Luxy312

Believe it or not, there are still scenarios where the Bills could make the playoffs with a 9-7 record. Those scenarios seem pretty unlikely. Let's start with Oakland, who has 7-2 and 7 more games to go. 3 home games in a row coming off a BYE against HOU, CAR, BUF. Then @KC, @SD, home against IND and @DEN. The only gimme on their schedule IMO is the home game against IND. If you give them HOU coming off the buy, they're at least 9-7, having to deal with only CAR, BUF, @KC, @SD and @DEN. If I were a betting man, I will say they finish the season 10-6 with losses to CAR, BUF, @KC, and @DEN. We also need that last game to mean something for both of these teams. KC is also 7-2. They get TB, @DEN, @ATL, OAK, TEN, DEN, and @SD. Let's say they split with DEN which isn't inconceivable. A win against TB and TEN at home and I've already said they'll beat OAK, and they're 11-5 or better. DEN is 7-3. They will have a BYE next week, but then play KC, @JAC, @TEN, NE, @KC, and OAK. Based on the KC and OAK thoughts, that's already 2 wins and a loss. Wins @JAC and @TEN get them to 11-5 or better as well. Barring a complete collapse of one of these 3 teams or complete domination, every week is a win or stay home week for the Bills. This season could feel to us like the 2008 season felt for the Patriots. They went 11-5 and sat home watching the playoffs from their sofas. Not doomed yet, but a loss to the Bengals next weekend and the season is pretty much definitively over.

Deflated balls would kick shorter, not longer, than fully inflated balls. There have been studies done on the subject of kick height and distance.

This was my thought exactly.

In my 35 years of watching football, I can honestly say I haven't. It's mind boggling that he can escape from some of the pressure that comes his way, but that's why he's top-5 in the NFL in sacks taken.

I'm less concerned about RT and more concerned with how long TT holds onto the football. For starters, he's dead last in just how long on average he's holding onto the ball before making a play past the line of scrimmage (pass or throw).

There is no team that I like to see lose more than the Patriots. There is no quarterback that I would rather see smashed into the turf by a defender than Tom Brady. Smug arrogance and cheating will never with them respect.

This year is all about injuries and a badly regressed secondary. Tyrod's cap number next year is $15.9m and not the $27m suggested by the OP. It's complicated, but essentially if they keep him, his number is $15.9. If they release him/decline his option, then he gets the $27m. On the surface, keeping Taylor seems to be a forgone conclusion, unless something happens and he regresses the rest of the year. So essentially, keeping him means $15.9m next year and $16.8m the year after would make him around 24-25th in terms of starting QB's. In terms of Rex, I don't think this year is his last year no matter what happens the rest of the way. As I stated, they have been decimated by injuries. Dareus, Lawson, Ragland, McCoy, Glenn, and now Wood is a LOT of starters. I can't imagine they would be worse off with Dareus in the lineup. Lawson has made an impact already now that he's back. This defense is still at the top of the league in sacks. The only "con" to keeping both of them IMO is that that may mean another year before you start the rebuilding process if it doesn't get better.

I'm not. The idea is so laughable that it's hard to come up with a response. With all the tiebreakers that they're basically losing to other teams projected to contend for a wild card spot, they won't get there without going 6-1 the rest of the way. The defense has been getting shredded all year by big play receivers and quarterbacks willing to go downfield. Now enter games @CIN, @OAK, and versus Pittsburgh with Roethlisberger back. Are they going to win 2/3 of those games and simply sweep the other 4? I'll bet right now that this season is basically done with 4 games left in the season. At that point, 9-7 will be the most that they can achieve and they will basically be out of the playoffs. Pretty much a repeat of last year.

Receiver was supposed to run a wheel route and instead ran an out or simply gave up on the pattern. Not sure what the answer is but agree with the OP.

There's no easy fix for this defense. The Rex/Rob Ryan model for defense is getting after the passer and getting strong play out of defensive backs, many of which will be asked to play one on one. The Seahawks just followed the model that the Patriots used. Big play after big play down the field. Darby was terrible. Gilmore was anything but a shut down corner. Robey-Coleman has no business even being on the field. He's simply too small to cover anyone that's 6 foot tall or bigger. Shifting around where defensive backs play on the field isn't going to help them be better in man coverage.

DOOMED!

This is a good, albeit simplified, description of the defense that Rex puts on the field and the biggest reason they were never in the game yesterday. Multiple times on third and long and there were blown coverage by Gilmore and Darby. In an effective Rex Ryan defense, it would be ideal not to have just two good cornerbacks that can cover, but three. The Bills offense actually wasn't terrible. There were missed throws and dropped passes as well, but the were able to move the football down the field. A healthy Watkins and McCoy and I honestly think they would have kept it much closer.

Both Seattle and Buffalo are really hurting right now from injuries. If you looked at any of the stat lines from the Patriots game except the score, you would assume the game was a lot closer than it was. I would not have guessed it from watching the game, but the Bills sacked Brady 5 times. They were certainly getting after him. I give them a chance next week. I said this week that Tom Brady would carve up the Bills and they did. I said it would be a 2 TD margin and it was. For the game next week, I give the Bills a chance to win the game. If they lose, it won't be by more than a touchdown.

25th in completion percentage for a starting quarterback. That's pretty much the only statistic I need. Trying to place blame elsewhere or parse up causation is pointless.

I'm amazed that the spread is under 7 for this game quite frankly. If I were in Vegas, I would bet heavy on the Patriots covering a 2 touchdown spread. Injuries are a massive problem. Sure, they get Dareus back and now get their second full week with Lawson, but this is Brady we're talking about. He gets his passes off in about 2 seconds. That compares to Tyrod at over 3, which is the longest for an NFL starting QB. The Patriots will do the same thing the Dolphins did. They'll give Taylor the middle of the field to make throws and we already know that he won't see a damned thing other than a screen pass at the LOS or bombs. It's sad for me to say, but he's the same QB that we had last year. Can't throw to where the receiver is going to be, except the long ball and just takes too long going through his progressions. We will see on Sunday of course and I'll remain optimistic that I'll be vastly wrong. None the less, I would rather see a blow out rather than another close loss where we had a chance to win, but TT couldn't move the ball down the field.

Landry effectively ended his career.

Better draft position in 2017. Question answered!

Figures lie and liars figure. That's the old statistical expression that basically, you can twist most data to suit your arguments. The reality of the Bills offense is pretty straight forward to me. When the defense is generating turnovers and/or limiting opposition offensively, the offense has looked good. Until the Dolphins game, the red zone defense was the best in the NFL. This helps a ton. The offense essentially looks good because they really don't have to do much to win the game. In those 4 wins in a row, the Bills defense was stifling. They gave the offense short fields and many opportunities to put up points. In the losses, the defense was pretty terrible. The offense, matched that terribleness. They couldn't make up for how bad the defense was. Week to week, the team is either +/+ or -/-.

The notion isn't as silly as some are making it out to be. Manuel has factually let game winning drives and comebacks for the team. Taylor has been terrible at it. With that said, this isn't baseball. I think quarterbacks need time to get into the flow of games to be able to more quickly read what defenses are giving up and what they're not. I can't fathom a situation where you would play a guy up until 5 minutes left in the game and then bring in a new QB to try to win the game when you're down by a score. It's a novel concept none the less.

Defenses are not going to win every game for you. Let's be honest about what we saw yesterday. The Bills offensively played not to lose and defensively were just gassed at the end of the game.

I've said this about Taylor since last year. He's a good game manager when the defense shows up and plays. Look at the four wins before today. The defense generated 10 turnovers. Tyrod had to throw for an average of a whopping 156 yards per game. Those are game manager stats. Yesterday, we needed him to make plays and move the ball at the end of the game. He simply couldn't do it. Sadly, E.J. Manuel has had more success than Tyrod in these type of situations. I don't have disdain for any Bills QB's past or present. I want them to succeed. With that said, Tyrod is probably not the guy for the future.

The game this week will come down to stopping Ajayi and Foster for the Bills and NOT starting the game in a deficit. If we lose any amount of significant ability to play McCoy, Gilly will need to step up. Defense has been pretty darned good and underestimated. Bills have the best red zone defense in the NFL right now. Thus far this season, I'll remain cautiously optimistic.

Not a good reason why he won't play (not taking an NFL snap). The more resounding reason is that Alexander has been the best pass rusher in the NFL this season. If the Bills were bottom-5 in the NFL at getting after the passer and Alexander was just blah blah, Lawson would be on the field right away. At this point, he's a luxury that can spell Alexander until he gets fully up to speed. At that point, the team has a good problem to have.

I can't fathom how Bowles could come to the decision to start Geno Smith. He's pretty much a known commodity at this point and isn't going to win you games. The season is basically a wash at this point. The chances of making the playoffs after you start 1-5 are dismal. Less than 1% of the time it happens. Even if by some miracle it did happen, they're not talented enough to make a deep playoff run. To start Smith now over Petty or Hackenberg makes no sense. Why not them to see what you have in your young QB's? If either turn out or appear to start to develop, you're in good shape. If they don't, they can completely reboot at QB next year. Baffling is the understatement of the day.

I equate him to what Daryl Talley brought to the Bills in the 90's.