why do the bills keep tip-toeing

[eball]

i heard shannon sharpe yesterday talking about playing for mike shanahan and shanahan's policy regarding injury replacements. he said, essentially, that if the player who replaces the injured guy comes in and performs BETTER than the starter was performing when he was healthy, then the replacement is now the starter. period.

 

WM has played better than TH this year. in the 5-6 quarters where WM has been the featured back, the bills have scored 27 offensive points (and bledsoe's numbers have been much better). in the 14-15 quarters where TH has been the featured back, the bills have scored 30 offensive points and bledsoe has been a tackling dummy. most importantly, the bills WON with WM. does anybody who has watched this team honestly think that TH would have gotten the tough yards WM got to keep drives alive? even going back to the jacksonville game, WM was eating the clock on the 4th quarter drive and had just done the same thing (getting 4 yards on 3rd and 3) before the "phantom" holding call on villareal snuffed out the drive.

 

coincidence? i think not. i really wish mularkey et al would stop worrying about TH's ego and put the guy in the game who gives the bills the best chance to win right now. TH is not a "great" player, and the bottom line is that the bills have not won anything significant with him.

 

and besides, it was pathetic seeing TH sitting on the bench in his parka sunday pouting after WM starting controlling the game in the 4th quarter. this is not a "team" player, folks.

[Tom]

tip-toeing?????????

MM says TH is the starter but WM will get his reps.......

No tip-toeing there.

[cåblelady]

Tip-toe thru the tulips........

 

Thanx alot. I'll have Tiny Tim's voice in my head all day.

[buckeyemike]

and besides, it was pathetic seeing TH sitting on the bench in his parka sunday pouting after WM starting controlling the game in the 4th quarter.  this is not a "team" player, folks.

75668[/snapback]

 

CBS showed TH on the bench pouting TWICE during the 4th Quarter.

 

Do the minds at the former Tiffany Network know something we don't?

 

Mike

[BuffOrange]

I'm willing to give MM the benefit of the doubt here.

Frankly, who really cares who starts the first series.

Lets wait and see who is playing when the game is on the line in the 4th Qtr. If it's Henry and he fails to produce again, then I'll be the first to complain.

[DeeRay]

CBS showed TH on the bench pouting TWICE during the 4th Quarter.

 

Do the minds at the former Tiffany Network know something we don't? 

 

Mike

75674[/snapback]

 

 

CBS showed TH on the bench pouting TWICE during the 4th Quarter.

 

It's stevestojan like this statement that clouds the issue. Yeah... CBS showed TH sitting on the bench all bundled up.... period!!!! no pouting, no drama... that's the stevestojan that you put in your own head and are now telling everyone it's reality. The WM/TH saga will work itself out... fair and square.

[MadBuffaloDisease]

Get off TH's back. I liked what I saw of WM, but it was against the Dols' defense which up until the Bills game was ranked in the bottom-5 in rush defense (I say up until then because Tim Bowens made his first start of the season and should be an upgrade to their run defense). Let's see WM do it a little more than 1 game. I have no problem with MM naming TH the starter and saying he'll expand WM's role. Then he can see against the SAME opponent how each fares.

[Forward_Lateral]

What Willis does so much better than Henry, which goes unnoticed by many fans, is that he picks up blitzers and blocks them. Henry tends to block the wrong guy or misses all together. Maybe if Henry practiced more on pass protection and blitz pickups instead of pouting, we wouldn't be having this discussion. I think having Willis back there gives Bledsoe more confidence, as he knows Willis can block, and won't "accidentaly" fall down and let Drew get killed.

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

this is not a "team" player, folks.

75668[/snapback]

 

I would consider TH the consummate team player. A team player goes out and plays all 16 games for a 6-10 team on a broken leg and with bruised ribs and doesn't complain. Putting the WM issue aside, TH deserves a lot more respect than you are giving him.

[BillnutinHouston]

I'm willing to give MM the benefit of the doubt here.

Frankly, who really cares who starts the first series. 

Lets wait and see who is playing when the game is on the line in the 4th Qtr.  If it's Henry and he fails to produce again, then I'll be the first to complain.

75692[/snapback]

 

I agree. "Starting" is not that big of a deal.

[Fake-Fat Sunny]

I don't see any tip-toeing either as both MM and WM have made it clear drom their statements that Henry is the starter.

 

Perhaps what you really might mean (I don't know what you really mean since your statement is the opposite of what MM and WM are saying) is why doesn't MM name WM the starter ecause WMs stats are better?

 

There can be a number of good reasons for this beyond merely koweowing to TH:

 

1. WM isn't ready to start- So far so great as to WMs progress, but he his embarking on a long road back from a brutal injury and impatient fans demanding that he start last month simply doesn't match the reality of his rehab. WM is a first year player and even under the best of circumstances it is not the norm that a 1st year player starts. Recovering from his devastating injury is clearly not the best of circumstances even for a top 5 player.

 

He only began to show his burst of old two weeks ago in practice and it seems counter-productive to his rehab to immediately give him starter responsibility. I think that taking a week to see how WM heals from getting smashed around by the Fins without the pressure of him reporting I'm fine put me in coach as most athletes do when given starter responsibility seems by far to be the prudent thing

to do.

 

2. MM has always wanted to use both of them alot- If this is the goal, creating a firestorm in the media by strongly endorsing the illusion that Travis is going to sit seems dumb. Both runners seem to be the type who get stronger as the game goes on and it will be a trick to give each 10-15 carries per game and see them develop a rhythm rather than giving one RB a definite 25 a game. However, if the two of them develop the ability to play together so a D has difficulty keying on either they both will be more effective. This is difficult to pull off but the benefits if it works would be huge. Miami in the old days found away to make it work with 3 RBs (Csonka, Kiick and Morris) sharing the running duty to a flawless record so imagining the two of them pulling this off is not impossible.

 

3. In the modern NFL with injuries keeping two starters at RB is a good thing- The key here for the TEAM is not to get caught up in the soap opera of who are you going to use exclusively but to get caught up in the football reality of how do you use both players most effectively. Even if you decide to trade TH, demoting him because you judge him to be not a good player does not enhance his trade value. A gentle transition moving from TH starting to naming them co-starters, to finally trading one of them (probably TH) to obtain a new quality back-up and/or draft picks seems by far to be the way to handle this situation.

[sidbuff]

I was watching the game closely at the local bar with a bunch of frineds and whenever Drew dropped back I would notice what Willis M would be doing and let me tell he read the blitzes and picked up blocks nicely giving Drew the time he needed.

[Garranimal]

I don't see any tip-toeing either as both MM and WM have made it clear drom their statements that Henry is the starter.

 

Perhaps what you really might mean (I don't know what you really mean since your statement is the opposite of what MM and WM are saying) is why doesn't MM name WM the starter ecause WMs stats are better?

 

There can be a number of good reasons for this beyond merely koweowing to TH:

 

1. WM isn't ready to start- So far so great as to WMs progress, but he his embarking on a long road back from a brutal injury and impatient fans demanding that he start last month simply doesn't match the reality of his rehab.  WM is a first year player and even under the best of circumstances it is not the norm that a 1st year player starts.  Recovering from his devastating injury is clearly not the best of circumstances even for a top 5 player.

 

He only began to show his burst of old two weeks ago in practice and it seems counter-productive to his rehab to immediately give him starter responsibility.  I think that taking a week to see how WM heals from getting smashed around by the Fins without the pressure of him reporting I'm fine put me in coach as most athletes do when given starter responsibility seems by far to be the prudent thing

to do.

 

2. MM has always wanted to use both of them alot- If this is the goal, creating a firestorm in the media by strongly endorsing the illusion that Travis is going to sit seems dumb.  Both runners seem to be the type who get stronger as the game goes on and it will be a trick to give each 10-15 carries per game and see them develop a rhythm rather than giving one RB a definite 25 a game.  However, if the two of them develop the ability to play together so a D has difficulty keying on either they both will be more effective.  This is difficult to pull off but the benefits if it works would be huge.  Miami in the old days found away to make it work with 3 RBs (Csonka, Kiick and Morris) sharing the running duty to a flawless record so imagining the two of them pulling this off is not impossible.

 

3. In the modern NFL with injuries keeping two starters at RB is a good thing- The key here for the TEAM is not to get caught up in the soap opera of who are you going to use exclusively but to get caught up in the football reality of how do you use both players most effectively.  Even if you decide to trade TH, demoting him because you judge him to be not a good player does not enhance his trade value.  A gentle transition moving from TH starting to naming them co-starters, to finally trading one of them (probably TH) to obtain a new quality back-up and/or draft picks seems by far to be the way to handle this situation.

75993[/snapback]

That was the best post on this issue that i have read. very nice.

[eball]

I don't see any tip-toeing either as both MM and WM have made it clear drom their statements that Henry is the starter.

 

Perhaps what you really might mean (I don't know what you really mean since your statement is the opposite of what MM and WM are saying) is why doesn't MM name WM the starter ecause WMs stats are better?

 

There can be a number of good reasons for this beyond merely koweowing to TH:

 

1. WM isn't ready to start- So far so great as to WMs progress, but he his embarking on a long road back from a brutal injury and impatient fans demanding that he start last month simply doesn't match the reality of his rehab.  WM is a first year player and even under the best of circumstances it is not the norm that a 1st year player starts.  Recovering from his devastating injury is clearly not the best of circumstances even for a top 5 player.

 

He only began to show his burst of old two weeks ago in practice and it seems counter-productive to his rehab to immediately give him starter responsibility.  I think that taking a week to see how WM heals from getting smashed around by the Fins without the pressure of him reporting I'm fine put me in coach as most athletes do when given starter responsibility seems by far to be the prudent thing

to do.

 

2. MM has always wanted to use both of them alot- If this is the goal, creating a firestorm in the media by strongly endorsing the illusion that Travis is going to sit seems dumb.  Both runners seem to be the type who get stronger as the game goes on and it will be a trick to give each 10-15 carries per game and see them develop a rhythm rather than giving one RB a definite 25 a game.  However, if the two of them develop the ability to play together so a D has difficulty keying on either they both will be more effective.  This is difficult to pull off but the benefits if it works would be huge.  Miami in the old days found away to make it work with 3 RBs (Csonka, Kiick and Morris) sharing the running duty to a flawless record so imagining the two of them pulling this off is not impossible.

 

3. In the modern NFL with injuries keeping two starters at RB is a good thing- The key here for the TEAM is not to get caught up in the soap opera of who are you going to use exclusively but to get caught up in the football reality of how do you use both players most effectively.  Even if you decide to trade TH, demoting him because you judge him to be not a good player does not enhance his trade value.  A gentle transition moving from TH starting to naming them co-starters, to finally trading one of them (probably TH) to obtain a new quality back-up and/or draft picks seems by far to be the way to handle this situation.

75993[/snapback]

 

i think my point was clear. while MM (and WM for that matter) both said TH is the starter, i believe this was done out of respect for TH's ego despite the fact that in all facets of play this season WM is performing at a higher level. thus, they're "tip-toeing" around the real issue -- that the best player should be on the field.

 

of the three points you raise above, i think #1 is the most credible. perhaps WM isn't really ready to shoulder the full load yet. #2 doesn't work in today's era. too many egos and high salaries. we're not talking about giving a 6th round pick some carries in a game; we're talking about a high 2nd rounder and a late 1st rounder. the reason why denver's scheme works is because shanahan takes a bunch of nobodies and plugs them in.

 

TH has been a gutsy player, no doubt. but 4 years into his career he has not developed into the complete player he should be at this point.

[Fan in San Diego]

What Willis does so much better than Henry, which goes unnoticed by many fans, is that he picks up blitzers and blocks them. Henry tends to block the wrong guy or misses all together. Maybe if Henry practiced more on pass protection and blitz pickups instead of pouting, we wouldn't be having this discussion. I think having Willis back there gives Bledsoe more confidence, as he knows Willis can block, and won't "accidentaly" fall down and let Drew get killed.

75941[/snapback]

 

That is a big difference in my opinion. I would give the nod to WM just because of that reason alone. When TH improves his pass blocking in practice, I would think about starting him again.

[rollingrock]

I don't know why it can't be any simpler then going with the hot hand. WM had 142 all purpose yards against the #2 defense in the NFL..Picked up blitzes and played a big part in shutting down Jason Taylor for the day..

 

Why not play him another week... ? Seriously,if for some odd reason WM tanks it against the Ravens or has a horrible game,fine put TH back in against the Cards and say WM isn't ready,but to have a player have a really good week and potentially have to sit the following week and jepordize the hot hand,would seem like a huge mistake IMO..

 

By the way,splitting carries at this point does not seem like the answer either. WM and TH both have said that you need to find a groove and get a feel for what the defense is going to do and the direction the line is blocking best in,so switching them off and on IMO does nothing to prove one is better then the other