hondo in seattle

I agree with all of this including the caveat: "we don't know if this will continue..." Didn't Bledsoe once start off with an impressive first half of the season only to fade? I'd like a bigger sample size before I crowned TT as the franchise QB we've all been waiting for. Nonetheless, he's been fun to watch so far!

Does it matter? The two are related. Players will execute certain schemes better than others. In any case, execution and scheme are both Rex's responsibility. And today we gave up 397 yards to the Fins. That's not good. That wasn't a great D out there. Rex has enough talent on the defensive roster that we should expect better.

I can't remember any specific articles or quotes but I have the same impression.

#20 is probably generous considering how they've all been injured. Watkins and TT are both young/inexperienced and hopefully their best years are ahead of them.

A sandwich consists of slices of ingredients (meat, cheese, tomato, etc.) on slices of bread. A hot dog is a particular sausage on a bun. It is not a sandwich but it is a close relative. A subway sandwich is a sandwich and not a hot dog (despite the way the bread is cut) because it follows the sandwich script more closely: slices of ingredients on slices of bread.

I tend to agree with this. This season is important and we've wasted nearly half of it implementing a complicated new system. Is Rex's system so important that we had to spend this year implementing it so we could shoot for the playoffs next year? There had to be a better way.

I haven't been fond of the performance of either one but maybe the coaching staff thinks Henderson has more upside.

I don't deny execution of the play call is an issue. But Rex is in denial if he thinks he's doing a good job as a coach. It is, after all, his job to perfect the execution. If this group of players executes a 4-3 alignment with one gap responsibilities better than Rex's complicated schemes, then that's what we should run. I don't honestly know, but folks more knowledgeable than me say Rex is using more 2 gap than Schwartz. Also, we do know that Rex likes to change the scheme from week to week. Schwartz was more consistent - thus allowing the linemen to perfect their assignments.

I don't disagree but it's a coach's job to get the best out of the players. On defense, Shwartz did that. Rex is not. As I understand it, Shwartz typically gave his D linemen one gap assignments that allowed them to go at it. Rex uses more 2 gap assignments. Philosophically, you can argue the pros and cons of both. Or the pros and cons of the Wide 9. The bottom line is that the defensive line was more effective in Schwartz's scheme than this one. While I'm glad the bye week is giving us a chance to recover from our injuries, I'm also hoping it gives Rex and Thurman time to examine game tape and reflect on what they're doing. It hasn't been working.

Any relation to Hue Jackson, the Bengals OC?

Whisenhut went 3-20 in his tenure with the Titans. For Mularkey, there's no place to go but up.

Mularkey just chosen to replace Whisenhut as HC of the Titans. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2585347-ken-whisenhunt-fired-by-titans-latest-details-comments-and-reaction?utm_source=cnn.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=editorial We all remember Mularkey as the original quitter.

Line by line, these are my thoughts. I can't remember the exact quote, but he said his dad, Bum, once gave him some advice that went something like this, "There's only one thing certain in coaching: you're going to get fired." 82-64 as a HC. Went to the playoffs 6 out of the 8 full seasons he was a head coach. Took three different teams to the playoffs. His HC record is actually pretty impressive except for his record in the playoffs: 1-5. But at this point, I'd be thrilled with a Wild Card round loss.

Yikes. This is so bizarre maybe I shouldn't respond. What Brady does is impressive. If it was easy, every QB in the nation would copy it because it sure is effective. But it's not easy. It takes an immense amount of skill to play the way Brady does. Cheater or not, he's a first round HOFer. In regards to the earlier posts... Rex likes to say his defense is "multiple." If so, I'd love to see him borrow some of the concepts we used last year.... including Wide 9.

No. Because there are TWO other bad QBs in the league. MC couldn't produce even one TD drive today. Think about it. We could have drafted Geno instead of EJ (as some rumors had it). And we could have kept MC instead of EJ (as some rumors had it). Life can be worse.

Many years ago - after much leadership training - I led 165 soldiers into combat during Desert Storm. I'm proud to say, we kicked a**. After leaving the army, I became the leader of a multi-million dollar restaurant business with hundreds of employees. This team kicked butt too, in a completely different field of endeavor. One of my bookcases is jammed with leadership and management books with dog-eared pages. I even give leadership classes from time to time. While I won't profess to be an expert, I will claim to know a little something about the noble subject of leadership. And I have no idea if Rex Ryan is a "leader of men." I only know what I read in the media - which isn't always credible. And it's just not enough to make a judgment. I don't know what Rex says to his subordinate coaches when he talks to them one-on-one. I don't know what he says to his players. I don't know what he does on the practice field, in the meeting rooms, in his office, or on the sidelines. In my classes, I sometimes use a list of 7 fundamental leadership principles. Back in the day, the army taught me 11 fundamental principles of leadership. I can't competently evaluate Rex's performance in any one of these. I know the team is under-performing. Certainly Rex is failing somewhere. That I can see when the Bills take the field. I can see Mario dropping back into coverage. I can see opposing QBs stand unmolested in clean pockets. I can see TT and EJ getting sacked after an O Lineman got beat. Those events I can evaluate. But are these failings because Rex doesn't hold people accountable or some other leadership shortcoming? I can't say. I think it's unwise and unfair to evaluate something we know so little about.

Fancy charts! TT is undeniably off to a good start. But I'm a Bills fan so I tend to expect disappointment. Let's see where TT goes from here.

Good point. Given the facts, I'd have the returner down the ball. A start at the 20 is better than a start at the 18. But I believe in situational football. If we're desperate for a big play (down by a lot late in the game), I'd encourage the returner to bring it out. A start at the 20 isn't likely to help us while a good return - although unlikely - could spark a comeback. Since we're unlikely to win anyway, a start at the 18 (or whatever) won't hurt us. Of course the OP's research begs the question (as MDH brings up): why is our return game so impotent?

I'm 56, grew up in Cheektowaga, and have been a Bills fan as long as I can remember. So I really understand your frustration. But I don't get why you think you know Doug Whaley's interior motivations when you live thousands of miles from him. I doubt the two of you hang out together a lot. How do you know he's "selfish and only cares about his ego?" As a fan, you have a right to judge his results. But to judge a man's heart and character based on a few newspaper articles is lame. I'm not sure why you have to go the route of personal attack.

There are a lot of QBs in the NFL better than EJ. But is there someone not in the NFL better than EJ? In other words, could we sign someone not currently on a roster who would perform better than EJ against the Fins on November 8th? Doubtful. Interesting analogy.

Cold!

On the one hand, I understand he's a youngster. And he's facing unkind criticism when I'm sure he's already frustrated himself with the injuries. It's not like he got injured on purpose. He wants to play. The entire situation must be hard on him. On the other hand, the best response is no response. I hope he gets healthy and productive soon and we all move on.

With all of Dystra's financial problems - and his history of untruths - this does seem like a gimmick to sell books. Then again, his character is flawed enough that he might have actually stooped this low. I guess if Pegs had something like this, Robey wouldn't have gotten that flag. But Dykstra's life is a mess because that's usually what happens to people like him.

Actually, the question is which available backup would you prefer? In other words, are there guys on PS's or on the street who could run our offense better than EJ can?

I'm not sure this qualifies as a failure. I'm not sure what your expectations were but this was a first step and I'm thinking the folks in the executive suites at Yahoo are probably pretty happy with results - even if the ad revenue was lower than a typical game and the stream was less than flawless. Yahoo is looking at this as a precursor to a bright future with the NFL. As Tom Edison once said, "Results? Why, man, I have gotten lots of results! If I find 10,000 ways something won't work, I haven't failed. I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is often a step forward..."