Prickly Pete

EJM still hasn't EARNED the job yet. Also the players need a little time to divorce from Orton. The players had to suddenly switch loyalties to Orton, and now they are expected to accept EJM again, out of the blue? That's not the best way to reintroduce the Prodigal Son. Let the players learn to loathe Orton, then after 2-3 games, let EJM have his shot.

this thread sums up the season on this board

I think Marrone and the gang are good enough to get the team out of the cellar, and make it interesting enough for a truly good coach to accept the job. "Thanks Doug, I'll take it from here..."

Yeah, I know. I was using him as an example of someone that skews overall statistics. My bad, I figured people would understand that. Thank you very much. I agree, but I still think it's better than last years offense, in actual play, if not in stats. Thank you very much.

I'm wondering what the median stats are for the entire league, or good teams, or bad teams even. Subtle improvements in stats might translate to lots more wins. What about 4th quarter stats? Fitz put up some pretty good stats, but would blow it in the last 10 minutes or so. Just so many variables... It feels like the offense is better overall, but the Red Zone performance is still holding them back. I don't need stats to know that. Watching the games is always trumps stats for me.

Aside from Watkins, there is not one guy on the offense that isn't worth cutting to keep Dareus.

This thread is rich... http://forums.twobillsdrive.com/topic/169068-dareus-not-cleared-to-practice-yet/page__hl__racing#entry3180208

Remember before this season, after the street racing incident, there were people that wanted to cut him?

Ha. And it's not just that they suck in the Red Zone that bothers me, it's that they are blowing great drive start field position at the same time! It's happening over and over...

? That's not the implication of this post... "One of the failed trips in the Minny game was a fumble. A stupid, nothing to do with strategy fumble. Outside of that, outside of yesterday, they've been pretty sharp under the almighty Orton." They have sucked in the RZ with both QB's, and have had the benefit of great field position.

You're dreaming. It's the single biggest problem this team has. It's about TOUCHDOWNS, not field goals. The Bills rank 2nd in Average Starting Field Position, and 32nd in Drive Success Rate. Of course, you are gonna claim that it's radically different with Orton, but I doubt it (YOU can look that up if you like). http://www.footballo...ivestatsoff2014 This offense has been gifted great field position and have frittered it away.

Yep, it's everyone on the offense working together to be the worst Red Zone offense in the league. That's the problem, it's so hard to pinpoint. They fritter away turnovers, and great field position, like no other offense I have ever seen! I think a lot of it is attitude. I think the coach's conservative attitude affects the mindset of the players. It's "let's just keep it close, we can always settle for 3, it's early", instead of an attitude of urgency, or "we need to get these 7-points, NOW". You need stats to convince you that they suck in the red zone?

They are now "competitive". They are a mediocre team, right in the 12th to 22nd ranking. Not really much to get very excited about, but better than the basement.

This thread is filled with snarky comments from people that apparently felt this offense was good enough, and that the red zone problems that plagued them in games they were winning, didn't belie a very serious flaw in this team.

Very unlikely the Patriots don't lose again. They have a very tough schedule ahead, I expect at least 2 losses for them. 8 straight wins isn't going to happen.

I'm pretty sure that Pegula understands the benefits of being in a division with 2 major markets/media centers....volunteering to move out would be idiotic. Yeah, but these guys wanna play in a division where the stadiums can be filled with guys wearing hard hats. That would be so cool...

Bad move. Might be good for local fans, but not for TV exposure. I also know many fans love the trip to Miami in the winter. And NYC and Boston really aren't that much farther. I would much rather visit those towns than Pittsburgh, Cleveland, or Cincy. NFC East, AFC East...the best place to be in each conference.

Yeah...what a loser.

I don't even think about it as "who can they beat, what are the tough games?" They could beat the Broncos, and lose to the Raiders... I look at it as "Can they stay healthy" and "Will the offense continue to progress with Orton, and come together like a well-oiled machine?" How much better can the offense get with Orton each week? The Bills appear to have the talent to get into the playoffs, but they have to be running on all cylinders.

I agree to a certain extent, but I really doubt that the reason they weren't more aggressive was because they didn't want to show their hand to future opponents. There are plenty of plays they could have run, that they have used in previous games. No one mentions that putting the defense out there repeatedly after 3 and outs is NOT good strategy. That is how teams end up making comebacks. Get some first downs at least, if you are planning on milking the clock! You mention the Vikings game like they were holding back? They barely won the game on the last second of play! The Bears suck. The Pats are good. They have beaten only 2 teams with winning records. We shall see how differently they approach higher powered teams. I'm hopeful.

I'm not disappointed in the amount of points. I'm disappointed in the way they approached the situation. One more time.... With the way big leads are overcome these days, I think it's way too uptight and conservative to sit on a 2 score lead, in the 3rd quarter, while in the red zone. I have no problem with the run/pass ratio. I wouldn't have cared if they ran it every play, if that was working...but it wasn't. Like, not at all. I like plenty about Marrone, but his "play not to lose" approach, and his poor game management approaching halftime, are bad, bad, bad. Worked out against the Jest's, Vikes...won't work against the top tier. I hope he gets better.

You got it right there. I couldn't care less what the pass to run ratio is. What I don't like is them going into a shell in the 3rd quarter, while in the Red Zone, while it's still a 2 score game. That's just playing way too scared. That kind of approach can have a bad effect on the player's psyche, and attitude. It's playing not to lose, and I don't want a team that plays with that attitude. I am curious how all the defenders of the approach they took will respond if/when the team gets beaten by an opponent in a comeback. Will they acknowledge that maybe this staff plays too close to the vest? I doubt it. Instead they will come up with some other reason for the failure....

Wow, the Pats have a brutal schedule for the rest of the season. I don't think the Bills will make it as a wild card, they gotta win the division.

I didn't say going into the game that the Jets weren't expecting any pass attempts, but by the 3rd quarter the Bills pretty much shut down the passing game and the Jets lined up expecting a run almost every play. After that, any pass was a surprise, so the pass rush was easier to handle, GET IT? Grading Urbik's pass blocking in a blowout game where they barely passed, isn't going to give you the same results as grading him in a game where the Bills have to make a comeback, or an even game where the running game is shut down, GET IT? Is that crazy? Is that confusing?

There is no way he will be let go during this season. Our only hope is the offseason. But I actually think Marrone is more responsible for the offensive approach than Hackett. I think Marrone and Hackett discuss the approach that he wants Hackett to take going into, and during, the games. I would expect that Marrone told Hackett to go extra-super-time-killing-run-heavy, sometime around mid 3rd quarter, and then Hackett would call the plays. I think Marrone will always play it "safe as milk". It will be nice to finally get to "respectable", finally winning games against mediocre teams. It's been a long time since they have been good enough to do that. But there will need to be a change to get up into that "Top 4 Team" level. Marrone will never get there.