hondo in seattle

I've said "I'm done" so many times during the drought that they've become empty words. Like the OP, I know it's not fair to my family for me to ruin Sundays by being grumpy after a loss. There are better things to do than watch another disappointing Bills defeat. So, occasionally, I'll skip a week or two when my frustration reaches a certain level. But then I'll glue myself to the TV set again, with a plate of Buffalo wings and my jersey on. Even though I turned off the TV yesterday before the last second ticked off the game clock, I didn't bother announcing I was done this time because no one would believe me anymore.

Ummm... Don't mean to burst your bubble but I don't think surprises many people. He was shaken up pretty badly last week.

I used to think headaches were a sad excuse to miss a game. Then again, I used to think the same about turf toe. I remember when Jack Lambert missed nearly an entire season due to pain in his toe. How can a little toe sideline a big, tough man? It was incomprehensible to me. Then I developed a glomus tumor in a toe. If I stub that toe the wrong way, the world goes black and I fall to the ground in agony. I've decided not to question the pain tolerance of others any more. We just can't know how much pain they may be feeling.

You can't in the blink of an eye build a team that's strong everywhere. In fact, in this salary cap era, you can't ever build a team that's strong everywhere. DW built us a running team. He acquired a great RB in Shady and a running QB. He got us Watkins, Woods, and Clay for the WR and TE positions. For a running team, that's not a bad threesome. Yep, injuries exposed the fact that we don't have a lot of depth at wideout. You just can't have depth everywhere. We have better depth at RB which makes sense for a running team. If I'm upset at Whaley for anything, it's RT. It didn't take any injuries to expose a weakness there.

A year-and-a-half of watching TT and you're convinced he's not a franchise QB. But a decade of watching Cutler and you think he is? I don't get it. TT might still have some upside. But we know with certainty who Jay Cutler is as a QB and it's just not good enough.

Gotta respect a man who goes boldly far out on that limb.

According to the computer models, if the Raiders and Bills played 10 times in Oakland, the Bills would win 4 of those games. I just want this weekend's game to be one of the four. Is that too much to ask for? A win against Oakland would not only enhance our playoff chances, it would also convince a lot of people (myself included) that this squad might be more than a middling team.

Not one of our more momentous FA signings.

I love the historical reference! I'm also feeling optimistic but will predict a repeat of the '93 season playoff game instead of the '90 playoff game: Bills 29, Raiders 23.

I know this idea is out there but I'm not convinced. Please explain to me the different schemes used in the NFL and how Rex's scheme is more reliant on communication than the other schemes in use. As far as I know, all NFL schemes rely on good pre-snap communication. It's not the 1940s any more. The problem has been - as we've all seen and the Bills have talked about - is that the pre-snap communication hasn't always been timely and accurate.

One of the AFC playoff contenders will win 4 of their last 5. Why not the Bills? We've won 6 of our last 9 since ALynn replaced Roman. Upping our streaking win percentage from 67% to 80% doesn't seem completely unrealistic.

The vid never explains how that game began the Pats dynasty except to call it a 'giant wake up call.' Yet the Pats won the SB the year before.

I was just playing Devil's Advocate and found no takers for the NNN point of view. I do think it's a high price - in a manner of speaking - for a project TE. But Whaley and his folks moved so quickly on this it almost seems like they were just waiting for him to convert to TE. Apparently they see a lot of upside. I'm curious if the Bills will find ways to get him on the field this year, as PM suggested.

I'll play Negative Nancy on this one. We only have 53 roster spots. They're precious. And we're giving one to a long-term project? To a guy who only decided to play TE this past weekend?

The porous Raider D is dead last in the NFL in yards per play - giving up staggering 6.2 a pop. Their pass D gives up 7.9 yards per play (tied for 2nd worst in the NFL). Their run D gives up 4.6 yards per play (tied for 3rd worst in the NFL). The much maligned Bills D, on the other hand, is 11th best at yards per play, giving up only 5.4 ypp. The Raiders have a better QB but we have a better defense. http://www.nfl.com/stats/categorystats?tabSeq=2&season=2016&seasonType=REG&role=OPP&d-447263-n=1&d-447263-o=2&d-447263-p=1&conference=ALL&defensiveStatisticCategory=GAME_STATS&d-447263-s=SCRIMMAGE_YDS_PLAY_AVG

The Bills have gone 6-3 since ALynn replaced Roman. The team has been playing well with Rex running the D and Lynn running the O. But, yeah, they would win even more games if the D was ranked higher than it's current ranking at #10. And, for the record, the Bills are 8th in the NFL in scoring. Not top 5 as asserted but still very good. But our offense is also 18th (about average) in yards per game and 27th (way below average) in play runs. Exaggerating a bit, this means when the Bills O isn't scoring, it's going 3 and out. Or saying it another way, we're losing the battle of field position. Those 3 and outs and that field position is adding stress on the D. The Bills D is 10th in yards per game and 11th in yards per play - both very good stats. But we're only 19th (about average) in points allowed because of field position issues. Certainly we all want the D (and O) to be better. But calling Rex "lost" or saying we have "major problems" on defense just doesn't fit the facts. http://www.nfl.com/stats/categorystats?tabSeq=2&season=2016&seasonType=REG&offensiveStatisticCategory=GAME_STATS&role=TM&d-447263-n=1&d-447263-o=2&d-447263-p=1&conference=ALL&d-447263-s=TOTAL_POINTS_SCORED

All joy this year ends if we lose to the Raiders this weekend. But what's the playoff picture look like if we win?

Our D is currently ranked #10. 22 other teams are worse than the Bills at denying the opponent yards. So I don't see the argument as black or white. Rex isn't a defensive guru. Neither is he lost. To get to #10 this year with all the games missed by key players is a notable accomplishment. Still, I don't think that Rex's defensive acumen is in the same league as Bill Belichick or Pete Carroll. Jim Schwartz might be better at coaching defense as has often been argued - though their overall resumes are comparable. On the whole, I think our coaching staff is in the frustrating middle. They're good enough not to get fired. Not so good to take us to a Super Bowl.

I don't know why so many are giving a definitive yes or no answer. There's a wide spectrum between YES and NO and every QB is somewhere on that spectrum. Unfortunately, Tyrod is below the NFL average on that spectrum. Can it be helped with good coaching? Can the passing game in general be helped with good coaching? I'm not sure but I'd like the Bills to try a little harder. I think David Lee is a fine QB coach. Still, I'd like to see Rex bring in a passing game coordinator who develops an aerial strategy that plays to TT's strengths. A good coaching staff, obviously, needs to either avoid or correct TT's weaknesses. I'm not convinced the Tyrod we're seeing now is the best Tyrod we can ever see.

Good points. And I'm thrilled with the point production. That's why I like ALynn - the man generates points with a banged up cast of characters. BUT: While we're 8th in scoring we're 19th in yards per game. To oversimplify, we either score or we go 3-and-out. A more potent passing attack would (1) produce even more points, and (2) help keep drives alive - and keep our defense off the field. Rex's D is 10th in yards allowed but only 19th in points allowed, largely because of field position.

Well, if you want stats: Only three teams have passing attacks so pathetic that they're averaging less than 200 yards per game. The Bills are the worst of the three at 183 passing yards per game. QB ratings are about efficiency but I'm talking about productivity. To score you have to "matriculate" the ball down the field, as a HOF coach once said. In other words, yards matter. Our passing game isn't producing many. Of course, we're a running team. We don't pass as much as other teams. So that partially explains our low yardage output. But defenses know we're a running team and play run first. So we ought to find success when we do pass. Yet we average a paltry 6.7 yards per attempt. That's 7th worst in the NFL. Since we are a run first team, I wouldn't expect our aerial production to be top ten in the NFL. But dead last is sad.

So the older you are, the higher your football I.Q.? Since I'm older than you, is my opinion of TT more informed and accurate than yours?

This is a far complaint if true. I didn't pay close enough attention to Sammy during the game to know whether if it's true or not. But it's hard to criticize ALynn when his banged up offense without a franchise QB put up 28 points in a win.

538 has the Bills and Raiders with virtually identical ELO scores. Should be a dog fight.

I was surprised when (during the Cincy game?), the announcers started saying that Shady didn't have breakaway speed but Gillislee did. Shady's pretty darn fast as evidenced on that long run against Jax.