hondo in seattle

The more I get to know Shady through the media, the more I like him. I always knew he was a good player but before he came to the Bills I had a vaguely poor opinion of him as a person. Since then I've seen that Shady's a good teammate. He takes every opportunity he can get to praise TT. And that's only part of a larger trend of speaking well about teammates and coaches. Plus Shady plays hard on every play. You can tell he's not only about the money and fame. He feels an obligation to the team The whole kneeling thing is a multifaceted, complex issue. As a veteran, I choose to stand when I hear the national anthem to support the ideals of America and honor those who have fallen in her service. But I also support Shady's right to respond differently. Like several other players, he's made it clear he means no disrespect. He simply wants to bring attention to an important issue and express his solidarity with other players doing the same. This is very different than say, Travis Henry, who neglected his children and did prison time for selling drugs. That's the kind of behavior that causes a player to lose my respect. Shady's not trying to hurt anyone - he's actually trying to be part of the solution.

Our run game has been inept the past two games.

McD and Frazier have been pretty impressive thus far with the D. Unfortunately, as always, we have trouble being good on both sides of the ball. What Dennison has done with the run game is concerning.

He expresses a noble sentiment: “So that’s where it comes from: a place of love and caring and wanting to see the world a better place. I don’t have all the answers, I don’t even pretend to. But I am open to talking about it and I am open to learning about it with the hopes that one day, either our generation or future generations, can improve racial inequality and how people are treated around the world.”

The only thing I like about the standing buffalo is that it reminds me of the AFL champion Bills. Otherwise, I prefer the dynamism of the charging buffalo .

Res WAS a great coordinator. When he was young he used to go to all sorts of coaching clinics and seminars. Then he apparently grew complacent. Rob too.

I don't know why people get so excited about coach-speak. Dennison is one of those coaches who doesn't like to denigrate his players in public. Like a lot of leaders, Dennison tends to believe that you praise in public, criticize in private. Because he's that kind of coach, what he says and thinks in private is a complete mystery to us. We can only speculate - but with very little to go on. I know the scheme and game play for the Panthers sucked because I saw that with my own eyes. But I don't know if Dennison has any delusions about his QB.

Sadly true.

When I saw "best damn band" in the title, I thought of Led Zeppelin, not the Ohio State Marching Band. Guess I'm on a different wavelength.

CTE exacerbates things. When a good guy gets CTE, he starts to get angry, depressed, forgetful, etc. When someone like Hernandez gets CTE, he becomes murderous.

The Blitz has an article on the blocking scheme. I just might have to pay

I think last year, our Roman/Lynn offense gave defenses a choice. Either stop Shady or stop Tyrod who's either going to run or throw. This year, our Dennison offense gives defenses a similar choice. Either stop Shady's running or Tyrod throwing. It's an easy choice. They stop Shady.

I agree. I think Tyrod was underrated last year because he added more to the offense than his passing yards + rushing yards. His talent as a dual threat QB was integrated into the running game. And that made Shady and MG more effective. This year, so far, Tyrod has been mostly used as a passer who can scramble. He's not actually integrated into our more conventional running attack. As a passer he's limited. And without the threat of TT keeping the ball, defenses key more exclusively on Shady. We've only had one bad game but I admit it's worrisome. Rico is a smart guy with a good background and yet there's little evidence thus far that he's learned much from last year's tape.

Really more of a Hannibal Barca fan myself (Cannae and all that).

Agreed.

As an ex army officer, I love tactics. But I've never had the time to learn the intricacies of NFL offenses. Even with my average-ish understanding, though, the run game has me worried after the Panthers game. I was in awe of the Roman-designed rushing attack. Sometimes you'd see plays where none of the offensive linemen had to overwhelm their guy. They just had to be in the right place on the right time. Roman's attack was often predicated upon discipline, timing, athleticism and precision. It didn't always require the OL to be maulers. And yet they gave Shady and MB plenty of space to run. Rico said he spent a lot of time watching the 2016 Bills rushing attack to see what works. And yet Rico's zone-blocking scheme doesn't bear any resemblance - in my eyes - to Roman's scheme. Our OL weren't winning the one-on-one battles against the Panthers that they had to win and the holes weren't there. I noticed the difference in the blocking/running scheme during the Jets game but we were so productive that game, who cared? But now I'm worried that Rico didn't borrow enough from Roman. Given who we have at QB and WR, we need our rushing attack to be highly productive. Sunday, it wasn't. I'd love to hear some observations and insights from guys who are better at Xs and Os than I am.

I love the optimism! But I'm not sure why some random thoughts about the Bills being underrated/underappreciated and becoming relevant deserves its own thread? I do hope you're right about today's score!

TO is not my favorite player but he's earned membership in the HOF. Brown has the stats (9 Pro Bowls) but when I watched him play, I never felt like I was watching a Hall of Famer. I'm torn with Tasker.

SDS, good argument for the other side. I'm one of the guys who said he wouldn't pay $2.99 to read Sully's rants. But now that I've seen that the BN has added content, I admit I'm tempted to pay the $3. It's not much after all.

Not surprised were #30 on most loved. We're irrelevant to most football fans. I am surprised we're Top 10 most hated. I thought we were irrelevant to most football fans.

Safer.

Look back in NFL history. There have always been bad teams. While parity is ideal for ratings, a few bad teams won't kill the NFL. And as a Bills fan, I say the more the merrier.

Holy Schmoly! Jordan Mills received the highest grade? That's encouraging. Bo, nice work. I usually watch games like a typical fan and follow the ball. Only once in a while do I keep my eyes on the linemen instead. Your analysis gives me a clearer idea of what's happening in the trenches. Thanks.

I watched some 49er games in San Fran. Smug indeed back in the day. And almost indifferent if the opponent wasn't a strong one. Some fans didn't even bother to get up on their feet and cheer when the team scored. Scoring was expected. They'd go wild for a long Rice TD, of course, but if was a 1 yard plunge - boring! They're far more humble now.

One of the funnest games I've ever seen - even if funnest isn't a word. The NFL may last hundreds of years but this game will always be in the record books. Those two offenses were on fire.