2020 Our Year For Sure

Good to hear from you E-Dog. This year the injuries were to the skill positions and we got fairly lucky up front. Who knows where the bug will strike next year? I don't think we desperately missed Harvin. Sixth in yards per pass play and tied for 5th in limiting interceptions, our pass game was pretty darn efficient. This was with Tyrod in the chaos of starting his first games, with EJ Manuel starting two games, and again with a rash of injuries at skill positions. In the Chiefs game in which Sammy caught 6-158yds-2TDs in the 1st half, there was absolutely nothing the Chiefs could do to stop him. He caught passes with two and three defenders around him. Inexplicably, his only target in the 2nd half was an incomplete deep ball on 2nd & 14. We were winning at halftime by throwing into double coverage to Sammy Watkins, and when we refused to keep doing so, the offense sputtered and we lost. Watkins had 96 targets this year. I randomly looked up Antonio Brown...he had 193, more than double! Brown's teammate, Martavis Bryant was brought up earlier in the thread. He too saw more targets per game than Sammy Watkins. Charles Clay- tough to cover for those LBs and safeties, and arguably the BEST run after catch TE in the NFL. The $50M Man this year had 40.6 yards per game. This, along with both his receptions and targets, was the lowest mark in his three seasons since becoming a full-time starter. If our passing game is already one of the most efficient in the NFL, but the volume simply isn't there to feed the weapons we have to their full potential, what is the sense in adding more weaponry to under-use? Say what you want about Woods (not an outstanding WR overall), he's a quality run blocker. When they motioned a WR in toward the line to block he was often the guy. Do you remember this spectacular play? It shouldn't be overlooked when you're 2nd in the league in rushing attempts and 31st in passing attempts. A team like the Bills loses something when they remove a player like Woods from the field (though he could still be 3rd receiver). I'm never against seeing the Bills get better, I just see little reason to consider WR a real need. OL on the other hand is vital to a coordinator like Roman having success. I look there and I see Cordy Glenn. The rest are short-term answers, a question mark in Miller and a hole at tackle. I'm very much in favor of building a team specifically designed for its coaches (and never would have allowed Roman to enter the season with only Henderson and Kouandjio at RT). This is the way to maximize the coaching staff's potency. To me, with Roman in charge, its more important to build depth on the O-line, to maintain the line and get ready for guys leaving, and try to improve up front, than it is to add a speedy perimeter player the coach will under-utilize.

True, it was better at the end.

We're already good at throwing the ball and don't do it much anyway. Again, skill positions are already the best part of the offense.

I gotta tell ya Kirby, the idea of drafting a WR before any offensive lineman literally made my stomach churn. Skill positions as a group are already the strongest part of the offense, even while the line is the most critical part. A run-first offense can always afford to put a slightly lower priority on WR/TE. We were 31st in pass attempts this year, 28th in passing yards, yet tied for 6th in yards per pass play. The effectiveness is there, we just don't throw the football. Meanwhile, two things: 1. Roman might be the best 'run game coordinator' in the NFL, and 2. the only major ingredient missing from Roman's NFC Championship offenses is a dominant power run line. The only run blocker we have who one could make the case approaches "elite" is currently a free agent. Nineteenth on 3rd downs...remember all the 3rd and 1 or 2's we threw incomplete deep balls and punted? That's not a Greg Roman offense at full power. I'm interested to hear the logic behind the assertion that WR is a must-add and a higher priority than OL. Much respect, thanks.

I hope you're right, brother in blue.

It's worth noting that Pettine came in and ran a one-gap 4-3, after coming from Ryan's staff. He even played a rookie Mike linebacker who is really an OLB in order to do this, because he recognized the Bills defense would perform at its best if the DL was free to wreak havoc. This is why our pass rush was drastically better and turnovers way up as compared to Rex. Other side of the coin Rex' D was a lot better against the run.

Interesting, I hadn't heard this either. Do you think they would have fired Marrone coming off a 9-7 season? Bills fans were generally quite excited about the program at that time. I also think the sudden end to Marrone's tenure kiboshed the Polian deal, which seemed to be something the Pegulas genuinely wanted. I should clarify, I personally would have given Rex the axe (Hue Jackson would've topped my list). I do understand the view that its a knee jerk reaction and appreciate the position the Pegulas were in, so while I don't agree with their decision to give Rex a second chance I will never be critical of it. What I saw this year, paired with his last few years down here in NJ, makes me think this isn't a very good coach for today's NFL. I could write a novel about why which wouldn't sell any copies. All just my opinion of course, which the record will show is far from fact.

Wowwww I didn't realize that. Suck it, New York Doug

Preach ! Well said as always. I like Whaley too. I've seen talent depleted Bills teams and the last two years he's given his coaches a lot to work with on both sides of the ball. They don't have the experience of winning in the league but the raw talent has been there for the right coaching staff to create the right culture and lead them. Tyrod's presence opens a window to ending the playoff drought and competing like the Bills haven't had in a long time. so it's such a shame to waste any season right now. Rex will either get it together or get lost and either way there are better days ahead.

I don't think the money is the reason Rex was retained. The Pegulas spent over a billion for the team, I don't know that something like 25 million really bothers them when it's as important to winning as head coach. Marrone put them in a rough spot when he backed out. They thought they'd come aboard and evaluate the likes of he and Whaley for one year before making a decision on contract extensions. Then Rex tricked them and his performance was disappointing. I think they just didn't want their first act as owners to be hiring a coach who is extremely well liked around the league to a five year deal, then fire him after a single 8 and 8 season, and after season one be forced to hire coach two. That is about as bumpy a start as you can get. If Rex disappoints once more, I have faith he'll be out.

I think linebacker makes more sense for us in the first round than does d line. In our system, do you see Smith as the lighter of the two inside linebackers, the spot Bradham played this year? Or olb perhaps?

YEAH (Deep Voice)

This is our year! Lol.

Yes, this is why they had to switch from playbooks to iPads. Re: discipline, because Marrone was a power-tripping, micromanaging disciplinarian who kept players in line. I think him a poor coach but the world is shades of grey, abound with silver linings. http://www.buffalorumblings.com/2014/8/21/6053859/doug-marrone-jerry-hughes-argue-buffalo-bills-run-sprints http://www.syracuse.com/buffalo-bills/index.ssf/2014/12/bills_jerry_hughes_benched_penalty_referees_doug_marrone.html ^two separate incidents months apart, to be clear. http://bills.buffalonews.com/2014/05/07/team-doles-second-chances-marcell-dareus-puts-bills-bad-spot/ Jerry Hughes is one of the most immature players in the league. He is not the only Bills defender who lacks discipline in my opinion. By contrast to Marrone, Rex for better or worse creates an environment that allows players to be themselves and to lead each other rather than looking to the coach. If you have Ray Lewis, great. If you have no leaders and a bunch of undisciplined players who have never won anything, that approach gets ugly fast. There's nobody to hold guys accountable. Rex was not a stylistic fit for the particular 9-7 team we had in place, neither schematically nor in terms of his leadership approach. Re: football IQ, I got the sense that some fraction of the problem was that some of these players aren't smart or instinctual enough to play this way. The defensive line has to read and react when they two-gap, not necessary when you're pass rushing like a headless chicken every snap in a base 4-3. Bradham, Brown and Rambo, among others seemed to get lost out there. Kiko, in contrast to Bradham was an instinctual player with a high football IQ I'd have liked to see. Schwartz ran a basic scheme they practiced over and over and over and our guys didn't have to think much. What we had previously was working with these same players, this is not lost on me. To tear that down and rebuild is foolish, but that foolishness does not prove it won't work. To quote one of the wittiest posters we have, I just think it won't work Because. Rex. Sucks. But here's to hoping that more leadership and intelligence from the players might help.

Ok. I'll always cling to that optimism with this team no matter what my expectations are. The duality of Bills fandom I guess.

It's been cool agreeing with you for once. Ouch! What do you find so unreasonable about those who are not impressed by Rex?

Amen.

Some reasonable people, who want nothing more than to see the Bills win football games, disagree with you. Deal with it!

On top of the X's and O's mismatch, Rex' approach does not fit a team with questions about discipline and football IQ. These shortcomings were exposed in a way they never were under Pettine or Schwartz. The defense took a big step back and caused our record to fall even as the offense improved significantly. What is done is done. This does not eliminate all hope for the future. Our hope is that once we re-build the defense in Rex' image, it will come back stronger than ever, with leadership that comes from the players rather than the coaches, and a higher IQ as a unit. With Rex at the controls I'll hope for this like hell everyday but I won't hold my breath.

The players are far from perfect. They lack focus, discipline and to some extent football IQ. That said there is just no questioning that other coaches did far better with those same flawed pieces.

mocking people for voicing their opinion

Cute little barbs such as this seem to lose their luster when you ignore counterpoints. Kyle Williams had 1 sack in 5 or 6 games. Seems he fell down the same rabbit hole as Dareus, Mario and Hughes. If you want to hold him up as a lost savior, go right ahead. When Aaron Williams played he contributed to the undisciplined, unfocused mess that was the 2015 Bills defense. If you want to dream he'd have been some sort of savior, and would have avoided the sharp cliff that took down Dareus, Mario, Kyle, Hughes, Brown, Bradham, Robey and Graham, go right ahead. If you want to dream that a run stuffing linebacker who can't play in the nickel was both something Rex wanted and something that would have helped him significantly, go right ahead. My head knows Rex was largely responsible for the sloppy mediocrity of the 2015 defense. Even so, in my heart of hearts I'll always harbor hope that wild-eyed optimism like yours is actually correct.

Aaron Williams looked awful under Rex. How many penalties did he take in that game? He was as immature and unfocused as any other player on the field. Not surprising, seeing as Dareus, Mario, Hughes, Brown, Bradham, Robey and Graham all fell off a sharp cliff from the year before.