notpolian

I know how they measure these stats in Hockey and Basketball. I would be an easy thing to do but I should have been clearer what I was talking about. One way would be to find out what the defensive average yards allowed with Rousseau on the field vs. off the field. Or maybe DVOA with Rousseau on vs off. There are a ton of factors such as the play called, defense they are in, is there a twist or stunt on (oh wait, the Bills don't do that) but over the course of the season the sample size would be large enough such that things would settle out. I'd imagine the numerical difference wouldn't be much but the it might be interesting and a way to quantify the benefit of a player. Just curious if some website does that kind of thing. I doubt it, but I don't know. To my eye, we seem weak against the run. We've been running a 4-2-5 nickel for years, and we've always been vulnerable in the playoffs, but this year it just feels like teams can gash us for 7-10 yards on the ground if they stick with it. In past years we've done better. I'm not saying its Rousseau's fault, but he and others simply cannot overcome the scheme. To me that'd what a difference maker does. They jump out at you, fans fear playing against them, and teams game plan to take them out. My bar for that type of player may be higher than most.

I think there is a strong chance the Bills get a major reality check in the form of a pre-bye beat down. The Chiefs will bring their A game. But I'm still going Bills 24 Chiefs 21 Because KC needs to lose.

Anyone know a good voodoo witch doctor that can lay an inverse hex on Cooper's wrist? We need him on the field.

I don't watch all-22 or conventional coverage close enough to say either way if he is that good against the run. Do other teams always run away from him? Does he get double teamed? BTW, does anyone keep on/off or +/- statistics for football like there is for basketball and hockey?

Taron Johnson is the closest thing we have to a difference maker on defense. You can really tell when he's not in there and he makes plays, sometimes game changing plays.

You are right and I hope he becomes a more effective blocker. I also admit I was lazy and didn't look up his height and weight. He sure seems to play small for his size. I guess the term I should have used is he doesn't play with power. He strikes me as a finesse TE, though he does try to go through tackles for YAC. Just an aside, but I also would have swore Brock Bowers was bigger than Kincaid but Bowers is actually 6'3". I haven't seen Bowers play this year at all but he is leading the league in TE yards for a bad team. I saw him a lot at Georgia and he was dominant. His 40 time is a bit faster than Kinkaid's (4.55 vs 4.71) fwiw. He also is not a great blocker but was a big play guy in college with good hands. Kincaid hasn't had many big plays this year IIRC. Maybe not a totally fair comparison but they were the first TEs drafted two years in a row. Anyway, I hope Kincaid can play this week and if not gets healthy ASAP.

Beane is not good at drafting defensive linemen. Rousseau is good, but not a difference maker. There is always luck with any one player, but personally, I see an established pattern. Lack of difference makers on defense is what holds this team back from playoff success.

I wouldn't say the team is better with Knox in the lineup. But I think people expect more from Kincaid than he is going to deliver. He can't outrun DBs. He is not a big dude so he can't "box out" his way open and he is not good at blocking. He has good hands and runs good routes. Because of his blocking issues it's hard to have him in there as the only TE if you want to run the ball. He is sort of like a bigger Cole Beasley, and I say that in a positive way. I don't know if he is being asked to find the soft spots in zones enough (Kelce is painfully good at this). They don't have him go to the flats that much I think. He tries hard after the catch. Many would probably would look at him differently if he wasn't a first round pick.

To me Cooper is the one I would like to see back the most. Coleman is out already so nothing can be done about that. Kincaid has been somewhat underutilized and hasn't been a difference maker this year as much as some (not me) hoped. Cooper can possibly make KC play a bit differently by making them more reluctant to clamp down with the man to man that kills us late in games.

It's a festival of turnovers this week in the NFL

No matter how things ultimately turn out, this is good news.

Yeah unless there are unseen issues, he shoudl be signed after clearing waivers. But he'll need to want to come back. I'm pretty sure Dodson would be more effective than at least one of our current LBs.

Given our next 4 games and KCs record, the 1 seed would be a very tough ask. However someone needs to prevent KC from having an undefeated season. Denver had them beat this week but it didn't happen. The Bills need to make it happen.

That was a bad throw by Allen. Not Kincaid's fault.

I think Johnson is your obvious answer at receiver