y2zipper

Less people in general watch t.v. and the NFL is the number one show on every network so I I think the desmise is greatly exaggerated. This was also an election year, and NFL ratings always decline there. I think the bigger cause is that Networks overpay for the rights and have advertisers walking away. It's been a big issue at ESPN and has led to their cost-cutting.

I have no issue with the way he left. If a player takes an opt-out, nobody bats an eye. Marrone lost a power struggle to Whaley, which in hindsight is somewhat unfortunate but okay now that Buffalo has good coaching again. The Pegulas put this odd organizational structure in place and have clearly learned from it now that McDermott is in charge.

Tomlin and McCarthy are the biggest underachievers in the league, but Tomlin has big Ben so he won't get fired.

Cousins is a top 3rd of the league talent over the last 3 years in spite of Washington being a historically cheap organization. Cousins was a top ten talent by any metric 2 years ago and last year despite Washington being unable to run or play defense. Frankly He wasn't as good this season, but Washington let both his top receivers go and Pryor had a bad year. Buffalo already has better support than Cousins did in Washington. He isn't a top 5 guy but he's good enough to make him the highest-paid player and is at an age where he'll be good for the mAjority of a contract.

Eagles should take 3 here. Kick the FG and make ATL score a touchdown.

This is efficiency-focused. Taylor will grade out highly in any effeciency-focused stats. What these miss is volume. I like to look at passer rating and ypa to judge QB play: YPA is the volume QB's push the ball down the field and rating covers the efficiency stuff.

McCoy cant break tackles and Buffalo has to put this game in Taylor'a hands now.

Tennesee should give Mariota an option to throw on 3rd down.

This game is why KC will move on from Smith. Tennessees lines and tackling have been great so far.

I think if Kirk Cousins sees the light of day in free agency, that's the best move. It fills the hole with a top ten guy and while that comes at a high price, there's no risk involved because Cousins is consistently better than 3/4 of the league. Outside of that, collect prospects and try to get one to hit. This is where Buffalo hasn't done a good job IMO. Seattle and Washington did this successfully.

But Mayfield is the best player on the team.

So 3 plays on that series and they dont put the ball in Baker's hands to throw at all? Strange.

I agree on the Del Rio firing. That's about Gruden and they'll look bad if they don't get him. I think Caldwell got hosed and Joseph is going to. These situations are GM's doing a bad job, especially Elway.

I think another thing we saw is why they moved for Benjamin. In a game where scheming guys open doesnt wirk, Benjamin made some outstanding plays when Peterman gave him a chance. He's gigantic and appears to fit what they want to do on offense. I'm hopeful he can get healthy.

It's nice to see the defense back, but Buffalo's starting QB for 2018 isn't on this roster now. Peterman doesnt have the arm talent and the gap between he and Taylor isnt really that big. Whatever culture change McDermott is trying to implement isn't going to change the results until they get a better QB talent.

The model is Seattle when they got Wilson. Draft a guy, trade for a guy, sign a guy. The goal is to collect prospects and hit on a starter.

I think we have based on passer rating (efficiency) and YPA (ability to get ball down the field). QBs win and lose for all kinds of reasons and record really is not an indicator of how good a QB actually is. Taylor was above average in 2015. He declined significantly as a passer in 2016 (his passer rating fell 10 points and his YPA fell over a full yard.) in an offense that was built around his skillset as defenses figured out his limited skillset. This year is Taylor is playing with a little better efficiency, but ranking 26th in YPA says that the average efficiency comes from a refusal or a lack of ability to push the ball down the field at all. Kc is going through this with Smith now. He played great at the beginning of the year but ultimately, he has been terrible in 5 of their last 6 and isnt a guy that can win throwing outside the numbers.

What Buffalo did right before the 2 minute was exactly what they should have done. Ideally you get a first down or 2 and the game is over, but given how bad the offense is, running twice and giving Taylor a run/pass chance is exactly the right call.

This echos my concern with the coaching regime. Getting blown out so much is more than a talent problem. This season it appears that teams have diagnosed the system and McDermott doesn't know how to adjust to what the other teams are doing. This and the lack of competitiveness are why I would say McDermott is coaching for his job right now. These things just don't take that much time.

They're getting worn down because the offense can't stay on the field (which has been an issue all year). They came into today 25th in first downs on offense. When they don't get turnovers and dont get off the field, they tire out.

The difference this year is that Buffalos biggest strength is that they are really good against the run. That wasnt true in 2011. As long as they can stop the run, they can make it harder for teams to complete drives and force them to throw into the secondary.

Carr was spectacular last year playing for a team that couldn't run and didn't have a defense and his inconsistency this season is a result of the league realizing that Oakland still can't stop anybody or run. Carr is hardly an issue there and that was seen when he missed 2 games with an injury. Coming into today, Oakland was 26th in yards allowed on defense and 24th in rushing. They've just done a bad job surrounding the team with parts outside the passing game. He's much better than Fitz, although injuries are a concern for Carr. Still, spectacular game from Buffalo's defense.

I saw some better playcalls but TT is still VERY inconsistent at being a dropback pocket passer. Mixing play action and getting Taylor to the outside worked some. This looked like a typical game from him to me. That drive at the end of the first half was fantastic also. The defense was legit to me. I like the philosophy of making teams chunk it down the field because a lot of teams struggle with that. I see a plan that can work, but that doesn't have its talent yet.

McDermott and Dennison are getting the offense ready for the guy after Taylor.

I think the all-22 from Carolina will show windows to throw into that Tyrod won't throw into. The offense is asking him to do things he can't do because the team is focused on a longer term direction that doesn't involve him. He also hasn't adjusted back to the league and isn't good enough for me to say that's the wrong direction for the team. I think we learned why they acquired so much draft capital. They have an idea of what they want they want to do and they Don't have the talent for it yet. Still, I think the team is well-coached.