Lothar

There was a quote from one of the Jets reporters after the game that Fitz felt there was very little motion before the snap by the defense unlike a normal Ryan scheme. She hinted that this might be twin Rob's influence. With all this worry about offense, the attention on D has taken a back seat. But another performance like Thursday and the transformation of this defense from world class to high school level would be complete.

Ugh, I can think of about 50 players I'd rather have.

Carson Wentz : Eagles Jared Goff : Rams Ezekiel Elliot : Dolphins Laquon Treadwell : Giants Paxton Lynch : Broncos Bills Pick (bonus) : Shaq Lawson

I think Hogan is the best fit for the Bills offense outside the first rounders. He's the smartest QB coming out, good field vision, very good accuracy, decent arm, solid for 4 years. I liken him more to Rivers than Fitzpatrick. One thing is, of all the QBs in the PAC 12, he's the only one that consistently gave Oregon fits. I'm not sold on the shiny toys that have a gun for an arm or run a 4.5 forty. I want a qb who can read a defense, has escapability and is accurate. I also think he doesn't make it out of the 3rd round.

I'm fairly certain Hogan will get taken before Jones.

I know there's not a lot of love for him on this board but I think Whaley tipped his hand a bit when he mentioned this guy as being most pro-ready. I will say from watching all his games against Oregon, he was the one Pac12 QB that gave their defense fits every year, whether he had a great running back or not. I think he has the "it" factor and someone will get a long term starter with this choice. I'd probably be ok with Prescott or Jones or a couple others based on pure talent and taking a long shot on development if we were picking 4th round or later, but if I were picking a QB with the most starter potential outside of the top 3, this would be the guy. Big hands, decent runner, sees the field (a characteristic I hold in as high a regard as arm strength and accuracy). I like the comparison to Philip Rivers. http://www.profootballweekly.com/draft/2016/prospects/kevin-hogan/ " three-year starter for a sophisticated pro-style offense. He has good size and can make all the throws that are needed to succeed in the NFL. Is a good decision maker and a strong leader. Has shown improvement every year and now is among the better senior quarterbacks in the coming NFL Draft. Has played a lot of football for Stanford and it shows. While he won't be ready to step in and play as a rookie, I see an eventual NFL starter for a winning NFL team. It would not surprise me if he went as high as the second round. This is the type of player who succeeds in the NFL because he has top intangibles."

Sorry 26. I did a quick look down the page and didn't see it. I should have known you'd be on top of it.

Outside of Incognito, maybe Glenn would have got a passing grade in my eyes. I really thought if we didn't have Tyrod as a QB, we'd all be lamenting a loss and how we wasted a great defensive effort. I still have hope. It's only the first game of the season. But all those plays where we had ole blocks could have easily ended up in disaster.

Love him or hate him, I think he does a decent job with this. He seemed to grade out the OL better than I did. Still poor. http://www.wkbw.com/sports/bills/joe-b-all-22-review-grading-bills-v-colts

4 things that jumped out to me after a quick review: 1. I really think that the crowd unnerved Luck. He seemed to have more time than Taylor (despite seeing blitzes through most of the game.) I was actually surprised that he didn't do a little better given that time. I know we're all thrilled at the outcome - and I'm sure the fact he threw the ball early made it seem worse as far as the pass rush goes - but the few times he had wide open receivers (like Gore on that screen pass early in the game which would have gone a loooong way if he didn't overthrow), he flubbed it. 2. On the other hand, Taylor was a master at buying time despite some of the worst offensive line play I have ever seen. Henderson was atrocious at both run and pass blocking for a good chunk of the game. Both Miller and Wood (maybe last season wasn't just about the guards - he really looks like he's regressed) were at times, awful. There were maybe 6 or 7 plays where I could see a seam for the running game or time for Taylor to run through his progressions normally. McCoy and Karlos mostly ran into their own linemen (even on the big touchdown run) and had to dance out of the way of defenders shooting the gap several times. I counted at least 3 'ole blocks from Henderson, including the opening play that Rex was convinced would go for a score. I really think if we had anyone else under center besides Taylor, this game, offensively might have looked as bad as the Texans game last year. That's how bad the OL looked. With the exception of Incognito, I thought the whole line was poor. The good thing is it was game 1. And the line can only get better. After watching the Pittsburgh preseason game 3, I thought maybe that the OL wouldn't be THE issue for this team. Now that we know how bad the Steelers front 7 looks, I'm less convinced. Instead, I think our playoff fate lies on its continual improvement 3. If the offensive line was overwhelmingly underwhelming, the DBs were downright fantastic. I give Rex's schemes some of that credit. He probably tells them that the ball will be coming to your guy inside of 3 seconds so stick to your man like glue and they did an amazing job. I give the corners and safeties a ton of credit for not giving up much to a dangerous offense. And that was despite losing Graham so early. What I was often amazed at while watching is that it seems like we had 13 guys on the field.That there were 6 or 7 rushers but somehow everyone was covered and we still seemed to have safety help. I'm sure that says a lot about communication for this defense. And the tackling, but for a couple plays, was top notch. 4. Ugh on the penalties. I do hope that discipline isn't an issue for the Pats game. The D survived a slew of borderline personal foul calls and frankly, as awful as our OL was, we could've put up a couple more scores. The difference between Brady/Gronk/Edelman and Luck/TY/Gore is that Brady won't allow our defense to sub-package in and he'll keep our nickel out there. So that means we'll need to do a better job generating pressure with fewer people - and it wasn't like we were getting to Luck with all those blitzers anyway. I was reading that Brady's passes in 2014 were coming out in about 2.37 seconds on average compared to Andrew Luck at 2.76. I'm hoping it's the confusion that Rex generates that can cause mistakes because it'll be just as tough to take down Brady. Looking ahead to next week, I'm counting on the fact that Rex knows how to keep his team within striking distance with the D and Tyrod's continued development to pull out a win. If we ever get the line blocking the way Roman wants them to, we can build that bully on offense the way Rex has them on D. Until then, it's in Tyrod we tust.

I just watched the Browns/Colts game from last year, which I thought might be a representative comparison to the upcoming Bills game. Pettine definitely flustered Luck a couple times with blitzes from unusal angles, causing 14 points directly off turnovers. And the Browns were able to run up the middle. With Arthur Jones out, our ball control is key. I'm sure Gore will give them a little more pep than Richardson but none of the other playmakers on that team besides TY performed that well. I think if we can get 180-200 yards passing from Tyrod and win the turnover battle (which likely means not playing from behind), I like our chances. Gilmour on Johnson, and Darby on TY with safety help over the top. I expect TY to get 120 yards in their scheme. Just limit AJ and Moncrief and Fleener and the rookie to manageable numbers. Now if we fall behind by more that a score than we're playing right into their strength. The other wildcard is being in a 1-score game against luck is like doing so against Brady and Rogers. Gimme that 10 point lead at the 2-minute warning and I'll feel better.

PFF has us ranked 13th ... in the AFC! Yikes. https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2015/09/09/ranking-every-afc-team-by-projected-finish/#

I usually like your analysis but I think you're off on this, p-zoid. Darby is a man corner who can mirror the fastest wideouts. He's having issues with technique and timing, not unlike McKelvin in years past. His skill sets do not translate to safety (which requires vision and anticipation). If he washes out at corner (and I'd give him at least a couple years before coming down so heavy handed), he ain't making it as a safety. I'm pretty confident Rex will scheme around any perceived weakness here.

And here's an update about Jones, the one difference-maker on that line ... looks like they're considering the short term Pup list for him. If he can't play, that really is as big a loss to their team as Dareus is to ours (because we have the Bryant "brothers" to fill in). Defensive tackle Art Jones is a huge key to the Indianapolis Colts' defense. That's why a decision on how to proceed afterJones suffered a left ankle injury in Saturday night's preseason game against the St. Louis Rams is not being rushed. Deliberations continued Tuesday with multiple doctors evaluating Jones and trying to establish a timeline for his return to the field. Coach Chuck Pagano said that he had no update on Jones' status. But one option being discussed by the Colts, sources said, is placing Jones on the NFL's short-term injured reserve list, a move that would allow Jones to return to the lineup this season but would require Jones to miss half the regular season. http://www.indystar.com/story/sports/2015/09/01/indianapolis-colts-art-jones-ankle-short-term-injured-reserve/71527002/

Their second corner, Toler, just got downgraded with a neck injury. http://www.indystar.com/story/sports/nfl/colts/colts-insider/2015/08/27/indianapolis-colts-greg-toler-injury/71277278/

I'd like to start a thread like this (maybe YOLO or 26 can do this more justice) during the season as we prep for an opponent. I remember reading a few months back how the Colts were not a bad run defense while Arthur Jones was on the field last season. He was injured on the first drive during their preseason game against the Rams and is now in a walking boot. I don't wish bad luck on anyone but considering we'll be missing Dareus and McKelvin, I'd like all the help we can get week 1. Without him, we're talking a difference of nearly a yard more per carry. That's a big difference. Here’s a look at the type of impact Jones when he was on the field prior to the AFC Championship game last season. WITHOUT JONES ON THE FIELD 257 rushes for 1,201 yards (4.67 yards per rush) 3.12 yards before contact per rush 12 rushing TDs (4.7 percent of rushes) First downs allowed on 26 percent of rushes WITH JONES ON THE FIELD 165 rushes for 615 yards (3.73 yards per rush) 2.15 yards before contact per rush 2 rushing TDs (1.2 percent of rushes) First downs allowed on 22 percent of rushes http://scores.espn.go.com/blog/indianapolis-colts/post/_/id/13395/the-statistics-show-that-the-colts-need-art-jones-on-the-field-to-stop-the-run

Nice to see this as well ... Tyler Dunne ✔ @TyDunne EJ Manuel whistles a touchdown out of nowhere to Watkins in the back of the end zone this red zone drill. Then, an overthrow.

Hmmmm ... Jay Skurski @JaySkurski Now EJ airmails Sammy Watkins, who was open over the middle. Yikes. #Bills Retweeted by Bills Daily Expand 19m Sal Capaccio @SalSports I see progress from the Bills run game every day. They do a good job of using the D's own aggression/speed against themselves to open holes. Retweeted by Bills Daily Expand 17m Jay Skurski @JaySkurski Marquise Goodwin gets behind Ron Brooks and Tyrod Taylor finds him for a 65-yard TD. #Bills Retweeted by Bills Daily Expand 17m Mark Ludwiczak @MarkLud12 EJ Manuel is regressing at the worst possible time. Another poor showing today. Retweeted by Bills Daily

per Bucky Brooks. Whoa, that's a lot of hype coming our way. Same for the Jets and Dolphins though ... http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000493967/article/seahawks-jets-and-eagles-among-nfls-most-talented-teams

Again, I'm not sure why folks on multiple threads keep saying this but I believe we play them in game 2, not 3.

That's 34. But it's Friday. And your name is mead. So it's ok.

Mike Williams ✔ @CaveManMike19 Chill everybody I'm happy with being a buffalo bill....... I mean come on it's my dream my agent just did what a agent supposed to do ...

I thought this was a good breakdown of the Bills' strengths and weaknesses. Interestingly, Bruschi, despite the fact that our O-Line is one of the 3 biggest in the league, sees them using a "wall-off" and not "plow you over" type of running scheme. I still think the spread is the way to go if you want to unleash Spiller but Marrone and Hackett seem to have made up their mind with these inside runs. http://espn.go.com/boston/nfl/story/_/page/bruschibreakdown-100914/new-england-patriots-vs-buffalo-bills?ex_cid=espnapi_public

His job was doomed as soon as he had to throw the rookie Carr to the wolves. http://m.espn.go.com/nfl/story?storyId=11615699

It was a 3 point game with less than 5 minutes to go despite how atrocious the Pats were playing. There's 2 ways to look at this result.