Mikie2times

Taylor has his faults, 8 sacks today was a part of it, although that was a shared responsibility. The line was bad but at times Taylor is still showing that he needs to see before he acts which means longer time in the pocket. Taylor does not have pinpoint accuracy. His INT's to both Clay and Watkins are a classic example of the game of inches football is. Similar to the line, I feel both plays had a shared responsibility. Both players would tell you they should have caught those passes, just as sure as Tyrod would tell you he should have thrown a better ball. Accuracy and quick decision making seem to be Taylor's weaknesses right now, weaknesses all of us know far to well as so many of the previous Bills QB's suffered from the same combination of poor attributes. On the positive, Taylor has show us some pretty special qualities. The comparisons to Russell Wilson seem well suited. Taylor has the ability to elude a lot of defenders in the pocket and execute throws in very difficult positions. None of it is drawn up, all of it counts just the same. Wilson is the only other guy in the NFL that has that quality as strong as Taylor does. Like Wilson, Taylor seems to do all this maneuvering while keeping his eyes downfield. He also possesses a very fast release and can throw the ball from any arm slot. You can't just take this away like you can just take away your normal scrambling QB's running ability. Scramblers lose intent on throwing very quickly, Taylor does not lose intent on throwing very often. Detractors will think this quality will eventually get taken away. Many thought it would for Wilson as well. It's very hard to take it away because it will happen multiple times a game extending coverage windows until they break and Taylor, even since his VT days, has been incredible finding and hitting open players when these situations occur. Taylor is currently on pace for 672 yards rushing. What he has done very well is pick his spots which is represented well by an average gain of 6 yards per carry. He can also operate our short passing game well, dink and dunking his way to a 75.5% completion %. The couple of times he has tried to go up top he has thrown a couple of beautiful balls that resulted in big plays downfield. If you separate what Taylor does well and what he doesn't do well into two areas you can see a distinct line. Everything he does well is either very deliberate or completely improvised and he has shown to be way above average in competency in those two areas. His deliberate completion %, deep throws, improve, and running ability are very high end. What he isn't doing well right now is the same thing every NFL QB struggles with outside of 3-5 QB's in the NFL. Getting thru progressions quickly and making throws prior to seeing a player open. The expectation this year from the QB position was not losing us games. The Bills have averaged 29.5 points in two games and you can draw a direct line from that production to the things Taylor does well. If the expectation right now is multiple progressions and throws prior to seeing a player open I think people are really stretching things. Russell Wilson is not at this point. He performs, because like Taylor, he does exceptionally well in all the other areas. I also think Wilson is more advanced in progressions, throwing covered, and accuracy, but he also has several dozen more starts in his career. I expect Taylor to give us some incredible high's this year and I also expect us to feel some frustrations, but the biggest thing I think we all can do at this point is expect that we will get more out of the QB position than "not losing us games".

Let us also not forget that 2 games ago New England prepared for what we hope Taylor could become in Russell Wilson. I just watched a Youtube video a couple days ago which had me concerned about this game. BB had a pretty incredible game plan for Wilson as far as a passive rush and containing his big play ability. He also had 3 more days to prepare for Taylor in this game. Taylor didn't do everything right, but all things considered, he played pretty damn well. He was lights out in the 4th and nearly brought us back on his own.

He played timid in the first half. He still is playing very conservatively, especially early. He has that "must see it first" thing going on many starters have at the beginning. That said this post just seems like spam in it's approach. "Taylor sucks". Ok, thanks for sharing.... He made some incredible plays and very well could have had a chance to complete one of the better comebacks in Bills history if Sammy makes a difficult catch. Speaking of which, not one of the 3 INT's was a direct blame the QB situation. Two high passes, both hit the entire part of both Clay and Watkins hands. Difficult catches sure, but I know a higher level NFL WR/TE expects to make those plays. If they didn't they wouldn't be in football let alone considered higher level. Taylor still threw the ball high, so shared accountability picks. The other INT came on an ill advised pass as time was running out in the first half. It was 3rd down, the Bills needed 20+ yards and 1 or 2 downs to get it in (if they converted the first). That pass never gets thrown in a normal situation. He made some fantastic plays in the 4th quarter when he seemed to just let loose and play. All in all, 2 straight weeks in which the offense has scored enough points in which we should be able to beat anybody in football. 4 total TD's from Taylor, mix of run and pass, near late game heroics. Described as a leader and scholar of the game, making his 2nd NFL start. I will take it.

You have to pressure Brady. He morphs into a Direct TV commercial when he gets pressured. Obviously it's not that simple to do, he is the hardest guy to pressure in football. That said I feel like we have the best set up to beat him. DL pressure allows for potential pressure with max coverage. The Bills sucked it up today based on a crap game plan that conceded 5-8 yard passes at will. We played New England's game and while I'm sure it isn't as easy as just saying "play press" we certainly needed to dictate more and force New England to play a different game in order to beat us.

Agreed

How much do you really expect that 250 million to matter when the ball is gone in under 3 seconds? At some point Rex and his game planning, in conjunction with the secondary, need to force Brady to hold it a little longer. They did so on a few occasions but we didn't capitalize. We did get the strip sack. It just wasn't enough. Multiple pieces failed. It certainly wasn't all on the line, beating New England isn't possible unless you have multiple phases on defense working.

Brady has always been the league leader in how fast he gets the ball out. I would argue if the stat was tracked historically he would be in the top 3 all time. It's why the Patriots can just rotate lineman at will. You get a few chances each game at him. We didn't take advantage of those chances outside of the strip sack. Rex did not have a good game plan. We didn't execute on any level defensively outside of stopping the run the few times the Patriots tried it. The defense was confused and not lined up correctly most the game. Pretty much everything sucked, which is how it usually goes when you allow 40 points.

I think his style infuses confidence in players. We need that. I think it's what will ultimately punch our ticket to the playoffs this year. At the same time we have to take the bad with the good. His style is incredibly irritating when he doesn't back up what he's saying. It's not very difficult to see how a guy like Rex almost has to be a quick exis if things go south. He had the Jets playing hard all of last year, so I don't want to take that away from him, but from a fan perspective, Rex would be pretty unbearable with a losing team. He would lose his edge and I just don't know the whole shtick would go over.

That was a the play Hughes slapped Gronks arm well before the ball arrived, should have been pass interference. I had a problem with many of the calls that went against us today. I just found it funny that in a Patriots cheating thread this play ended up being referenced as it seemed like the only break we got all game.

I agree, I like the politically correct version of the Bills that lost by 30 instead of 8 . Rex did not coach a good game. He didn't put his players in the best position to be successful. But if you have a problem with Rex's approach as far as how it played out in this game you might as well just throw in the towel on him. He was still acting like this when the Jets were awful. This is who he is. If you/we/the Bills didn't know that thru their bones when they hired him they didn't do enough research.

The pass was high, it was a 20 yard Dig, not exactly a gimmie, but borderline uncatchable? That is a phrase better used for many of the catches Watkins already has shown us he can make. It is the type of pass that will get you laid out but it's not as if Taylor had a ton of choices in that stage of the game.

LOL @ Taylor comments. 3 Int's, two right off our WR hands and one on a desperation pass trying to get in FG range before the first half ended. He easily could have had 3 TD's, 0 INT's, another rushing, 70%+ completion %, and 250+ yards. He looked like he wasn't fully seasoned on every play. Go figure. Outside of that is was a solid game. He made some plays no QB's in the NFL can make and kept fighting. Who knows how this would have finished if Sammy makes that catch on the Dig on our final drive. Taylor seems to be a last second magic guy, he was at VT and I thought he had a shot at giving us a shot on that final drive.

1. Taylor has shown exactly what I thought he would and my expectations were high. The two INT's we need receptions on, he was not pin point on either, but Clay and Watkins need to make those catches. He's going to make some mistakes, hes also going to make some incredible plays. He did both today and the line didn't offer him much help. 2. Teams are going to force us out of our heavy sets and Roman needs to adjust faster. The Bills offense can perform very well in space. That space opens lanes for Taylor to run in and spreads our YAC WR's out. We can't stay in two TE sets all game with 7-8 in the box. I want to ground and pound as much as anybody but we can't force the run. 3. I don't think the Bills belong in a 3-4. I know Rex mixes it up, a lot. 4-3, 3-4, 46, tons of nickle packages. I feel that is part of the problem. We made a big jump in 2014 after running a similar scheme as Rex in 2013. This scheme forces players to think as much as play and we saw a lot of confusion in the defense all game. Last year we just played. Seattle is a great example of a team that runs about the most basic defense in the league but it allows players to be players. I'm not sure if I'm willing to say this defense will be better because of a Rex which seemed like a guarantee pre-season. 4. This offense is light years ahead of being an Achilles heal. I would say the offense is appearing to be more of a strength especially when viewed with the assumption that the defense would be dominant. Preseason it was all about how the offense can't lose us games. The defense lost us this game and the offense seems like it will put up north 21+ a game. 5. McCoy is due for a big game. Stats haven't shown much, but McCoy just looks like he's playing at another gear compared to the other players on the field. His ability to stop, start, and cut without losing speed is impressive. Slow start, he's still banged up, but I still expect some big plays from him. 6. Darby is legit and I really hope he is fine after leaving the field slowly. He had a couple holding calls today. Outside of that he was on the hip pocket of everybody he covered. When the Patriots tried to Kelvin Benjamin him (1st preseason game) with Gronk on the outside he fought him the whole way and did a great job finding the ball. I would say he's light years ahead of where he should be based on degree of difficulty and the place he was drafted. Steal. 7. I felt pretty strongly that we would make the playoffs before the game and nothing changed that. In order to accomplish that we said in the preseason we needed a dominant defense and an offense that doesn't hurt us. I expect us to make the playoffs, but not under that formula. The offense won't always look pretty but it will score points and consistently have us in the 20's. I expect a very low Yards Per Point conversion for our offense, which is efficiency in converting yards into points. The best teams tend to make the playoffs and I expect us to be very highly rated in that area. We have been outstanding in two weeks so far. The defense will be good, but I worry our roster isn't the ideal fit for Rex's system and the additional learning required will cause a regression from 2014. It will still be a hell of a defense, I just don't think we will best 2014 or make some insane leap into the annals of history as some hoped with Rex at the helm.

Sort of? If he was drinking he was not allowed to have his firearm. I imagine he decided to bring it even though he knew he would likely be drinking. I don't think many people leave for a Bills tailgate undecided on that topic.

It's amazing how far off you're on this. His drives ended in a higher TD% than any QB. I'm eating lunch at work, if you really want the TD's I can do that for you. But it's a waste of time. His % of TD drives was the highest of any QB. His points per possession were the highest of any QB. These are stats remember, not open to opinion outside of debating the merits of the stats. Sorry if it doesn't fit your narrative.

Most of Manuel and Taylor's drives ended in TD's, I wasn't going to penalize players for Kickers missing FG's. Which did happen, which is why it's a % stat. I can convert it into TD% if you wish.

Yards per play is total rushing and passing yards, minus sack yards, divided by attempts. Taylor 43 Attempts, 335 Yards, 7.8 Yards Per Play, FG attempted or better on 7 of 9 drives= 77.8% Manuel 39 Attempts, 328 Yards, 8.4 Yards Per Play, FG attempted or better on 7 of 13 drives= 53.8% Cassell 17 Attempts, 82 Yards, 4.8 Yards Per Play, FG attempted or better on 2 of 4 drives= 50.0% I really hope Cassell is't in the mix. I understand he has taken a back seat so the coaches can see what they have in EJ and Taylor, but I just don't see him getting his Yards Per Play near 7.0, which Taylor and Manuel are both comfortably in. Taylor really seems to have a knack for sustaining drives. Leading 7 out of 9 drives into scoring range is pretty impressive and most those were TD's. EJ has also done well in this area including a game winning drive and by far the strongest job in the deep passing game.

Tyrod has the legs, big play ability, make something out of nothing ability. Cassel has the short passing game, veteran experience. Most knowledge and accuracy. Manuel has the best arm, is probably the best 2 minute guy. Those are just strengths. They all have weaknesses. It's hard to say how you can rate any much better or worse. Given the element of the enhanced running game with Taylor and the fact that he's never actually failed yet as a starter, his age, I really think he will get the nod.

I'm for Taylor starting. That said if the game was nothing but a two minute drill, EJ is the best quarterback we have.

I'm 33, so I didn't understand that time as well as understand this time. I imagine I would have disapproved based on similar logic. I'm right on monetary policy and left on social policy and sure as hell don't affiliate myself with either side. I actually don't support Bernie's monetary policy at all. I would have never made a vote again if it wasn't for Sanders bringing up the two issues I care about most, Citizens United and Glass Steagal. At this time I support a system that can be won by a republican or democrat with no gross favors owed, I don't care which side the candidate is. I also support an economy that is stable, which can't happen right now. Nothing has changed since 2008, a time we almost went into a depression if not for a bailout. Nobody cares. Interest rates are stuck at 0% for an ungodly period of time. We have brought the global economy to it's knees as a result of policy and we just keep replaying the same story. Bernie has been ahead of wall street and predicting too big to fail scenarios before the Fed or economists did. He was grilling Greenspan in 2003. You must keep missing words. "I want publicly funded elections with low maximum donations" The Koch brothers wouldn't be able to donate over 100 million dollars. Hillary would not be able to raise 45 million dollars. If the cap is 2,500, nobody can be as influential as they can now. Sure, the whole thing will always be shady. But what happening now is just arrogant.

GG, I'm saying the exact opposite. I thought I was clear in my point. Perhaps not. I care that a corporation can create a Super PAC and spend unlimited amount of money toward a campaign without even having to put a name down. I want publicly funded elections with low maximum donations. Publicly funded only by citizens and not corporations. How much did the Koch brothers spend in Wisconsin and Michigan to smash unions? Politics about unions aside. If the public doesn't want them fine, if two brothers don't want them and they can make that happen the system is broken. They literally bought two candidates, funded them beyond a competitive playing field and stacked the political system to fit their own personal agenda. That's what they will keep doing. Ya, the people still decide, but sort of hard to compete when your outspent 10 to 1.

Very happy he isn't in worse shape, but very concerned still. Hamstring and Groins can linger for an entire season. You watch a player and all year and they don't produce the same, they say they feel good. The season ends and then they say "ya, the Hamstring was bothering me all season". Happens so much. If he's even at a 5%-10% risk of re-injury for the opener I wouldn't play him. I wouldn't consider playing him until he has zero doubt he is 100% with no needles. I don't care if it takes 3-4 weeks into the season. We need him at 100% and it's a very long season.

Lets take a socialistic policy like SS. Personally, I would rather not have SS. I feel like I can spend my money and save my money better than any other entity as it pertains to my goals. Having said that I don't exactly see that playing out in the general population. Many if not most Americans struggle to fight the urge to balance credit debt. Forget about retirement. I can't think of many situations in which people have said, up, my 401k, savings, and pension is just so high I don't know when I should retire. It's more like, well, I want to retire soon, how the hell am I going to live off anything but SS? People don't save in mass and regardless if I feel I can, or you feel you can, most can't. Without SS we would have a millions and millions of 65+ year old people either homeless or working minimum wage until death. That doesn't sit well with me. Even if I do want complete control of my money, not at that cost. Hell, I don't like a lot of Bernie's Policy, but the things I do like I view as absolutely essential to restoring the political system and that is something that no candidate running on either side can offer me.

I don't deserve relief from debt I've incurred, I would like future generations to have better options. I prefer just to get the fed out of it completely as competition would lower cost, but since every loan is backed by the fed, it doesn't exactly take cut throat underwriting to get approved for large student loans, so schools have zero reason to maintain stable prices. Unfortunately Bernie wants the government even more involved in it. Still, his plan would allow for people to not be hamstrung by the this type of debt when they start life if they wish to seek out a higher education. You are a person, a corporation is not a person. Democracy is based on public funded elections. The concept of each persons voice represented to the fullest extent and equally heard. Limitation on campaign donations should be in place and only individual people/not corporations should be allowed to contribute. If that's not in place elections are not equal or based on the voice of the people. They become based on the voice of the people who have the most money. That is not a democracy. How many bubbles have we seen since Reagan/Greenspan economics? Tech, housing, and coming soon, a living hell....Ya, the stock market should be reaching all time highs. That's logical in an economy with no measurable growth. Maybe they just don't give a crap backed up by 0% interest rates for 7-8 years and knowing exactly what will happen when the next bubble hits. Too big to fail bailout. Wall Street does not fear risk. Glass-Steagall existed for a really smart reason. Unfortunately not smart enough to overcome the potential to make big money fast even if that put the entire global economy at risk.