Dr. K

My feeling precisely. It's like my house burned down, but it burned down the week before already and the week before that and last year and ten years before that. It's burned down so many times that I am relatively unaffected by its burning down again. I didn't have much stuff that I care about left in that house, maybe a couple of nicknacks I regret losing but most of it got lost years ago. I fully expect the house to burn down again and again in the near future and more and more I feel like I'm living somewhere else.

hu·bris ˈ(h)yo͞obrəs/ noun excessive pride or self-confidence. synonyms: arrogance, conceit, haughtiness, hauteur, pride, self-importance, egotism, pomposity, superciliousness, superiority; informalbig-headedness, cockiness "the hubris among economists was shaken" (in Greek tragedy) excessive pride toward or defiance of the gods, leading to nemesis. Thanks to them what we have here is essentially an expansion team that has been in the league for 57 years, with a lot of older, declining players and a dearth of young talent.

I've been watching and reading national commentary on the QB switch and the criticism of the Bills is pretty much universal. And it's also pretty much universal that the comments are based on very little knowledge of the Bills and the strengths and weaknesses of Tyrod's game. They are all talking as if it's a foregone conclusion that the Bills will make the playoffs if they keep Tyrod at QB. The level of reasoning is as shallow as a kiddie pool. At this point, even though I think McDermott and Dennison and Beane have made a lot of bad decisions and questionable moves, I want Peterman to play well and the Bills to win if only to shut these people up. That would be so gratifying.

Gosh, thanks for letting us know. Why hasn't anybody figured this out before? This is like the National Lampoon's recipe for Rat Pie: Find a rat. Kill it. Make a pie.

This is the most logical analysis of the move that I have seen. It makes sense. It's a calculated risk, but the team was not going anywhere despite the 5-4 record; waiting until they were 5-7 would not have been a better option.

I agree with you. I've been railing against these moves since the summer. I hate it that they kept the old guys and got rid of the young ones, got rid of the fast guys and replaced them with slow ones. Every time Mike Tolbert touches the ball my heart sinks. My wife thinks I should just pick a different team to follow, if being a Bills fan is going to drive me nuts. She doesn't understand what it is to follow a team since 1964. So I just have to put up with another regime insisting making things harder than they needed to be (in my opinion, of course) and hope they prove me wrong. This is the same way I felt when they hired Rex and forced Schwartz out as DC and installed Rex's idiotic defense, breaking what didn't need fixing and putting the team back another two years. That wasn't necessary either. So here we go again. I just hope these guys are better than Rex and crew.

I basically agree with your take on this and have generally hated the way they have stripped the team of young talent in order to get "their" guys and run "their" system. Tyrod in last year's offense with abetter defense this year would clearly have taken them to the playoffs. But unfortunately, we're in the McDermott/Beane era now, and I figure I either have to give up on the team for a while (I was close to being at that point) or hope they can get enough of their own talent on the field to win some games. Under those circumstances I think playing Peterman over Tyrod (who is not suited to the kind of offense Dennison is insisting on running) is a good move, and it's given me at least temporary hope that it will bear fruit.

How the devil should I know?

I can see the argument that if Denison were willing to change his offensive philosophy then Tyrod (and the o-line and the runners) would look better--last year the offense scored 25 points per game. So in that sense benching Tyrod is not entirely his fault. I am on record as not liking Denison's inflexibility on this. It's one reason the o-line has looked much worse than last year. But given that Denison is committed to a particular offensive system, it makes sense to see if Peterman can run it more successfully. Sucks for Tyrod, but that's the reality of the situation.

THIS

I think this is a completely reasonable move. The question is how far this commitment goes. Taylor might have played better against the Chargers, and he still might be back in if Peterman plays terrible, but I had no confidence after what we saw last week that TT was going to provide any spark in the passing offense.

I feel like it's over, too. I don't see anything in this team that promotes optimism for this season.

According to your stats Watkins got at least 6.5 targets per game while in Buffalo. In LA he's getting 3.78. He can't catch balls that are not thrown to him.

THIS Defending Tolbert as the backup halfback does not put your argument in the strongest light.

This practice of blaming the Bills' continued ineptitude on Russ Brandon is idiotic. Brandon does not hire the coaches. He does not assemble the roster. He does not set the schemes or prepare the game plan or do the game day coaching. Sure, fire Russ Brandon. It will make absolutely no difference except to marketing.

Cut him so he can be picked up by Schwartz and the Eagles and go to the Pro Bowl.

I have zero confidence that in 3+ years under these geniuses, who are extremely rigid in their thinking and wedded to their systems rather than fitting their schemes and play calling to the talent they have--witness the fire sale they have made of all the young players on this team--that this team will be other than a 7-9 win team, max. But at this point there's nothing to be done for it but to stay the course, I guess. I suppose they could lose out this season (don't laugh--it's quite possible) but even then I suspect the Pegulas will keep them on, trust "The PROCESS" (key heavenly chorus), let them have their miracle draft and free agency binge to get their kind of players. And if they suck next year, they'll get another year to show how smart they are. But if they don't show improvement in 2018-19, and have a winning season in 2019-20, they are out the door.

How about, you know, like . . . FITTING THE SCHEMES TO THE PLAYERS? Oh, no, we're too smart for that.

If the Bills start Tyrod the Chargers will beat them, badly. I don't see any easy wins on their schedule. Maybe they'll beat the Colts. Maybe.

I don't criticize TT for what he said. But I criticize him for his play at QB.

Yes. I can't believe how many post there still are saying Dareus or Watson are worthless, that the other players Beane got rid of are "just a guy." While Mike Tolbert is playing running back for the Bills.

Play Peterman. They need to find out what they've got, and TT is not going anywhere, nor is the team with him as QB. But I suspect that this coach does not have the guts to make a change until the team is at least two games under .500.

The poor guy has wasted his career by playing in Buffalo. He gave it his all under all circumstances and is a shadow of what he was. This makes me think that those players who dread being drafted by Buffalo are right, and the ones who escape by free agency or trade must be thanking the gods.

Exactly. I was skeptical of McDermott & Beane from their hiring, even more so after they began their fire sale of all the young talent on the team. This team is going nowhere this season and will be even worse next.

The offensive players they had last season scored 25 points per game and led the league in rushing. The offensive line was among the best in the league. The new regime changed the scheme, got ride of the skill position players except for TT and Shady, and suddenly they can't do anything right.They think MIke Tolbert is a fine backup halfback to McCoy. They fired an great O Line coach and put in an incompetent. So now they are going to draft their own players and everything will go great. We'll see.