BarleyNY

I don't think that's it, I think it's a function of the stances people take and how they take them. Usually things like this quickly turn into black and white arguments and people vehemently defend their positions and/or attack those of others. Even the more reasonable people get unfairly labeled or drug to one side or the other.

Nope. Here's the full quote from Watkins: “Everybody looks at you getting zero catches, zero yards but when you look on film 90 percent of the time you’re open,” said Watkins, who is represented by Eugene Parker. “I understand that these guys are young and they need some time to trust me. Once we get that trust, it’ll be different. But for me, I need the ball at least 10 times — I need 10 targets — and I’ll be fine with however many yards I get. And that’s what I addressed in talking with my agent. We reached out to a couple people and tried to pull some strings like, ‘Hey, I need my targets. You came up to draft me and I’m not getting targets — that’s a problem. You’re making me look bad and you’re making yourself look bad. Why not make both of us look good?’”

Agreed. And neither does the "You're making me look bad" comment. That isn't what someone worrying about winning says.

Sorry, that's BS. Setting quotas on how many passes he is supposed to get doesn't help the team.

I've got no problem with "Look at the film. I'm getting open so go to me more." (Assuming he's right about the situation.) I've got a huge problem with "I need X number of targets." It's a selfish attitude that points to a guy who wants a big payday and not a guy who wants to win or help his team.

Then note how many NE fumbles were strip sacks of the QB this year and in previous years. Do likewise for other teams when comparing. A WR or QB with the ball tucked away should absolutely count. Ignoring those fumble - especially for a team that runs so little - is clearly misleading through intent, bias or stupidity.

I agree. Just get guys reasonably healthy before bringing them back. That doesn't seem to be happening for some reason or another. A lot of posters B word and moan about the media when they're Pollyannas about other teams, but that's exactly what they expect from Bills' reporters - or they B word and moan. It's a valid concern regardless of who brought it up. Hopefully it gets fixed.

I largely agree with that except for two things. 1) Those teams' GMs aren't "playing scared". They're just desperate and taking what they can find in the desert QB-less teams wander in.. 2) Including McCown. He's been that oasis those GMs hope to stumble into. He'd be the starting QB in Buffalo right now if he'd have chosen the Bills over the Browns. I'd have lumped him with all of the others in the offseason, but he's lighting it up in Cleveland these days - with a lot less skill position talent than the Bills have. 3 straight games with over 300 yards passing, a 102 QBR and AFC Offensive Player of the Week this week thanks to his 457 yards and win over the Ravens. If Cleveland could stop the run (at all) and rush the passer consistently they'd be dangerous.

We can only speculate as to why, but I'll give it a shot. What if he likes his development in Atlanta? Maybe he's getting quality coaching and making progress as a QB and doesn't want to screw that development up over 60k. Oh, and he doesn't want to have to worry about maybe having to find a new team in a month.

Yeah, I get that. I know what he's doing this year and he looks like a totally new QB. He may have made the jump, but I'm just not sold yet. I've seen too much of him since he's been in the league for 5 games to change my mind. It will take more than that.

I certainly don't think a WC round win is out of the question either, depending upon the opponent. Likewise I wouldn't be surprised by narrowly missing the playoffs either, like by losing a tiebreaker. I'd be very surprised to see them go further than the divisional round or be out of the playoff hunt by week 15 though.

The Bills can win this one. The Bengals are certainly due to lose one (or come back to their mean, if you will) and I'm not sold on Dalton yet either. He has folded in other big games. This one isn't huge, but more and more eyes are looking at him these days. Still, "can win" is different from "should win" and the Bengals should be a slight favorite here. The only way to change how the Bills are perceived is for them to win games like this. They need to earn some respect and this game would certainly start to do that.

My preseason prediction for the Bills was the 6th playoff seed and loss in 1st round of the playoffs. That is exactly where they are as of now and I've seen nothing to make me want to change that prediction. They're an above average team, but they aren't running with the elite teams vying for a championship, I wish they were, but they aren't. Those blaming injuries need to look around the league a bit. The Bills aren't out of the ordinary there, it's just more noticeable since they aren't as equipped to overcome significant injuries as some teams are.

Probably stadium related. Still, St. Louis is very much a baseball town.

Nice job putting some reality into the mix. The defense is performing very well overall and hopefully they will even improve as they get more comfortable with the scheme. They are having issues with quick passes, however, and I'd like to see that get cleaned up. Still, there's only so much defense that's allowed in the NFL these days. Other than trouble with seasoned, elite QBs (not a shock for any team) I see one major thing holding them back and that is........... Penalties. They have absolutely been killing themselves with unnecessary penalties. They are the Ravens-like intimidation and overly aggressive play kind of penalties you'd expect from a team bullying others. They aren't unnecessary roughness and late hit to the quarterback (Tom Brady) kind of penalties, the ones that make teams dread playing you. All too often they have just been mental lapses, things a seasoned team shouldn't do as much of as we've been seeing. This could be the result of new schemes being implemented or it could be more emblematic of the style of team the brash Rex Ryan is building. I'm hopeful that it's the former and I suspect that it is. Rex's personality certainly would lead one to believe his team would be undisciplined, but the complexity of his defense makes me think that he's very disciplined in that respect and what we see is his release valve. Let's hope that's the case.

hondo in seattle, on 06 Oct 2015 - 2:43 PM, said: "The Colts know football at the Ph.D. level. But what happened to Boom Herron, who was waived Sunday after being hurt Thursday? Stupid. Just stupid. And not only for Herrons sake, but for the Colts sake. This is more than a nice guy you hate to see suffer an apparent season-ending injury. This was a guy the Colts were counting on as their backup running back..." http://www.indystar....arter/71822758/ buffalobarbarian: ____________________________________________________ Agreed. That's hilarious. Other than doing a wonderful job tanking for Luck, what exactly has the new front office done there? And I'll remind everyone that the FO that built the Manning led teams was canned and new staff started with the Luck draft.

I did too. I thought he'd be a solid RB in the NFL. Not a world beater or even necessarily a starter, but a guy who'd be solid and stick around for a good career. And that's not the Buckeye homer in me talking. Well, to be fair, they'd seen a lot of Trent Richardson.....

None. Zero. Nada. He never lost his form. He had huge holes exactly where they were supposed to be at Alabama. He needs vision in the NFL and he has none. Literally the worst vision I've ever seen for someone who lasted even a couple seasons in the NFL. He's got everything else, but it's such a handicap he's useless as a runner. The only way I think he can contribute in the NFL is as a receiving back. Get him the ball in space and he's still great, but he's not much use if that's all he's got. And it is. It's also why teams kept giving him chances. But it's fools gold.

Please God, NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! Trent Richardson is the biggest non-injury related waste of talent since Art Schleister. The man has zero vision. He might as well be blindfolded when he runs.

The only thing I'm sure of is that if a batting penalty had been called everyone would be bitching and moaning about how it was a crappy call, how the refs decide games, how the ball was going OOB anyway and how Seattle made a great play but got robbed. Personally I liked the no call. It looked like it was probably a bat, but as a ref you don't effectively decide the game on a call like that unless you're 100% certain.

Teams in "New York City" and other teams with large followings like the Cowbois will always get undue amounts of media attention. Soon we can add LA teams to that mix. The national sports radio guys have to dizzy with anticipation for that addition. Just watch how suddenly everyone starts talking Raiders once they move.

Designed runs are treated as rushes for QBs. For example, you'll see kneel downs rung up as rushes not sacks. Sometimes the stats guy has to make a judgement.

I do like to divide up the regular season into quarters to gauge teams as doing so after every single game leads me to be too reactionary. 2-2 is a bit disappointing to the fan in me, but I figured 3-1 was the best the Bills realistically could be. 2-2 was probably more realistic seeing as how we have new systems being implemented and a starting QB who only has 4 years as a backup as experience. Looking ahead to the next quarter season I think we're looking at 3-1 or 2-2 again. The Oiltans are ripe for a thrashing with the pressure we are likely to bring against their rookie QB, but the Bengals look very tough. Jax is improved and Miami is a wildcard. They might be looking for revenge, but could just as easily be packing it in. Getting at least 3 wins over the next 4 is huge to the Bills as 5-3 is much different than 4-4 in the playoff race.

They just need other teams that easy to hype. Let's face it, they'll be re-hashing the same crap on the Patriots come playoffs and there's only so much of that anyone can hear. Flashy offseason moves and a coach who's the anti-Belichick on camera make the Bills a great early season media darling. Winning will be necessary for them to be a late season media darling, however. If not they'll move on to whatever new teams are in the playoff mix.

Exactly. Although it was enjoyable getting ripped by posters who thought the Bills were a near Super Bowl 50 lock. I still say they'll be better than average and have a real shot at a WC spot, but they are not able to compete with the NFL elite. QB play is most of the reason for that.