The Big Cat

help me understand why so many people believe this is a certainty. what i see is a guy with a ton of raw talent who's not mentally prepared. what i also see is a guy who has 'it.' dude just wins. his preseason comeback (yes, i understand the context) is a perfect example. he just finds ways to get it done. you know, the opposite of our current guy. i know there's no math to "it" and you can't coach "it" and for the things you can measure and the things you can coach he's probably lacking. but with "it" comes an extra two or three wins each year. so help me understand why he's such a long shot when he's got the one thing ("it") that might be most valuable also, i'm consistently surprised at how sharp he is any time he speaks in front of the camera. so i don't doubt his ability to absorb the mental side.

Pretty much.

Does his potential availability in 2018 alleviate anyone's concern that after 22 TT starts we're still in QB purgatory? It sorta does for me... I'm just hoping he progresses until then and he doesn't need to be prematurely thrown into the fray. I've been saying for awhile that working him in prematurely could derail the whole thing.

Thank you for posting these.

At least it isn't/hasn't been Duke Williams.

So long as fans like you make it the standard to which all activity is to be measured, football or otherwise, it's relevant to bring up. But I heard he neutered...NEUTERED!...EJ. Also, Pettine wasn't that great.

GASP HE TOOK THE 35 MINUTE FLIGHT TO CLEVELAND!!!!?!

Which would be a grave distortion of an otherwise salient and reasonable concept.

Yep. Players make plays.

Through the first 9 minutes of the third quarter Miami had scored 6 points on 129 yards of offense over six drives. Can we please acknowledge that they were not "gashed from the start?" Otherwise, I mostly agree here. But, fundamentally, I don't fault a coach for putting his players in a position to make plays only to have them fail, which is what we saw repeatedly against NYJ. Players make plays. Theirs did, ours didn't. And, contrary to what you said, they were switching things constantly against NYJ, nothing was working because their players (esp Fitz) made plays, and ours didn't. I am very hard line on this. And I acknowledge that there are fans that disagree. Oh well. It wasn't as egregious against New England, simply by virtue of it being New England, a team that rolls 14 opponents annually. I mean seriously, outside a perfect game plan and execution, what else could we have expected? As I posted in another thread; We got up 3-0, then they got up 7-3, then we went three and out, then they got up 14-3 and we went three and out again. At that point, with 14:50 to go in the second quarter, because it's New England, the game was basically lost. Our offense wasn't going to outscore them and our defense wasn't going to buy them the time they would have otherwise needed to do so. Sucks balls playing them twice a year, basically.

Why would I? I've stated very clearly that the defenses had poor performances in those games. I have been very clear that the meltdown in Miami was due to the offense but that that didn't apply to NYJ and NE. I have stated these things several times and in no uncertain terms.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ What are we usually at odds about?

Nah. When it comes to stats, I keep making the mistake of delivering them to the three blind mice.

Was this taken from a "Hackett sucks" thread? Are we talking about EJ again?

Players make plays.

No. Thank you for confirming my suspicion that you're incapable of following.

Then by that insane logic we should have been !@#$ed in 2015 without them too. Since Leo missed 11 starts that year too. You're embarrassing yourself. Hopefully someday you'll learn to recognize that.

But no, for real, Gilmore and Dareus missing a combined 3 starts crippled us in 2014. Just like AW and KW missing a combined 23 starts in 2015. Seriously. It was the same.

You seriously just compared those injuries to what the Bills have been through over the last 24 games? Kiko. Okay. To Ignore with you.

I've been unwaveringly consistent, for about nine months now. I'm sorry you're having so much difficulty understanding this. Which man kept all the key players healthy all season? I thought we did bring him back.

Even if he WAS in zone, there was nobody coming underneath. There was NO reason to just let him go. It was third and forever and Brady was under pressure. Make a play and stay with your man. Do what the situation calls for.

Lions missed FG's (indoors) of 44, 47 and 50 yards that day. Also, the Bills started the second half with drives of 8, 9, 9 and 7 plays. I'm not seeing its relevance.

Where is the evidence that the 2014 defense "overcame adversity?" I just looked at all the drive charts and here are the games relative to this discussion: vs. Minnesota, against a rookie QB and it required the offense to score a last second touchdown to win. Note: we were down 6 and Orton found Sammy in the endzone to cap a miracle drive, otherwise the game would have been a loss. Also note: we were down 6. TT has overcome ONE four+ deficit in 11 tries. But for the sake of this argument, since it was a win, I'll give it to you: http://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/201410190buf.htm#all_vis_drives At home against the Chiefs. Outcome, loss. KC's two longest drives come in the second half. Follows the pattern to a 't': http://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/201411090buf.htm#all_vis_drives At home against the Brian Hoyer Browns. Outcome, win...because the offense scored points and sustained drives in the second half. http://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/201411300buf.htm#all_vis_drives @ the 3-12 Raiders. Outcome, loss. This one speaks for itself. http://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/201412210rai.htm#all_vis_drives These were the only games that I found sustained failure on the offense's part that the defense--analogous to the 2015 and MIA'16--would have had to "overcome." Find me others you'd like to discuss, but from what I can tell, it never happened the way you say it did, save for the last second win over the rookie-QB led Vikings.

The defense hasn't been bad this year. They had two poor performances to which this concept doesn't apply (NYJ & NE) The 2014 defense did not have to overcome the same issues. The offense that year did not string together quick drives like they did a lot last year and like they did to their detriment against Miami This is a serious question: Will there come a time when we can start considering 2014 the exception and not the expectation?