dave mcbride

... zero Bills on either the first or second team defense. The Bills finished 2nd in points allowed, 3rd in yards allowed, 3rd in opposing team passer rating, 3rd in net yards per passing attempt allowed, 2nd in passing tds allowed, 10th in turnovers forced, 2nd in points allowed per drive, 4th in yards allowed per drive, and 5th in plays allowed per drive. They were also ranked 5th in overall defensive DVOA by Football Outsiders, for what it’s worth. Analytics! https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-2019-pff-nfl-all-pro-team

I don’t know. I kinda doubt Daboll ran a NE system at Bama, and in any event Tua only played for one half plus an OT possession under Daboll (in catch-up mode for the most part too).

Relative to this conversation, I thought you’d find this piece of info from Albert Breer interesting: ”Dolphins offensive coordinator Chad O’Shea was let go, and I’m told that part of it was Brian Flores’s desire to move away from his Patriot roots on that side of the ball. Why does that make sense? My theory is that since Miami’s going to be really young the next couple years, running a scheme with the complexity of New England’s might be tough on the players developmentally. Which is why it wouldn’t surprise me if we see some more college ideas infused into what Miami is doing.” https://www.si.com/nfl/2019/12/31/nfl-black-monday-coaching-rumors-mock-draft

I'd actually prefer that their best players be hobbled by injury given that they're arguably the better team on paper and playing at home. Exactly.

You think Walsh would have made chicken salad with that horrendous line, those qbs, those garbage receivers, and no credible TE to speak of?

The "Daboll era." The "Gailey era" averages out to about 22nd, but I don't want to play that game. The context of individual years matters. Please factor in that context, particularly the historically bad offensive roster last season. You're better than that, man.

Watt has historically destroyed the Bills. He basically won the 2014 game single-handedly (9 QB hits - 9! -, one of which caused a game ending INT, and a pick-six), completely dominated in the 2012 game, and was unblockable in the game last season. He also played well in the game the Bills won in 2015, with a bunch of tackles and a TFL.

Agreed. I expect Watt to be a force in this game. He was playing really well early in the season (21 qb hits in just 8 games), and my understanding is that the tear wasn't a major one. I expect he'll be fine.

Yeah, he's terrible. He's also wildly inconsistent, which is almost worse than the poor ypp average. I swear to god it seems like his ypp in the final five minutes of games is 20 ypp.

DePodesta deserves this. He is really, really smart, and if he had had more clout previously, the Browns would be in a lot better shape.

Speaking of ST, Hauschka made 14 of his last 15 FG attempts this season, which was a very nice bounceback from a rough first half.

They were not a good offense in 2012: 21st in points, 19th in yards, 20th in offensive DVOA, and 28th in offensive turnovers. That's not the worst in the world, but it's basically where the Bills' offense was this season albeit with worse turnover numbers.

Perhaps. I will say this: Gailey has been 50-50 with Fitz: good in 2011 and 2015, basement-level in 2010 and 2016, and a little below average in 2012. The scrambles can accurately be described as passing plays that broke down, but the designed runs are genuine rushing plays.

I of course know that some OCs are better than others. That goes without saying. But saying that the Bills are 30th in scoring since he arrived and failing to mention that the Bills fielded arguably the worst offensive talent in franchise history last season is sophistic arguing. Bill Walsh would have had the same results as Daboll last season. I'm also not saying that Daboll is Gailey's equal, but I do want to see him run an offense with good overall talent. Hopefully, the Bills will have that next season. True, but they did finish 24th in pass attempts and 6th in rushing attempts. Context is important - most teams pass more than they run now.

That is, without question, the funniest tweet of the year. Everyone in this thread: do yourself a favor and watch this.

The Bills' offensive rankings were poor in his other two seasons in Buffalo, however. As for 2011, they did have a great start, averaging 30 points and 380 yards over the first seven games. I'd also argue that Fred Jackson was playing like a first-team all-pro that season (and far better than the RB combo we have now). The offense really pretty much cratered after he went down. Also note that the Bills' offense had a ton of turnovers in 2011 - 30 (25th worst in the league). They ended up 11th this season and would have finished higher if not for Barkley's trifecta of turnovers on Sunday. They had 16 going into week 17. As I've said elsewhere, it's really about the players. Gailey has overseen some good offenses and some very bad offenses (the Jets finished 26th in points, 30th in yards, and 31st in offensive turnovers his final season in NY). There's a pretty strong correlation between the players he had and the offensive performance. I like Gailey; don't get me wrong. I think he's a good schemer. But it's a simple fact that Daboll has been plagued by poor talent in all of his stops in the NFL.

That is an INSANE story. Wow. Sullivan is in no way comparable to Mehta.

I think the top four options are all roughly equal contributors to the decline.

Good thread idea. I fully agree. The Jets were a lot better in the second half of the season, and Darnold, while still mistake-prone, is supremely talented - good arm and fantastic accuracy when he gets set. The Dolphins are well-coached and well-positioned to dramatically improve their roster. Who knows with Fitz, but he's played well enough to be considered a credible starter in five of his last six seasons. He was phenomenal in the second half of this season.

Maybe because his QBs were Brady Quinn, Derek Anderson, Colt McCoy and an 85-year old Jake Delhomme??

Bill O'Brien has done pretty well, and Flores looks like the real deal. Some people in the league actually feel Flores should be in the running for coach of the year given what he did with that woeful roster.

If you read the thread, you'd realize how ironic your moniker is given that I explicitly say that Orton was a guy who could make all of the throws! The Bills have been spinning their wheels with guys like Peterman and Barkley who CAN'T make all of the throws. As I also said, all backup qbs are gonna be flawed in some respects, but I do think basic arm strength is a necessity. Just look at a guy like Brissett, who went into the season as a backup. He can actually play, but the guy who subbed for him when he went down was Hoyer, who at this point of his career cannot play. He is terrible and simply can't make the throws. He cost them two games they would have in all likelihood won with Brissett (Pitt and Miami; they were leading and driving when Brissett went down against Pitt). It was the difference between 7-9 and 9-7/10-6 (I'm assuming Indy approaches the final game vs Jax a lot differently if they went in 9-6 as opposed to 7-8 and out of it).

He’s not an athlete. Read my original post. It is the only good game he has had in his career. And I like the guy.

Did you watch his throws outside the hashes? He can’t make them; he looked like Peterman without the height. (I say this as a person who likes Barkley.) I realize that by definition backup qbs are gonna be flawed, but lest we forget, Kyle Orton was a backup who could play and certainly make all of the throws.