A Few Thoughts About The Game, in no particular order.....

[Dibs]

1) Leodis McKelvin is a pleasure to watch. I am the very first to admit that I thought little of him before this season. This man can cover.

I'm glad we re-signed him before he started to perform well on the field.

 

4) We have had a whole bunch of "apology threads" on this board. Who is going to be the first to apologize to BADOLBEELZ about his take on Stevie Johnson?

Most of the opposition was regarding Badol's assertions on SJ's conditioning. No apology needed IMO.

 

6) EJ was awful today imo. He always seemed slow to make reads. His completion percentage was not good, and he didn't see several wide open receivers. That said, the best pass of his short career was fumbled away by Chandler.

Though I think the adjective "awful" might be a bit harsh.....it is certainly in the right ballpark IMO.

I thought EJ looked similar(though obviously not as bad) as the Steelers game. To my eyes he seemed scared/uncomfortable for the entire game.

 

9) Is Summers just a bit too quick to signal Goodwin to down kickoffs? ....

I think so.

 

12) I take it back. Gilmore IS a "shutdown corner." His stupid, ill timed penalties, as well as his poor coverage helps to shut down the Bills ability to win football games.

I don't know what to think about Gilmore. He does seem to draw an inordinate amount of penalties.....and has a lot that aren't called against him too.

If I were you though Bill, I'd be praying/hoping constantly that he pulls it all together by the end of next season......because guess where his replacement will likely come from?

 

 

15) GO BILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As always.....thanks for your random thoughts.....and GO BILLS!!!!!

 

Edited December 2, 2013 by Dibs

[thewildrabbit]

Really? "A few players away..." translates into how many years?

Hopefully this off season is all it takes.

 

Buddy Nix stated "you're going to think i'm crazy, but we're not that far away" and then he misses in both free agency and the draft that year. Buddy Nix made the wrong choices for his head coach, for most of his draft picks.

 

 

New GM Doug Whaley has already made an impact from what I see with EJ, Woods, Kiko, Goodwin. Now he has to get rid of more of Buddy Nix's mistakes, and the Bills should be a better team next year.

 

OLB, OG, RT,and some quality depth, along with some experience for the younger players. I'm more optimistic about this team then I ever was in the last 13 years.

[mrags]

Hopefully this off season is all it takes.

 

Buddy Nix stated "you're going to think i'm crazy, but we're not that far away" and then he misses in both free agency and the draft that year. Buddy Nix made the wrong choices for his head coach, for most of his draft picks.

 

 

New GM Doug Whaley has already made an impact from what I see with EJ, Woods, Kiko, Goodwin. Now he has to get rid of more of Buddy Nix's mistakes, and the Bills should be a better team next year.

 

OLB, OG, RT,and some quality depth, along with some experience for the younger players. I'm more optimistic about this team then I ever was in the last 13 years.

well said

[FireChan]

Hopefully this off season is all it takes.

 

Buddy Nix stated "you're going to think i'm crazy, but we're not that far away" and then he misses in both free agency and the draft that year. Buddy Nix made the wrong choices for his head coach, for most of his draft picks.

 

 

New GM Doug Whaley has already made an impact from what I see with EJ, Woods, Kiko, Goodwin. Now he has to get rid of more of Buddy Nix's mistakes, and the Bills should be a better team next year.

 

OLB, OG, RT,and some quality depth, along with some experience for the younger players. I'm more optimistic about this team then I ever was in the last 13 years.

 

Yeah whiff's like Glenn, Mario, Dareus, AW, Byrd, Gilmore, Searcy.

[mrags]

 

 

Yeah whiff's like Glenn, Mario, Dareus, AW, Byrd, Gilmore, Searcy.

Glenn is good

Mario wasn't a draft pick

Dareus is coming off a horrible year which any thought was a bust

Williams was another bust before this season

Byrd was drafted by Juron and Russ Brandon

Gilmore, are you kidding after a game like today?

Searcy??? Who???

[Orton's Arm]

Hopefully this off season is all it takes.

 

Buddy Nix stated "you're going to think i'm crazy, but we're not that far away" and then he misses in both free agency and the draft that year. Buddy Nix made the wrong choices for his head coach, for most of his draft picks.

 

 

New GM Doug Whaley has already made an impact from what I see with EJ, Woods, Kiko, Goodwin. Now he has to get rid of more of Buddy Nix's mistakes, and the Bills should be a better team next year.

 

OLB, OG, RT,and some quality depth, along with some experience for the younger players. I'm more optimistic about this team then I ever was in the last 13 years.

 

I envy your optimism. The Bills haven't had a quarterback since Kelly hung up his cleats. I don't see much on-the-field evidence this has changed.

 

There is a reasonable chance Gilmore will need to be replaced. Odds are Byrd will fly the coop; so that's another defensive starter needed. The Bills could also use another linebacker. They also need a TE. Fred Jackson isn't getting any younger, and Spiller is hardly what you'd call an every down player. The RB position will be something for the Bills to think about in the off-season.

 

The Bills are probably at least two years away--more likely three--even if our front office does a rock solid job from this point forward.

[billsfan714]

God I hope mean ole Jerry Sullivan doesn't write anything negative about our gallant warriors. Sarcasm.........

[FireChan]

Glenn is good

Mario wasn't a draft pick

Dareus is coming off a horrible year which any thought was a bust

Williams was another bust before this season

Byrd was drafted by Juron and Russ Brandon

Gilmore, are you kidding after a game like today?

Searcy??? Who???

 

"then he misses in both free agency and the draft"

 

You missed that part.

 

Glenn - agreed.

 

Mario - FA acquisition that has played outstanding this year and decent last year with a nagging injury

 

Dareus "is coming off a horrible year which any thought was a bust" and is having a top 10 DT year this year? In case you forgot, his brother died last year. Aren't you happy to have him now?

 

Williams "was another bust before this season" Players aren't judged by their first 2 years in the league but their careers. Aren't you happy to have him now?

 

Byrd "was drafted by Jauron and Russ Brandon" - Fair, forgot about that. Still, Buddy was a scout.

 

Gilmore "are you kidding after a game like today?" - So Gilmore has one bad game in his sophomore year and you're prepared to write him off? Even though Aaron Williams just improved about 1000% for his third year?

 

Searcy "Who???" - Just the guy with the most defensive TD's on the team this year.

 

So yeah, Whaley's the savior and Buddy Nix was drafting players exclusively from D3 and Canadian colleges.

[mrags]

God I hope mean ole Jerry Sullivan doesn't write anything negative about our gallant warriors. Sarcasm.........

he would be 100% justified on anything bad he could write with the exception of Freddy and CJ. Everyone else is fair game.

[mrags]

 

 

"then he misses in both free agency and the draft"

 

You missed that part.

 

Glenn - agreed.

 

Mario - FA acquisition that has played outstanding this year and decent last year with a nagging injury

 

Dareus "is coming off a horrible year which any thought was a bust" and is having a top 10 DT year this year? In case you forgot, his brother died last year. Aren't you happy to have him now?

 

Williams "was another bust before this season" Players aren't judged by their first 2 years in the league but their careers. Aren't you happy to have him now?

 

Byrd "was drafted by Jauron and Russ Brandon" - Fair, forgot about that. Still, Buddy was a scout.

 

Gilmore "are you kidding after a game like today?" - So Gilmore has one bad game in his sophomore year and you're prepared to write him off? Even though Aaron Williams just improved about 1000% for his third year?

 

Searcy "Who???" - Just the guy with the most defensive TD's on the team this year.

 

So yeah, Whaley's the savior and Buddy Nix was drafting players exclusively from D3 and Canadian colleges.

you mean Dareus, half of the defensive front 4 that allowed Steven Jackson and some no name RBs to run all over is today?

 

Gilmore and Williams that allowed yards to rack up for Gonzo and White all game?

 

Searcy is lucky in spots. He's not a starting Safety. Not even close. Other than his lucky ints, he's not very good. Average at best.

 

Byrd... Your still incorrect. He was not drafted by Buddy. He was drafted by Juron and Russ Brandon.

 

Mario. Your missing the point. Nix didn't draft him. He was a FA. A very good one. Considered the best available pass rusher in a long time on the open market. It's not a surprise that Mario would be good. He was the 1st overall draft. Anyone who has ever watched the Texans could tell you that Mario was a good player. Nix didn't find anyone special that we didn't already know about.

 

The fact is, that this year many if these players have played well, or better than expected but it's nothing guaranteed long term either. Just as much as you point out that these players working out well (Williams and Dareus) Anyone can say they are getting lucky. Anyone remember Anderson on Cleveland years ago? Played great one season and then was never heard of after that. Who's to say Dareus and Williams don't regress? Who's to even say they are playing well? Turnovers and sacks are great but that doesn't mean they are doing their job. Dareus is still part of the line that hemorrhage stone of rushing yards. Williams is still part of the secondary that hemorrhages tons of passing yards.

[FireChan]

you mean Dareus, half of the defensive front 4 that allowed Steven Jackson and some no name RBs to run all over is today?

 

Gilmore and Williams that allowed yards to rack up for Gonzo and White all game?

 

Searcy is lucky in spots. He's not a starting Safety. Not even close. Other than his lucky ints, he's not very good. Average at best.

 

Byrd... Your still incorrect. He was not drafted by Buddy. He was drafted by Juron and Russ Brandon.

 

Mario. Your missing the point. Nix didn't draft him. He was a FA. A very good one. Considered the best available pass rusher in a long time on the open market. It's not a surprise that Mario would be good. He was the 1st overall draft. Anyone who has ever watched the Texans could tell you that Mario was a good player. Nix didn't find anyone special that we didn't already know about.

 

The fact is, that this year many if these players have played well, or better than expected but it's nothing guaranteed long term either. Just as much as you point out that these players working out well (Williams and Dareus) Anyone can say they are getting lucky. Anyone remember Anderson on Cleveland years ago? Played great one season and then was never heard of after that. Who's to say Dareus and Williams don't regress? Who's to even say they are playing well? Turnovers and sacks are great but that doesn't mean they are doing their job. Dareus is still part of the line that hemorrhage stone of rushing yards. Williams is still part of the secondary that hemorrhages tons of passing yards.

 

I was responding to a post also criticizing Buddy's FA pick ups. Maybe I haven't made that clear in the 3 times I said it. Would you rather not have Mario? I do find it surprising you're changing the argument I was responding to, it makes my position tenable at best.

 

I said I was wrong about Byrd, but Buddy was a scout that year.

 

Searcy was a 4th round pick. Who is producing and seeing the field. He doesn't have to win the starting job outright over two 2nd round picks to be considered a good pick. He's playing better than Meeks and Duke Williams, who don't even play. Depth is good.

 

The fact is, that this year many if these players have played well, or better than expected but it's nothing guaranteed long term either. Just as much as you point out that these players working out well (Williams and Dareus) Anyone can say they are getting lucky. Anyone remember Anderson on Cleveland years ago? Played great one season and then was never heard of after that. Who's to say Dareus and Williams don't regress? Who's to even say they are playing well? Turnovers and sacks are great but that doesn't mean they are doing their job. Dareus is still part of the line that hemorrhage stone of rushing yards. Williams is still part of the secondary that hemorrhages tons of passing yards.Woods

 

As for the bolded, you can say this about this year's draft class as well, which the post I responded to annointed our rookies as the best draft. Who is to say Kiko doesn't regress? He's on the defense that allows tons rushing yards. Woods is a receiver on an offense that can't seem to march down the field consistently or get a passing yard total north of 300. Same with Goodwin. Same with EJ.

 

Dareus is 1/2 of a 4 man front?

 

I was responding to this post.

 

"Buddy Nix stated "you're going to think i'm crazy, but we're not that far away" and then he misses in both free agency and the draft that year. Buddy Nix made the wrong choices for his head coach, for most of his draft picks.

 

 

New GM Doug Whaley has already made an impact from what I see with EJ, Woods, Kiko, Goodwin. Now he has to get rid of more of Buddy Nix's mistakes, and the Bills should be a better team next year.

 

OLB, OG, RT,and some quality depth, along with some experience for the younger players. I'm more optimistic about this team then I ever was in the last 13 years."

 

Has that cleared up your confusion?

Edited December 2, 2013 by FireChan

[mrags]

Nope. More confused after reading anything you post. Has been ever since you came to this site. I blame myself for reading your posts and will learn from my mistakes. I just won't read them anymore. Have a nice night. Believe what you will.

[FireChan]

Nope. More confused after reading anything you post. Has been ever since you came to this site. I blame myself for reading your posts and will learn from my mistakes. I just won't read them anymore. Have a nice night. Believe what you will.

 

And you complain about a degradation of quality on this board. For shame.

[mead107]

EJ played well Took the team down the field twice to win that game only to have 2 non Hands players fumble the ball. They hold on and we kick field goal and we are not talking about half the crap that went on today.

Was not long ago that people around this place was saying how we should have taken Geno. All you nut cases that wanted that are not speaking up anymore.

[chris heff]

 

 

Gilmore: I hope he gets better. I really do. He's played better than this in the past. Is his arm still bothering him? Is he in less than 100% best possible condition? Is he suffering from a lack of confidence? Or maybe those better performances early on his career were a fluke; or something offenses figured out how to counter. I just don't know.

 

As for Manuel: he averaged 6.5 yards per pass attempt: the same average Trent Edwards compiled over the course if his career. Like Edwards, Manuel relied mostly on dump offs. Saying he played well enough to win is like saying Trent Dilfer played well enough to win the Super Bowl.

 

Football is a team sport. A "well enough to win" from a Trent Dilfer on the Ravens could represent a much worse individual performance than a "not well enough to win" from John Elway on a 7-9 Broncos team.

Will you give it up EJ Manuel had nothing to do with this loss. You are so hell bend on being right about your personal analytics that you can't see what is in front of you. The defense gave up more running yards to this team than they had gained all year. Manuel had the team in position to win the game twice and twice the ball was fumbled. How many touch downs should Manuel have thrown to over come the lack of effort and concentration by his teammates? Maybe Manuel should complete passes to himself, so that he can then prevent fumbling.

Edited December 2, 2013 by chris heff

[FLFan]

Gilmore has been largely mediocre since coming back this season. People seem to forget how well he played last year. I am not sure what his problem is but it is a bit early to write him off.

 

The fumbles are inexcusable. Nothing else to say about that. I cannot even begin to understand how that can happen - twice.

 

Glen was good - Pears was awful. Serious upgrade at RT is needed. Upgrade at LG is obviously needed as well.

 

The penalties on Atlanta's last drive were simply extensions of a very poorly called game. How does the official standing right there looking at it miss the call on EJ's touchdown? Too many other examples to enumerate. Those last two calls though were killers.

 

The criticism of Manuel here this morning is curious. He had them in position to win. I think coaching is holding him back at this point. The play calling was ridiculous at times. He seems overly cautious, but when the game was on the line he made plays. Is that him or play calling/coaching? In any case, I guess I am not sure what people expected out of a raw rookie this year. He is doing fine and was not the problem yesterday - not even close.

 

TJ Graham is useless.

 

Kiko had a bad game - gonna happen sometimes. The inability stop the run was the downfall of the defense today. He has a big part in that, but was not alone obviously. I am concerned that Pettine cannot fix this with the group of players he has to work with.

[Maury Ballstein]

 

 

We need to remember that Roddy White and Stephen Jackson have been hurt for a good portion of this season. Jackson has played in 7 of their 12 games and White has played in 9 (and has been a shell of himself for most of it, gutting it out). Today they both seemed healthy for what seemed like the first time all year. They are damn good players.

 

2-9 team...they are terrible.

 

Officials with the choke job.....SJ and chandler with the choke job.

 

Gilmore is another draft pick that was 1 pick away.

 

Might change my screen name to Gilmore's cushion.

 

 

[ganesh]

The Bills defense was horrible on 3rd downs. On that game tying TD drive, the Falcons had a 3rd and 11 at their own 28 yard line and yet the Bills allowed him to get a first down with 13 yards catch.

 

They gave up 151 yards rushing to one of the worst rushing team in the NFL this season.

 

This defense lacked the physicality to manhandle one of the worst OL in football this season.

 

This defense gave up TD after TD. 38 yard TD run to some no-name RB...are you kidding...

 

While the offense may have fumbled at the chance to close out the game in regulation, this defense put this team in this situation to begin with.

[GunnerBill]

I also do not believe you can put that on EJ Manuel in any way. Was he perfect? No. But the offense scored 31 points - he did not turn the ball over and he made two big throws at the end of the game that should have put us in a winning position and his two most experienced pass catchers (ie the two guys with the most NFL starts catching passes on our team) dropped them.

 

Those drops and a bad day from the defense in terms of stopping the run, Atlanta were better than double their season average rushing, cost us this game.

[RuntheDamnBall]

I also do not believe you can put that on EJ Manuel in any way. Was he perfect? No. But the offense scored 31 points - he did not turn the ball over and he made two big throws at the end of the game that should have put us in a winning position and his two most experienced pass catchers (ie the two guys with the most NFL starts catching passes on our team) dropped them.

 

Those drops and a bad day from the defense in terms of stopping the run, Atlanta were better than double their season average rushing, cost us this game.

You see, but he *almost* turned the ball over and they didn't win, somethingsomethingaboutstatistics, or so the argument goes.