Nihilarian

welp we get to see the punter soon.

and all this time I've been worried about the offense

wasn't the defense supposed to be McD's forte?

Time to worry about the defense...jeez

short bus special...

yikes ...WIDE open

Good! I hope this causes the Bills to pound that rock all game with Shady, MM, and Ivory!

As for Edwards freezing under a heavy rush... that hit Edwards took in Arizona he stood fearlessly in the pocket and threw to Bills WR James Hardy for a first down. It was later on in his career that he looked slower and indecisive as concussions will do that to a player. Just google "Trent Edwards hit" and watch it. It's my belief that Trent Edwards was ruined from being drafted by a bad Buffalo team with bad coaches (OC Schonert), bad lines (Langston Walker missed that pick up on Wilson in Arizona) with a not so good receiving corps and a most horrid deep passing offensive scheme with little time to make those deep throws. Most Bills fans will say that Edwards was a bad QB, to begin with, and that simply isn't true as at first, he was very bright, very accurate. If given time to throw he could get the job done and the biggest problem was that he simply didn't have the time in the pocket to complete those deep 5-7 step dropback plays that were called. Then when you have the RB's catching 75% and the WR's catching 50% or below and with little time to throw deep it's easy to see why Edwards was dumping the ball off to the RBs so often. Now fast forward to the present time to see that Nate Peterman might be in a similar situation to Edwards as the Bills are moving away from being a run-first offense to a pass-first offense with a bad O line. Because if the guy is given time in the pocket to make throws he looks competent. If not given enough time it could be like the 2017 Chargers all over again. The coaching of the offense might be much improved but the play calling doesn't help that much if the guy doesn't have at least two seconds to throw and his receivers aren't getting open. Then going back to a run-first scheme won't work as opponents have seen that the passing game isn't working so the Lbers move up to force the pass. The fact that the team doesn't have that running QB in Peterman. So he puts no fear in their hearts that he will break free for a big gain by running. Now queue the kid who did a lot of running in college where he was like a man among boys. The NFL is where the guys on the other side are bigger, stronger, faster. I've already seen Allen get sacked and thrown on his head against the Browns and go through a near concussion protocol against Cincy after five sacks in the first half alone. Allen went 6 of 12 for 34 yards in an entire half and was sacked for 39 yards. The thing is we all watched how that Bills starting offensive line looked against the Browns, Bengals first string defenses in the preseason and Bills QBs rarely had two seconds to complete a pass. Then when the Bills QB did have time to throw the receivers weren't getting open or getting separation. Without C Woods, LG Incognito this could be the very worst offensive line I've ever seen the Bills field and the very last thing I want to see is that #7 overall pick being indoctrinated into the NFL in a trial by fire...running for his life play after play.

A lot of people have said that he played well the next week...and some players go right back into a game dazed as heck and play well on instincts. That doesn't mean that they are not suffering from the effects of that concussion. The protocols are different today and Edwards probably should have sat out many games if not the entire season. The thing is the more you get hit in the head after a severe concussion the more susceptible you are for more injury and it's far easier to suffer another concussion. For me, it's really easy to see that he was simply never the same player after that San Diego game. Who knows, perhaps he got another hard hit to the head in that game. What's crazy is that Rivals.com in 2001 had Edwards rated at the #1 QB in the nation and he was recruited by Michigan, Florida, Notre Dame, and Tennessee. http://www.nfl.com/videos/buffalo-bills/09000d5d80b60a32/WK-5-Trent-Edwards-injury

A lot of what we all saw was due to the offensive scheme Edwards was forced to play in at Buffalo. Trent played in a WCO scheme at Stanford and then played in a Mike Martz type deep passing scheme in Buffalo with Steve Fairchild, then Turk Schonert as his OC's. Martz was a jackass that got his QB's killed everywhere he went save when he had that great O line in St Louis. In his first season as the starting Buffalo Bills QB Edwards did well his first few games and the team started 4-0 in 2008, 5-1 after Arizona and San Diego. Bills fans were talking about Edwards like he was the next Joe Montana. That severe concussion in the Arizona game week 5 changed Edwards as did the many hits to the head during the season IMO. Anyway, a deep passing scheme with Lee Evans, Josh Reed, and Roscoe Parish, James Hardy as WRs? Royal, Schouman, Fine and TEs and Fred Jackson, Marshawn Lynch as RB's. I can recall watching Josh Reed run his routes and never look back to see if the QB was in trouble. Bottom line was that year the Bills brought in LG Derrick Dockery, RT Langston Walker in free agency and neither lived up to what they were overpaid which only seemed to piss off all-pro LT Jason Peters. Duke Preston was at center and Brad Butler was at RG. That line was simply not good enough to allow a lot of 5-7 step dropbacks in my view. Hence a big reason as to why Jackson and Lynch saw a lot of balls in the run game and passing game. If you go back and look over the catch percentages Lynch was at 71.1% and Jackson was at 82.2%. Lee Evans 102 targets for 62 receptions for a 61.8% catch percentage, Reed was better at 70%, Parrish had a 53.3%. Things got even worse the next year as both Jackson and Lynch were at 75% and Owens was 50.5%, Evans 96 targets for 44 receptions a 45.8%, Reed 50%, Parrish 60%. It will be interesting to see if the current Bills O line can give Peterman time to throw. And if so, he should be okay.

Not as much as Peterman is...

While I see your points I simply don't think Josh Allen is anywhere near ready to start in the NFL. And particularly against the first few teams of this season in which those defenses are brutal. If Peterman is bad then let him get his arse handed to him and then send in the backup QB. It's usual that defenses tend to let up somewhat against the backup QB because they didn't plan against him. So I say keep starting Peterman until Josh gets a handle on how to read defenses, call protections while being able to survive long enough to develop into that franchise QB we all want him to become.

I seriously wish I could be this optimistic about the line and Peterman... From what I saw that first string Buffalo Bills O line couldn't give any QB the time to throw save against Carolina in which all three Bills QB's threw for over 100 yards. (gentleman's agreement?) "IF" the line gives Peterman more then 2 seconds to throw then he should be okay. If not the Ravens will see that fact and move up to stop the run making the offense impotent. It won't matter how well the Bills defense plays if the offense can't get moving. I hope that the Bills offensive line proves my eyes wrong and plays well and if so the Bills actually have a shot to win the game and shut the critics up.

What a lot of Bills fans might not know is that the Baltimore Ravens led the NFL in turnover ratio last season with a plus +17. Of those turnovers, they had 22 interceptions which were also best in the NFL. Also, what helped Buffalo last season was their plus +9 turnover ratio and Tyrod Taylor only had 4 interceptions all season. (as we all know Peterman had 5 in one half) This year the Buffalo Bills want to go forward with a pass-first offense and move away from their run-first offense that they ran last year. As we all saw that Bills offensive line hasn't done a very good job of pass blocking against opponents starters in preseason. Things could get very ugly, very quickly with no Tyrod to bail them out and Josh Allen simply isn't ready. This is entirely the reason why most media people are saying the Bills get the first pick in next years draft. This first game of the season could be a precursor for the entire season. I'm really hoping that the Bills offensive line plays better and more cohesively than what I saw in preseason.

The thing is that the media all saw what we all saw in that AJ got his arse handed to him by Cleveland's first-string defense and again by Chicago's first-string defense. He didn't start to play okay until he faced the guys who won't even be on the roster in Chicago. Josh Allen was eaten alive by the Bengals first string defensive line and finally played a bit better against the backup Cincy defense with the Bills first string O line. It doesn't take a genius to see that the Bills offensive line is very poor at pass blocking and somewhat acceptable at run blocking. The problem is that this team wants to become a pass-first team with a QB starting that is very susceptible to a heavy pass rush as he is not a running QB and makes mistakes under pressure. You can blame the QB's all you want but given time like they all had against Carolina they all showed they could get the job done if given time in the pocket. The offensive line is the problem. Josh Allen showed he simply isn't quite ready to lead the team as the starting QB. He needs more experience in the film room, reading defenses and learning how pro defenses operate. I don't think that many people want Allen to fail, save Jets, Dolphins and Pats fans. It would be better for not only Bills fans but the entire NFL if Allen doesn't fail as they need star QBs that fans can love. JMO

The Bills play the Chargers at home week 2, and from what I see the guy who didn't block Bosa last year is still playing RT. Then they play the Vikings on the road... It's not hard for me to imagine because I can remember what it was like without Eric Wood at center. The reason Juaron drafted him with a #1 pick was that because the previous season three Bills players (LG, C, RG) all tried to triple block NT Kris Jenkins and he still got to the QB and sacked him. This happened more than once and the end result was the quickest way to the QB is right up the middle.

What's funny is that this was a run first-team last year that decided to try zone blocking for the first part of the year and that failed. Then had the backup QB in Peterman start against the Chargers. We all saw how that went in the first half so they went back to Taylor who was able to avoid the rush better than Peterman and survive the game. The offensive line was bad last year and that was with pro bowlers at C, LG and those two O linemen who were pro bowlers on last year team are no longer on the team. (Woods, Incognito) Now fast forward to 2018 and the team wants to be a pass first team with Peterman starting against the team that was #1 in the NFL last year in defensive takeaways with +17. Now this year there is no Tyrod Taylor to fall back on and only a rookie who is not ready to start. Just to refresh some memory Taylor only had 4 INT's all of 2017 and Peterman..well we know. Things could get very ugly, very fast in Baltimore week one and go downhill from there... The first overall pick in the 2019 draft might not actually be the plan this year but it could be the result.

So this year the team is going to attempt to be a pass-first offense by getting the ball out quickly? With Nathan Peterman as the starting QB? What I saw last year was Tyrod Taylor with his limited passing yards, only a few 200-yard games, and no 300-yard passing games. Granted he was very cautious with the ball and didn't want to throw an INT as he only had 4 INTs all year. (Peterman had 5 in one half) TE Charles Clay was the leading receiver with 558 yards, 2 TDs (49 rec, 74 targets), and behind him was RB McCoy with 448 yards, 2 TDs(59 rec, 77 targets), 3rd was Deonte Thompson with 430 yards, 1 TD (27 rec, 51 targets). I truly hope that the current offensive line will give Peterman the time needed to get the ball out quickly so that the offensive passing game actually works like it is supposed to work. From what I saw this preseason though is that the coaching staff took it easy on Peterman in giving him the confidence to be the starting QB. He started in the first game against Carolina and went against the backups with Cleveland and Cincy. That first game all three Bills QB threw for over 100 yards. I don't know that Peterman would have fared that much better against those first string defenses but I sure would have liked to see him play against them and play better than AJ McCarron, Josh Allen did. I'm very concerned that the Bills line won't hold up especially in the middle without Woods and if that is the case Peterman won't have more than 2 seconds to get the ball out. Again, hope it works.

While I agree with most of what you say and to me coaching is everything. Those teams you named win mostly because they have great QB's Pats, Tom Brady GOAT, Saints were crap for so many years without Drew Brees. The Chiefs have been winning with #1 overall pick at QB in Alex Smith. That said, you gotta have talent in key positions, QB mostly and skill positions. The thing is that great coaches are also usually great at talent evaluation and find the players needed to build a team properly. What I find in today's NFL that really bothers me is so many teams think that they need a 100 million dollar DE or DT and yet want to try to get by with .50 cent OT's, OG's. To me, I think it's equally important to protect that franchise QB as it is to rush the passer. Both sides of the lines should be nearly equal.

Last year the Buffalo Bills got a lot of breaks that went their way and they finished the season #7 overall in point differential @+9. This is something that isn't sustainable due to an oblong spheroids bounce... and luck. Tyrod Taylor had a lot to do with that as he only had 4 INTs all year. Peterman had 5 INTs in one half...

Rex put Mario in his archaic 3-4 scheme which needed DE linemen to handle the O tackles straight up so the linebackers could make the plays. (instead of mostly rushing the passer) Which if you look back at the talent on the team at that time the Bills had some of the best defensive line players in the game and some of the crappiest LBers. The very last thing Mario wanted to do was take on a 330LB offensive tackle or drop back into pass coverage. Same with Dareus, Kyle as they wanted to rush the passer and not take on blockers so the scrubs behind them could try to make a play. Kinda why Rex ruined a top 4 defense and turned it Into a 20 something bad defense

While I can understand why so many Bills fans wanted Mack the price was simply too high for a few reasons, two first round picks and obviously the money. Which were both cost prohibitive in my view. Then he is undersized compared to Mario who is 6'6'' 300lbs. They used to say Bruce Smith was somewhat undersized at 6'4'' 262 lbs for a DE. Mack is 6'3'' 252lbs which is linebacker size. This new regime has an all new scouting dept and next years draft is said to be loaded with pass rushers. So I would think if these new men are worth their salt they should find a defensive player who can get 10+ sacks a season. NFN but there were 15 players who had more sacks than Mack last year. If you are building from the ground up and just dumped 50 mill of dead cap space. Then why spend that much for one player that is not a franchise QB. Mario did cost 100 million dollars and for two seasons under Pettine/Schwartz the Buffalo Bills (Mario) did lead the NFL in sacks with the #4 defense overall under Schwartz. But because the Bills didn't have their franchise QB to lead the offense all that defense went for naught. Mario was cheaper because no first rounders needed and it still didn't work out.

Gailey used smoke and Mirrors to make his offense work with 5 WR sets and only one decent WR in Stevie Johnson. Plus he would run the ball out of the shotgun so opponents weren't 100% certain of what they would get on each play. Once teams figured out that bumping the Bills receivers on the line to disrupt the quick timing throws and stacking the box to stop the run... Gailey's offense was done. Smoke and Mirrors only works for a limited time and real talent is needed to win consistently.

Peterman is NOT Fitz! Fitz learned to survive on some bad teams and in doing so has great escapability with an outstanding ability to run when needed. In 2010 Fitz's run average was as good as Mike Vick. Peterman doesn't have that Fitz type escapability so when he is under great pressure he makes great mistakes... takes the sack, throws the INT. Fitz didn't always make the right choice either. Anyone else notice that the only start Peterman saw in preseason was week one against Carolina and the Panthers didn't blitz much. Besides their vaunted D line didn't really pressure the QB like I've seen them do in the past. Something I doubt the Ravens, Chargers, Vikings will do. It's my take the Bills FO/coaches took it easy on Peterman so he could gain confidence heading into the season. I suspect we will see Allen before too long.

How many Bills players in the top 100? Two pro bowlers still on the roster from last year in McCoy, Hyde.