BillsVet

Think T/K Pegs feel the same way? Satisfied with 6-8 wins this season, after an 8-8 last year and 9-7 in 2014? Doubtful. RW owned teams won 6-7 games per without spending the money T/K Pegs do to get 8-9 wins. Beating bad to mediocre teams and getting blasted by good ones is the story of this team going back the duration of the playoff drought. And there's no way they win out and win 10 this season. Not happening. 8-8 no more, right?

Jobs hopefully are on the line and there's no way Rex or Whaley play the guy who hasn't dressed since the pre-season in any of these games. They also can't show anything less than loyalty to the QB who A) Rex pushed for in 2015 and B) the guy Whaley gave this contract to. Put yourself in Whaley and Rex's shoes: if they go 8-8 there's a shot they return. Starting Cardale or EJM make it likely they're no better than 7-9. And that's a regression in the W-L column from last season.

It's pure luck the Raiders went from 3 wins in 2014 to being a high playoff seed in 2016. All luck. Reggie McKenzie keeps spinning the roulette wheel and coming up lucky almost every time. How many QB's did this team pass in from 2011-2014 that are now playing pretty well now?

Trying to win with running the ball and tough defense can work. If the time machine goes back to the 1980s or earlier. The model has little to no margin for error.

Isn't it the GM's job is to anticipate roster challenges and address them before they get out of hand? Was it hard for Whaley to look down the roster and see they were thin at WR back in April? I guess he didn't know that Watkins had a bad foot leaving only Robert Woods as a reliable WR on the roster. I guess he just couldn't have known that the others wouldn't fare much beyond their track records as poor options. I guess he expected types like Marquise Goodwin, Jarrett Boykin or raw rookies like Kolby Listenbee to be able to shoulder the load. It doesn't matter that they're a run first team. Every single NFL offense needs more than a banged up Sammy Watkins, Robert Woods, and Charles Clay (the new invisible man) to generate some passing yardage. The WR position was a mess during the off-season, remained so in camp, and got worse (predictably with Watkins' injury) and somehow it's not the GM's fault. Doug Whaley is truly the teflon GM. Never responsible for the roster or accountable (to some) for the W-L record, which is 29-30 at the end of his 4th season as GM. And of course, zero playoff appearances. Somehow it's always someone or something else at fault for his team.

Understood and agreed. I'm not betting on it happening though if the same management team remains in place. Their jobs, one would hope, are certainly on the line in 2017. Drafting a QB doesn't get them closer, but that's for another day.

Whaley and more recently Rex have proven quite well they can be league average. So far, they're not losing with TT, but they're not winning enough either. The teams advancing to the post-season are doing it with better QB play and I'm not seeing enough from TT that he can lead this team to a 10+ win season. It seems the Bills are content with a guy until he proves he can't play. Then they begin the search anew, hoping to find someone during which time they struggle. If TT can't get the job done, someone should be there waiting to get a chance. If the front office is unwilling to do that, it's imperative to find someone who'll stop playing office politics. You're not enamored with the non-threatening pick, Cardale Jones? The guy drafted specifically because he was a classic project and wouldn't threaten EJ's place on the roster or TT's place as a starter.

The league has changed considerably since Rypien was a starting NFL QB. Roughing and PI calls have dramatically altered how defenses can play. It's opened the game up and facilitated QB success much earlier. As for Kaepernick, his inaccuracy has relegated him to being far less effective today than he was in 2012-13. The point of this thread is that TT has not improved all that much from 2015. Before All-22, people would blame the play-calling, but it's clear this falls on the QB who doesn't trust himself to make throws in tight windows. People wanted to see something, but he's largely the same guy (in the 2nd year of this system) that he was in 2015. The days where it took 2+ seasons for a QB to develop are over.

It's more like paint by numbers. They tell him which color to use and he does it. I really don't think he trusts what he sees. Others have mentioned the throw to Clay along the sideline. He threw that pass far too late (Clay wasn't in stride) and while it ended up as a DPI, the play could have been bigger. Then again, he's the guy who in last year's KC game fit it between the CB and S deep to Watkins.

I thought I heard on the telecast today that TT doesn't see the field real well. He's listed at 6'1, which still is taller than Drew Brees (6'0) and Russell Wilson (5'11). Neither of them have much issue seeing the field and making throws. What precisely has TT done this season to demonstrate he's improved as a pocket passer? I saw the Jags defense load up to stop the run in the first quarter and it worked quite well. If anyone thinks future opposing defenses aren't watching, they're crazy. The idea that defenses don't respect his passing ability should warrant concern after 4 years apprenticing in Baltimore and now with 25 NFL starts. His completion percentage, yards per attempt, and average yards passing per game are all down from 2015. But something tells me the braintrust will remain in place, they'll keep TT, and we're looking at a ceiling of 9 wins.

You may want to delete your signature. Because we're (the team) isn't going to the playoffs this season.

From one Captain Checkdown to another, here is Trentative compared to TT, both in their second season as starter: Trent Edwards 2008: 65.5% completion / Yards per attempt: 7.2 / yards passing per game: 192.8 Tyrod Taylor 2016: 61.3% completion / Yards per attempt: 6.6 / yards passing per game: 193.5 For those saying TT can't be judged because Watkins and Woods have missed time, I doubt the front office earmarks another 27M because their analysis didn't include his top receivers. This is a big decision and he's not really taken the big leap to earn the follow on years to his essentially 1 year deal. And, do you pay a QB that kind of money when he doesn't (as Whaley said last off-season) come from behind? Do you tell the owner, if you're Whaley, to commit another 27M to a player that is average at best? This after they spent big on Dareus, Glenn, Hughes, McCoy, Clay, and Incognito? TT is the perfect QB...if you expect your offense to succeed with the run and your defense is near perfect. Unfortunately, they've handled the QB position as though they can only have 1 option at a time. And right now that's what they have because they're deathly afraid of a QB controversy.

If I'm the owner of this team and care about the W-L total, I want my best players on the field. And when the front office types decide to re-sign a player to the largest contract in team history, I'd want that guy playing. Injuries are one thing, but a player who's physically not taking care of himself, drawing suspensions, and not contributing is a waste of my money. And if that guy isn't playing for being out of shape or a suspension, what's protecting me the owner from wasting money? That's where you hope your principal football decision makers are looking out for me. But in this case, they weren't. I doubt Belichick would invest that kind of money in a player who, despite immense talent, doesn't have the drive to continue improving. He'd pull a Jamie Collins and unload him for something, avoid spending that cash on a player, and already have a replacement in the pipeline who's hungrier and at a lower cost. But this is the Bills and they tend to do their own thing. It's part of the reason why, in 3+ seasons, Doug Whaley's record for teams he's been GM is a mediocre 27-30.

Whatever happened to: “I know it’s been 15 years since the Bills made the playoffs,” Ryan said. “Well get ready, man, we’re going. We are going. . . . My message to our team is to get ready. Start preparing now. Start preparing that we’re going to be playing games in January.” It's been refined to we're having open competition after week 10.

Coaches, players, everything changes yet there is no on-field improvement for this franchise. The real root cause of the problem remains the front office decision makers. From Marv to Brandon to Nix and now Whaley. None of them were/are competent NFL GM's. It's astounding that the current GM and HIS staff swing and miss on so many big decisions (EJM, Dareus contract, Watkins) yet people sing his praises as if he's in line for NFL Executive of the Year. He can barely do an interview without saying something absurd. The Dareus contract is an albatross around their neck. One could say they needed to re-sign him, but they didn't do ownership any favors by giving the player so much room to screw up. That's on Whaley, Overdorf, et al.

You forgot to mention his ability to get his receivers labeled. Then why hasn't Buffalo implemented the Single Wing yet? Check this out: http://www.espn.com/nfl/player/splits/_/id/14163/tyrod-taylor We can debate whether the play-calls are for short passes or the QB is throwing short, but it's most likely a combination of both. Yet, TT is completing less than 46% of his passes beyond 11 yards. He has attempted all of 20 throws over the middle of the field out of 268 attempts. And he's a mere 10-33 for 398 yards on passes beyond 21 yards. Furthermore, two-thirds of TT's throws are to the right or left sideline. Something is not right here and while no one can know the play calls, there hasn't been a lot of improvement for a QB who's in his 2nd year with this offense. QB's in low risk, low reward systems don't get teams to the playoffs. He could run for 1,000 yards and it wouldn't make a difference.

If you're going to demand running stats from a QB as part of the analysis, be prepared to explain the injuries that come with it. TT himself was injured and missed 2 games last season in the Tennessee game when he ran. The QB's who survive and win in the NFL do so with their arm, not scrambling around into the teeth of a defense. There are exceptions like the 250# Cam Newton and Russell Wilson, who now is very much a passer first. TT is not, nor demonstrated the week to week ability to read defenses and make crucial throws when it matters most. Tannehill is average and overpaid. My sense is that's TT's ceiling as well. And neither Miami or Buffalo are going anywhere this year. After 4 seasons apprenticing in Baltimore and 23 NFL starts, one would hope TT would rank better than the 25th or worse in the NFL for completions, completion %, yards passing, and yards/attempt. He ain't getting paid to run.

That's setting the bar high after years of rebuilding. One time in the past 17 years the final game of the season mattered. It's amazing how long this franchise has managed to remain mediocre.

Injuries seem to get Buffalo every year, don't they? It's just bad luck they've continued to be mediocre for so long. Drafting better is a must, but until they develop a strategy that fits with the modern NFL they'll remain a 7-9 win team. Rex hasn't been in the playoffs likely now 6 seasons in a row and it's time to admit his style doesn't work anymore. He needs so many picks on defense that it means the offense is neglected. And that very defense he seems proud of telling us he knows all about isn't working. They've surrendered 100 points in the last 3 games. Yeah, Brady is always going to be a huge obstacle in the way of getting to the post-season. The problem for Buffalo remains that they don't have the QB who can make up for the defense under-performing. Russell Wilson sure did a great job of doing this last night. Credit Belichick for evolving on how to build a team. His first few SB winners were dominated by defense with enough offense thrown in. As the game has changed to favor offense, NE is known for their weapons for Brady and defense doesn't have the priority. That's not to say they're terrible there, only that the HC adapted. Rex hasn't adapted, won't adapt, and we're left with a team stuck in 1985.

Will T/K Pegs have the audacity to fire the greatest GM in the world? Don't they know he drafted Ron Darby AND traded for Jerry Hughes?

Care to comment on how 5'7 165# Nickey Robey is the one draped all over 6'7 260# Jimmy Graham or 6'6 265# Rob Gronkowski?

I'm still amazed they called the QB keeper for the 2 point conversion and other designed QB runs. He's going to get hurt running into the teeth of a defense. That said, his escapability is outstanding. Now to work on the passing accuracy and OTM throws.

Glenn is being paid to play LT. No team invests 60M on someone to play RT. In fairness, Whaley took Kouandijio and Miller is 2014 and 2015 respectively. But it's a huge swing and miss to draft an OT who had medical issues and then watch him not make the starting roster.

You forgot the injury excuse. That gets Buffalo every year. Yet, at WR, Robert Woods goes for 10 and 162 and people still say the receiving group is battered. Charles Clay targeted 4 times. The Bills are what they are.

Some poster's egos are on the line and now bruised so they're forced to make excuses (injuries, coaching). Or, they flat out attack other posters when their prognostications fall woefully short. No GM since Polian has had more resources to win with and yet, the Bills routinely find themselves among the average to mediocre teams. 9 out of the last 10 seasons this team has won 6-9 games. If that ain't mediocrity I don't know what is.