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OL was a strength until they switched to the zone blocking scheme. Plus, Glenn not being consistently in the lineup has made things tough but Dawkins seems like his arrow is pointing up. If he shows enough through the rest of the season I can see them moving on from Glenn and that contract. The right side is where help is needed.

He was in there as an extra OL for a few plays here and there. McD says these guys gotta earn the right to start, I'm surprised Mills is regularly "earning" his starting RT spot week in and week out considering he's been not too great these last few weeks.

Mills has this horrible habit of dropping his head too early when rushers are coming at him. I assume he's expecting to engage but when he goes against faster guys, they pick up on that and the minute he drops his head they zip around him untouched. It's pretty bad.

They sold this season to the fans with their "building to win now and for the future" line to keep us on the hook and watching the games. They did play pretty well in their 5 wins so hopefully that's an indication of what's to come. I do somewhat think that they assumed they were going to lose a bunch of games early and switch over to rookies/younger players by mid-season. But with the 5-2 record they were in great shape, however, all the depth issues and deficiencies in certain departments started showing up as the weeks went by. The defense allows the middle of the field to be exploited constantly. The straight four-man rush never gets home. They tried to switch some things up and that caused the gaps to open up and they started getting shredded for major yards on the ground. Offensively, the scheme is not the best fit for the type of players they have. There were members of this OL that were here when Marrone was around and all he wanted to run was inside zone and it rarely worked and Marrone was too stubborn to change it. Dennison tried to mix in things from Roman's system but in recent weeks it looks like he's gotten away from that. His tendency to involve players like Tolbert and DiMarco on important downs as a way to try and fool the defense, ("They'll never expect the play to go to the fullback!") has been difficult to watch. Early on, turnovers and an opportunistic defense helped get those wins. Plus a few questionable calls that actually went their way. But there were some positive signs which hopefully they can build on. Now, it just looks like they don't have any answers on either side of the ball. Either they're too stubborn to try different things, or too tentative because they feel they'll get burned even worse or the different things they've installed just haven't translated to the field. Another one of their mistakes, I feel, is they haven't done enough in terms of backup plans. Yeah, Marcell was playing 30-40% of the snaps per game but he forces OL's to put two guys on him and that helps free up LBs. They ship him off and who do they have? KW, who we all love but know is ready to call it a day. Washington, who just isn't the type of space-eating DT that Dareus was. Thornton is undersized at his position and they cut Worthy to bring up Coleman who has the size that they would hope can clog up the lanes. Also, continuing to allow Humber to be a starter is baffling. I know Milano is a rookie but he's faster, he seems like he's always around the ball and he was making plays. It's questionable that McD, who states every position must be earned, gives Humber his spot back after Milano clearly outplayed him. Oh, and deciding that the middle of the season when the team was still in the playoff hunt was the right time to start Peterman. That was unfair to both Peterman and Taylor. I know Taylor had started playing it too safely but maybe they needed to sit down with him and start encouraging him to push it down field more. But their concern for ball security seems to take precedent over taking some risks. McDermott had regularly been making the interview rounds for open HC positions for the last several years until Buffalo hired him. Beane was about to be handed the GM job in Carolina before McDermott convinced him to come here. Both these guys broke into the league without having knowing anyone on the inside. They started at the lowest rung of the ladder and have made it to the top of their respective positions. You don't get a HC/GM job after a couple years in the league.

I was skeptical all along because we've been here a few times before. This season reminds me a bit of the 2011 season. Started hot, had some comeback wins, beat the Pats at home, etc. And then they just imploded in the second half of the season. The national media was wrong to buy in and start calling Buffalo a real contender right before the the Jets game. I knew as soon as that stuff started that the team was gonna go lay an egg, and they did... in the national spotlight.... against the friggin' Jets and 74 year old Josh McCown playing for his 279th team and running in 15 yard TDs. I was wrong to think that game was a fluke. I figured they were tired, they weren't able to prepare and practice as they normally would and it showed in the form of communication errors and turnovers. I don't know if that game ate away into their collective consciousness or what but since then the train has derailed further and further off the tracks.

I coulda swore I saw 66 in on a play or two yesterday, as an extra blocker on the left side.

Taylor can be an effective QB on the right team. And that type of team is what the Bills have tried to construct around him for the past three seasons. Strong defense, ball control/run heavy offense, hit a few big passes when needed. Unfortunately, this defense has fallen apart. The new offensive scheme has done zero favors for anyone on that side of the ball and the WR Taylor had the most chemistry with (Watkins) was shipped out. In an ideal situation, Taylor can win. But he's not the type of QB that can carry the team on his back when things don't go as planned. Week in and week out, they need things to go according to plan as closely as possible. When that doesn't happen, it all falls apart. On top of that, I think Taylor has hit his ceiling. He's careful with the ball, he can improvise and create something from nothing once in a while and when he has the time (and the right receiving options) he can toss a nice long ball. Right now he's in a system which is predicated on the run and they can't consistently run the ball. Defenses don't fear getting beat by the pass so they crowd the line and take away McCoy. They go out and get a big target for him but he has trouble finding him and then the dude gets hurt. If the bewildering switch to Peterman sparks anything perhaps it will spark Taylor to improvise a bit more, move outside the pocket and start pushing the ball downfield to his receivers. I understand the whole "take what they give you" philosophy but if you do that all game long, you're allowing the opponent to dictate what you can and can't do. You have to throw caution to the wind at some point and let these dudes play. And for cripes sake, Wade Phillips has been saying it for years, it's not difficult. You build your system around the skill sets of the players on the roster. You don't force a system onto players who don't reach their full potential inside it. I thought that stuff would stop once Rex left but now they're in an entirely new "process" which is starting to feel more and more like the same.

They went 5-2 based on some very opportunistic plays (several calls that went their way vs. ATL, turnovers vs. DEN & OAK, etc) and now that teams have figured out how to exploit the weak spots in the defense it's been a sh*tshow. They didn't necessarily ship off players because they "didn't fit." For all intents and purposes, Marcell was well-liked in the locker room. People knew his issues but I really don't believe he was a guy that was defiant toward coaches or flippant about what McD's philosophy was all about it. It came down to the everyday details for Marcell, being on time, being engaged in meetings, practicing hard, etc. Sammy wasn't going to return here and he was a guy that was emerging as a leader but the FO knew they wouldn't be able to afford him. Darby is a bit of a head-scratcher but whatever, he's not an irreplaceable player. Everyone expected them to start out 2-5 or worse, instead it went the other way and surprised all of us but the magic has worn off, it's clear that a third of the team are aging vets who just might not have it anymore, another third are a bunch of fringe players filling a spot until they find someone better and the rest are rookies and second-year players still figuring things out. So I can understand some of the shortcomings we're seeing because they've intentionally stripped this team down to have plenty of cap space and draft picks. It was never supposed to be about winning in 2017 but they flipped the script and found themselves in a playoff position until three weeks ago. The switch to Peterman was not a smart move. The only thing it may have changed was maybe now Tyrod will take more chances down the field. Beyond that, there's gotta be some concern with player/coach relationships right now. What they're doing isn't working and the body language of the players is starting to show. It's showing that the players aren't feeling like they're being put in the best positions to succeed. The middle of the field against the defense has been wide open all year long. How can they not have fixed that? The OL consistently misses blocks and allows a horde of defenders to break free at least five or six plays a game. How has that not been fixed? It has to be partially on coaching because that OL played rather well during '15 and '16. Is Glenn's absence that big of a difference maker? They don't do the zone stuff very well. Dennison has tried to mix in elements of the offense from the last two seasons but over the last few games it seems like he's scrapped that in favor of things 100% from his playbook. Frazier can't get pressure with a straight 4-man rush and every time he dials up blitzes or extra pressure they get burned over the middle. Are they being taught the right things? Is the scheme failing the players or are the players failing in these schemes? One thing is for sure, McD has to can it with the "it's about winning now and for the future" business because it's straight up crap. Pulling your established vet QB (who, yes, has hit a ceiling) who is the best QB on the roster in favor of a rookie in the middle of the season is not a "win now" move. I could understand if the team was 2-8 or something then yeah, play all your young guys and whatever. But they were still in the mix and he decides that's gonna be the solution. Hopefully he's learned from it. Or maybe the plan all along was to lose out and get them higher picks. BTW, this draft class is currently being compared to the 2013 class, and it may even be worse.

If there was an emoji that expressed, "DAAAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAA" I'd use it here.

I've followed Andy Benoit for quite a while and usually his film analysis is pretty good. It's no secret that Taylor is a "see it-throw it" QB, meaning he very rarely throws with anticipation or throws guys open. He needs to see for sure that his man is open and this results in him hanging onto the ball too long. But game after game, as pointed out throughout this thread, he's not seeing open guys downfield, or he is and he's just not taking the chance. That's going to frustrate your receivers because he's not even giving them a chance to make a play, and it's especially going to frustrate the coaches and front office who just went out and obtained a big target for him to throw to. But, by the same token, I'm sure Taylor feels frustrated as well because he's consistently being coached to take what the defense gives him. And on top of that, it's been said that McD puts almost an obnoxious amount of emphasis on not turning the ball over while on offense. So on one hand, Taylor's gotta be thinking, I need to give my guys a shot. And on the other, he hears the coaches in his head saying, "Be safe, don't turn it over, if it's not there, dump it off." But at a certain point coaches are just gonna have to let a QB cut it loose and live with the mistakes that come with it.

I've been perplexed with their handling of the RB position this year. We understand that McCoy is the focal point and I think the ideal situation they were shooting for was to have defenses get tired out from chasing McCoy for most of the game and then hitting them with Tolbert who would be able to plow through a bunch of winded defenders. That hasn't been the case, though. Not saying J. Williams was an all-world back by any means but he certainly had much more to offer than Tolbert, who is limited to straight runs between the tackles because he doesn't have the speed to hit the corner. So anytime Tolbert is in there all defenses have to do is crowd the middle of the line and stay in their gaps. At least with Williams they would've had more options on the types of run calls they could've assigned to him. I understand how important culture is to McBeane. It's clear that the prototype for the players they want are selfless, team-first, low-ego guys who just wanna win. Having special teams experience also seems to be a rather important box they wanna check off. And with draft prospects, they're obviously looking for experienced players. I don't believe any of their draft picks this year were early entrants. And those qualities in a player are great. It fits in with the strong team bond they wanna build and the chemistry they wanna develop. But, one of my questions on this regime is, will they limit themselves to players with ONLY those qualities? I would hope not. I would hope when they're scouting players (let's say prospects in this case) that they're not taking a player off the board because he only has two years of college under his belt. I would hope they're not taking a player off the board because he doesn't play special teams. I would hope they wouldn't pass over a supremely talented player because he has a bit of an ego. It's all well and good to have the foundation of your roster be built on those team-first, hardworking and "I just wanna win" types of players but they can't limit themselves to picking and signing players of ONLY that make-up. Gotta take some chances on guys who may have a bit of an attitude, a bit of swagger, a bit of nasty, etc. Because it's not as if those players can't come into a healthy locker room and mature and learn the importance of the culture they want here. So, yeah, I mean, McBeane didn't spend 20+ years climbing the ladder to get to where they are to NOT realize that they can't be so limited in the players they choose for his team. At least I hope not anyway.

Just thoughts I was sharing. Not overthinking anything. McD is meticulous about details and preparation so my thought was just, I wonder if they're doing too much, I wonder if they're trying to find a solution to every situation they may end up in. We saw it with Rex's defense, everyone knows how complicated it is and all the checks and shifts caused miscommunication and poor play. And I get the fact that they feel Peterman will be better at the short drops and short throws to slow down the pass rush. But that stuff doesn't matter if the OL collapses by the time Peterman hits his third step. Taylor was responsible for his fair share of the sacks this season but the OL was responsible for more. No QB is going to succeed when they have defenders in their face almost right away. And Peterman is barely an inch taller than Taylor, so it's not as if that solves the issue of numerous batted passes at the line each game. Up until the last two games Taylor was efficient and playing mistake-free football. He alone is not solely responsible for the nosedive this offense has taken. Yeah, he misses an open receiver here and there, he looks a little hesitant to make a tight window throw, and at times he does hold the ball too long because he believes his talent at extending plays is good enough to get him out of trouble and eventually hit an open receiver. And he definitely has done that over his career here in Buffalo but it's not a style of play that can be relied on regularly. But aside from his issues, the OL has been getting whipped up and down the field. They couldn't pick up those delayed blitzes against the Jets and if I recall correctly, most film analysts said 5 of the 7 sacks in that game were on the OL. And against both the Jets and Saints, the run game never got going, there were missed assignments constantly and this group of receivers they have right now struggle to gain separation which is a bad match for a QB like Taylor who rarely throws guys open. Maybe Peterman has a skill set that will help this offense move in the right direction but to think that these abysmal performances over the last two games are primarily the fault of Taylor is just not true. The entire team from top to bottom just hasn't played well whatsoever. And if the OL continues to struggle against the duo of Bosa and Ingram this week then Peterman is in for a long day. And if he performs just as poorly as Taylor then where's that leave them? It's not just the QB in this situation. All areas of the team have had some major breakdowns over the last two weeks. And the switch to Peterman is surprising because McD preaches patience with the process and certainly seems like a "stay the course" type of coach who isn't prone to making big changes like this.

It's interesting how so many are now saying Dennison's system is wrong for Taylor. When they hired Dennison, people automatically made the connection to their time in Baltimore so there was "familiarity" there which "should help" in getting the scheme going in the right direction. Then, analysis of Dennison's concepts were praised as a positive for Taylor because his scheme involved a lot of bootlegs, designed rollouts and other ways to move Taylor away from the pocket in order to open up his view of the field. Then they limp through the first few weeks while using nothing but plays from Dennison's system. Taylor can't execute the 3-step drops and short/quick passes. The OL hadn't adequately mastered the zone blocking scheme so McCoy was being bottled up rather easily. So then Dennison sits down with the offense and takes their feedback about what they do well and what they would like to install into the offense. They end up reinstalling some of the blocking schemes used over the last two seasons and that's when the run game picked back up. They moved Taylor around a bit more and he was able to be efficient and make a few plays when they needed them. And then we see the disasters vs. the Jets and Saints. I really wanted to call the Jets game a fluke. I just assumed the entire team was way less than 100%, they weren't able to prepare the way they normally would and the results were ugly. So we figure, hey, they got 10 days to prep for the Saints, we should hopefully see them get back to playing the way they did against Oakland, Atlanta, Denver, etc. Instead, the offense stays on the field for barely more than one quarter. The defense was giving different pre-snap looks, moving around, shifting at the line, doing some things we normally haven't seen this season, all probably in an effort to throw off Brees but instead it caused them to be out of their gaps time and again and by the third quarter the team was just ready to get out of there. And now, the switch to Peterman seems to be motivated by the fact that most think he can execute Dennison's offense better than Tyrod. So did they scrap the elements of the 2015-16 offenses and go back to using Dennison's offense 100%? Did the defense get away from their straightforward scheme in an effort to switch it up so they don't look so predictable on film? At the midway point of the season, most teams try to switch things up or use some plays that they haven't used much or at all during the season. Did the coaches get in their own heads? Did they get away from what was working simply to show teams something different? I can appreciate the emphasis McD puts on detail and preparation... but is it possible the team is being over-coached? Are they preaching too many details at the moment? After Sunday's game, McD, Dennison and Frazier all said similar things about getting back to either fundamentals or doing what they do best. Another coach (may have been a player) stated, "That's not us. That hasn't been us in back to back weeks, that's not how we play our game." It's just my theory but maybe they got away from their bread and butter plays in favor of trying to evolve on both sides of the ball or in an effort to simply give teams different looks. I'm not saying they made the schemes more difficult or anything. I'm just wondering if they have these guys thinking a little too much and it's preventing them from playing fast like they normally do.

Given the timing of Peterman's tweet and then Sal C saying he had heard some rumblings from another local reporter, maybe McD called Peterman late Monday after watching film and speaking with coaches. And a good portion of the time, leaks and source info comes from agents. Players obviously hear things that go on but they'd be in deep caca if they started leaking things to the press. But they talk with their agents regularly and agents are generally an "inside source" that reporters can try to get info from. Half the reason so many reporters go to Indy for the combine is because that's where and when agents meet with team officials about their players. Reporters are there to report on the combine but they're all working to link up with new sources as well.

Roman may have been light years ahead of Dennison (and most other OCs) when it came to the running game but his passing game schemes were way below average. While his run game was always very successful, his passing schemes were always near the bottom in terms of stats. And that's because his route concepts are really simple and not difficult for defenses to figure out and defend. On another note... I hope Peterman surprises and performs really well. I think the one thing that may help him is the fact that this is the first and only NFL offense he's had to learn so far. Whereas Tyrod is working with his 3rd different OC in as many years. There may still be habits and things he does that were part of the schemes in '15 and '16 and it's also just not an easy process to transition from scheme to scheme every year. Towards the end of 2016 he started to look more confident as a passer, seemed like maybe he was getting comfortable in the scheme. But they couldn't keep Rex so change had to come and again he and the offense have to spend the entire off-season learning and installing a new scheme as opposed to continuing with the same one, refining and polishing it as it would've entered its third season. We know the change was necessary but the constant turnover in schemes and coaches slows progress for just about any player. Again, I'm assuming that they believe Peterman can run this offense closer to how they want it run and maybe he identifies things on defense better than Taylor. I wish him the best but if the OL can't hold up it's not going to matter. But I think that's part of the reasoning behind the change. I think they believe Peterman will be better at getting rid of the ball quicker which will slow down the pass rush and open up the run game.

Were they? That's pretty miserable, then. After their first two drives in the 3rd quarter I had to turn it off. Went to the mall instead, which is usually pretty slow on a football Sunday afternoon, but it seems many fans had the same idea because it was pretty packed and there were people in Bills gear everywhere haha. I applaud McD for having the nads to make the switch. I've liked Tyrod since he became the starter but I know he's hit his ceiling. He can make some "wow" plays happen a few times a game, his escapability is second to none but they can't rely on him to do that every play. They know they need him to be able to stay in the pocket and make quick decisions and quick throws. Unfortunately his height is a main factor in his issues. He simply can't see the field well and unlike Brees and Wilson, he's hesitant to zip the ball through tight windows, which is how those guys have been so successful. They must have really been seeing some good things in practice from him. In the camp practices I watched and the pre-season games, it's looked to me like Peterman has a bit of a quicker release and it seems like he throws with more anticipation. If you watch them run drills where they're practicing dropbacks simultaneously you'll see Peterman is usually first to get rid of the ball. Not by a ton, but it's noticeable. Maybe they've seen him throw guys open in practice and that's something Tyrod just doesn't do often enough. He has to see his man open before throwing it. And week after week I watch clips of the coaches film and there are always several plays where he does have receivers open in a tight window where he'd have to drop the ball over the CB but in front of the safety. He's done it before, so he's capable, he just doesn't do it consistently enough. Either way, I'm intrigued. They better double team Bosa or it's gonna be a really crappy debut for Peterman.

I don't think the team gave up on Tyrod, they voted him captain, they know what type of player and leader he is... like I said above, I think this is more to do with Peterman's ability to make quicker decisions and excel in the short passing game.

Not fibs. Wow. I'm surprised. Didn't think McD would be the kind of coach to make that type of change while they're still in the playoff race. I can't imagine they'd make this decision based on his garbage time performance last week. That was against a soft defense, mainly backups, most QBs will look good against that. He must be making strides in practice. I also think they feel like he can execute the short passing game better to neutralize the rush.

....fibs?

All these things said are pretty stock answers in situations like this. Of course McD isn't going to make a switch to Peterman. Taylor still gives them the best chance to win, he and everyone else on the teams knows that. And yeah, the vets on this team believe in Taylor, otherwise they wouldn't have voted him captain. The BS with Tolbert yesterday was because they though they'd be fine going into the game with only two backs. McCoy is not close to 100% right now. I mean, at this point in the season no players that play regularly are near 100% but he may be further away from 100% than most think. He's dealt with a wrist injury all year, he tweaked his groin a few weeks ago and yesterday after that one long run he sat out a few plays. It wasn't said why he was out but obviously some kind of ailment came up and he had to sit out for a bit. As of right now my biggest gripe with this coaching staff is their lack of contingency plans. Now, I'm not advocating that Dareus was playing great this season nor am I saying he was worth the contract he had and I'm also well aware of the amount of playing time he had. But, when he was in there it would force the OL to usually put two blockers on him, which frees up other players to make a play. They traded Dareus for a 6th without having a DL that could occupy space and blockers like he can. By today's standards they have a slightly undersized DL and it's shown in the last two weeks as these guys are just getting pushed around like no big deal. And then they go into yesterday's game with just McCoy and Tolbert. That's really short-sighted on their part considering how heavy of a workload they wanna put on McCoy. He can't do it all and they need someone a little more dynamic than Tolbert to fill in for McCoy when he needs a breather. The OL cohesion has eroded due to Glenn's injuries, Dawkins' inexperience, Incognito's not healthy, Miller isn't suited for the scheme, Ducasse apparently IS but just isn't a very good player. And Mills is Mills. Couple that with a new scheme and there's going to be problems. They talked about how they gathered after the first few games and Dennison took feedback from the offense about things from the last couple of seasons that worked well. More power/pull blocking schemes and we saw how that helped the run game. Now, I don't know if Dennison is still mixing things from last season or if he's tried to steer things entirely in his direction with his system. Besides all of that, let's be real. Most people assumed this team would be what we saw yesterday for the entire season. They'd gimp through the season with what they got and then reshape the roster even more in the off-season. So, the early wins were a nice surprise and even though we had the feeling of things being different, the reality was this team still has a lot of weak spots, has to follow a very specific formula and have a few bounces go their way in order to win games. And with the way Frazier and Dennison kept talking about getting back to what they do best, that leads me to believe that they've tried to mix it up and try some different things but it hasn't worked. I understand that as the season goes on you can't keep showing the same things on tape game after game. So maybe they need to be a little more clever in what they wanna do, keeping it the same but making it look different, maybe.

It's a combination of the scheme, the playcalling and lack of execution. Earlier in the season they were trying to fully work with Dennison's scheme and the run game went nowhere. After a few games, they sat down with the offense and went over things that have been effective for them over the past few seasons. They implemented some of those things and that was when the run game picked back up and they were at least efficient. Now they just look completely lost. I don't know if Dennison has started to install/use more of his scheme and has gotten away from the mix of plays/schemes they were using from the last couple seasons or what but it's been rough to watch over these last two games. Not having the OL at 100% has hurt. Glenn has been in and out. Dawkins shows flashes but as a rookie he's going to be inconsistent. Richie isn't anywhere near 100%, I believe his ankle is limiting him and thus limiting his ability to pull and be a lead blocker. Wood seems to have stretches where he's consistent and does his job and then has lapses where he's getting walked back into the pocket or defenders are passing right by him. Miller was much improved in 2016 but this year, he's clearly not a fit for what they wanna do and Ducasse, while he is a better fit in terms of size and playing style, he's just not that good. Mills is Mills... he's actually had some decent games this year but as always he struggles with speed and defenders who have an extensive bag of pass rushing moves. And Taylor... well, he can do some things no other QBs (aside from Cam and Wilson) can do. He's capable of some "wow" plays a few times a game but aside from that, he simply cannot see over the line and has trouble finding the windows and lanes his height forces him to throw through. He is also not a consistent anticipatory thrower. He needs to see his guy open before he fires it. And when looking at the film, there are at least a handful of times per game where he's missed open receivers. They may not be "wide" open but they are open enough where the QB needs to get rid of the ball and give his receivers a chance to make a play. On top of that, this team is definitely missing the deep threat that Watkins provided. I'm not saying they're missing Watkins specifically, but they don't have any receivers that can get behind the defense. So no opponent has to bother dropping a safety deep. They can keep everything close to the line and bottle up the run, force Taylor to stay inside the pocket and dictate the game because they don't have to fear getting beat over the top. And for the love of Pete, I'm sure Mike Tolbert is a great dude, I know he's on this team because he's familiar with McDermott and because his attitude and team-first mentality is what they're looking for in their players. But the guy is just not a good #2 option behind McCoy. He isn't dynamic in any way, he's limited to runs only between the tackles and he should really never be used on swing screens because he just doesn't have the speed to get to the corner. We knew they wanted to rely on McCoy as much as possible but the guy isn't invincible and honestly they just need a better option to spell him than Tolbert. So that's just the players. When it comes to Dennison, yeah I think it's fair to wonder how effective he can be as a playcaller when he's spent most of his career as an OC that didn't always call the plays. A 4th and 1 shovel pass to the fullback? Targeting Benjamin only three times, all on the first drive and then not even bothering to call his number again until garbage time? That's inexcusable. I know the dude hasn't been here long but this is football and he's a professional. At this point, they need to let him rely on his size and athleticism to make plays as opposed to waiting for him and Taylor to develop chemistry and timing. I said this in another thread and I'll repeat it here. There isn't enough creativity on either side of the ball right now. It's not a bad idea to run straightforward schemes that allow your players to line up and play fast. And I'm not saying they need to complicate things, but they need to try throwing caution to the wind a little bit and finding more creative ways to get their guys in position to make plays, simple as that.

Hmm... did you read it? Nowhere did I say he was irreplaceable... and nowhere did I compare him to Sammy Watkins, nor did I call him a decoy. I said, during this season, when he was in there, the OL is forced to adjust and most times put two blockers on him. This allows other players to get free and have a chance to make a play. Occupying space and blockers isn't a flashy job and that's why you didn't see him do anything flashy this year. But, I do believe he played a role in being better against the run when he was in there. And now they don't have a player on this roster that can do that. And after that I just said that it would've been nice if they had a better backup plan for replacing him, because they don't have any real big-bodied DL anymore. 95 is 6' 301, 94 is 6'1" 300, 92 is 6'4" 295, and 91 is also 6'4" 295. By today's standards, those are kind of light for DL. And then on the ends your main guys are Hughes and Lawson, both around 6'2" - 6'3" and 255-260. Compare that to the DL McDermott had in Carolina. Kawann Short, 6'3" 315. Vernon Butler, 6'4" 330. Star Lotulelei, 6'2" 315. His ends were Peppers (6'7" 295) and Charles Johnson (6'2" 278). All marginally bigger than the guys they have right now. So, like I said, they probably need to get a little more creative with the scheme right now because what they've been doing the last few games hasn't been working. The entire DL has been completely handled by the Jets and Saints OLs these last two weeks and so far they either haven't figured out how to adjust, or have adjusted and that isn't working either. The lack of pressure has shown through the last five or six games. And it's not really the scheme, because while McDermott was in Carolina, they finished near the top of the league in sacks almost every year, including leading the league with 60 in 2013. This team currently has 14 sacks through nine games. That puts them on pace to finish with 26-28 on the season, only a few better than the 21 they put up with Rex in 2015. So either, this scheme just isn't productive for this particular group of players or... (and this is what I think the case is) this group just isn't as good as we'd thought. And it's all well and good to have a team full of hard working players who wanna win and put the team first, but sometimes they're gonna have to take a chance on and deal with a player who may not completely have that same mentality but has talent. Can't be all boy scouts. You need a little nasty to win in this league.

Some of these comments suck. I'm gonna come to some of your jobs and just stand there and criticize. "Herman! You suck at filing! You're an overpaid waste of space. I'm gonna suspend you. I can't believe this company actually pays you. And you, Larry, you self-centered sack of monkey dung. You think we don't know that you're a fat piece of crap? You think you're a world class plumber? You ain't worth the crap lodged in those pipes." Ugh. I guess it's just me, I just hate insulting comments towards people you don't even frickin' know. While Dareus wasn't doing anything flashy this season, on plays he was in the game, it forced the OL to pay attention to him and dedicate two blockers to him almost every time. That frees up other players to make plays. And nobody complained back when he was given the contract extension. He had just come off his most productive seasons in '13 and '14 and he was a player just about everyone was positive they needed to lock up. If he had left in free agency, people would've lost they dang minds screaming how the Bills just let another one of their top players walk away for nothing. It's all hindsight now. Rex put the dude in a scheme that didn't fit him (like every other player on that defense), he has two weak seasons and then apparently couldn't buy into what McD wants to do here. And yeah, the contract looked bad after '15 and '16 because he wasn't in a position to be as productive as he once was. And he wasn't playing a whole lot this season but in the couple games where he played the most snaps (where they showcased him) he wasn't bad. He was certainly a help in the run game. And now they really don't have any DL that can hold the point of attack and they certainly aren't getting any pressure on the QB with whatever four guys happen to be in at the time. So this off-season they'll be scrambling to find guys that can do what needs to be done within this system. Either that or the defensive staff (and offensive staff, for that matter) need to take a long, hard look at what they have and start scheming around what these players naturally do well. Right now, IMO, there just isn't enough creativity on either side of the ball. I get that it's good to have a straightforward scheme so your players can line up and play fast but when that stuff stops working, you gotta get creative. Can't just "stay the course" and keep beating your head against the wall. And I'm not advocating they should've kept Dareus, not at that salary and not if his job was going to be mainly run stops on 40% of the defensive snaps in any given game. But it would've been nice had they had a stronger contingency plan in place before shipping him out.

Wow, you're just a beacon of optimism and positivity. Save the "realist" argument because all you're doing here is projecting.

Yeah I'm with ya on changing the channel. I usually stick it out but they just never adjusted and every drive looked so ugly. Each time they got the ball back I was like, ok here we go, time for them to pull their heads outta they a$$es and... 3 yard loss... ok, ok, let's rebound.... sack, loss of 10... son of a.... incomplete pass, punt. That's it, I'm watching Bob's Burgers and passing out. Pain tolerance is a funny thing. Obviously everyone is different. Some people can really get through things others would be keeling over about. With players tho, there are other factors involved. You mentioned Humber so let's talk about him. His entire career he's been a special teams player, been told he's just not quite good enough to play LB regularly. Finally, he gets his chance to start at LB this season. It's likely he's going to try to do everything he possibly can to stay on the field. He doesn't wanna lose his spot after he's been waiting nine years for the opportunity. Lot of other players do the same thing. And in my humble opinion, I really would consider getting Milano on the field some more. He brings some speed and athleticism to the LB position that they don't have with guys like Humber, Brown and Alexander. With Sammy, he had the same injury as Dez and Julio and both those guys got shut down for a season and were given ample time to fully rehab and come back 100%. With Sammy, I think he wanted to prove he could play through it and I also think the medical staff told him and the coaches that they could come up with a treatment plan that would keep him on the field. These days there's so much talk about player health and safety but when it comes right down to it, teams want their guys to play at all costs, especially if they're an important player. And Sammy himself probably felt like he had a lot to prove after calling out the team to give him 10 targets a game. He definitely wanted to be a huge part of turning this team around, things just never worked out in his favor. And then as you mentioned, you get other players who seem to have random injuries pop up all the time and keep them out of games and those guys end up having their dedication questioned. Are they playing to win or do they just play because they know they're gonna make a ton of money? We all remember Torrell Troup, right? Everyone considers him a bust and yeah, that's fair to say given his production vs. his draft slot. But what a lot of people don't know is coming out of the draft, he had a pretty serious back injury. It required surgery. But instead of getting the surgery done and miss his rookie year, the medical team convinced him to play through it and that they'd get him through the season with a specialized treatment plan. He tried to give it a go but he was never at 100% in any game he played. He had surgery the following off-season but by then the damage was done and he was never able to live up to any potential he may have had. That's just one example but it happens all across the league to players all the time and it's a bummer.