dave mcbride

Looks like the Bills capitalized on the little window in which he was a fresh player with a unique game. The flaws are just too great with him. That said, as a backup qb who can get you to 2-2 over a four-game when stretch when a starter goes down (because he doesn't turn the ball over much at all), I think he probably has another 5-8 years in the league. We shall see.

It's been all downhill since Up With People stopped doing the halftime shows.

Yeah, I know. I said that above in a prior post.

Continuing a point: Kelly finished 8th in the league in passer rating and 5th in TD passes in his first season: https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/1986/passing.htm.

As I said above, he was objectively good in his first season.

Kelly actually had a good year - a 112 QB+ rating (100 being average). He wasn't the reason they went 4-12. The D forced the fewest turnovers in the league that year and was in the bottom regions for points and yards allowed. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/K/KellJi00.htm

They will because in all likelihood the first 2-3 players chosen will be QBs.

Looking at his letter grades, it's pretty shocking that every starter outside of Edmunds and Vontae Davis gets a B- or higher (mostly higher) given that they were essentially blown out.

Not the best comparison because he played three years with decent talent around him plus a complex offensive scheme in the USFL.

Tim Couch too, and there is a connecting thread between him and Carr: both were day one starters for truly terrible (worse than even the current Bills) expansion teams. It's also worth remembering that after Carolina and Jax's surprisingly early success after coming into the league, owners essentially vowed to never let that happen again.

Good piece. My favorite part is the most optimistic line here is Eric Wood saying that "disaster is not a foregone conclusion." LOL.

This has nothing to do with McDermott or any other head coach, but my god. Some people. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2018/09/18/texas-superintendent-regrets-disparaging-deshaun-watson-on-basis-of-being-a-black-qb/?utm_term=.fd716bb827ec

I just disagree. I think the talent gap between the best college team and the worst pro team is so vast that a blowout is pretty much foreordained. Plus the scheming is infinitely better in the pros too.

At least half the starters on Bama won't make an NFL squad. Buffalo would probably roll up 50 on them. Huh?? The Bills would annihilate any college team. The level of prep that pro players go through is infinitely tougher than what college players go through too.

Um ... did you watch his play in the SD game? I did. He was basically rock solid. Rivers is definitely better. I will go to my grave thinking that the worst loss I've seen is the 14-2 chargers' loss to NE in the 2006 playoffs. The Chargers absolutely dominated them, and then bizarrely lost it on Mcree's fumble after he made a 4th down int near the end of the game. The game would have been over if he just took a knee. SD had Indy's number and would have crushed the Bears too.

great play overall.

Do you think I'm wrong about Sturgis? I'm asking that honestly. My thinking about CBS is given the lousy job of the announcing yesterday, they were possibly conflating the disaster that was SD kicking last year with this year despite the fact that the kicker is new. I could of course be wrong, but if they really think Sturgis sucks, they're off base. PS - I actually was championing the Bills defensive talent back in late April. I am as surprised as anyone that they played so poorly in the first six quarters. Given the overall talent, which is on paper is still pretty good (although I was way wrong about Davis), they were bound to start improving at some point. Maybe it's time for McDermott to take over the reins, but there is a downside to that because I think his head coaching (a very difficult job) is likely to suffer if he has to call the D going forward. -

I don't understand why are so quick to demean me and accuse me of suspect motives in your posts (e.g.., the scare quote above). It's not the best way to carry on a debate. Personal attacks -- which these are -- just drag this board down. More specifically, I disagree with your argument because while the Bills D did certainly did play better, which I've said numerous times, situational football played a role. As for punting, they were at the Bills' 33 yard line and it was fourth and 3. If the game were on the line or if they feared the Bills' offense, they would not have punted. As for the announcers, their kicker is Caleb Sturgis (new to the team). He is an 81 percent kicker lifetime (with improvement year on year; 85.4 percent his last full season) and 3 for 4 this year. Going back to 2016, he's made 5 of his last 7 50+ yard field goals. He's actually a decent kicker, albeit not the best in the league. Regardless, it's not like the kicking situation they had last year, which literally cost them a playoff spot. So I fundamentally disagree with you about their kicker sucking.

With regard to the bolded part, I should have been clearer. If the game were at all close (which it wasn't given the remaining time left and the terrible performance of the Bills offense up to that point), the Chargers would definitely not have punted from the 33 yard line. That decision is called "protecting a lead." They did play at a faster tempo in the first half too, and on their final possession they picked up the pace again too (granted, they were deep in Bills territory). The Bills D definitely played better, however. I'm not really arguing about that. I'm just saying that situational football was involved too. PS - I thought Hughes played well all game. He's very underrated by many fans.

You are certainly angry. Why? I happen to disagree with you. It's not as if the Chargers weren't trying to score every drive; I get that. If you look at the drive charts, it was a lot of short stuff punctuated by a couple of nice sacks by the Bills D, which -- again -- did play better in the second half. I chalk that up to McDermott shifting the scheme, mostly. But then they drove down to the 33 and punted, and then they got to the 1 and then lost a TD because whistle stopped play because the Bills had 12 men on the field (there was a nice TD pass on that play). Again, though, the Bills played better. And the Chargers also punted on 4th and short from the Bills' 33.

??? I did say that the Bills D looked better, but if you think that the Chargers weren't playing "protect the lead" at least a little against a team with a terrible offense, I don't know what to say. The evidence shows that they punted from the Bills' 34 yard line on fourth and short, for chrissake!

As I said above, the Chargers also took their foot off the gas in the second half at least a little. The D did look better, but the Chargers were in fact protecting a huge lead and it never got closer than 15 points. They even punted on 4th and short from the Bills' 34. Factor that in.

Speaking of Bengals, Cordy Glenn has apparently played quite well through the first two games. That was one trade I questioned. Maybe it was the only way to get the draft ammo necessary to draft Allen, which makes it understandable. That said, when healthy (a big if, I know), he is a genuinely good player who represents a massive upgrade over Mills.

To be fair, I also think that the Chargers took their pedal off the gas a bit in the second half (i.e., punting from the Bills 34 in a 4th and short situation).

When I saw Groy land on him yesterday, I immediately thought, "I'll be shocked if that didn't bang him up at least some."