TigerJ

Apart from differences in the KC defense in terms of experience and proven quality, this is kind of an apples to oranges comparison. KC ran a lot of man coverage. Buffalo is not going to do much of that. Buffalo is very much going to be a zone coverage team. Brady tends to have zone coverage teams for lunch, unless they can generate a tone of pressure with their front seven. Buffalo's front four in particular are going to have to be very effective versus NE's offensive line to create the pressure needed to frustrate Brady the way KC did.

I was never counting on the pick from KC to be anywhere but in the 20s. However, it's a long season. KC's final record will depend on lots of things including injuries to their own players (Eric Berry) and opponents' players. For me, Thursday night was about nothing more than enjoying New England's defeat.

It was lots of fun watching Belichick's Brady's misery, but I'm not reading too much in to it long term. NE had some critical injuries on defense that, coupled with the presence of some new players, who were not that well versed in NE's defensive scheme, made it hard for NE to adjust to what KC was doing on offense. Alex Smith also played a heck of a game. Eric Berry is one of the few defenders in the league who can match up with Gronk, and NE is still reeling from the loss of Edelman. NE will get better unless they run into more adversity in the way of injuries, but at least KC was able to poke through NE's illusion of invincibility.

I feel badly for him. For KC, it takes some of the sweetness out of the victory over the Patriots. It may make it a bit tougher to win going forward. I think they will probably still win quite a few games going forward, but losing Berry will cost them some.

I like Gillisee as a player, but I don't buy the notion that Buffalo is weaker at RB without him. I saw nothing from Banyard in preseason that suggested he can't do for Buffalo what Gillislee did, and much to suggest he can and will. I also like that in Tolbert and Taiwan Jones, Buffalo has diversity in that they are completely different running backs. Their different characteristics and skill sets will allow the Bills to do different things than they could when depending on Shady and Gillislee and not much else.

It will be interesting to see if it pans out. I understand why Buffalo got rid of Sammy. It had nothing to do with Tyrod and nothing to do with any attitude issues with Sammy, who did everything asked of him, and wanted to win as much as anybody. Sammy was dealt because of the twin risks of the integrity of his foot and the impending expiration of his contract. The Bills didn't want to offer a big money deal to a WR whose foot might not let him earn it, and they were concerned that if Sammy did stay healthy signing him next offseason might be more difficult than they wanted to have to deal with. I also understand what Culley is talking about with Tyrod. The Bills know he has weaknesses, and wanted him to work in the preseason exclusively on alleviating those weaknesses instead of gravitating to his strengths. If it works, then during the regular season if Buffalo's opponent attempts to scheme away Tyrod's opportunity to move around and make plays with his feet, then in theory he won't be totally lost in the pocket. Unleashing him simply means he'll be free to move with the ball, to run or pass on the move as the situation and defense allows. I'm not suggesting the Bills are going to lead the league on offense, but if Culley is right, maybe the offense won't look as pathetic under Tyrod during the regular season as it did in the preseason. One can hope at least.

Dawkins had the same issue as Cyrus Kouandjio. They both played left tackle in college. Theoretically left tackle is more difficult because defenses like to put their best pass rushers on the right end (of the defensive line) in order to pressure the QBs blind side. Since Cordy Glenn is a fixture on the left when he's healthy, the Bills logically sought to create competition for Mills on the right. The problem has been that even though the defensive players they face might not be as athletic, the footwork moving from the left side to the right side is a mirror image of what they're used to. There is a learning curve, and some players handle it better than others. Kouandjio struggled on the right side his whole time in Buffalo. Dawkins is still early in his pro career, but his discomfort on the right side is obvious. The Bills, I think would still like to get him moved to the right, but were forced to play him for the injured Glenn on the left. That's where he earned the more impressive scores from PFF, I'll bet. He may eventually be fine on the right, but I don't think he's there yet.

It's also the fact that they can sign quality veterans for under market value because said veterans are looking for championship rings.

I wonder, would Apple stock (Ipod maker) be good to purchase during the football season? Brady seems to need quite a few of them.

Such comparison's are very difficult to make because of several factors: change of scheme and scheme fit, the fact that some young players make significant improvements from one year to the next, injuries, and perhaps a few other factors as well. The receivers lost Robert Woods and Sammy Watkins, for instance. Well, Sammy only played part of the year, and his foot rendered him less effective than he could have been while he was in the lineup. Zay Jones could have a higher ceiling than Robert Woods, but as a rookie, it's hard to assess how quickly he can get through his learning curve. One would assume that Jordan Matthews is going to need some time to develop some chemistry with Tyrod, but it's hard to know how long it will take. Once that chemistry starts to build, it may be that a healthy Jordan Matthews is better than the hobbled Sammy the Bills had last season. I imagine that the departure of Mike Gillislee is the primary reason the running backs earned a downgrade, but when Gillislee arrived as a Bill, he was not highly regarded at all. He was, in fact, just another utility/fringe player, brought on board to fill a role. Can we be so sure that he is superior to Joe Banyard after Banyard's game versus Detroit? If you measure physical skill sets alone, the CBs Buffalo had a year ago are better, but with a different scheme, that may be irrelevant. Gaines, when healthy, is an excellent zone CB, and so, apparently is Tredavious White. It doesn't matter that they aren't quite as fast as Darby and Gilmore. What matters is that they have the football intelligence demanded by the zone scheme. They have enough athleticism.

Is that significantly better than what one would expect from a home field advantage.

Buffalo added Eric Lee, recently cut by Houston. Eric Lee is a little bigger, a little faster. He was a natural and productive 4-3 defensive end in college and Houston tried unsuccessfully to turn him into a 3-4 linebacker. On paper this is an upgrade.

No, but he still gets paid.

Gaines, absolutely is a zone CB. Give him a steady diet of man coverage responsibility and he going to get toasted because he lacks the physical skill set. There are some receivers he simply will not match up well with in man coverage. Zone coverage is more mental than man coverage is. Gaines knows what to do. He's never out of position and always handles his responsibilities well.

I think the main reason was Cordy Glenn's ankle injury. Because of that, and the possibility he wouldn't be available at the start of the regular season, combined with Seantrel Henderson's suspension meant Dawkins had to play left tackle instead of getting comfortable at right tackle. It's not a given that Mills makes it through the season.

I didn't hear the full discussion on the John Murphy Show, but apparently Joe Banyard played special teams and John Williams didn't. That may well have been the difference Beane and McDermott were looking at.

At a lower level of competition. I can keep track of the letters, but he played at what used to be division 1A. He's got good hands and he's a decent blocker. His build is described as a little squat. He's 6'2" but has a good weight for a blocking TE.

My understanding is that in the last stage of the protocol, players do practice, and then are evaluated for symptoms afterward. This is after the stage in which they can participate in non-contact activities like team meetings. Tyrod has shown no symptoms through the first 4 stages. If the evaluation after today's practice is good then he's full go through the rest of the week and the game.

An interesting possibility to be sure. My only question, since I haven't followed his career that closely, is in regard to his familiarity to the WCO and Rick Dennison in particular. That is admittedly the primary reason that TJ Yates is here. Granted, Webb is probably the better QB, but if he's totally unfamiliar with Dennison's offense there will be a learning curve during which his usefulness to the Bills would be limited. When it comes to backup QBs, you need them when you need them, not when they're ready. The Bills might have to decide if they're willing to risk going into the season with only one QB who is actually ready to step on the field (and a rookie at that) should their starter go down.

Williams knew that ball security was an issue last season, and worked hard to correct it, with promising results in the preseason. I agree that Joe Banyard is a similar back, but I'm not sure why the Bills kept him over Williams, except that there seems to be an emphasis by this administration on experience over youth as evidenced by the average age of the team members. Tobert and Taiwan Jones are very different types of backs. That seems to be by design.

Jon Williams and Joe Banyard are clones as far as body type and running style is concerned. I would have kept Williams as he is younger, but I understand not keeping both. Taiwan Jones is a completely different RB. He's not had much NFL production as a RB, but maybe the Bills see something in him they can use as a RB, and he is a useful special teamer

Kaelin Clay is a Philly Brown clone - no point in having two of them.

McDermott's defense can use fast smaller linebackers. He's at least as big as Milano and Vallejo. He's not Sean McDermott's twin brother, is he?

Another late round 2019 draft pick would be nice.

Long shot. As Judman suggests, Cleveland at Baltimore is far more likely to be affected.