PaattMaann

Darwin says, if you try sliding on a thin rail in the 300 level (especially on a very windy day), you should plummet to your death

post of the week, nice work...I agree with all of it 20 out of 25 is beyond hard to watch...and its been like that alllll year long - Hackett needs to learn the difference between "establishing the run" and "forfeiting first down"

not even close to true, but since most people just follow the ball on any given play its useless arguing how much of a non factor Dareus has been throughout the year...2-3 great games and the rest have been hard to watch him get dominated

the offense didnt look all that great yesterday...it was helped tremendously by defensive turnovers/good field position Hackett still decides to jam his RBs up the middle for no gain every first down....I understand establishing the run, its needed, and we should be a running team with Fred/CJ and our line...but I dont think Hackett realizes he can throw it on first and then run on 2nd or 3rd, or just throw it like once on first down and then that MIGHT open up the run game on future first downs....it was truly maddening to watch this yesterday I still think Hackett has a lot to learn to be an effective NFL coordinator - but at least he finally let EJ air it out (or EJ finally made the right reads and aired it out)....either way, yesterday was a step forward, but not a sign of an offensive juggernaut by any means....

Dareus has NOT had a good year - has had a couple games where he (as the OP says) "brings it" and is nearly unblockable - but those moments have NOT been consistent this year....there have been plenty of games where he is consistently pushed 5 yards off the line of scrimmage by a single blocker Too often his first move is to stand up off the ball, instead of firing off the ball and dominating the LOS.... We need more of yesterdays Dareus....

and I dont diddle the students gug haha in the words of an older, respected colleague of mine..."no 16 year old is worth your pension"

shes beefy

the NFL already draws its competitors from the ranks of the poor, a lot of of players are poor kids who see football as a way out

just park in the stadium lot - lot 5 party for life

his albums and performances after the passing of Davis would argue otherwise (the Grammy awards say hello)

I am going to see Taj Mahal perform some delicious blues tonight - it has been a goal of mine for many years to get to see him perform, but for various reasons I have never been able to see a show...the guys awesome, and I am verrrryyyy excited tonight he is performing with Vusi Mahlasela (amazing voice from Africa) and some other modern Blues performers...gonna be an epic night.... if anyone is in the buffalo area and is blues enthusiast...I strongly consider checking the show out (30 dollar ticks)

yea based on this\ - Marrone (to the QBs at practice): "It could be any of you on Sunday" meaning - be ready to start....any coach worth his salt would tell the backups to be ready in case the starter cant go, he didnt say "This is now an open competition for Sundays starting spot" - he simply said "It COULD be any of you"...Thad aint sitting out with sore ribs, this is a precaution, and a wise one, let the ribs heal for another day - or two - and have Thad ready for Sunday why aggravate the ribs unnecessarily with throwing/running in practice early in the week?

allllllllllllllllllllllllll this is, is a rest day for Thad, simple as that - he will be starting on Sunday

you would lose a lot of money then

KC, Pitt and the Jets will all bring waves of blitz's - we must pick them up, and we must hit the hot read, or we will go 0-3 in the next three weeks

is he winded easily?

if woods was really that good he would just throw the ball to himself, duh

makes a lot of sense, good post - but to clarify I meant "a QBs first year is critical" in that, their first year PLAYING/STARTING is critical - I am well aware that many rookies dont play right away, and also well aware that some do - to varying degrees of success a QB's first year playing IS critical - you take your lumps, you learn the speed, you read defenses, so it does not matter if EJ plays in his rookie year or in his 5th year in the league - its still his first year playing....yes, a QB can learn a lot by sitting on the bench and watching/studying film/seeing someone else run the offense, but its still FAR DIFFERENT when you are in the fire doing it yourself and on the fly, where your actions have consequences Hopefully EJ is back soon and misses only a few games instead of 8...having already missed time in the preseason, i do think its critical he plays enough this year so we dont have to watch too many "rookie mistakes" next season when the team could be poised for playoffs...

for some reason I was under the impression that a lot of Green Bay tailgating happened in local bars due to lack of parking lot space??? is that not correct? anyone been?

this is my concern, im hoping hes the answer, he has the physical tools- but I want to be able to see it

Thad locks onto first option and throws it there (in his defense, sometimes he has to because hes being pressured immediately) - so my guess would be Woods has not been the primary in many of these passing calls Woods has been open, and he is automatic....love the kid, he will be a star and hopefully we lock him up and dont let him walk in typical bills fashion after his rookie contract expires

if he had prior injury history I would be more concerned, these seem flukey to me...only time will tell

great points to ALL, and nice post Gug as usual I think its very optimistic that we have EJ for the Steelers game, and im not confident that will happen...but if it does yes, 11.5 games is a good amount of field time for sure and maybe not a "wasted season" agreed about the Chiefs game, if we win it (and we can) we could get on a roll and make some noise - which is why I am not packing it in as a fan, but I think its also very difficult for ANY NFL team to roll off 7 wins in 8 games (maybe 6 out of 8 gets a playoff berth) - Sunday will be HUGGGEEEEEEEEEE in the B-LO

EJ isnt playing in 12 games this year though, hes missing half of the games total this year, he might play in 10 games if hes lucky - those 6-8 games are a big difference i think...and especially when the first two games he did play in he was still hurt, and im sure the first two games he plays in after this injury he will hurt in as well...that has an impact, so maybe 6-8 truly healthy started games - that HAS to hurt development I do agree about this injury potentially being a blessing in disguise - he won the starting QB job outright, so theres no "QB controversy", yet he still gets sine sideline time to see how the offense SHOULD run while not being dipped in head first, I do think (I do HOPE) this year will be an effective mix of playing time/chalk time and be beneficial, and that this injury isnt setting EJ and this team back

The NFL is a QB league, if you have a good to great QB you always can win football games and be a contender....and this team has or is putting in place one hell of a team aside from the QB...and if EJ is healthy right now and has been all year, perhaps we are in first place in the East....and those of you who know me and my posts, know that I was a huge EJ fan in college and thrilled when we drafted him...with that said... the biggest disappointment has obviously been EJ's health - it is really a shame that its looking like he will have "two rookie years" now, with only playing in a handful of games this season....year 1 is critical for QBs to transition to the NFL (especially for someone like EJ who was seen as needing to put in a lot of work to be a starter on day one). Year 1 is when QBs get the feel for the speed of the game, get to know their WRs, get to see various coverages that they dont necessarily see all the time in college, get to know their offense, call the correct audibles and put their team in a position to win games... Now EJ can and has been accomplishing some of these things....some rookies need time to sit and watch to learn, so while EJ has been injured physically, from all accounts he is mentally repping every day, and getting good feedback during games via the head sets and getting to watch Thad do it (not that this is ideal by any means, just finding the positives)....so im hoping he has the time the rest of this season to fill in the gaps, and get up to speed with all the rest of the nuances of the NFL that you just cannot get by sitting on the sidelines - hurt or not Lets face it, this is not currently a super bowl contending team (and probably not even a playoff team, running the rest of the schedule with one or two more losses would be an incredible feat for any team), there are holes and weaknesses (o-line, secondary needs to gel, QB play with or without EJ, coaches still learning the ropes, winning mentality/culture)....so NEXT YEAR could be exciting with some more talent being brought in, players knowing the systems on offense and defense and coaches having a better grasp on this squad and the NFL, and im just hoping EJ is ready to lead the way, because in my opinion, he is more than talented and capable (not throwing in the towel on this year, but Im just trying to be realistic and think were a season from truly contending, GO BILLS)