Utah John
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Dareus was quoted as saying he wasn't happy about playing the Pats when Brady was suspended. I'd say this is taking that preference to an extreme.
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There was some talk on the radio after the game about switching the player of the game award from Gragg to C Jones. In my mind, the best Bill performance was by Colton Schmidt.
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Jets first 6 games:
-- Bengals
-- at Bills
-- at Chiefs
Seahawks
-- at Steelers
-- at Cardinals
They might win one or two of those (or none, quite possibly). 3-3 is stretch and 4-2 would be a miracle. So if they start 2-4 (realistic best case) they would need to go 8-2 the rest of the way to get to 10-6, and even then maybe fall short of the playoffs again. 8-2 would need a different, more consistent, Fitz than the one we know. More likely, they'll be 1-5 and tank the year to get a savior QB in next year's draft.
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My take on this is, there's a QB in college this year they expect to be available in next year's draft. They're embracing the tank to get a good shot at that college kid.
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For these pretty-good QBs, unless they keep developing, the D coordinators figure out how to stop them. Film reveals all.
This could happen to Tyrod Taylor too but it doesn't have to. He seems to be very coachable and is working on the flaws in his game. I'm optimistic he'll continue his development and success.
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Thurman Thomas
Ouch. A distant memory I try to block. But I can still remember Thurman getting a first down against the Bills and signaling it. Goes to show even one of the greatest Bills of all time could hold a grudge. I'm glad he's back in the community and supporting the Bills.
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Someone (James Bond, I think) once said the difference between a beautiful girl and a plain one was often a matter of millimeters -- eyes a little different, or the nose, and everything gets better.
The Bills went from a great D two years in a row to LOUSY last year. Sure many of us blame Wrecks for not being content to do Schwartz v.3 on D while Romeo and Tyrod rejuvenated the O, and the Bills sail into the playoffs. And lose, but we'd all take it.
But sometimes Wrecks can be Rex, and actually make things better. Some of the problems last year were down to rebellion. Super Mario went to Subpar Mario because he wouldn't go along. Dareus wasn't delighted to be dropping into space and guarding air. There was drastic confusion resulting from complacency, that all the D would need to do is show up and dominate, so why should they bother learning a new system and new signals?
That was then. Now, the millimeters can be moved in the other direction. Maybe. IF Shaq doesn't miss too much time. IF Ragland isn't as slow as the scouts feared. IF no one tells Kyle Williams how old he is and he realizes he can't possibly be doing what he does anymore. IF Jerry Hughes doesn't get hurt. IF Darby skips his sophomore slump and moves right to his junior year. IF Aaron Williams can play without seriously hurting his neck. You get the picture. A lot can go right. Or not.
As far as scoring defense goes, well, maybe this will be a good year. The Bills play AFCE opponents six times, and in five of those games the other team won't have an NFL-caliber QB. The Rams, 49ers, Jags, and Browns will also be O-ly challenged. Hey, think about it that way, and it looks possible.
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My guess is Kiko's one of those guys whose success depends a lot on the scheme he's in. He was usually very good in his rookie season, playing instinctively, but when he guessed wrong it always turned out bad. He lost a year to injury, and got traded. Maybe the Eagles didn't use him so he'd excel, and now he's on his third team. He always seemed like a good guy, a real football player but not a jerk. I don't think the Fins are going anywhere this year so I feel safe in wishing Kiko well.
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Given that the Bills made the trade with the Browns to move up in the draft, ask yourself -- would the Bills be better if they'd selected Kahlil Mack and kept SJ; if they'd selected Sammie and kept SJ and let someone else go because of too many $ spent on WRs; or if they did what they did.
My preference ALWAYS was that they should have taken Mack. I realize the D was awesome at that point, but a lot of those D players are gone and suddenly they're looking for depth or starters at LB and DE.
Mack >>> Watkins
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The Bills aren't moving, and there won't be a new stadium unless the community wants one. The driver for any change will not be the Pegulas dialing for dollars. They have a huge fortune, and they chose to use it to keep the Bills in Buffalo, to get the Sabres improved so they can contend, and to energize the canal side area. They aren't in this to make bigger piles of cash than what they already have.
If there was a way to keep tailgating going and have a downtown stadium near the waterfront, they might go for it, but only if there's public opinion in favor.
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That's what brothers are for. One guy loses something, and the other guy finds it.
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As for "win now", the Bills were in "win now" LAST year. They figured the defense would naturally be strong again after being one of the best the past couple years and on top of that bringing in defensive guru Wrecks Ryan. They thought the problem was the offense so they spent current and future money and picks on offense. We got lucky and found a good QB, and despite injuries to Shady the offense did a lot better.
Ryan killed the defense, and the entire plan fell apart. Or you could say, the players refused to get on board with the new defense. I can feel a lot of sympathy for the players, who were brought to Buffalo to play a certain way, and did very well, and were then told to do things they were bad at. OK, I get that Wrecks was the coach, but this clash is what cost the Bills a playoff spot at long last, playing a relatively weak schedule and with at least on paper all the pieces in place.(Well, it was Wrecks mostly, but our backup QB cost us the game against the Jaguars.)
So after last year, all the chips were played, and now we're riding the horse that brung us. Against tougher opponents. Sure, sign me up again, I never learn.
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The Eagles are cleaning house. They've given up too much to move up in the draft, to have enough talent coming in to offset their recent losses. There's no way that Bradford will be a winner this year, even if he plays well, with the poor supporting cast around him. However, that also means that putting a rookie out there isn't going to work either.
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We already have less football. About 10 or 15 years ago, the NFL changed the timing rules to make commercial breaks 90 seconds long rather than 60 as they had been. Yet the 60 minutes of official time still fits into 3 hours of clock time. I have a life so I've never done the math, but this must mean there are fewer plays being executed during the course of a game.
I have a lot of VHS tapes of old Bills games from the 80s and 90s, and they're fun to watch for a lot of reasons. To the point of this train, commercials were over with quickly, so you didn't lose track of the game. Also bathroom breaks were quicker so you didn't miss anything, unless you had your VHS going. Beyond that, it was so nice to have the Bills be dominant. For another, the game was so much different. Schemes that coaches have developed to take parts of the field away from the other side, weren't invented yet, and the game was much more wide open. The skills of the current players, and their size, strength, and speed, are all better than before, and the game is also more precisely controlled. But I miss the old schoolyard style, lining up and taking shots.
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The problem is the Bills fron office went all in to win in 2015. They used up their salary cap wiggle room to upgrade the offense, taking several chances, and most of them worked out. But Wrecks wasn't all in to win in 2015. He was in to install his 2010 or so Jets defense. The dominant defense Pettine and Schwartz built didn't fit, so Wrecks used 2015 as preseason to find players to fit his system. The offense did get better but the defense is now in free fall, and by the time Wrecks gets the players he wants, if he isn't fired first, Kyle Williams will join Mario Williams as ex-Bills (Kyle will retire), Gilmore will be gone due to someone else paying insane money for a good CB, and we'll be back to a couple of good players with a ton of mediocrity holding them back. In other words, just what we've gotten used to over the past decades, with rare flashes of excellence.
We had our chance, last year, and the arrogance of Wrecks pissed it away.
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The franchise tag on a QB? Holy Toledo, that's probably $25M.
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If someone in a Fitz uniform won a title, I'd wonder who was wearing the uniform. Fitz ALWAYS screws up in the key games. As in, Jets final game against the Bills last year. A decent game from Fitz and the Jets make the playoffs. Steelers in. Money.
I really admire Fitz as a man but as a player he's not a guy who can take a team on his back.
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The Bills lost to Jacksonville and struggled to beat Tennessee. Come on, they weren't that good, and they're going to get worse as the defense completely falls apart next year, and the offense struggles without Incognito and without the suspended Shady. And there's no AFC South or crummy NFC East, which the Bills still failed to succeed against.
4-12, and Wrecks is fired in November.
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Had to happen. Even when the boss is wrong, even when the boss is a bloviated stubborn waste of oxygen, he's still the boss. Until he's not the boss anymore. The Bills are going to play a much tougher schedule next year, and will be lucky to be 7-9. Could be the last year for Wrecks, opening the door for Schwartz to come back at least as DC. Maybe they get the old gang back and show what they could have done had Wrecks not been such a disaster. So long, Mario, and maybe we'll see you back here in a while (for less money).
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I thought he was good player, but in the mold of Charles Clay, who's just better at the same things Gray is good at. I wish him well.
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Considering their ability to make draft picks, I'm thinking Goodell might award them an extra first round pick as punishment.
Since first round picks salaries are generally high and pre-determined, giving them extra first rounders would probably create enough of a salary cap problem that they'd have to cut some of their few good players. The Browns could end up with a team of failed prima donas who can't work together or achieve their potential.
Of course the blind squirrel hypothesis means they'd probably stumble into a couple of keepers, but with the Browns' luck those guys will be injured in training camp, or suspended, or both.
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We can do worse than Hogan. With so many other deficiencies to worry about, and Goodwin possibly not in the mix due to the Olympics, Hogan is a solid team member. It's the #2 WR we need to worry about, not the #4 or #5.
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The most important thing we lost last year when Freddie was cut, was leadership. The team had NO leaders among the players. Shockingly, there were NO players-only meetings. To my mind, that was the biggest problem, even more than Wrecks destroying the defense. It wouldn't have been destroyed if some leaders among the players had straightened everyone out. But NO ONE stepped up.
I considered suggesting bringing Jackson back just for his leadership abilities. The problem is, leadership in the locker room requires performance on the field. By next year, even more of the Bills will have never played with Jackson, and have no idea what kind of player he was. He would be a seldom-used backup, trying to tell younger, more-effective players how to conduct themselves. They would blow him off, and everyone involved would be miserable.
Come back to Buffalo, Freddie. Settle in down the street from Thurman Thomas, and you and he can play catch with your kids in the street. I'd pay money to see that.
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been fine tuning it. and thought ? Too soon ?
Glad to hear the positive response
OUCH
Only one way to go then?
UP!!
Not really. There's also OUT. I'm not giving up on Miller though -- lots of upside and even a rough rookie season gave him a lot of experience.
Tank 2016 for Greg Roman - HC
in The Stadium Wall Archives
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The Sabres players didn't intentionally tank during their two last-place finish years. Most of them tried as hard as possible, as professionals. They just weren't very good. It was the management that cleaned house, leaving the team bereft of NHL quality players.
The Bills management is absolutely not going to clean house this year. For one thing, seriously, wait till next year. We not only get next year's draft class, we get this year's too. The offense is still pretty loaded with talent and the defense will be too after another draft.
This year looks grim, from all the injuries and the stupidity. I expect the players will put forth a better effort on D than they did last year, but if the D still sucks look out for a serious collapse. And that could happen especially with one or two more injuries. If they start 1-3 or 0-4, I expect Ryan to be fired.
It isn't worth losing a season on purpose, but come on, we don't have anything to do with it. Do you think the Bills players will tank because we ask them to?