Bleeding Bills Blue

You can't have two units that have multiple melt-down games and expect to be in the playoffs. We were 0-5 when we had a bad game running the ball (sub 100 yards) - that should be a major concern for Tyrod. He needs to be better in games when we can't run. There is no denying that fact. We were also 0-3 when we gave up 200+ rushing (big surprise. We also had 7 weeks with no takeaways. Lost 5 of those, and the 2 wins were against JAX and CLE. 4-8 when we had 1 or fewer takeaway.

Those teams were in the top 5 in turnover diff.... They either dont turn it over much - GB, or ATL - Or have a huge number of takeaways - KC and OAK. Miami... i dunno luck? They were bad by like every metric. Jets, Rams, Chargers, 49ers... they probably should have lost all of those games. Buffalo wasn't great in turnover diff because we didn't take the ball away very much. Running the ball is important. It keeps the chains moving, sets up play action, and is a classic, beat the man in front of you scenario.

To me it comes down to close games... We need to start winning close games.

With the limited number of practices with and without pads, i imagine belichick demands all-out effort consistently.

I'm too young to have attended. But at this stage of my life, I wouldn't leave a bills home playoff game for any reason whatsoever.

They have good pieces if either of the QBs can prove to be competent. Sanders, Thomas, solid running game.

NFL stadiums require a ton of parking... If the bills move downtown it would be a nightmare for infrastructure purposes. If I had to guess I'd say - maybe Conway park for the stadium location. Or rip out the perry projects? Or both? You'd be able to use much of the existing parking from the hockey stadium, and could build a couple large lots to maybe maintain some of the tailgating tradition.

Teams definitely fluctuate from year to year. Carolina was 15-1 in 2015, and 6-10 last year. Yes they gutted the defense, but they also scored like 150 fewer points. Miami had a -17 point differential, and finished 10-6. Turnovers tend to fluctuate from year to year as well (NE is a notable exception, you basically get fired if you fumble). 13 teams committed fewer than 20 turnovers last year. 9 made the playoffs. Keep your turnovers down, you tend to keep yourself in games. KC and Oakland both were at +16 last year to lead the league, a small regression there towards the mean and neither teams record is as good.

Last year - we were to lose to the patriots twice, arizona, cinn, seattle, oakland, pittsburgh. In the end we got swept by NYJ and MIA which ended up costing us the playoffs. We won 3 of the 7 we were supposed to lose, and almost beat seattle. If we played better on defense against the jets and dolphins, we were in the playoffs.

I went with Safety. TE is also a bit of a concern in an offense that likes to run the ball, but i think we'll see Dimarco a fair amount motioning out as a 2nd TE.

He also doesn't have a large catch radius, or use his body well to shield defenders. He definitely plays small.

To be fair - the d-line was the best group on that disaster of a team. And the tackling and just general physicality was very poor from our d-line last year. Hopefully he can get more out of guys like lawson and dareus.

Did he do something to get cut (this time...)? Or was he just a victim of numbers? Jeffery, Smith, Matthews, Agholor, now hollins... All of those guys cost more to cut than keep (or are part of future plans more than DGB)... while you actually save money by cutting DGB. If he isn't a teams ace, then he was just going to get cut anyway.

I dunno - you aren't able to tackle in practice anymore.. so probably pretty difficult.

This is why we should try and carry some over. We will want to extend Sammy if he has a good year. May want to be a bit more active in Free agency again after sitting out the past few years.

The agent's clearly going to leverage it. He also knows he makes more on the open market - so he walks in a year. Players only get 1 shot at a 2nd deal after their rookie deal. They want to maximize that pay day. So if he stayed at 2.6, and walked next year, then he factors into our comp pick formula for 2019. We got a 5th round pick in 2017 for losing him this year, instead of... probably a 5th round pick in 2019. For better or worse, Jonathan Williams is the guy with Tolbert as the likely insurance. It's not ideal but its cheaper. If Williams stinks, we'll draft someone next year. Entry-level deals are much cheaper (http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/rankings/cap-hit/running-back/entry-level/). He can block on 3rd downs much more effectively than McCoy. Has pretty good hands for a guy his size. He hasn't fumbled since 2011. He can break through an arm tackle on 3rd and inches, while McCoy cant.

You can't have the 2nd highest paid RB in the NFL (the highest is on the tag), AND the highest paid backup in the NFL at RB.

I think we used the pick to move up and get zay... but we also did get Dawkins because we had extra picks

2.6 million would have made him the 13th highest cap hit on the team, for our backup running back. It makes contract negotiations much more difficult as the agent starts at 2.6 per year if not more. So u end up with him for a high cap hit for 1 year then he walks to start somewhere else. You might get a comp pick in 2019. It's also a ton to pay a backup running back when u have the 2nd highest paid back in the NFL. Unfortunately you have to go young and cheap when u carry a contract like mccoys.

Somewhere around 3-6 wins. Decker missed pretty much all of 2016 - so his loss is negligible too. O-line is still alright. Should be able to keep McCown on his feet, and run the ball. Bowles seems like a solid coach, at least defensively.

Pryor sucked. Revis was massively overpaid, and sucked. Harris was also overpaid.

I don't look at us as a tanking team. We're returning much of a 7-9 team from a year ago, that lost a couple tight games to playoff bound teams in Miami and Seattle. We were without our top WR most of the season, and a ton of other people missed time (safeties, shady missed a game or two, woods). Our franchise DT missed 4 games with suspension, as well as several more due to injury. Our 1st round pick missed camp and barely played, and our 2nd round pick didn't play a down. How are we significantly worse than we were a year ago under our idiotic previous HC?

Bottom this year is between cleveland, SF probably, and the NYJ. I throw the Rams in there too - new coach and still a lousy offense. With injuries and if we lose tons of close games - 5-11/6-10 is probably worst case scenario. Only chance we finish close to the bottom is a tyrod injury

Smith should be the starter all year assuming he's healthy. They'd be in a great position to move on in 2018. 3.6 mil cap hit to cut him outright (by the 3rd league day), or they can trade him and someone can absorb the 14.5 million base salary for a solid starting QB. He should still fetch a decent asset.

He needs to take another job and do well. Then he will get more chances.