ColdBlueNorth

Kyle is a beast and not to start the whole Mario complaining thread again, but on the stunt where Dareus let Kyle loop under him the offensive lineman that picked Kyle up had a firm grasp of his helmet by the face mask and ear hole. Kyle still tossed him aside and got the sack when Cassel stepped up. I am not sure if I like the new no holds barred NFL, but our boys should be coached to take advantage of the same thing as long as the scrub refs aren't calling it.

That was beautiful. Wouldn't it be great someday to hear a similar rant from a Boston sports show.

That is brutal. They need to focus and get the job done. They also need to avoid falling behind early, even better take the crowd out of the game completely. I think the inability for Ryan to check down or out of plays on the road because of crowd noise is a big contributor to a lop-sided ugly game. If our defense is playing well, I vote run, run, and more run.

Probably just human nature. Stevie is a performer and is competitive, those types always get a bit down if they don't get the ball a lot. He was running a lot of routes where he was just asked to block for the run, or be a decoy. The question you have to ask yourself is who really wants skill offensive players who don't want to get the ball every chance they can? He's fine and is finding the end zone each week. The more success we have with our running game the less safety over the top he will see and the more success he will have - its all good.

Too funny, and you nailed it. There are a lot of me-first, slow-blinkers in the NFL.

First off, great job by the Bills team beating a very beatable KC team at home. These are the games they are supposed to win, and the Bills of Christmas Past would have played down to the level of their opponent to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. It was a solid game plan executed good enough for a solid win. What Chan and Wanny did this week is cover up what was woefully exposed last week. Fitz's arm and accuracy is still a real problem, and there are still areas of our secondary that play too soft or inconsistent and our next opponent will focus on those. What Chan did to reduce our reliance on Fitz's erratic passing is to feature the running game - to the collective relief of fans everywhere. He also had him roll to his right and throw (or run) outside the pocket where he is most comfortable and has had more success (although his pathetic bouncing of the ball 6 feet short of Chandler on that early throw just shows how bad his accuracy and touch can be at times - that was a throw that most high school QBs complete). Most good defenses know Fitz's tendencies to roll to that side and will have a fast safety or OLB spy and come up on those rollouts to force the incomplete although that forces them to have to do something to keep Chandler from releasing off the line - KC defense is not looking sharp at all this year and remind me that things could be worse as a fan. Chan's pass plays actually work really well to get players open, but you have to have a sharp QB who can read the coverages and recognize the mismatch (that is Fitz's greatest strength). It has to be very frustrating for Chan to have someone who really understands his plays and where he as a OC wants the ball to go only to see the ball wobble out of Ryan's hands, end up behind the receiver, and get intercepted, or have a receiver wide open for a pitch and catch only to see Ryan drill it into the turf. And not to knock Ryan too much and give credit where it is due, he certainly recognizes when a defense makes a mistake in coverage as in the TD toss to Stevie Johnson. Not only did he quickly recognize the defensive miscue, but he did a great job of looking off any coverage till the last second ensuring he did not dial the KC secondary in on their mistake. Fitz also did what he needs to do on the ground running for the marker when it was there for the taking. Ryan did a stellar job of managing a game where we were in the lead - which is a key point. We have all seen a tendancy in Chan to quickly abandon the run for the pass when we are behind. That has led to most of our recent losses as that does not allow Ryan to manage a game, rather it forces him to win the game by using his arm. Ryan was able to win games that way early last year before defenses got wise to our spread and his tendencies, now they insert more DBs and jump the more predictable routes and create a lot of turnovers. Am I the only one that would like to see our team formally get rid of the wild cat? It is a joke of a play that more often than not loses yards, but for some reason it is like crack to the more creative offensive coordinators. Maybe if it was called "waste of a good down" it would be less popular. If you are going to use it once in a blue moon it is unforgiveable to use it backed up in your own end of the field although I know Chan realized that they were spying Smith and the misdirection on the reverse would force them to have to choose to come up on Spiller or Smith. Perhaps its a good play to use midfield, but Smith does not handle the ball enough to have that feel that QBs and RBs get after working with eachother for a while. It was a recipe for a turnover deep in our zone and Gailey was getting too cute with the game in hand. As a defensive coordinator I would have to see the "dangerous" Smith actually running for daylight more than once in 3 years to actually feel he was a legitimate home run threat. My defense focuses on Spiller. Defensively Wanny seems to have realized what we have all said before - as a defensive back McKelvin is a liability and a target for opposing QBs when he is on the field. He limited his reps and inserted Justin Rogers into the slot coverage position. McGee looks tentative and soft out there and was the primary target for many KC completions. I like the guy and he has had a long career with the Bills, but his time may be up if he is too fragile to play press coverage. Gilmore is doing what they wanted him to do (play physical) and if our secondary coaching staff does not ruin him, he will have a bright future in this league. Aaron Williams seems to be regressing to me. He got in horrible position right out of the press on the end zone fade route trailing the receiver and he needs to have a better inside technique to allow him to keep one hand on the receiver and still be able to look back for the throw. As it was, he turned completely around and never saw the ball coming and ended up just wagging his arms in front of the receiver while the ball was easily caught. The D-Line were studs today and there is no way the Cassel was comfortable out there. Anderson was that ellusive speed rush from the LDE position we envisioned and Mario consistently needed the attention of 2-3 blockers from the RDE spot. Dareus just absorbs blockers and crushes the pocket, and what can I say about Kyle that has not already been said; He is so damn fast off the ball that it has to freak out opposing OCs trying to draw up blocking schemes. If they keep this up they will be well on their way to becoming the dominant front 4 rushing group that we envisioned they could be. And I should not forget that they will stay well rested and be more effective with Kelsey and Carrington making solid plays chipping in on the rotation. They also were stout against the run. This group could become the very cure this team has been looking for against pass-happy NE, but our secondary still needs to continue what they started this game. The O-line was simply scrappy and outstanding yesterday. Does anyone doubt the pick of Cordy Glenn now? The kid looks like a very solid pick for Buddy and Co. I have rarely seen pulls and screens executed so well. I have not seen that kind of athleticism from an Bills O-line group for many years, if they stay aggressive and healthy the Bills will be very hard to beat. Kudos to the O-Line coaching staff - that kind of execution does not happen without really good players and coaches who know how to get them ready. There are still areas that the Bills need to shore-up, but this team could really come together and have that winning season that we have not seen for so long. The biggest concerns are still Ryan's inaccuracy, and the secondary giving up big plays. For Fitz all the coaching staff can do is limit the throws and trying to keep him in manageable situations, for the secondary this team still needs another solid DB and that group should get a shot in the arm down the home stretch when Ron Brooks returns from IR. I know it is a lot to put on a rookie, but before he got injured I felt he was the second best DB on the team and had a tremendous amount of upside.

The whole pass to setup the run boggles my mind in this offense - at least how it is currently performing. Other teams do not respect the Bills passing game and Fitz's arm. They are comfortable playing single coverage on our receivers and still keeping enough guys in the box to be pretty effective against the run or use those same guys to disguise some shallow zone coverage to take away the throws he likes to make underneath with certain formations or WR packages. There is also the ever growing evidence that Fitz is unable to stretch the field vertically with passes down field which lets defenses only focus on defending the fist 20 yards from the line of scrimmage. Also the Bills may have to do something to disguise their deep routes better. The only shot well down field that I saw Fitz make had the receiver bracketed by two DBs and our WR had to knock the ball out of the Jets hands. It probably was a shift in defensive philosophy by the Jets with us so far down, but Chan should figure out a better way to get at least one deep route singled up if we have to go to pass only mode as Chan has done several times over the past season and in this last game.

That is good news. The University of Minnesota Gophers are the local college team I like to follow, but they have not shown much the last decade and have not had too many kids go on to the next level - the last two were Decker WR Denver and they had a linebacker Triplett that was taken by the Vikings in 2010.

Just was correctly informed that he was not retained on the PS... if the Bills have a vacancy they should call this kid again. Fitz led him right into two safeties last year and he caught the ball and got rocked, but held on. That is the kind of players they need more of rather than these china dolls we have running around at WR. Especially with the way Fitz has been throwing. Forgot they moved up in 99, but you know what I mean. They play big schools now, but how many kids get drafted from the University of Buffalo? I like to see the underdogs get a fair shot is all I meant, and it brings a bit of cred to the program.

Crap - I thought they had kept him on the PS instead of Aiken. They should give the kid a call if he was not picked up elsewhere.

Usually agree with you bud, but not sure what you are trying to say. He played the slot last year for us and is listed at 6' and about 200 lbs. They tried to use Roscoe in that role for years and he would blow away in a strong breeze. Then there is that Wes Welker smurf who is listed as 5' and change and 185 lbs, he seems to get the job done.

OK, I'll play. Back at ya, what have you seen that indicates that he cannot cut it out there? I know that he went to U-Buf and was not a Division I player, but I have seen too many players (like Fred Jackson for instance) not given a real shot because of their school pedigree.

It seems like the organization is in a hurry to rush Graham into the lineup. I do think he can add that speed to stretch the field, but I thought that Naaman was the best receiver last year working in the slot. Am I the only one that saw how fearless he was across the middle? He took some wicked shots and never coughed up the ball. I know that Jones has his fans on this site, but I think he has proven to be a bit more fragile than Roosevelt and the coaching staff will not be doing him any favors with Fitz hanging him out across the middle.

I agree that all is not over, but I also feel that Fitz was throwing behind his receivers on those short outside routes all day. Everyone knows that the short outs to the sideline are one of the hardest passes to complete and have to be on target and on a rope to avoid being picked by someone undercutting the route. Fitz throws were neither and were going to result in an ugly pass breakup or a pick. His passes on those seam routes were floating high and receivers going up for them were just asking to get injured. Fitz may be a good part of the reason why we have so many injured receivers each year. I don't buy the miscommunication excuse anymore on the routes, they were just bad throws for the most part, but I will throw Chan a bone for any failed check down audibles called during a loud home opener for the Jets. These are players that have been in the system 3 years now with a full offseason to practice; They should not be in the wrong place on throws. I like Fitz's moxie, and his smarts, but you cannot tough your way or wonderlic your way into accurate throws. You either have it or you don't. Fitz needs to improve or the organization needs to do whatever they can to get better talent at the QB position next year. And yes, we need a better defensive secondary coaching staff - there are a lot of highly touted draft picks back there and when those don't perform year after year it is coaching plain and simple.

Kind of amateur even for you Weo. A "consummate" pro would first know how to spell it, and second would go after every advantage he could get such as getting the scrub refs to throw the flag when someone is trying to remove his head via his face mask. In your opinion it is more to Mario's advantage to say that he is rusty and have every o-lineman he faces using the Jets' blueprint rather than bring attention to the issue and draw some penalties to force the next o-linemen he faces to re-think that approach. A defensive end in a four-man rush taking an outside move is very visible. With referees who know what the hell they are doing, a hands to the face like those we saw in the Jets game gets called 9 times out of 10 and the Jets march backwards instead of completing a pass, or they have to change their game plan and keep more help on that side. I applaud Rex Ryan's coaching prowess to recognize that something was not being called and taking advantage of it. He has done the same thing with bump and run coverage - his scheme does not work unless he can go man-to-man on the outside and keep his safeties up, so he coaches his corners to keep their hands all over the receivers well past the 5 yard contact zone. If the NFL called it tight on the Jets, it would be a flag on about every defensive snap against the pass and the game would just grind to a halt. Rules like that are similar to how the NHL prohibits obstruction, they always end up making a token effort to enforce the rule and it gets thrown out in the playoffs so a smart team builds and coaches their team to obstruct with the best of them. One of the reasons that Stevie is the rare WR with success against the Jets is because he is so hard to jam off the line and they struggle getting their hands on him - his release is very unorthodox. Does anyone really believe that Mario suddenly forgot how to rush the passer and his accomplishments with Houston were a fluke? He is a talented end and a "consummate" pro. If he says that having someone latch onto his face mask all game long took him out of his game, why should I believe otherwise? Are folks just mad that he signed for so much in Buffalo? Do you really think that he could not have signed elsewhere? I am more angry with George and Wanny's coaching of our secondary with that laid back zone crap against those timed routes and the fact that McKelvin is still in a Bills' uniform - as physically gifted as that kid is, he must have walleye vision or something. He shows close to zero ability locating the ball once it is in the air.

What most see as "bitching" I see as a smart move by Mario to get as much media attention as possible to something he wants to see called a penalty. Sometimes you have to put the testosterone back in the bottle and think, "how does this hurt us?". Would I have rather seen a crack back on Mr. Practice Squad - yeah, but I would be really surprized if the hands get up there on Mario this week without getting a call. He plays that outside technique so a ref would have to be blind and incompetent to not see an o-lineman with his hands so far under Mario's facemask he could pick his nose for him. Also the NFL is hyper-sensitive to negative attention attributed to their lame use of longerie league refs and they will be told to watch for those penalties. You know that the announcers and everyone is going to be looking for it. Mario actually may be the catalyst to get us a few weak calls against just that this week. Do you think that the scrub refs wont be looking for it this week in the Jet's next game?

I never want to see a start like this, but we will see how they respond. Teams either wake up and get a lot better after this kind of craptastic performance or they continue to sputter. This is year 3 for Chan and Fitz, I would have expected better execution from them. How many times do we have to hear - we left a lot of plays out there on the field. Enough. Execute the plays, do your assignments, and stop making execuses. Fitz was horrible. I have been a big defender of Fitz, but I am finally coming over to the camp that he is not the right QB for Chan's Offense. He is smart enough to run a complicated offense, but the inaccuracy of his passes just makes it too easy for them to be defended or he hangs his receivers out there to get injured. He got hot once last year, but he is not consistent enough to be where the elite QB's have to be. It's hard for me because I see how much he wants to win, you see him scrambling with no concern for his safety or lead blocking for his team mates. You can't hang everything on him, the special teams got roasted for a TD and pinned us in our own end zone a few times and our defense did not show up at all. I thought Chan would learn to lean on the running game a bit more after last year's passing game melt down, but he hasn't. And when he does he runs side to side too often in this spread, I would like to see some more North and South play calls when you have the D spread out like they are.

I have to agree about the defense - flat, flat, flat... no emotion, no desparation to create a turnover. Dareus is working his tail off inside... I won't take the job that he has done away from him.

Team did not look ready, and the secondary which was a weakness last year still looks bad this year.

But I liked the Steve Johnson vs a linebacker

I hate this point of the game where Gailey pulls out the all passing crap

first freaking punt - lame.... defense is sucking today. Not much pressure and our D-backs and passive zone coverage is getting tore up. Wannie's debut - not so good. Finally force the punt and leave McKnucklehead to turn a positive into a negative by allowing it to be downed within the 5.

I am not against having a little fun if it does not hurt the team. In a tight game, it is completely selfish and DUMB. But hey, if we are blowing someone out and the game is drawing to a close and Stevie shuts the door on them with a score - he can dance his heart out. If he has to draw attention to himself (and I believe he has that personality quirk - some folks just have to have attention), then let's hope he picks his spots with better judgement than he has shown in the past.

Try as they might a dolphin still looks like a friendly dolphin, and nothing about a cardinal glaring at you is scary.

As much as I liked many of Easley's intangibles I have to agree that there were times during that preseason where I remember him trying to catch with his body and fighting the ball. That being said, he was always pretty raw as a receiver and there was enough there in the Bills practice sessions prior to the preseason games to move him up the depth charts and keep the coaches interested, so I am hopeful that he can come back and be a player. It would make for a good come-back story if it did actually happen.