hondo in seattle

All the Pats bashing, Tyrod debating, and coaching musings seem irrelevant after reading this post. Best wishes, brother. Life is a roller coaster ride, full of ups and downs. I hope your coaster starts heading up again soon.

Yep.

Given (1) the importance of the QB position, and (2) the scouting profession's inability to accurately project the NFL futures of college QBs, I'm all in favor of this.

I don't always agree with T1 but agree here wholeheartedly

Here's how many points the Lynn/Tyrod combo put up on each of their opponents Cards 33 Pats 16 Rams 30 49ers 45 Fins 25 Pats 25 Hawks 25 Bengals 16 Jags 28 Raiders 24 Steelers 20 Browns 33 Fins 31 That averages to 27 points per game - the same number I've been saying all along. Different folks are going to attribute the success of that offense to different people. But the fact remains that when Lynn was calling the plays and Tyrod was under center, the Bills O was productive.

I remember a long, long time Jim Brown saying something about OJ's false humility. Brown said for OJ to be as good as he was, he must have played knowing he was the best player on the field. So when OJ deflected question about whether or not he was the all-time best he was disingenuous. All great RBs, according to Brown, are cocky.

I don't blame the NFL. I don't blame anybody per se. I blame money and ego. It used to be that players played for the love of the game more than anything else. Once upon a time NFL players had to get off-season jobs just to pay the bills. But they loved the sport. Nowadays, the financial part of the game has taken over. Today many players play hard, not for the love of the game, not for the fans or their teammates, but because they're looking to cash in when they become free agents. Running backs run out of bounds to preserve their careers. Players don't want to play in the Pro Bowl for fear of an injury that could derail their career. And so on. Players used to be warriors. Now they're young businessmen in sports attire making business decisions. And then there's all the taunting, chest pounding, and braggadocio. Sportsmanship is in decline, not just in football but in all sports. It's become more about 'me' than 'we.'

Thurman#1, you are again right in a limited kind of way. It is not a fact that TT facilitated the run game. It's a theory. Just like evolution is a theory, and Newton's theory of gravity, and Einstein's theory of relativity - all of which are accepted by the overwhelming majority of scientists. Facts are things that are directly observable. Theories explain the facts. The facts are the Bills led the NFL in rushing yards and YPC. The fact is that TT/Lynn combo scored 27 points per game. The theory (explanation) that lots of intelligent observers have is that the success of the Bills offense hinged partially on Tyrod's running skills. You can deny this all you want. People on the fringe deny evolution, global warming, and a lot of other theories that are well supported by facts. But there's no stat line that can prove - or disprove - that Tyrod facilitated the run game. And if you didn't see it with your own eyes in the way Roman designed his plays or Lynn called the plays, there's no way to convince you. There's a saying in India: "When a pickpocket walks down the street, all he sees is pockets." Likewise, when a hungry guy drives down the street, he notices all the restaurants. When a horny guy watches a movie, he notices all the hot girls. And whey a Tyrod-hater watches All-22, he notices all Tyrod's shortcomings - and none of his strengths. We tend to see what fulfills our desires and backs up our opinions. Many of us here actually agree with some of your statements: TT wasn't successful with the deep ball last season, he has trouble finding open receivers, he has accuracy issues and so on. But I think we're a little more nuanced in our evaluations and see that he brought some good to the table with the bad. While we all hope to eventually have a better QB under center, we can easily imagine worse. We're Bills fans, we've had worse. That's why I'm all in favor of drafting a QB if a good one is available, but keeping Tyrod until someone beats him out for the job.

Thanks. Admittedly, the cabeza is a leftover. We celebrated my birthday a few days ago with a bunch of friends including some guys from Mexico who threw a cow's head into a stockpot with a little water and bunch of spices. After hours of cooking, the meat separated from the bone and was amazingly tender and flavorful - perfect for tacos. I've been saving what we didn't eat that day for the SB.

Chicken mole negro (Oaxacan style) Filipino Pork Adobo Buffalo Wings made with a mix of Frank's and Korean Gojuchang fermented red pepper paste Tacos de cabeza Whatever desert my wife decides to make on whatever last minute whim hits her

They did use to say that having him at safety was like having a coach on the field. Always glad to hear ex-Bills are doing well.

This is funny... in an evil kind of way. I think Romo has had a good career. But at this point, I'd pass. I'd rather make another run with Tyrod while drafting a QB with our fingers crossed.

Nice find. I just don't trust LaCan. He's probably wrong as often as he's right.

Phil: You want a prediction about the weather, you're asking the wrong Phil. I'll give you a winter prediction: It's gonna be cold, it's gonna be grey, and it's gonna last you for the rest of your life.

Sad thought... and that one playoff game will probably be a lopsided defeat.

I have a Buffalo sweatshirt that proclaims, "Just one before I die." Here in the Seattle area, few understand what the sweatshirt means. Any Bills fan will know automatically. If I live another 32 years - to the ripe old age of 88 - probability says that I should witness one Super Bowl win before I die. Then again, probability says we should have won one already. The Bills seemed inclined to defy the odds so I'm not feeling confident about getting that 'just one before I die.' But the playoff drought cannot last forever. I'll go on record saying the Bills will make the playoffs in 2018, in McD's second year. I truly appreciate the support from a Pats fan. Very classy. But I can't reciprocate. I hope you get trounced in the Super Bowl. You guys have experienced more than your fair share of celebrations. It's time for another city to enjoy Super Bowl glory.

You're welcome! I hope you recover soon. Operating a computer with one hand is a pain.

Lamonica was the first name that came to my mind. Of course, his success came elsewhere.

Thurman#1, I haven't read all your posts but you seem fixated with Tyrod's limitations as a QB. And those limitations are real. Yet the Lynn/Tyrod combo put up 27 points per game. And if you think that's all Shady and MG, I don't think you're truly appreciating the cumulative genius of Roman's play design, Lynn's play calling, and TT's athleticism. To give one simple example, outside defenders had to worry about contain even when Shady started heading up the middle. TT's threat as a runner made defenses play differently. The reason we led the NFL in rushing is more than just Shady's talent as a running back. It was a clever overall running attack that relied on multiple threats. Tyrod threw for roughly 3,000 yards. He ran for another 500 or so. And his mere presence in the backfield, given the play design, resulted in - who knows? - maybe 500 more yards for the Shady and the backs. That's not peanuts. Even if EJ or Cardale passed for a comparable 3,000 yards, the Bills offense would have scored far fewer points with them as QBs. Roman and Lynn didn't build the offense around Shady. Nor did they build it around Tyrod. They built it around the combination. I agree it was painful to watch Tyrod miss open receivers. But it was fun to watch the brilliance of our rushing attack. And when Tyrod had streaks of accuracy, which he did sometimes, the Bills moved the ball down the field with ease. Because of the uniqueness of the Bills offensive scheme and Tyrod's skill set, I don't know if another OC could deliver a top 10 scoring offense with TT under center. It's a legitimate concern. But - despite his flaws and failures - TT was integral to the scoring success the Bills had last year.

Reid mentions installs and you're right about film study. From what I understand, some QB coaches work a lot on mechanics (footwork, throwing motion, etc) and some not-so-much if at all. Reid's complimentary words do encourage me though I wonder how much of that is him uptalking one of his guys.

There were a lot of knowledgeable players and coaches who believed in Rex back then. The narrative went something like this. When Rex was a DC in Baltimore, he was spectacularly successful. When he first went to the Jets, he was successful but not having a franchise QB hurt him. Later on with a new GM in NY, not having enough talent anywhere made any hope of winning futile. I'm sure that's still the narrative that plays in Rex's mind. But now there's a new chapter. Injuries plagued his 2016 season. Injuries cost him the playoffs and that cost him his job. That's what he seems to be saying. I think the Pegulas saw a coach who took over a middling team and kept it a middling team. Worse, they lost faith. They didn't see him leading the team in a way that was likely to produce playoff and Super Bowl appearances. So they did the right thing and fired him. Rex is not a bad coach. His record says he's a roughly average coach (he's only barely under .500). In other words, he's about the same as the typical NFL coach hired by the typical NFL owner. In hindsight, it's clear the Pegulas made a bad decision hiring Rex. Of course, many posters here predicted it wouldn't work out well. Even a broken clock is right twice a day. There's nothing here to make an intelligent observer conclude that the Pegulas are clueless owners who don't know football as well as the average owner. If the Pegulas hadn't hired Rex, some other team would have. His reputation in some NFL circles was still solid back then.

Arena football is a joke. But Elway led an organization there. He had to hire and fire people. He had to coach his employees and hold them accountable for their performance. He had to lead meetings and develop other effective methods of communication. All this doesn't fully prepare you for being the GM of a NFL franchise but it does help. Lynch is totally unprepared.

GB, this is very nicely done. I appreciate that you watched 6-8 games of each prospect. That's more than some media guys do. And you seem to know what you're looking for. I now know far more about these 5 young men than I did before.

I think BB's offensive contributions are underestimated because of his defensive background. At Cleveland BB didn't have a OC. He claimed the O was run by committee but the reality was that he was the acting OC. Just look at the continuity on the offensive side of the ball in New England. OCs come and go but the offensive philosophy remains the same. That's BB.

He's never been a scout, nor has he ever led an organization, but now he's going to lead an organization of scouts. Makes perfect sense. If I was scout for the 49ers, I'd be dismayed that I have a raw neophyte who doesn't know what he's doing for a leader. If I was a scout looking for a job, I'd stay clear of the 49ers. If I was a fan of the 49ers, I'd be worried. Lynch just might prove himself to be a quick and able learner. But there aren't a lot of good reasons to predict success here.