Simon

I think this is the second toughest matchup our defense will have all year long. I've never had a lot of faith on Dalton, but he's really started making some smart, impactful plays outside the confines of the offense this year. I'm not afraid of anybody against our corners, but Bernard and Eifert are extremely problematic matchups for Bradham and Brown next week. If the offense pees down its leg in the first half like it's done the last couple weeks, I think it will be too much for us to overcome.

If Lewin was the guy wearing the 77, he deserved every call he got. I saw him jaw-jacking guys at least 2-3 times before the first time he finally got called for it.

That surprises me a little. None of them are going to run down the seam or be in somebody's jersey on the circle or the chair, but I feel like they are very solid if they're coached to attack routes and get home right on the break like the DB's have been doing for the most part. We may not have any track stars in the second level, but I think they're a very good fit for what we're doing.

Many thanks for the verification on a wildly hyperbolic guess It's a work in progress but Im really, really happy with how aggressive the DB's have been attacking routes in their early stages. The failure to do that is a significant pet peeve of mine and its been a widespread pandemic of bet-hedging on NFL defenses for a long time now. Props to the Bills for for having their defense work as a wholly involved unit instead of playing CYA.

What the &*$# you mean "sometimes"

We've got to lead the league in pass attempts against. These guys know Rex and they see Mario, Marcel, Bradham and Brown sitting in the front 7. They're not going to waste downs jamming the ball up in there; they're going to try and attck the edges as fast as they can get the ball out.

I had a coach who used to say "too many billy goats and not enough crabs". Dont try to punish him before you have him under control; get your claws on him and then make it hurt

We're usually on the same page (or chapter anyways) regarding football. It's everything else under the sun where we could drink whiskey and bicker for hours

Good stripes know better than to make up calls on key third downs, particularly late in games. That guy took a full 2-3 seconds to think about it and then threw a flag from 25 yards on a "penalty" that he still never saw happen. Guys at the HS and college level generally have the good sense to not impose their stupidity on games, but the fact that a professional zebra felt he was entitled to impose his willful imagination on a game is symptomatic of a significantly larger problem. FWIW, I'd be equally as annoyed had he thrown that flag on the Titans if the roles were reversed. At want point do we recognize that entitled officials are having a noticeably detrimental impact on the game and take steps to address it?

fwiw, I thought he was absolutely freaking horrible. If you run 50 plays on offense, and he has two positive rushes and only throws about 3 good balls on the entire afternoon then you've got a real problem on your hands. You've got a blue-chip QB standing on the sideline who has shown marked improvement over the course of his career; it's time to have a hard conversation. If he puts up a third poor effort in a row, then its absolutely time to get him the hell out of there

I just don't think it's all that complicated. We all know what a killshot looks like. If you see one, call it. If you don't actually SEE a penalty, don't fu(king call it. That was one of the most embarrassingly bad calls I've ever seen at any level of football.

forget the clock, this is an attack drive for points to win this game

thats one of the most embarrassing calls ive ever seen at any level of football

Nice block Percy!

Tyrod cant run the fast offense they need now It's time to let EJ take his shot

That #1 must mean the first to run from the field

His decision making has been lacking is about as diplomatically as I can put it. Mr Wood needs to have a quiet chat with him about getting the ball out

Was it early in the game? Wondering if the Bills were playing fast and loose with the new protocol

Watching 7th inning of Mets - Dodgers Is the "neighborhood" no longer a part of the game?

Instead would we have 4 hour games with 1/4 of that being constant zebra parties?

Was there ever any postgame mention of when exactly he got dinged? I thought I remember him taking a big shot from a safety real early in the game and I was worried that they were going to have to sit him down due to the new protocol. I've been kind of wondering if maybe there were some folks who knew he got tagged but with no depth available, maybe they were hoping to keep it quiet

Fair enough. Maybe that wasn't the best way to approach it. I guess my concerns boil down to a) I'm not sure that kind of an offense is sustainable in the modern NFL and b) I don't think that is the best way to maximize the talent the Bills have on the roster. I know they want to compete for championships and to do that you are going to have to lean on your QB at some point. Keeping him handcuffed to a one-read offense is not going to make him better any time soon and now is the time to let him grow. The sooner, the better.

I think that is absolutely the key to this entire season. And it's been a while since they've had the good fortune to be able to feel that way. I hope they take advantage of it.

I think it’s time to take the training wheels off the Tie-Rod. The staff has been grilling QB’s for months and have settled on a guy that they feel they can trust. If you’re going to make him your starter then you need to go ahead and put your full faith and credit in him and let him run a fully realized offense. If the staff is not willing to trust him to do that, then they need to reconsider if they picked the right guy in the first place. Half-measures don’t cut it in this league and Taylor hasn’t given anybody any reason to think he still needs to be protected from himself. Props to Richie Incognito. A few years ago if he had been called for a chopblock on a guy’s ribs late in a frustrating loss, he’d have gone completely ballistic. He’d have probably jacked up a ref and it would have taken 6 Kyle Turleys to drag him back to the locker room. The fact that he shut his mouth and just kept playing was impressive and if I’m Doug Whaley, that’s the kind of thing that has me talking to his agent about an extension. Greg Roman’s tendency to stay conservative throughout the early portion of games is not necessarily a good fit for this team. Between the talent the Bills are carrying in the Front 7 and Rex’s strength being his ability to deploy them aggressively, the Bills are a much, much more dangerous team when playing with a lead. Banging away and keeping things close does not play to this team’s strengths and I hope Rex encourages Roman to open it up a little quicker so that Rex can do likewise. I hope that Rex has learned from experience that coaching guys to play under control does not necessarily mean you have to coach them to play less aggressively. It’s just a matter of channeling that aggression more tightly and focusing it on concentration and execution. If this team can redirect that emotional energy into their technique, they can beat anybody outside of New England. If Rex cannot teach them how to do that, they can lose to anybody outside of South Florida. As desperate as we are to see these guys consistently winning games right now, let’s not lose sight of the fact that this is their first year under a new staff, running entirely new systems and doing so with a lot of new and different moving parts. It’s not going to all come together right at the beginning of the year; it’s going to take time before guys really starting getting comfortable in their own roles as well as with the guys around them. The start has been pretty solid, if a little inconsistent, but for the most part I think we should be encouraged that this is the kind of team that is just going to keep getting better throughout the season. Some ballcoaches say that if you’re not getting better, then you’re getting worse; I’ve got to think we’re on the right side of that equation. Y'all have a great weekend......

Yeah, but you can't do it in 1.7 seconds. At that point it becomes the responsibility of DB's and LB's to play with a lot more chop and the responsibility of the DLine to get hands in passing lanes