hondo in seattle

Here's how I think about it. Taylor is not a great passer. Yep, his passer and QBR ratings can look good but we all know he can't lead a team down the field with his arm the way a Brees, Brady or Rodgers can. But Taylor can be a cog in an efficient offensive machine. We saw that last year. We're seeing that again this year the past couple games. The guy does throw some beautiful passes here and there. His scrambling/running talent is spectacular. And he's a competitor. If we draft the next JK, great! If not, I'm good with TT under center. I believe we can get to the playoffs with a TT led offense.

I agree. Curiously, though, 6th round is the value NFL GMs put on Dareus. On one side of the scale is his past Pro Bowl performances and remaining potential. On the other side - big contract, lack of effort, ill-discipline, suspension problems and the possibility of longer suspensions. While you and I might hold out for the on-field potential, personnel guys around the league apparently don't like the balance. That's why we didn't score better than a 6th.

Wow. Paul's 79 and sounds every bit that old.

I agree wholeheartedly. Long, long overdue. Yep. Another unfortunate oversight.

Beane's got a lot of draft picks. But he's got a lot of work to do, too. Let's hope he's better at the draft than some of his predecessors.

I'm not convinced that QB is an early round need. TT isn't great but we're winning and he's part of it. Two other things push me away from drafting a QB early (1) it's a crap shoot; (2) opportunity cost - we have too many other needs. With that in mind, I like the way some previous posters are thinking. * We need a WR, obviously. * We need Shady's eventual replacement. * We need a guard. * We need a CB. * Both lines are getting old. We need to start drafting their replacements.

I get your more-with-less point. But the problem with the NFL's passer rating is that it doesn't measure productivity. In most cases, a QB who finishes a game 10 of 15 for 120 yards with 1 TD and 1 pick isn't helping his team as much as a QB who finishes 20 of 30 for 240 yards with 2 TDs and 2 picks. According to the passer rating system, these two games are identical. But I'd chose the QB who got me 240 yards over the one who got me a mere 120 yards. Production matters. Is Taylor a guy who can take a team down the field with his arm when that's required? That's the contentious question and he's clearly not in the same category as Brees, Brady, Rodgers, etc. But has TT played well in our run-first system? Yes, he has. He's made plays with both his legs and his arm. He's protected the ball. He's completed a good percentage of his passes. And he's accomplished all this with a line that sometimes struggles in passpro and a subpar WR group. Like many Bills fans, I fantasize about finding the next Jim Kelly but Taylor is fun to watch and we can win with him under center.

I predicted 9-7 with us falling short of the playoffs. Cross my fingers... I may not have been optimistic enough!

This tells you everything. It was clear to McD and Beane thought Dareus was a waste of cap space. Probably just a negative influence in general. They wanted him gone. And after months shopping him, the best offer they had was for a 6th. Now we know what the NFL thinks of Marcel.

Usually I think every game is equally important - because that's usually the mathematical fact. But if we win this particular game, we're 5-2 and clearly in the playoff hunt. If we lose, we're just one of many teams floundering around .500. I think winning this game would be tremendous for the players - their motivation, their self-confidence, their confidence in the coaching staff, their commitment, etc.

Yeah, I remember this being talked about in the media. As I recall, though, Dennison himself was rather vague and secretive about what kind of offense he would run. Now we know. Though I think this is still a works-in-progress. Dennison made some changes to the running scheme during the bye week and so-far, so-good. As it's his first year as a real OC, and first year with the Bills, I suspect he's going to continue to evolve the scheme and play-calling.

Who said we were "supposed to" run a classic WCO. I don't recall Rico saying that. If the pundits said it, they were wrong.

Like every other GM, Whaley had his share of hits and misses. I think he was below average in the draft, above average is free agency, and maybe average-ish in the other aspects of his job.

USA Today has had the Bills as high as #3 and as low as #28. If you ranked teams randomly, it would be about this consistent.

And yet something like 30 or 32 teams subscribe. Clubs find some value in what they do.

This was an exciting win. It was great to see the offense show some life. It was particularly fun to watch the Bills demonstrate heart by coming back from 27-20. But overall an "A"??? Winston gashed us for 384 yards passing while the Bucs earned both more total yards and first downs than us. While our offense put up 30 points, they also missed some critical opportunities off turnovers. A great win but not an "A" performance against a 2-4 team.

I empathize. I go by the Rule of Eight. I'm never confident of a Bills win unless we're up by more than 8 points with fewer than 8 seconds left on the clock.

I'm not sure I buy the assumption you're making. If Beane brought in a second-teamer who's now superfluous but has trade value, I think he'd pull the trigger.

This is valid. But Joe B's low grade on Miller kind of matches up with PFF's low grade on Miller. Two very different sources presumably using different methodology came up with the same conclusion: Miller's not playing well. It's concerning.

A great attitude, for sure. A great attitude doesn't always produce great play but it helps.

Auras are nice but I need to see more offense before I get too excited.

Which of these doesn't belong?

I appreciate the OP's point but I'm tired about arguing whether or not we can win with Tyrod as our QB. Minds are made up. No amount of logic or statistics is going to change anyone's opinion. That's all up to Tyrod now. I'm content to watch and - as a Bills fan - I hope Tyrod proves his doubters wrong.

I didn't think Gilmore played well last season - though I wasn't sure how much of that was Rex. I viewed his loss as inevitable and nothing much to cry about. Watkins is often hurt but when healthy was one of maybe two legit weapons we had an offense. That trade hurt me and my optimism for our offensive productivity.

And we don't know what the medical staff is telling Beane and McD.