Dan

I completely agree. Everyone, and it seems everyone, is saying this is an easy win for the Ravens against the worst team in the league. How did we go from a playoff team with promising coach and team to the worst team in the league over the offseason? The Ravens, on paper, should have more proven talent than the Bills. I get that. But week 1 is the biggest crapshoot week of the season! All those new players need time to learn the system and play together. Did anyone see the game on Thursday, neither of those teams looked in sync and came out of the gates on fire. I expect more of the same from our game. Will the Bills win? I'd be surprised. But to out right dismiss them and annoit the Ravens the team to beat, at this point in the year, is completely unfounded. The only reason I half expect a loss is because of the Ravens Defense. They should be able to containl our offense. How our defense fairs agaisnt their O is a much bigger question mark. This game comes down to coaching, in my opinion. Can McD and Daboll have them prepared, focused and a game plan developed to negate the Raven's D? We'll see.

Yeah... I just expect the refs are gonna be horrendous. That's part of the game now bad calls and poor officiating. I wonder how much the bad play is due to all the limited practices and preseason play of late? Cauae surely these two teams are better than this?

LOL yeah. It's hard to watch in most every way

The first game of the season is always bad. But if 5pick Peterman plays like either of these two QBs, the calls to bench him will be deafening. Both offenses just seem completely out of sync. And Al and Chris need to retire. They've become the rambling old guys thatonlynhalf pay attention to the game. And, if anything, suck the life out of watching it. And yeah, that stupid green box is stupid. Why do we need that? It's distracting. Why do I watch nonBills games?

Agreed... which is kinda my point a bit. They're not playing a consistent scheme. And the one yesterday sucked. But... I would expect they would do a little better than just throw Allen and the Line to the wolves and see how fast they get eaten. I'm not a coach, nor am I privy to the full process. But I'm concerned that this team is not prepared to start playing real games. Hopefully, I'm wrong. I want to be.

One thing I noticed... in the first preseason game they had the RBs and TEs chip on almost every pass play to help the Oline out. And Peterman and the line looked a ton better. Yesterday... there was none of that. Its entirely possible that they wanted to evaluate Allen and the line in a different scheme to see how they performed. I have 2 primary concerns. We're in late August, 2 weeks away from the season opener and have zero consistency or cohesion on offense. There is no consistent starter at QB, oline, or WR. No consistent scheme seems to have emerged. Its concerning because how how many times have we seen all this preseason shuffling result in a good start to the season? Yeah... never. And secondly, how can McD and the coaches not have it all figured out by now? How many times have we seen the... its preseason, there going vanilla on purpose excuse? Its concerning to say the least. I wanna think they know what their doing. But I've seen enough football to know, at this point when your team looks abysmal in all facets of the game, the start of the season isn't looking good.

His stat line from the 2017 preseason would appear to demonstrate that he has improved his performance this year. Player Team Pos Comp Att Pct Att/G Yds Avg Yds/G TD Int 1st 1st% Lng 20+ 40+ Sck Rate Nathan Peterman BUF QB 43 79 54.4 19.8 453 5.7 113.2 1 0 20 25.3 28 4 0 4 75.6

I'll preface my point of view by stating that for the first time in a couple ..decades... I feel confident that our coaching staff is going to make the right decision for the team, now and for the future. The dilemma here is that Peterman clearly has gotten mental aspect of the game down. By all accounts, he seems to have picked up the new offense and has performed well in camp. In games, he's really good at reading the defense and almost always makes the proper presnap read and subsequent throw. His problems are physical. He clearly lacks the elite arm you want in an NFL QB. And when the pocket collapses (or in many cases, never even arrives), he looks skittish and usually something bad happens. Josh, on the other hand, has all the physical tools you could ever dream of in a QB. But, mentally, he's going to make a lot of bad decisions when the real bullets start to fly. There's not a doubt in my mind, nor anyone with half a brain, that he is the future of this franchise. Period and done. The only quesiton at this point is ...when is that future? So, do we want the smart guy that's going to throw interceptions because he has a weak arm? Or the sexy beast of an arm that's going to throw interceptions because of poor his decisions? Prior to this game, I was confident that AJM was going to be the week 1 starter with Peterman as the backup. (AJM plays well and we trade him for a good draft pick after the season and move on) Now, I have no idea if AJM sees the field for the Bills again. I can see arguments for both guys, Allen and Peterman, starting. I will say this though. I really like the idea of Peterman as our long term backup. He's smart, prepares well, and seems like a good team player. I love the thought of Allen as the face of the franchise burning up the league for 15 years. But man, I hate starting rookie QBs, always have. But, do we have a real choice? More than anything, I guess I just hope the fans on this board and in the stadium, get behind and support whoever is on the field. Either player is going to have good and bad throws/decisions. And with our current Oline and WR situation, it's a likely to start off more bad than good for both of them. Peterman is not all bad. Allen is not guaranteed to be a savior. They both need our support and prayers for a healthy season (cause we're likely to see both play one way or another).

Is it me or do we not really know much more about the roster than we did at the start of camp?

The problem with preseason is all the fans and 24/7 sports writers want football so much... THEY.. treat it like real football games. Coaches and players, however, realize its still just practice games and approach it as such. Take the games off TV and stop the 24/7 analysis of every player's performance in them, and the number of games comes back to what matters... How much time does a coach need to evaluate his players and get the team ready for a season? I would guess, 4 games is about right.

I agree with you... those were the only 2 plays on that drive, that I thought he really made t wrong decision. On the incredible touchdown, the entire play was designed to go to that side of the field. I'm sure that's not exactly how the play is designed, but it worked. 2 point I'd like to make. First is on the throw downfield when he could have easily taken the TE underneath for a small gain; its nice sometimes to have a QB thinking downfield and not...always...taking the easy underneath stuff. No it doesn't always work out. But, it forces the defense to defend the entire field, every receiever. Because they know Allen has the arm to get it there... And he'll try! For how long have had a safe, always take what the defense gives you kinda QB? How long have we wished for a QB that would make a throw ans give is WRs a chance? And for how long have we been mediocre. All good QBs have to take those chances some times. I'm glad Allen did! Secondly, we've all been conditioned for too long that interceptions are bad. Don't throw an interception, take what the defense gives you. Be safe with the ball. Every good QB throws picks! Every one. Rare do you see the 300+ yard games with no interceptions. Interceptions are going to happen. Its ok. The key is ..is he a Fitzy interception magchine (always make the bad pass on the final drive of the game when all you need is a FG)? Or is he gettign ints trying to make plays but at the critical time, being smart and getting the yards? Me.. I don't mind ints so much, if he's pushing the ball downfield, forcing the defense to defend every route, and setting them up for later drives. That's going to happen and its not all bad. I was really encouraged watching him in that game. With that all said... I find myself repeatedly saying... Its only 1 preseason game. Let him stay on the sideline and learn for now. Especially, if AJ and Peterman continue playing like they did ...in 1 preseason game.

Points taken. I completely agree as well that its nice to hear how he's progressing. My only hesitation is its harder for us fans to know how he's doing with other areas of the game. So I'm not going to scream to get him in. For once, I feel like the coaching staff is thinking about what's best for the team's development long term and not their own interests week to week to try and look good.

So you've already decided that Allen was the best QB in preseason game 1? I think it's funny how everyone blames past regimes for not properly developing our previous QBs, but now so many people have decided that mid way through training camp, Allen has had enough development time and is ready to start. There's a ton more to being an NFL QB than just throwing the ball. In fact, I think you could argue that throwing the ball is pretty far down the list of things an NFL QB needs to do well. And I would suggest that AJ is most likely miles ahead of Allen when it comes to all those other QB duties. How much do people really think you're going to asess Allen's ability to read a defense and handle the pressure and speed of the game in the 2nd half of preseason game 1? (Assuming that's when he plays) I would just hope everyone is able to calm down, trust that this coaching staff and GM actualy know what they're doing and are taking a more methodical and fact-based approach to developing Allen. One good pass or series late in a preseason game does not make or break anyone.

The Chroisen One had no competition.

I'm not smart enough to know who's gonna be good or not. But my first reaction was... why trade up to get a guy that most people were saying would be there at 12... that way the draft was going. So I was upset about giving up the 2 picks more than selecting Allen. But the way you break it down here makes a lot of sense. I'm glad Beane made the moves to get the guy he wanted. There's too much at stake if he doesn't fall and you're left without a seat at the dance. So... yeah. I think it worked out good ...assuming they picked the right guy. lol

I was in the FL keys yesterday watching the draft.... when the Dolphins picked the safety. Half the place just screamed.....FUUU*****k. LOL. Not many people there were too happy either. Just thought it was funny to see. I remembered the same reaction to pickin. Whitney low those many years ago.

Trick question! You can't hit a defenseless receiver. Penalty on the defense, automatic first down. I agree with many here... If you catch it, with 2 feet/knee down, its a catch. If you drop the ball on the way to to the ground... Its a catch and fumble. If the ball moves in your hands, AFTER you have possession, on the ground, out of bounds, whatever.. Still a catch.

Question I have.... Why did AJ slide to the 5th round? If he was so good in college, has all the stats, size, durability. What happened?

Is this a little like the Tyrod signing? A late round guy, that has had time to "develop" while backing up on another team. Bills steal him away and reap the benefits. Not sure if this one works out better or worse, but it sure feels familiar.

This is the type of thread where you confirm the trolls and idiots. There is absolutely no way a Bills fan can truthfully be upset by re-signing Kyle Williams.

I would like to suggest that if there actually is new or breaking news about any player being signed.. That they start a new thread, rather than append it to an umpteen pager thats been going on with specualtion and insults for a week and most of us no longer read. I know we don't like lots of duplicate topic threads. But, adding new information to one that's devolved and most people have lost interest in it due to the bickering and changing the name... Is perhaps worse. Let the old one die, and start a new one, I say.

Actually, it would be. ..or quit because you don't like the way your boss is running the business. But, if you collect a paycheck from someone, then while on the clock in their uniform, decide to make a statement about anything.. You need to think about how that is going to sit with the person signing your check. I agree, these players are more than normal employees. They're public figures and role models. But that's even more the reason they need to be aware of how their stances affect the team. To use your example... Would a team sign a guy to a long term, high priced contract if he was a confessed and vocal nazi? I doubt it. So why should they be expected to support and just allow that same player to fly a nazi flag before games after he signs his contract? We can go round and round with examples and scenarios. But, like it or not, the employer decides what is considered appropriate workplace behavior, not the employee. That's just the way it is.

Same here. Exactly... Hence players need to be aware that they're potentially biting the hand that feeds them, and there could be consequences to those actions up to and including unemployment.

Again..l'm in complete agreement. I feel exactly the same. Unfortunately, few corporations (and that's essentailly what the league is) agree with us. So...we have to shut up and do as we're told. Or go find a new job. The league is in a precarious position with the players, because they can't fire them all. But, that doesn't change the point that the players are flirting with losing their job, just as Kaep may have. Its the risk anyone takes that stands up to the man. Fortunately, he has millions to fall back on. I don't. Lol.

I agree... Hence the owners have a problem. Same with me as a fan... We all have to put up with it.. And the charities the NFL condones... If we want to watch.. Or of the owners want to have those players on their team. Back to the OP... That's why Kim is doing it the right way, IMO. Have a conversation with the players and reslove it in some fashion together. ..not fighting against each other. Because just as the players need to be aware of the owners stance, you know the owners are getting pressure from the league regardless of their personal opinions.