Rubes

The weird thing is that I keep reading in the media how the Bills run defense looked considerably better from last year. Watching that game, I didn't get that impression at all.

We all knew it in the preseason -- penalties by this team were horrible. I was hoping to look for improvement as the preseason wore on, but it just didn't happen. In the end, the Bills averaged 9.75 penalties per game, for 69.5 yards per game. I was really hoping to see improvement with just the starters playing in the regular season. But again, it just didn't happen. Yesterday, the Bills were flagged 10 times for 75 yards. Right on their preseason average. The Bills were flagged on the very first snap of the game. I was hoping to see improvement as the game went on, but alas, it just didn't happen. What on earth can they do to fix this? It sure doesn't seem like they've made an inch of progress since the preseason started.

Dude, that is just freaking hilarious.

Definitely better than Lose. Man.

Just keep in mind that Russell Wilson didn't pass for more than 160 yards during the first four games of last year. In the fourth, against St. Louis of all teams, he threw three picks and had a QB rating of 45. After five games last year, he had 5 TDs and 6 INTs. Ironically, it was the home game against the Pats* that started the turnaround for him. Nevertheless, although we all want EJ to succeed, and even better to succeed right out of the gate, it's not the way things usually go. Even if he looks pedestrian in the first quarter of the season, we need to be patient. Like others have said, just look for good decision-making and gradual improvement.

Looks like he's made up for it.

Agreed. Thanks for getting me through the offseason. Looking forward to some more "thoughts".

True dat.

Still wrapping my brain around this one. Does that equal 50% mental?

Hopefully not exemplified by their average of 9.75 penalties per preseason game, for 69.5 yards per game. Also of note, the Patriots have an NFL-high 14 rookies on the 53-man roster.

That was one of the best ones in that series that I've read. Absolutely hilarious and awesome.

Did you look at the use of TE in the context of the offense as a whole? In other words, was TE production merely reflective of offensive production in general? Or were the WR on those teams equally, highly productive, reflecting the fact that those teams had efficient, productive passing offenses in general?

Regression to the mean, baby. It's got to happen sometime, doesn't it?

Well, that's just the cynic in me, but I always go into a Pats* game expecting to lose 45-3.

I think, in order to judge who might be the biggest bust, you have to take into consideration things like: - draft slot, so guys selected #1 overall have more "bust" impact than a guy drafted #10 - position, so guys who play QB probably have more "bust" impact than, say, an OL - hype coming out of the draft, so guys judged as "can't miss" have more "bust" impact than less heralded players (probably related to the first item above) - how long the guy's career was, so a guy who flames out after 3 years is more of a bust than, say, a guy who lingers around the league, however unproductively, for 7 years - some important stats, like games started, impact plays (TDs), and such, even if there weren't many - injuries, and the part they played in reducing impact/shortening his career I think there was a good thread on this during the offseason discussing the biggest Bills draft bust, which touched on some of these issues. Given all of that, Curry has to be very high on that list, given his draft hype, lack of impact, and short career. A guy like Mandarich would qualify as well, but you could say that he lingered around the league longer than some (didn't he come back after time away from the league?). I still think Leaf has got to be near the top of the list as well.

Thanks, Big C. I'll settle down now. By the way, did you see the Pats* sign a street FA TE? Wonder what that means about Gronk...

Are you kidding me? I would be ecstatic if we somehow were positioned to win against the Pats in the final seconds. As it looks now, I expect if we're kicking a FG to end the game it would be just to avoid being shutout. Don't forget, this guy Carpenter was actually in the Pro Bowl a few years ago. He can't be completely crappy.

Thanks for that input, really insightful. And how many starting positions is this mad scramble filling? Meanwhile, teams other than the Bills also shuffle people on and off their rosters in the days before the first game. Why, the Boston Globe itself is reporting: Could it be that, in fact, most teams actually do the same thing with the final few spots on their rosters just before the season starts?

What's with rich people hating vaccines? Yeah, what's with that, anyway?

This is just un- ing-believable. Why? Why do I have to be born into liking this team?

It's really amazing how complicated the position is, and like BB said it's easy to see why/how so many fail to become a solid startig QB, much less an elite QB. I can't even imagine trying to process so much information so quickly, with so much enormous, physically insane humanity coming at me with the one purpose of causing me severe bodily harm. No wonder so many QBs get happy feet.

Jets sign Quinn, release Harrell Damn, and I was really looking forward to Quinn as our #3. Maybe we could sign Harrell instead? Or maybe McElroy? Same thing, right? /sarc

Good stuff, thanks for the link.

*Sigh*

Any time you're cut from a team, there's the chance that could be the last time you get to suit up for someone. Especially for someone with a number of years in this league already. I see no issue with acknowledging that.