mjt328

I'm glad the Bills won. But it WAS just the Jets. Top to bottom, New York has one of the worst rosters in the NFL. In my opinion, only the San Francisco 49ers and Cleveland Browns could be in the conversation for having less talent. Even the people predicting a 5-11 or worse season figured we should be able to beat the Jets at home. Nobody is going to show the Bills respect until they start winning games in bunches, and start playing consistently strong every week.

Like I said in another thread, I don't like this matchup for the Bills. I agree that Carolina is a very flawed team. I'm just not sure our team is strong enough in the areas necessary to take advantage of where they are weak. This is the game our linebackers have to step up big. Carolina's biggest strengths are in Cam Newton's running ability (maybe the injury will limit this), Greg Olsen and Christian McCaffrey out of the backfield. All of these require our LBs to be on top of their game. This is the game our wide receivers have to make plays. Carolina can stuff the run. They can rush the passer and their linebackers are fantastic. The weakness is on the outside at cornerback. When they see last week's film, I have a feeling they will shut down the short stuff. Can Tyrod Taylor work the WRs this week?

In my opinion, this is not a very good matchup for the Bills. The Panthers offensive strengths have the potential to exploit the Bills biggest weak points. Specifically, Cam Newton's running ability, Greg Olsen matched up against our linebackers in coverage and Christian McCaffrey out of the backfield. To stop these guys, you need some speed and athleticism at LB (and we really don't). As a positive, Sean McDermott faced Newton every day in practice. If anyone has a strategy to shut him down, our coaching staff should have it on Sunday. On the other side of the ball, we don't really match up well either. Last year, the Panthers defense was pretty good at stopping the run (Top 10 in YPA). So handing the ball to Shady 20+ times may not be enough to move the ball consistently. The Panther pass defense was bottom half in most categories, but they were #2 in sacks. This was mostly due to them starting two rookies on the outside. If the Jets game was about attacking the linebackers in coverage, this game should be about attacking the corners. With our group of wide receivers, I'm not entirely confident we can do that effectively. It's fair to question whether the Panthers are closer to the 2015 team (15-1, NFC Champions) or the 2016 team (6-10, Last Place). Their record since hiring Ron Rivera and drafting Cam Newton has been constantly up-and-down. They are one of the hardest franchises in the NFL to predict. To win this game, I think the Bills need to have success in areas they usually struggle at. They need to get great coverage from their linebackers. They need to stay disciplined on the defensive line. They need to keep the pocket clean and get yards passing the ball to their receivers.

It's not just about the throw being high. It's also about the defender in front of Charles Clay, ready to take his head off. Clay missed that pass, because he was bracing for a big hit. Tyrod Taylor had a pretty good day, but I believe that interception was his fault.

This is the problem with modern reporting in general (and not just in the sports world). These guys have less interest in finding out facts, and more interest in finding ammunition to support the article they were already planning to write. Chris Brown and John Murphy are basically employed by the team. You should already know what to expect when you listen to Murphy's show or read Brown's articles. There may be some interesting observations, but not a lot of critical pessimism. Jerry Sullivan's agenda is the opposite. He's made a name by attacking and criticizing everything Buffalo Bills. Even if the Bills turn it around and start winning, this will not change (ask anyone who read his stuff before the playoff drought). If the Bills had done everything perfect Sunday and won 70-0, he would have still written a negative article about how we played a weak opponent. Sullivan apparently went into yesterday's game with plans on ripping the Bills for lack of talent at wide receiver. Based on everything he's put out publicly since kickoff Sunday, it's pretty clear that was his goal. He expected the passing game to struggle badly. So when it didn't, he decided to criticize the lack of receiver targets. I have no problem with Sullivan asking the question about "balance." But both McDermott and Taylor gave the same answer -- an answer that made lots of sense -- and he still decided to pinpoint the lack of receiver targets in his article. It was ridiculous. It's fair to question the strength of the Jets as an opponent, or point out the places Buffalo struggled on Sunday. But I prefer reporters like Joe Buscaglia, who seems to just tell fans what he sees and observes, instead of starting with an agenda.

Smart teams (like New England) game plan against the weaknesses of the opponent. Sounds like the Bills were doing exactly that yesterday.

Why can't we just accept Tyrod Taylor for what he is. Fans are so concerned about being "right", they are completely blind to anything he does that runs contrary to their opinion. Taylor isn't going to put the team on his back and carry us to the playoffs. He's limited and has lots of flaws as a passer. But he's also 100X better than anything we ever saw from JP Losman, Trent Edwards, EJ Manuel, etc., etc.

With this new regime "cutting the fat", Marcel Dareus will have the bullseye on him all season. Just like Stephon Gilmore had in 2016 during his contract year. Let's be honest. At the $100 million we are paying Dareus (not to mention all the off-field headaches), fans are expecting more than a guy that occupies blockers and helps stuff the run. They are expecting dominance. They are expecting a guy that plays like a Top 5 DT in this league. They are expecting him to look like a Pro-Bowler. And I think those expectations are reasonable. We saw that Dareus 3-4 years ago, before he got the big contract and Rex Ryan came to town. Since that point, he's been a solid player. But nothing special. (Just like Gilmore). At this point in his career, he's still the second best defensive tackle on the Bills - even with 34 year old Kyle Williams contemplating retirement.

I guess they were telling him not to scramble. You are right. I was hoping we wouldn't see him under center, and get more movement. This is going to be a long season.

I've been crossing my fingers all preseason, hoping this would be the case. We should know for sure on Sunday. The offense we saw during August does not fit Tyrod Taylor's strengths. If this article rings true, the Bills were forcing Taylor to work on his areas of weakness during the preseason. They were forcing him to work under center, because he struggles there. They were forcing him to stay in the pocket, because they didn't want him scrambling.

The Pats defensive line was invisible last night. Everyone forgot Alan Branch existed.

I know the Bills haven't earned respect around the NFL, but that comment was stupid and made no sense. Nothing more than a pointless shot at a team that wasn't even playing. The Patriots have a whopping three players from the Bills. Stephon Gilmore, Mike Gillislee and Chris Hogan. On a roster of 53 players, is it really that rare to have three former players from another team? And it's not like these guys are exactly setting the NFL on fire. Gillislee and Hogan were backups when they were actually in Buffalo. And they would both STILL be backups if they were here today. Gillislee is better than LeSean McCoy? OK Collinsworth... whatever you say... Last night, Hogan had a whopping 1 catch for 5 yards, despite Julian Edelman gone for the year and Danny Amendola knocked out with a concussion. His career best season is 38 catches, 680 yards and 4 touchdowns. Gillislee had a nice fantasy line thanks to getting all the Patriots goal line carries, but he only averaged 3.0 ypa in actual real football play. And New England fans found out exactly why the Bills determined Gilmore wasn't quite worth such a huge contract. He's a good player, but gets burned way too much to be counted on as a shut-down corner.

An NFL team turns over approximately every 4 years. Within that time period, 99% of the roster will either have been drafted, signed as a free agent or re-signed/extended. The only exceptions are those superstars who sign 5+ year contracts (which are very few and far between). So even if Brandon Beane/Sean McDermott completely fail, it's not like our team will be set back for a complete decade. A new regime would be able to come in here and flip everything around sometime within that 4 year period. My biggest concern is that Beane/McDermott are making themselves WAY too dependent on killing the 2018 draft. Next year's rookie class is going to completely set the foundation of what they are building. I doubt Pegula will give them more than 3 seasons without serious progress. My belief is that a GM needs to land at least 3-4 solid starters per draft to put a team on the right track. But when you trade away a solid starter for a pick, you absolutely MUST land a solid starter with that selection. So at this point, they will need to hit on 5-6 of their draft choices in 2018. That is quite a tall order.

The Jets have one of the worst NFL rosters I've seen in a long time. So walking away with a win wouldn't be that impressive to me, regardless of the score. In fact, I think it will take 4-5 games (at the minimum) before we can start making real assumptions about the 2017 Bills. At that point, we should start getting an idea what they are good at, what they are bad at, and what is going to be inconsistent. With that said, there are a few things that could give me some early season hope. First would be Rick Dennison's offensive structure and how Tyrod Taylor runs it. Our first looks in the preseason saw Dennison forcing Taylor into being an under-center/pocket passer, which is a recipe for disaster. He's too short, doesn't make quick decisions and plays his worst when kept between the tackles. If we try doing this all season, I don't think it will be long before fans start screaming for Nate Peterman. If Dennison adjusts to something more what Anthony Lynn ran, then I'll be optimistic we can score some points this season. Let's see how the running game operates. I'm a little concerned about the switch to zone blocking. I'm a little concerned about Cordy Glenn's foot. I'm a little concerned about the right side of the line not getting upgraded. I'm a little concerned how the lack of speed at receiver will draw safeties closer to the line of scrimmage. I'm a little concerned about the lack of depth behind Shady. I'm a little concerned that Taylor won't be contributing as much to the ground game. Put it all together, I'm skeptical this group is going to repeat as the NFL's top rushing unit. I want to see how the linebackers move. How do they handle covering tight ends and running backs? How do they tackle from sideline to sideline? I'm excited about our defensive line getting back to its strength. But I think linebackers are the glaring weakness of our defense, and the main reason we won't return to being a Top 10 unit. I want to see how the new secondary comes together. We are looking at all new faces, so I really don't know what to expect here.

Fans and the media are confused, because they believe in only two philosophies: The team is either "built to win now" or they are "tanking for the future." Signing/extending veterans fits the first mold. Trading older players for draft picks fits the latter. Trading young talent fits neither. I think Brandon Beane/Sean McDermott are simply overhauling the team (whether young or old) into something that fits into their vision. This isn't just about stockpiling draft picks. This isn't about competing for the Number #1 pick. They are trying to win in 2017, but they also aren't afraid to trade away players that don't fit into the roster they are building. Sammy Watkins was traded because of salary. I am 90% convinced of this. They knew that either Watkins has another disappointing season and they let him walk, or he has a fantastic season and wants more money than they were willing to pay. When they first declined his 5th Year Option, I thought the front office was making Sammy prove himself for the money. But now I believe the front office had already decided he had no future in Buffalo. Ronald Darby is undersized and better in man coverage. He didn't fit the defense. Reggie Ragland is a 3-4 middle linebacker with limited skills. He didn't fit the defense. Jonathan Williams didn't help on special teams like they want from backups. It's that simple. And only time will tell if Beane/McDermott actually know what they are doing.

Because I don't trust Sean McDermott. There I said it. Over the last 15 years, I've come to believe that 99% of coaches are average. They just have different styles, different areas of strength and run different schemes. Their success depends completely upon how well the talent matches what they are doing. By themselves, coaches contribute virtually nothing to wins and losses. As big of a MESS Rex Ryan was as a coach when it comes to organization, I truly believe that if we would have been a playoff team the last 2 years if our defensive core was skilled towards his 3-4 scheme. But since our guys fit a 4-3 instead, we played the square peg-round hole game (for the trillionth time) and struggled on that side of the ball. Since our defensive core (namely Kyle Williams, Marcel Dareus and Jerry Hughes) still are 4-3 guys, I think McDermott will get tons of credit for turning around the defense this season. But it will have less to do with his "genius" and more to do with a good fit. Meanwhile, the offense will pull this team into the gutter, because Rick Dennison's scheme is not a match for the Bills talent or Tyrod Taylor. There is no continuity with last year's offense, and that will cost us the games necessary to make the playoffs.

These players have the right to be disrespectful to the flag, unpatriotic and express ignorant opinions. That's what freedom is about. Just like owners have the freedom and right to cut or refuse to sign them. People are wasting too much time and energy worried about guys like Colin Kaepernick and Cameron Jefferson. They don't represent a large portion of the population, and most people disagree with their methods. And they are destroying their careers by these public displays.

Only in Buffalo. This one reminds me of the calls for Jeff Tuel. Here are my thoughts: Nathan Peterman is a rookie. One that was taken on the 3rd day of the draft. And from what I've seen in Preseason, I haven't been impressed in the slightest. Has he looked better than Tyrod Taylor (against mostly 2nd-3rd stringers)? Yeah, probably. But defenses will be much different when the real bullets start flying. Once the actual games start, I'm very confident that Taylor would be a significantly better option under center. Throwing a rookie to the wolves when he clearly isn't ready is a good recipe to destroy any chance he's got for developing in the future. I don't believe in purposely tanking. I think the Bills should still try to win this season. I think they should play Taylor, and make sure the offense fits his strengths as a quarterback.

Maybe they have to let him practice, but they certainly can bench him, relegate him to 3rd string and then make him inactive on game day.

Exactly. And that's why I'm rarely in favor of a complete and total roster overhaul. By the time Beane gets this team back (just to where Whaley had them), it's going to be at least 2-3 seasons into the rebuild. And even the fans supporting all these moves now will start calling for a change at the top.

In my time observing NFL "rebuilding" projects, I've noticed that a GM can address about one-fourth of a team per year (using both the draft and free agency). This comes to about 5-6 starters and about 7-8 backups. How long a rebuilding project takes is dependent on how many pieces are already in place when the GM arrives, and how effective that GM is in drafting, signing and re-signing good players. A strong team with most of the pieces in place may only take 1 season to turn around. A team completely devoid of talent like the Cleveland Browns or San Francisco 49ers may take 3-4 seasons. When a coach brings in a new scheme, certain players don't fit and the rebuilding process takes longer. This is one of the main reasons the Bills have been spinning their wheels between 6-9 wins almost every season for the last decade. This cannot be understated. In my personal opinion (and I know that I'm not alone on this board), the Bills have been about a year away from playoff contention almost every offseason. With continuity, a strong draft and solid free agent pickups, we could easily bump the win total to double-digits. But then we flip the scheme and reset the process by at least another year. By hiring Sean McDermott (and flipping back to a 4-3 defense), I figured this team was going to spin its wheels in the 6-7 win area again in 2017. But I had some high hopes for 2018. By trading away two young starters (Sammy Watkins and Ronald Darby) and failing to find a place for another young talent (Reggie Ragland), I'm afraid we pushed the rebuild process back another season. Frustrate the older players (Kyle Williams, LeSean McCoy, Ritchie Incognito) into leaving and you are setting yourself back even farther. This year is a wash. My guess is 3-5 wins at max. Assuming Beane does a really good job with draft picks and free agency, I think we could make a jump back into the 6-8 win area in 2018 and hopefully get into the playoffs by 2019. But that's only if Beane does a good job. Does this fanbase have the patience for a project like that? Does the owner?

It's clear the new regime is starting over. Other GMs have come in, realized the team had some strong talent to work with, and then tried to get better without completely gutting the roster. Personally, I think this is (usually) the best approach in the NFL. But it's clear that Brandon Beane and Sean McDermott don't agree. We will see. I have a feeling this is only the beginning of the tear-down. Anything else is just lip service to the veteran players and the fans by saying we are trying to win in 2017. Tyrod Taylor is a placeholder and will be replaced next season. I anticipate Kyle Williams retiring after this year. I wouldn't be surprised if we cut LeSean McCoy next year, or find a way to dump Marcel Dareus. Within two seasons, this roster will be totally unrecognizable. And maybe that sounds like a good thing to some fans. But the question isn't how we purge the roster. It's how we rebuild. And that process hasn't even started yet. Too many people seem to believe that with SO MANY DRAFT PICKS, we are setting ourselves up to be a powerhouse in 1-2 years. That only happens if Beane kills the draft. If Beane doesn't find at least 4-5 strong starters next year, the Bills will be a worse team after these moves. Instead of being the mediocre 7-9, 8-8 Bills our fans have been used to, this team will become a 3-13, 4-2 squad.

Not every coach. The New England Patriots are the obvious and clear exception to the rule. Bill Belichick's ability to adapt scheme to player (and not vice versa) is the primary reason - possibly even more than having Tom Brady - that his teams have continued to have success for 15+ years straight. Mark my words. They will not miss Julian Edelman in the slightest. Because even if the team gets a drop-off in play from their backup slot receiver, they will simply shift to another focus on offense and keep on rolling. There are many reasons for the Buffalo Bills managing THIS MANY YEARS without even making the playoffs. But lack of continuity is absolutely near the top of the list. We have clearly had enough talent at various times during the drought to pull off a wild card slot. But the constant merry-go-round with head coaches, coordinators and schemes just keeps us stuck in the mud. It's only preseason, but the signs are already showing of this ridiculous cycle continuing. The offensive line, which has been solid for the last 2 years, is struggling badly with the new zone blocking. Tyrod Taylor looks very uncomfortable under center, and is regressing almost every snap he takes. Even the NFL's best running game is suddenly looking poor. As much as the defense looks improved (surprise, surprise after going back to 4-3), the offense clearly appears to be taking a step back. My guess is that our offense will cost us games early, Taylor will eventually get benched for the rookie, things still won't improve, and by years end Rick Dennison will be cast as the scapegoat. At which point, we will recycle offensive coordinators yet again.

I'm not impressed by GMs who know how to "gut" a roster. I'm impressed by GMs who know how to BUILD a roster. I'm not impressed by GMs who believe in "building through the draft." I'm impressed by GMs who actually make smart draft picks. I don't care if a coach is a disciplinarian or a players buddy. I care about them putting players in a position to win games. I don't care if a coach is a loud mouth or subdued and quiet. I care about them coming up with smart game plans, and making intelligent decisions.

The draft is not total luck. Look at the statistics and you will see a clear correlation between how early players are chosen, and how successful they are in the NFL. In other words, you will find that the vast majority of successful players are drafted in the first 3 rounds. The majority of Pro Bowlers and eventual Hall of Fame players come in the top half of the first round. The vast majority of guys drafted 4th Round and later will flame out. Most undrafted players will not even make an NFL roster. This tells me that scouts, GMs and draft experts have a pretty good idea of what is going on. Is it an exact science? Of course not. There will always be great 1st Round prospects that bust. There will always be late round picks like Tom Brady that turn into greats. But saying the draft is just total luck, just isn't true.