points. Look at Denver. They went down the field in 6 plays for 80 yards in 41 seconds and no timeouts yesterday to tie the game and send it to overtime. They ending up losing but that's not the point. We don't have Manning but the coaches need to let the players know they believe and let them go for it. If the coaches don't believe there's a chance that EJ can lead them to a quick TD score, maybe special teams recovers an onside kick, and he drives them down to win 24-22 as time runs out then how is he supposed to believe in himself? Marrone simply conceded the game after the safety

EJ consistently throws the ball behind and high to his receivers. Its on him that Goodwin almost got killed On a 5 yard crossing pattern the ball was thrown high and behind Goodwin. This is just one example. That's a basic throw. A competent QB must consistently put the ball in front of the receiver near the hands in stride in the direction the receiver is running. It doesn't get any more basic. That all said the offensive line didn't do EJ an favors yesterday. You have to be able to pick up a basic line stunt and hold a block now and then but once in a while you need to make a good throw under pressure. You can't teach accuracy. And that's a problem. If fans want to believe time and experience is going to correct accuracy problems I fear they are mistaken. Experience give you recognition, composure, and awareness, and knowledge. And most troubling is the head coach pretending this isn't a problem when commenting after the game. If Marrone really believe his QB had a good game then his judgment is faulty. He's more likely just covering for EJ. EJ is a likeable person and someone you root for but I've concluded he simply doesn't have 'IT'.

Let them fear coming into our house! Take what you want out of the Chargers win last weekend but the Seahawks are 9-8 on the road with Russell Wilson at QB which to me kind of puts last weeks 'upset' into a different perspective.

I don't expect the 'experts' to pick the Bills to win until they get the Vikings at home in week 7. But does it really matter? On the CBS pre-game show Boomer and Barkley picked the Bills, I looked at USA Today nobody picked the Bills with some pointing to the game as a 'lock'. I'm sure the Chargers will be favored going into next Sunday. They just beat the Suprt Bowl champs. But SB winners don't go 16-0 the next season and I watched a lot of San Diego/Seattle. I didn't get the impression the defending champs brought their 'A' game here and the Chargers made the plays that made the difference and the Seahawks did not. As for the experts, I've concluded these guys don't watch much game tape because if they did watch the Bills/Bears and Dolphins/Pats from week 1 (the 30 minute shortcuts are good for this) they would have seen a Bills team that edged the Bears in a very competitive hard-fought contest and a Dolphins team that clearly lost the 1st half and clearly won the 2nd half where Brady was way off and the Pats defense couldn't tackle anyone. Maybe it was the heat, maybe the number of plays the Dolphins 'O' ran, maybe Miami got their game together? But from what I saw on tape from week 1, watching both games and knowing we'd have home-field-advantage, I couldn't see how the Bills could lose if they played with the same consistency as week 1. The Chargers are a good team but they are far from flawless. And although they get no respect yet its becoming obvious the Bills are a good team too. Maybe I'm getting a bit ahead of things but my expectation is the Bills are for 'real' this season and perhaps with the exception of the Denver game on the road I'm not afraid of anybody on the schedule based on what I've seen the first 2 weeks.

Looking at the schedule we'll probably be talking about nobody picking the Bills to win until the October 19th game at home vs. Minnesota..

More than pop culture it's the political culture. Control the language along with what can be said and what can be discussed and you control thoughts and ideas.

I watched the 30-minute game shortcut of the Pats-Dolphins game yesterday. My overall reaction was that talk of New Englands demise is premature. I didn't see any start-to-finish domiant performance. NE clearly won the 1st half and Miami certainly had the better of the play in the 2nd with a 23-0 run. M. Wallace should learn to be a gracious winner and keep his mouth shut because they play again.

My expectation is a wildly enthusiastic crowd representing the newly re-energized Bills fan base (we're 3-0 this week, Bills win, JK cancer free, TP buys the Bills) is going to be the difference here in a close game. On Sunday we'll witness the rebirth of home-field-advantage at RWS and the start of making life miserable for the road time once again..

The big difference yesterday was the defense finished the game. They held Chicago to a FG on the last regulation drive rather than do something we've come to expect- which is to allow a TD with 30 seconds left. And they held on the opening drive of OT. Let's hope this is a trend rather than an expection but if I'd characterize the play of the Schwartz defense to the Pettine defense I'd say this year's version played with more 'control'.

The hurry up made no sense. First you do it right, then you do it faster. Doing it wrong faster leads to more punts and a tired defense in the 4th quarter. Play calling - 3rd and 1 is not a passing down the majority of the time. Didn't see much variation in game plan from opponent to opponent regardless of who they were playing against with the exception that Tuel and Lewis threw more downfield than EJ. If its not a play calling difference but rather a QB difference we have a major problem with our starter's confidence. That said, I'm expecting to see some 'designed' plays specifically for Watkins and Spiller this year. I don't want to see the same offensive plays with Spiller or Jackson in the game. Tailor the calls to the situation and the personnel. I want to see calls that get Watkins into space. I'd like to see more use of EJ's mobility, rolling out and throwing on the move, because it seems he's more accurate and comfortable moving out of the pocket and throwing on the run.

This does seem to be on Marrone because barring injuries, the coaching staff should be settled by this point on the 5 starters for the offensive line. This is creating more confusion, inconsistency, and a lack of communication resulting in a lot of blown assignments. On some plays I saw 6 guys blocking 3 while the 4th rusher came unblocked. Right now Glenn is back, Henderson has played well enough to challenge Pears, Wood is settled in at center, Ubrik has been as good as anyone else at right guard and they signed Chris Williams for decent free agent money. If he doesn't start then I question the signing and the thought process. Richardson and Kojo aren't ready. And EJ's body language just doesn't send the signals of a guy that is comfortable and confident playing the QB position for whatever reason. Maybe its on him, maybe its the on-line, maybe its the play calling? Or some combination of them? One of my nephews who isn't a Bills fan told me that he gets the impression from watching that the Bills offense seems fairly predictable (he got no argument from me on that) and that EJ seems to just run the play called by the OC and doesn't audible out when making his pre-snap reads. At a minimum it gave me something more to think about. I'm getting a little off-topic but I guess that begs the question how much freedom is the coaching staff giving the QB to audible out of the play calls? I realize this is still only pre-season but has Hackett designed an offense around the talent or is he trying to fit the talent to the design? The second alternative is rarely a path to success. I know the OC is often viewed as a convenient scapegoat but is our biggest problem really that our OC in over his head and the HQ is oblivious or ignoring this problem?

Typically, expectations among Bills fans are sky high as we get ready for the season opener in less than 2 weeks. Usually lots of excuses for poor pre-season performance with things like vanilla offense, not game-planning, hiding stuff, new receivers, new coaches, new system, etc. This year not so much. Maybe that's a good contrary indicator? Sometimes when you see capitulation, people giving up and throwing in the towel, it's a sign we've reached rock bottom and are on the way up. Maybe we get a pleasant surprise for once? If any fanbase deserves a break its us Bills fans. I'm keeping Sunday Ticket. If I tried to cancel it my wife would get all over me about it and tell me I'm not much of a fan if I'm giving up before the season even starts. She watches the games too and at times is more devoted than I am to the Bills. I still haven't decided if having you wife like football and wanting to watch games on Sunday from 1 PM through to the night game is a good thing or not. Guess it's better than the guys that get married and find out their new wife hates watching sports and just 'faked' it when they were dating!

Hindsight is 20/20 and the 49ers knew exactly what they were getting with SJ. A guy that could potentially fill the 3rd receiver spot and could be called upon to start without much drop off if the 1 or 2 got hurt. If the cap number for a non-starter was troubling then don't make the deal plain and simple. But SF management saw SJ as someone that could be a productive part of their team which has a focus on winning and getting back to the big game this year, not putting cap hits and budget issues first. The Bills traded a player that had been productive with some mileage left but the team had also grown weary of his antics and what came off at time a 'me first' attitude. The fact they parlayed the received pick into acquiring players that should help the team now is a real plus.

Teams are required to report injuries based on the NFL rules and coaches are under no obligation to expand on the status or condition of specific players that might be hurt. And there are regulations and legal issues surrounding medical privacy. Questions about when he might come back, I can see those as legitimate but if your doctor is not allowed to share or discuss your personal medical condition with others why does anyone think fans have some 'right' to know intimate details about a players condtion? As for the coaches press conference? I didn't see it and I stopped watching these types of things some years ago. Press conferences, CBS or Fox pre-game shows, ESPN, NFL network shows. Don't watch any of them. Over time I concluded they were a waste of my time. For now I am only interested in what happens on the field on Sundays and what the coach has to say in a pre-season press conference isn't too important.

That's how it looks right now. I don't see much separation between the play of the 3 QB's so far. Sure its preseason but its preseason for every team so the excuse of playing vanilla or not wanting to show anything applies to every team including the defenses the Bills offense is facing. If the opposition is showing nothing exotic and your 2nd year QB still cannot figure 'it' out then you might have a problem. I'm not that down on the Watkins trade up and it all depends on where the Bills finish in judging the costs. A top 10 pick and you got to think the Bills gave up too much, a pick in the 20's, not so much. If the O-line comes together and the defense doesn't lose a step this team might go 8-8 even with medicore QB play. A good QB and we could be looking at 11 wins. I think Marone is safe for one more season barring a major disaster like 4-12.

I'm shocked at the Chicago media's prediction because when I looked at the schedule I saw the Bears game as a win for the Bills! Their O-line isn't good and their defense was ranked 30th last year in yards allowed so its nothing to get excited about. The Bills will probaby rush for something like 200 yards on opening day while the defense pummels Cutler to an early season beat down. I figured 3-1 vs. the NFC North with the probable loss to the Packers where GB is the only team of the 4 to finish the season over .500..

Right on from the players perspective. He can afford to wait. And there's a lot of risk for any team trading for Mallet. They would have to give up some picks and make a decision to commit to a new deal without a lot of information here. And what information would they use to make an evaluation of whether or not to commit big money and term? The guy hasn't played a regular season NFL game. Bringing in a QB you envision as your starter but has no experience at this point in training camp? Not seeing that as a winning formula. Gotta believe the smart money passes here and if interested waits until the free agency period starts next year to express interest without giving up any draft choices. Pats are going to come up empty unless they find some desperate GM to deal with here. Mallet is better off riding the bench another season and getting some freedom in picking next gig..