Drunken Pygmy Goat

Except he's back on the field already.

That's awesome! I've never been, so I'm just as excited for the tailgating as I am the game itself, and "taking in" the stadium. The city of good neighbors...unless you show up in orange and teal.

I agree, although I would pass on Byrd. DBs aren't really coveted in this defense like the front 7 is. They'll be in zone a lot, and even though Byrd excels in zone, he's not very good against the run, and I think the Bills will want to roll over as much cap space as possible, with Watkins, Taylor, etc. potentially needing a new deal. I don't think the depth is quite as bad as many people think, but there are certain starters that the Bills just cannot afford to lose for any significant amount of time.

I've always heard that you can show up with or without a sixer and you will be welcomed at any tailgate. The Denver game will be my first home game. I think we will be doing two different tailgates, surrounded by pros. But if you want to max out your experience, there is a fundraiser event that day with meet and greets with all the Bills greats for $150.

I agree that they should be (and should have been) better. Coaching really held this team back. Finally it looks like we have a coach and staff that looks calculated, quiet, a.d disciplined...the exact opposite of what was just here. I don't expect some fairy tail ride to the Super Bowl this year, but I do believe the Bills can at least be in the hunt for a WC birth in December. They were (technically) under Ryan, and even though the coaches and many players are new, they should be a tough team to beat and not be out of it by Thanksgiving. Just need key players to stay healthy.

Perfect! Three check marks here. Good stuff. I'm with ya. Coming back from major injury, no NFL experience, possible outcast; he has a big hurdle to climb. There are guys with experience that can take the role for now, and let Ragland get fully acclimated. He may not have the roaming capabilities that Kuechly has, but this defense uses a lot of zone, and double A gap zone blitz combos. His position shouldn't be in man coverage very often. It's still very early, although it may end up being that he isn't a good fit. We'll see how he looks on Thursday. He should get a good amount of PT.

Cheap shot on AW last year

I don't think the reward would outweigh the risk. The Bills have been pretty good on returns recently. Replacing Tate with Watkins might yield a TD or 2, but it also puts Sammy at higher risk of injury. Losing him to injury would cripple our passing attack. We need him on the field for those 25-35 passes per game much more than we need him for 5-6 returns. I don't think it's a terrible idea, but I personally wouldn't want to put him at risk of getting clobbered by someone running at him full speed. I would have Jones return over Watkins.

Here's a good article from this time last year. http://www.espn.com/blog/carolina-panthers/post/_/id/21796/two-truths-and-a-lie-make-sean-mcdermott-a-great-defensive-coordinator

That fake QB sneak was great!

Yeah but they're not going to do one on the Chiefs where the Bills would have drafted though, right?

Guys like Thomas and Powell stepping up would be great! Hopefully Thomas becomes a decent blocker.

It's been a long time since teams worried about winning in Buffalo. Hopefully that changes this year. Good point. McDermott may be fresh as a HC, but at least your can feel confident that he has a great supporting cast around him, on the sidelines and in the offices.

Dying, of course. Win a championship, and I'm good after that.

Hunter had always been a guy that hadn't lived up to the hype, or his potential, since entering the league. He really started to show last year; I assume he really matured after bouncing around teams (and when you have to settle for Buffalo, your eyes really open up when it comes to your future in the league). I think he finally "gets it", that he cannot get by off of hype. Having Big Ben at QB will really accelerate his development. I'd prefer Hunter over Streeter, but so far, he's looked good in camp.

Yep. I think that, aside from the occasional 1st read 9 route by Watkins on single coverage, the Bills will send players deep as more of a decoy to open up underneath and sideline throws. They brought in guys like Holmes and Streeter (who I believe makes the final cut), who possess very good size, but lack 4.3 speed. Same with Thomas. These are more "possession" type receivers, and with one of the knocks on Taylor being his pin-point accuracy, these guys have a much larger catch radius and hypothetically can help mitigate that issue. Guys like Goodwin need the ball to be placed in the perfect spot for him to have a chance, whereas these taller guys don't necessarily need that type of ball placement. Justin Hunter was quite helpful to Taylor last year (and I was surprised when he wasn't retained), especially in the red zone. Windows are much tighter inside the 20, but a taller receiver makes that window just a bit larger. I know McDermott prefers CBs with a wider wingspan, so maybe he feels the same way about his WRs, and without an Aaron Rogers as your QB, it makes sense to help your QB any way you can.

I don't know if what you say about Roman is true or not, but Rex was the HC, and you tend to follow the leader, whether by instruction or not. And I don't know if I would call it "lazy", it just seemed like a foolish strategy to me. Regarding the QB position: I get that there was a true battle in 2015, so a change in approach the following year was expected. Perhaps part of the problem was the perceived expectations and improvements after a year in the system, but I think a major factor in his reasoning was the lack of depth across the board. Giving extra reps/experience to 2nd and 3rd stringers, many of whom were new to the team, may have seemed like a good idea, but when injuries occur to important starters, you're kind of doomed anyways, and expecting those extra reps to translate to vastly improved play from those depth players when called upon is wishful thinking, IMO. I know it's easy to say in retrospect, and narrowing down your roster is no easy task, especially when those fringe players aren't getting the extra reps, but it sure seemed to backfire once the season started. The Bills looked dynamic on offense against the Giants, and the Giants looked like hot garbage. The Giants looked much better in the regular season, and Rex was fired before season's end. I didn't mean to derail the thread with things from the past, even though it may be a somewhat relative sub-topic. I just thought it was worth mentioning that, from the looks of things, we have a staff in place that is doing things differently...the right way. We'll see when preseason starts, and how it translates to meaningful games.

I was just thinking about that the other day. How teams look in preseason can be extremely misleading, and there were times last year where they looked "good to go", especially against the Giants. It was a gaff by Rex. Go back to the 2015 preseason. McCoy is obviously a well established player, but he was being left on the field much, much longer than he should have, and was continuously getting pummeled, ultimately leading to an injury before week 1 that lingered all year. Defenses typically dominate in camp/preseason, and I think a lot of that is due to the lack of gelling of offensive lines. Exceptions should be made for certain, established veterans, pertaining to playing time in preseason, but you cannot sacrifice cohesion for the fear of losing players to injury. I think Rex realized the mistake he made with McCoy in 2015, and applied a different strategy in the 2016 preseason, but to the entire starting offense, which was a mistake.

I just hope he isn't a total liability as a blocker, but I'm afraid he'll struggle against quicker edge rushers, and smaller guys that should get underneath him with ease, due to his height and lack of experience. If he can show to be at least a decent blocker (for the standard that I expect from him), it will help to not tip the hand of the play call, as a pass, when he's subbed in.

I just noticed the last portion you edited in, and it sounds like our camp is being run with the characteristics that we were expecting from McDermott: structured, detail oriented sessions, with little/no time being wasted. Solid foundation being laid, which should translate in-game. I fully expect to see less wasted time-outs and delay of game penalties due to poor communication from the sideline.

Thanks, Astro. I'm not setting high expectations, but Logan Thomas is intriguing. His size makes him a decent red zone option. Hopefully his blocking is adequate; Dennison likes to utilize multiple TEs. It would help a lot if Thomas is more than just a receiving threat, but I can see him being used a lot like Scott Chandler was (when he's on the field), with him running drag routes on bootleg passes between the 20s, and a tall target in the back of the end zone. He's still very new to the position, and even though O'Leary is pretty average across the board (aside from toughness), I highly doubt Thomas can supplant him as the #2, and will likely just be a situational role player when both Clay and O'Leary are healthy.

Who will be our scapegoat whipping boy then? What's Sully up to these days?

One thing not yet mentioned in this thread is the advancement of technology over time. CTE studies are being conducted all the time now, mainly due to awareness and lawsuits. But had these studies been conducted 20-30 years ago, the results may not have been what we see now, due to the technology at the time. Also, with increased awareness, companies are using technology to develop new, improved protective equipment. Helmets are evolving. The way players are being trained to tackle, and technique is improving. The concerns about head injuries will never go away, but ways to help mitigate those injuries will continue to improve. 60 years ago, a computer took up an entire 1000 square foot room. 20 years ago, a computer was the size of a small television, and was far more advanced than they were in the 1950s. Today, we carry a hand held sized computer in our pockets, capable of taking photos and communicating with people all over the world in a nanosecond. Cars used to require you to crank them to start, then they started with a key, now they can park and drive themselves. If head injury awareness had been as prevalent in the 70s as it is now, perhaps it would be more advanced than it is now, but technology is improving at an exponential rate, so 10 years from now, it should be far more advanced, maybe to the point where the dangers of playing the sport (as well as the potential for more money to be made; OBJ made some comments recently on the matter, and the league is always doing whatever they can to increase revenue) may not "scare off" talent from playing. Players are retiring earlier now because of head injury awareness, but that may not be as much of a factor in the future as it is currently.

I'm sure it's different for each individual. Some may do it just to kick back, but I'm sure many do it for the medicinal purposes. I can tell you from experience that it can cure a massive headache within minutes, and I'm sure plenty of people that smash heads with each other get headaches.

Come on, man. You're better than that. Yeah, some (many) people are too easily offended these days, but this was poor taste. I would expect a teenager to post something like that, not you.