folz

I completely agree with your first point (about KB) and mostly agree with your second point. I would just note that Zay the last couple of games has made some nice plays over the middle in traffic. Still too few, but hopefully his arrow is finally pointing up. KB needs to be sat at this point or only used on a handful of specific plays. And I don't care how good Holmes is on special teams, how he made the roster again this year is beyond me. I like the signing of Pryor and hope he works out...if nothing else at least he adds a little more fire and swag to an offense and WR corps that is sorely lacking it. Maybe he and the return of Cam Phillips can boost that group.

Everyone loves a redemption story...let's go Nate!

Was going to put this in the Benjamin thread, but decided to put it here since its more than just about Benjamin and hits on some of the OPs points: I'm not a fan who normally throws guys under the bus and I was a big Benjamin supporter at the trade last year and going into this season, but I can't support him anymore. At least twice tonight he had to be told where to line up. Zay's mom's tweet was right, he still doesn't know the offense. He made one great catch tonight. But, also cost us 15 yards on a great play by Shady and on the same drive got an offensive pass interference call, which didn't matter because he dropped the well thrown ball from Anderson on the 3rd and 15 play anyways. He doesn't fight for or back to the ball. Had his usual 2 of 7 for 45 yards. Way too many drops. No fire in the belly. Another guy I'm done with is Charles Clay. Not only is he not helping, the guy is 6'5", he should be a match-up problem, but lately he has actually been hurting the team. The fumble last week and the false start and missed blocking assignments tonight. This is one of the worst signings in recent history, not only because of the money, but because he has fooled the Bills into not looking to improve their TE spot for four years now. Another guy who has no killer instinct. Too soft. And I don't think anyone can blame it on the lack of QB talent anymore. As bad as it has been, these guys have not capitalized on the opportunities that they have had. I think they actually drag the unit down. Either trade them or let them sit and see if some of the young guys can do any better. Look at the way that defense played tonight. The fire, the passion. That is the DNA that McDermott talks about...but it is sorely lacking on the offense. On the offense I would say Shady, Ivory, Zay, and Dawkins have it. Not sure if anyone else does. And Daboll has been a huge disappointment. Many saw it coming, but I hoped for the best. I liked coming out with the wildcat, etc. But he stuck with it too long. You might catch a Patriots team a couple times in a game with something, but not if you run it over and over right in a row. And you don't beat the Patriots by tricking them or out scheming them. The only way to beat the Patriots is to hit them in the mouth. Out tough them. They should have been pounding the rock with Ivory early, setting up screens for Shady, and hitting Zay over the middle. Then put Ray Ray or someone in there to run a few fly routes to keep the defense honest. His offense seems to be way too complicated to learn (at least for this team due to lack of experience or smarts) and yet the creativity is sorely lacking outside of a couple of moments here and there. Or trying 10 trick plays in a row. Early in the season he tried to pass too much with young QBs, a shaky O-line, and receivers who didn't get separation. I just don't think he is putting his players in the best position to be successful. Yes, there is a severe lack of talent, but a good coordinator will maximize the talent he has. As bad as our offensive talent is, they are actually underperforming, as a unit and as individuals. Another swing and a miss for McDermott with offensive coordinators. I think McD is an excellent coach and deserves more time to turn this thing around, I still believe in the plan, but he has to hit on his next offensive coordinator. That said, I'm happy for the most part with how the team played tonight. They did not come out flat, they knocked Brady around, kept the game close until late. It actually felt like we had a chance to win before that fumble. They did not embarrass themselves by any means. With just a little more offense, this would have been a game. And not to let the refs off the hook...the block in the back call on Murphy's big return was bs, Logan hit his own man in the back who was engaged with a Patriot player. Starting at the 11 instead of the 36 on the critical opening drive of the 2nd half in a 9-3 game, was big. And our D-line got held all game, but the Pats only got called once or twice for holding. They were inconsistent with the offensive pass interference calls (for both teams). The one Brady play was definitely intentional grounding. That ball never made it back to the line of scrimmage. We almost got a delay of game penalty because the ref stood over the ball too long as the play clock was winding down. As usual, not the reason we lost, but not good either.

1983/84 seasons (Sept '83 - June '84) Orioles won the World Series Celtics won the NBA Championship Bills were 8-8 (just before the bottom fell out, but we did draft Jim Kelly, although we wouldn't see him play for a few years) Syracuse Orange basketball team went 23-9, 2nd in Big East, and made it to the regional semi-finals in the tourney I too remember the 1980 US Hockey team beating the Russians. My entire extended family were crammed into our family room watching it together. Best single sporting event ever for me, due to my age, how much of an underdog the US team was, and the patriotism of the moment. Nadia scoring perfect 10s in gymnastics in '76 Montreal games was pretty big too (my sister was a very good gymnast, so our family watched a lot of gymnastics).

I'm just going off of what Lorenzo Alexander said on OneBillsLive today, but when talking about the special teams issues the last couple of weeks he said something to the effect of, "We get Julian Stanford back this week, he's one of our big special teams players, so that will help a lot." I hadn't really noticed him on special teams or realized that he was injured, but Zo thinks he's an important player. Overpaid for current production: Clay DiMarco Benjamin

I'm in two leagues...my backs are/were Leveon Bell - hasn't seen the field or even his teammates Jay Ajayi - IR Devonte Freeman - IR Joe Mixon - missed 2-1/2 games to injury Carlos Hyde - just traded from being a starting RB to a backup Alex Collins - meh Todd Gurley - keeping me alive I thought I was totally stacked at RB in both leagues...I was 3 or 4 backs deep. Now I basically only have Gurley in one league and Mixon in the other. Ugh!

This post made me think...is Dabol trying too hard to do the New England thing and have a different game plan for each team each week rather than realizing that this is a young team that hasn't worked together much, so just run what they're good at and don't confuse them too much with major differences from week to week, until they're more experienced. Nuance can come later when they're ready for it. Sometimes you have to worry more about what you are doing rather than trying to guess what the other guy is going to do. I guess I'd have to go back and look to see how different the play calls and personnel packages have been from week to week...but either way, as PolishPrince and Koko said, continue running what's been effective.

Cam was having a really nice training camp and the coaches seemed high on him, but then he suffered a groin injury, kind of killing his chances at making the 53. Maybe he'll turn out to be a diamond-in-the-rough.

I was actually thinking the other day, how when the Bills benched him and then later traded him, how the national media said the Bills were crazy, Tyrod is a good QB, and even the race card got played (against McDermott no less). Yet when he got benched in Cleveland, not a peep. Now obviously they benched him for Mayfield rather than Peterman, but where are all the Tyrod supporters in the media now? (This is a post against the media, not Tyrod. I like Tyrod...good kid, hard worker. Just not quite good enough to keep a starting job.)

I don't know why everything has to be one extreme or the other these days... Extremes #1: Either the refs cost us the game or there is no bias what so ever in NFL officiating Can't we agree that, generally, the Bills get the short end of the stick from the officials, but that is usually not why we lose the games...usually it is because we are the less talented team or we shoot ourselves in the foot. Still it can be frustrating feeling like you're facing an uphill climb sometimes with the officials. Extremes #2: Brady gets every call/there is no bias towards protecting Brady or other star QBs Tom has taken a lot of hits that don't get called...but they also made a new rule after he got his knee blown out and I do remember Jerry Hughes getting called for unsportsman like conduct against Brady after Tom got sacked in one game for simply patting his teammate on the helmet to congratulate him. And to the hit on Allen...I don't think it was a dirty hit, but I do think they were late hits that should have been flagged (and may have been for a star QB). Remember the incident with Cam a couple of years ago, where the ref basically told him he hadn't been in the league long enough to get those calls yet (doesn't help to be a running QB either, though I don't think that played a part in the hit on Allen). Sometimes you have to acknowledge both sides of an argument.

That's two really bad games in a row for the special teams units (outside of Haush, a couple of good punts by Bo, and Taiwan Jones, who is all over the place on teams). The refs definitely gave the Texans an edge today, but the Bills have to stop the pre-snap penalties. We seem to get 2-3 illegal formation plays a game. And that is on the coaching, imo. The false starts are on the players. Gotta give it to the Defense...they won that game...the offense and Peterman lost it. Poor Nate...every time you think he might turn it around, he blows up again. He really should not see the field again this year (maybe ever). I feel bad for him, but he is just too much of a liability.

This site needs a "thumbs down" "don't like" emoji for posts such as this!

It honestly amazes me that there are actually Bills fans who want to trade Shady at all, period. The return (unless it were a first rounder) does not equal his value to this team for both this year and next. The disruption in team chemistry, Josh's development, and talent alone far outweighs a future 3rd round draft pick...by a mile.

Out of those seven players, I'd be interested in Reddick, Conley, and Garcon. It would be interesting to know what Beane thought of Reddick and Conley when they were coming out.

Put me down as a "Don't trade Shady" poster. I think it would hurt the growth of this team more than a future 3rd-5th pick will help. He was just named a team captain. He has been in Josh's corner and they've already built a good relationship. He can still ball. He and Ivory look to be developing into a great tandem. And he has become a Buffalo guy. I wouldn't even consider it for a single draft pick (unless it was a first). I could understand the team doing it if they actually got a 2nd and 3rd. We all know that Beane loves to play the draft, and an extra 2nd and 3rd are some really good chips to have. But anything less than that and I don't think you can even think about it. A 4th or 5th? I'd laugh right in their faces.

Colts fans thought Jerry Hughes was a huge bust. Sometimes a player just needs a change of scenery, especially when there appears to be a bad relationship with a particular coach. And Dolphins fans don't think he's horrible, they felt he took too many plays off. But when motivated, very talented. Maybe this coaching staff, locker room, and fan base can keep him motivated.

AGREED! I took the dog for a walk after the game and streamed the WGR postgame to relish in the win a bit... I turned it off after about 5 minutes remembering why I never tune in to the postgame anymore. Is that Schoop and Bulldog? How are they even employed? It didn't even sound like they watched the game. Callers were talking about specific plays and they just kept saying "I don't remember that. I don't even know what you're talking about." As if the callers were crazy. I knew what plays the callers were talking about. They were big plays! And then the two of them just ranted about how our rookie QB in his third start didn't throw for 500 yards. What is the point? You could pick any two people off the streets of Buffalo and have a more informative and entertaining show. They also stated that the Bills couldn't run the ball all day and how the run game stinks. Sure, yards per carry might have been low, but the run game was pretty important to that win and against a very stout front seven for Tennessee.

I like him as a person...seems like a nice guy, works hard, has been glad to be in Buffalo...just not getting it done on the field.

I like Charles, but he has been a huge disappointment throughout his time in Buffalo. Some could argue that his lack of stats is due to bad quarterbacking, but if you are actually a great player, there is no way that the coaches don't design more plays for you and have your QB rely on you. What's the old saying, a good TE is a quarterback's best friend. Remember early in Jim Kelly's career, Pete Metzelars was his favorite target, he went to him early and often and then eventually the WRs got more involved and started getting more targets than Pete. That has been the story for many QBs. Right now, if Clay or any of the TEs were worth their salt, they should be Josh's go-to guy, until he and the wideouts start gaining more chemistry and the game starts to slow down for him. Over his first 3 seasons in Buffalo, Clay is averaging 6 targets, 3 receptions, 34 yards, and 0.1875 TDs per game. So far this year, he's averaging 3.5 targets, 2 receptions, 22 yards, and 0 TDs per game. And it's not like he is a world class blocker either. He's ok, but not why you'd keep him on the team. I agree with the OP, we need a real, all-around TE on this team...but unfortunately, we will probably have to wait until next year. Hopefully there are some good young TEs in the draft.

I agree...I don't know how they didn't fire Riveron after last season, or at least demote him from his current position. It is somewhat understandable if a ref on the field misses something, but how Riveron can make as many bad calls as he does while having slo-mo video from every angle is beyond me.

Obviously they only had a choice of Allen or Rosen and maybe they just didn't believe in Rosen for some reason. But, I do agree with you that it would've been a much better situation for Josh if he had a veteran QB as a mentor (and that is on the FO). The O-line and lack of a running game is kind of a bad break situation, I think. The unexpected loss of Wood and Incognito really hurt the team's plans. With a bad draft for O-linemen (and the focus on getting our QB) and no extra money in the coffers for some stud free agent O-linemen, the loss of those two players really set the plan back a bit. They were expecting to have a good run game originally. If Wood and Incognito had come back, you would be starting the same 5 linemen as the year before with Shady, Ivory, and Murphy in the backfield. I do think Dabol needs to be much more stubborn with the run game moving forward though. As you said, Josh shouldn't be throwing 30+ times a game. And he needs to give Allen some short, easy throws early in games to give him some confidence and to get him in a rhythm. Throw the ball to Shady early on screens or short crossing routes. Kills two birds with one stone, getting your best offensive player involved and giving your rookie QB some confidence. Things definitely could have been set up a bit better for Josh to be starting, which sucks for this year, but I still don't think it will ruin the kid. I think he has a lot of fortitude. And as Peyton Manning said about his rookie year, paraphrasing, I learned a lot of valuable lessons in some really bad games.

I think we can all agree that Josh isn't really ready yet. He has a lot to learn. And we can also agree that he is not in the best position to succeed (with the way the O-line and WRs have been performing). And we have all seen QBs flame out seemingly due to being thrown to the wolves too early on a bad team. But, Allen is smart, seems to be a tough-minded kid, knows what hard work is, hasn't been handed things to him on a silver platter, is very competitive, etc. So I really don't think he will be ruined by being put in his current position. That's not to say he will automatically become a franchise QB, he will have to prove that he has the mentality/temperament for it (reading defenses, going through his progressions, internal clock, pocket awareness, etc.). But I don't think taking a lot of sacks or throwing a lot of picks will ruin this kid (provided he doesn't get hurt). So, believing that about him, I'm kind of glad that he will get a lot of playing experience this year, so that he's ready to take a big step next year. And hopefully with each game, the game will start slowing down for him, like Frazier says is starting to happen for Edmunds. It won't look pretty at times, he will take some big hits and make some embarrassing plays, which is why I can understand Dilfer's stance (as a guy who is rooting for Josh and knows what that feels like). But again, I think the experience he will gain this year will be invaluable going forward.

IF the Rams were to keep this offensive pace for the whole season, the pro-rated numbers for their WRs would be: Brandin Cooks: 1,808 yards/4 TDs/78.8% catch percentage Cooper Kupp: 1,392 yards/16 TDs/75% catch percentage Robert Woods: 1,292 yards/12 TDs/71% catch percentage Almost 1,300 yards and 12 TDs for your 3rd wide receiver? What?

I basically agree with Bring it, but might just rephrase it as the addition of Lorenzo to the pass rush makes a huge impact (Hughes is a monster too). The same thing happened last year...as soon as they realized that they needed to use Lorenzo more as a pass rusher, the defense improved. After last week's game when Zo was asked about if they could tell if McD took over play calling duties, or what was different and he basically said something like not really, although they started using me more as a rusher. Zo needs to be used more as a pass rusher---not every down, but selectively and definitely on long distance downs. Not sure why they didn't do that right from the start this year (having learned the lesson last season). Maybe they thought they needed to keep him back to help the rookie in the middle of the defense.

Although they still lost the game, Fitz may now have enough weapons around him to overcome the INTs he'll throw with his gunslinger mentality and average arm strength. He still has to throw his whole body into the out throws, but his long ball sure looks pretty with some elite receivers to catch them. Always loved Fitz...wish him the best!