billsfan89

The defense looks competent, its far from perfect but it looks way better than it did last year. The offense has left the defense out to dry and its at times held up. The defense is also creating turnovers and getting sacks at a rate that they weren't last year. Last years D was abysmal it never really looked like a NFL defense, this years D looks and is playing much better.

Thad will at least start next week if he shows less than stellar play I think then you could maybe think about giving Flynn some burn, I hope EJ gets back soon as I think choosing between a grab bag of back ups isn't very enticing.

Wasn't it Freeman who passed on us, granted I don't think many QB's walking into that situation would have been successful. Very little time to master the playbook and get acquainted with the team.

If the secondary gets healthy and plays better I think they might only be a piece or two (Depending on what they do with Byrd) away from having an elite top 5 defense. The secondary needs another piece or two and maybe the front seven needs another piece. But its coming together quickly for sure. Sacks and turnovers are key in the modern defensive game and the Bills are excelling at that.

The big difference between Lewis and Fitz in my opinion is that Lewis plays within himself more. He knows his limitations and doesn't try to wing the ball around the field in a wild attempt to win the game. Although Thad's ability to play more conservative comes from the defense being much better, the few years Fitz was here he never played with a half way decent defense.

Obviously the team needed to trade down, too many holes on the roster. But lets say they didn't like any of the QB's in the draft, and they restructured Fitz or got a more legit QB option in free agency/trade. At pick 16 I would have taken Tyler Efiert or Kyle Long, both players fill a huge hole on the offense.

Could be good for him to try and convert to linebacker in a more conventional sense. The guy is too small to play DE is a 4-3 and doesn't have the ability to be a 3-4 LB. If he does want to salvage his career as a football player this is probably the best way to do it. I don't think he will pull it off but this is his best way to try. That's the sad thing about drafting Maybin, everyone knew it was the wrong decision the moment it was made. Jauron's last gift to us.

Bills fans are pessimistic, but can you really blame us? Its been a long era of misery and losing its what we know and what we are use to. So until this team makes the playoffs its hard not to bet against them esp when it looks like the team is about to unravel with the way things were going down. Today's game felt like it would slip away it just had that feel (Out to a hot start and then slowly letting a team consistently drive and give up the lead late). So when good things happen it comes as a welcomed shock.

It depends on how he plays, if he plays decent but its the defense that is why we are winning then I think EJ is back. If he begins to be more productive and we go 4-1 or a really good percentage like that I think we have a QB controversy. But its going to be hard to take the job from EJ, the guy is 1-1 with mid-level to lower level production so unless he really turns it on and the Bills start to win its not likely.

Dude has been the best player in the secondary all year.

Depending on the rest of the season I would say Mario, Dareus, Kiko, K.Williams, and Wood should all be in consideration for the Pro-Bowl lots of defensive guys but our offense isn't lighting it up consistently. Although I think Wood is playing well.

Mario has been a beast this year. No pass rusher is dominant each and every play. Esp a guy who is commanding double teams and offensive attention. But the guy has been getting pressure and sacks almost every game. Guy is definitely playing like the best player on the defense.

I think we need to see him play farther removed from injury before we make a judgement on him. Its clear the guy is still being hampered by injury. Also I hope as the new defensive coaching staff gets more of him on film they can work out the kinks to his game. Overall I think he should get better as the season goes on and he both recovers from injury and the staff works with him more.

If you get the right deal (2nd in the upcoming draft and a 5th or 4th in the year after, type deal) I think you have to consider trading Byrd. If you don't get a second plus another pick or at the very least two 3rd's and a late rounder I can't see how you would do it. It should be on the table but considering they don't have anyone else they want to franchise (Wood was resigned and I don't see anyone else on the roster that is running up) the Bills shouldn't give him up for nothing, wait for the right deal if not franchise him again and hopefully you get a better deal in the off-season.

I agree likely two 3rds or a 2nd plus a late pick and that's after Byrd comes back and proves he can play. I can't see a team investing more than a single 3rd if Byrd can't play at his previous level this season. The only way I could see a team like Denver give up a 1st is if Byrd was playing at his previous level and he had another year left on his deal.

Didn't he retire? I mean the question was never ability it was more so health.

I knew Fitz would get a few starts for the Titans this year. He picked a good spot with a weak incumbent who is injury prone, they also added Levitre and Warmack on the O-line to help protect him. Fitz got a good landing spot after getting cut here.

Pro Football Focus wrote a pretty good article on him. Hopefully he becomes a beast he flashes the ability to be. He shows the ability to dominate but now he just needs to be able to bring it on a consistent basis. http://www.rotoworld.com/content/playerpages/playerbreakingnews.asp?sport=NFL&id=6472&line=271559&spln=1

Bills seem like they finally have a good fullback, McIntyre was decent (And a really good Special Teams player) but Frank the Tank seem more like an old school power fullback lead blocker type.

I just hope for .500 or better and EJ looks legit

The team clearly felt it was much easier to find a guard than it is to find a FS (Let alone the cost difference in the tags). And considering Nix's semi-success with finding guys like Pears, Urbik and to a lesser extent Reinhart maybe they thought that the team would find another player and plug him in for cheap and the drop in production wouldn't be too bad. Also weren't the Bills making offers to a couple of guards in free agency (Vazquez who signed with Denver comes to mind) so they clearly thought they needed someone to replace Andy. I can't blame the Bills for wanting to keep Byrd over Levitre considering the replace-ability of guards compared to FS. But what I do fault them for is not going out and getting a guard in the 4th or 5th round (We didn't need two safties there esp when you tag a guy at FS) and then signing another veteran.

I always like to give my assessment of the team with week by week grades. Grading the Offense (Pass and Rush attack), the defense (Pass and Rush D), and Special Teams. Feel free to drop in your grades here. OFFENSE OVERALL B- (434 total yards 2 turnovers) Rush attack C+, CJ had a huge 38 yard run get called back in the first half, but his first half performance left a lot to be desired. He did rip a huge run in that final drive. Freddie got the ball into the end-zone and converted a couple of third and shorts but nothing dynamic. Team averaged 4.5 rush yards but it sputtered a lot in the first half which led to a slow offensive start Pass attack B-. Stevie came to play and Woods helped out big time, they also got some contributions from the backfield. But EJ did cause two turnovers which could have cost them. Chandler needs to get involved more and so does TJ. But the team got the big plays when it mattered most. Defense Overall A- (308 total yards given up 1 turnover forced 6 sacks) Rush Defense A- Got gashed a little at the end but despite that they held serve under 4 yards a carry. Pass defense A- The Pass rush was great, 6 sacks and the pressure was consistent, Mario led the way but it wasn't just him having a monster game. Justin Rodgers got burnt big once and it could have been more. Greg Olsen also had a nice day but Steve Smith and the other receivers (Outside of Ginn's big play) were for the most part held in check. Rodgers could be an issue but hopefully Gilmore comes back and solves it. Special Teams Overall B- (No turnovers, forced turnovers, or TD's) Carpenter hit the 55 yarder but missed one early, the punting was decent, and they let up some returns to Ginn including the 36 yarder. But they didn't have any glaring mistakes nor dynamic plays kind of a decent game out of the ST unit.

Back to back weeks the defense looked like a legit NFL defense. Some issues against the run here and there but overall the defense has looked good not great but good. But the coaching has made this defense aggressive, smart, and better in coverage. Also Cudos to Mario for leading the way on the pass rush, last week he didn't do too bad but this week he showed how good he can be. Kyle Williams put in another good effort, I will have to watch again to see how good Dareus did.

How long is Marquise out for? Also maybe they let TJ return some?

My fantasy teams hopes rest on CJ so I hope he can produce, but 2000 yards is overly optimistic, I hope so but I think the hole at LG and susceptible rookie QB are going to make it so CJ can't have monster games on a consistent basis which is what you need to do in order to do something crazy like 2000 yards.