NFL Source - Elam Benched Tonight

[Big Turk]

5 minutes ago, Limeaid said:

 

I am sure he is a member in good standing in North American Tiddlywinks Association.

 

Do they hand out participation trophies there for 11th place?

[frostbitmic]

Before the game on NFL Network, Steve Smith Sr said something about he may have hit the rookie wall.

 

Being thrown in as a starter before being ready could cause some baggage as a rookie I suppose. We'll likely never know the reasoning.

[boyst]

2 hours ago, Southern_Bills said:

 

I can understand, but Rhodes did the smart thing and saved his gas for another play. He isn't running Jones down lol

And that's the problem for me. We don't have speed in the backfield. If we played Lee Smith he would burn our DB's. 

[SCBills]

30 minutes ago, frostbitmic said:

Before the game on NFL Network, Steve Smith Sr said something about he may have hit the rookie wall.

 

Being thrown in as a starter before being ready could cause some baggage as a rookie I suppose. We'll likely never know the reasoning.

Rookie wall can be a real thing, but we seem to have way more excuses as to why rookies can’t play than any team I can ever remember. 
 

Big reason for drafting premium positions early is because of the rookie contract.  Bills seems content only ever getting 2-3 years out of it.  
 

Not normal.  Is what it is, but coaching staff better be right on these decisions because this is the type of stuff that is worth being critical over if they fall short again.  

[John from Riverside]

2 hours ago, Einstein said:

 

If I were to guess, the Bills would trade Elam for a couple of those names right now.

You mean after getting tree white back onto the field 3/4 end of the season?

[RochesterLifer]

4 minutes ago, SCBills said:

Rookie wall can be a real thing, but we seem to have way more excuses as to why rookies can’t play than any team I can ever remember. 
 

Big reason for drafting premium positions early is because of the rookie contract.  Bills seems content only ever getting 2-3 years out of it.  
 

Not normal.  Is what it is, but coaching staff better be right on these decisions because this is the type of stuff that is worth being critical over if they fall short again.  

Oh yes, and our four year run of success certainly reflects these never-ending decision making failures. 🙄

[Coach Tuesday]

12 minutes ago, boyst said:

And that's the problem for me. We don't have speed in the backfield. If we played Lee Smith he would burn our DB's. 

Very curious how they scheme up to defend Miami in two weeks.

[Einstein]

14 minutes ago, John from Riverside said:

You mean after getting tree white back onto the field 3/4 end of the season?

 

You don't draft a player to be a 3/4 season replacement.

[SCBills]

13 minutes ago, RochesterLifer said:

Oh yes, and our four year run of success certainly reflects these never-ending decision making failures. 🙄

McDermott is a very good coach. 
 

For the most part..
 

Great coaches get to the Super Bowl. 
 

Legendary coaches win it.  

Remains to be seen if he can make the jump.  I hope he can because I really like him as a leader of men.  

[Mango]

On 12/2/2022 at 9:07 AM, Billz4ever said:

After watching Rhodes mildly jog on the Jones TD, I was fuming.  Little to no effort from him on that play.

I don’t think he was jogging. I think he’s just old and slow. 

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

7 minutes ago, SCBills said:

McDermott is a very good coach. 
 

For the most part..
 

Great coaches get to the Super Bowl. 
 

Legendary coaches win it.  

 

Not sure I agree with this entirely. Many Super Bowls come down to players executing and making plays/not making plays.  I think that’s what wins playoff games and Super Bowls. 
 

I do think bad coaching can lose you a SB. Andy Reid in Philly is pretty good evidence of that— his game management was a huge contributing factor to that one Philly loss to NE. 

[Billz4ever]

9 minutes ago, Mango said:

I don’t think he was jogging. I think he’s just old and slow. 

LMAO, possibly.

[SCBills]

5 minutes ago, Miyagi-Do Karate said:

Not sure I agree with this entirely. Many Super Bowls come down to players executing and making plays/not making plays.  I think that’s what wins playoff games and Super Bowls. 
 

I do think bad coaching can lose you a SB. Andy Reid in Philly is pretty good evidence of that— his game management was a huge contributing factor to that one Philly loss to NE. 

Depends on whether you think coaching plays a part in execution.

 

Bills are the defending SB Champions, zero doubt in my mind, if 13 seconds doesn’t happen.  

[MarlinTheMagician]

If Elam has hit the wall, or is not tackling well or using some poor technique, giving him two weeks to analyze and work on what he is doing wrong, or just giving him a mental break to get beyond the rookie wall, seems like a great idea.  He seems like he is a very hard worker, so I doubt it is a big discipline issue. 

[Big Turk]

43 minutes ago, boyst said:

And that's the problem for me. We don't have speed in the backfield. If we played Lee Smith he would burn our DB's. 

 

All Hamlin had to do is make the tackle instead of running into a blocker in an almost comical way.

 

Should have been at best a 2-3 yard gain.

 

He has been much much better than he was in his first few games in terms of positioning and making plays when he is in space but that was a terrible look.

1 minute ago, MarlinTheMagician said:

If Elam has hit the wall, or is not tackling well or using some poor technique, giving him two weeks to analyze and work on what he is doing wrong, or just giving him a mental break to get beyond the rookie wall, seems like a great idea.  He seems like he is a very hard worker, so I doubt it is a big discipline issue. 

 

Players don't always progress in a linear way like they do in Madden Franchise mode. McD is doing what he feels is best for him as a player and as a person most likely. And obviously what he feels is best for the team IN THIS PARTICULAR GAME. 

 

Bills probably do more week to week matchup stuff in regards to who is inactive(when fully healthy) than any team in the NFL except maybe NE.

 

People are reading way, way too much into this. It will have zero effect on how good Elam will become two or three years from now.

[MarlinTheMagician]

5 minutes ago, Big Turk said:

 

All Hamlin had to do is make the tackle instead of running into a blocker in an almost comical way.

 

Should have been at best a 2-3 yard gain.

 

He has been much much better than he was in his first few games in terms of positioning and making plays when he is in space but that was a terrible look.

 

Players don't always progress in a linear way like they do in Madden Franchise mode. McD is doing what he feels is best for him as a player and as a person most likely. And obviously what he feels is best for the team IN THIS PARTICULAR GAME. 

 

Bills probably do more week to week matchup stuff in regards to who is inactive(when fully healthy) than any team in the NFL except maybe NE.

 

People are reading way, way too much into this. It will have zero effect on how good Elam will become two or three years from now.

Agree, that was kind of my point.  I think short-term decision that has zero reflection on long-term outcome.

[John from Riverside]

3 hours ago, Einstein said:

 

You don't draft a player to be a 3/4 season replacement.

I think you’re missing the point we were at a point during the season, where we literally didn’t even know if we were going to get tray back

[BarleyNY]

8 hours ago, Chaos said:

In current physical shape with a sore ankle he could very well be deemed the 7th best option. And that is not a problem at all. 

Current physical shape? Weird that he was so hurt he couldn't play but was not listed on the injury report the week of the game - or the one the week prior.

 

[Don Otreply]

On 12/2/2022 at 1:53 AM, Big Turk said:

 

Nah...it's hilarious the overreactions to just about anything on this board. Any "the sky must be falling" incident that can be looked at with panic is automatically made worst case scenario.

 

My God...I am really glad I don't have to work with a lot of the boards posters...couldn't imagine how things must go at work and how easily they would get flustered. 

There is group here that loves a drama, and will run with it at the drop of a hat, as the saying goes,

[Beck Water]

2 hours ago, BarleyNY said:

Current physical shape? Weird that he was so hurt he couldn't play but was not listed on the injury report the week of the game - or the one the week prior.

 

Players who are deemed recovered enough from injury that they don't need treatment and aren't limited in practice, may not be 100% yet.

 

It has also happened before that the Bills have made a player a "healthy scratch" during the season, then after the season have said that he needed more time to "get right" after an injury - maybe not treating the injury per se, but rehabbing around it.  Harrison Phillips the year after his ACL would be one example.   He was made a "healthy scratch" for 4 games in the middle of the season.  After the season, Beane said he needed more time to rehab enough to play up to their standard, even though he was healthy enough to play.

 

So it wouldn't be unheard of that the Bills said "OK, Elam's performance is not up to our standard, and not up to his play earlier in the season, and let's look at why" and decide that the injury might have something to do with it and he was gonna sit a week or two and heal.

 

Or, it could have been a matchup decision, that the Bills decided to play 100% nickel against a strong running back, and they felt Rhodes would be the better defender against the run and/or more able to handle disguised coverage from zone, on the road (though the stadium soon became quiet enough IMO)

Edited December 4, 2022 by Beck Water