All_Pro_Bills

The OC is going to have to earn his paycheck this week. With the power outage at WR and Taylor anticipated to be out expect to see some multiple TE formations and a heavy dose of McCoy running and catching. The defense has to dominate. I think the Bills will do enough to win here. They tend to disappoint when expectations get too high and when you start to give up on them they suddenly pull a surprisingly good effort that pulls you back in.

Exactly! If you're better than the other guy you simply do what you do and go with it. While I dispise the Patriots look at their offense. They pretty much do the same thing week in, week out. Yet they consistently come out on top without worrying about running a lot of gimmicks and getting too cute or over-thinking things. Why? Because they have good players. The Bills defense has good players especially the front 4. Get rid of the exotic and overly complex approach and let them play. Forget forcing the players to fit the 'system'. Take the dog off the chain and let them loose this week.

Only watched the first half and it helped that the Giants turned the ball over 4 times, along with the Eagles not committing 5 or 6 personal foul or misconduct penalties, but can it get any more obvious?

The strength of this team was supposed to be the defense and the head coach set expectations sky-high shooting his mouth off through the off season and beyond. They've got over $250 million investing in a defensive line that can't get any pressure or sacks on the QB because the Head Coach is a prisioner of his scheme and refuses to adapt to the talent available. Smart coaches don't do this. And now the players are publicly ripping the play calling on defense. Three pro bowlers, plus another that should have made it last year, used to free up blitzing linebackers and safeties for pressure on the QB? The observable problem is the linebackers and safeties aren't getting to the QB. Anybody watching the game can see that. So do what works not what you want to do. And anytime this defense plays a top 10 QB/offense they roll over dead and get undressed. Ryan is playing this like a guy who gets a Ferrari for free and puts a trailer hitch on the back to tow a boat. It just isn't a good idea and don't like right. This looks as simple as a case of if it ain't broke then don't fix it. My guess is he's either to stubborn or arrogant to accept the facts and adapt his system to the strengths of the players. He'll keep trying the square peg, round hole approach all the way to game 16. Look at the schedule and tell me which 'quality' opponent this team is going to beat playing like this? I won't even get to much into the penalty problems. But for God's sake, enough!

Maybe they shouldn't line up for the XP on the left hash mark? I assume this is by choice. Maybe center the ball or try the right side if those options are legal.

I'm not ready to throw in the towel on Ryan just yet, its only 4 games, but there are a lot of red flags and we all get the look and feel of something familiar. We've been here before. The fundamental problem I see in the two losses is that Belichik and Coughlin did nothing unusual or unexpected on either offense or defense. And yet this Bills team seemed totally unprepared. How is this possible? And what coach tolerates all this undisciplined play? And then more or less praises them in the post game press conference. It's almost like Ryan lives in some alternative reality completely different that what everyone else is experiencing. I see a defense playing completely out of control, undisciplined, stupid football giving up way too many yards and points to be considered 'great' and he sees a lot of heart and determination. On the defensive side of the ball this team is an overhyped mess. A top defense in the mind of their head coach and some of the players. Some of the players know this, some might deny it, others might believe their own BS still. But there's a major problem here. The talent is there, the smarts are lacking and it seems to start with the head coach and trickle down from there. The vets on the field, Kyle and Mario Williams, and maybe Corey Graham need to step up and settle the hot-heads down. Against both New England and New York the offense scored in the 4th to make it a one score game and both times the defense immediately just rolled over on the next drive and gave up an easy score in just a few plays. Great defenses make those stops even against great offenses. Ryan needs to spend less time shooting his mouth off and instead do some critical evaluation of himself and his team then make the necessary changes to get things right. Looking to next week against the Titans you'd expect a 'W' but who knows which team will show up. The one totally prepared to defeat a lesser opponent or the one playing like a bunch of idiots led by a buffoon head coach who can't keep his mouth shut?

I thought they called a terrible game too but you can't call these guys out and chirp in their ear the entire game. It's just human nature they aren't going to give you the benefit of the doubt. Take the flag on the QB slide and hit on Taylor on Sunday. The Ref's talked it over and picked up the flag. You think if it was Jerry Hughes falling on Brady they would have picked it up under the exact same circumstances? 100% no way. Like in any sport, once you get a rep for 'dirty' or borderline play the Ref's watch you and call it different. Hockey, basketball, football, you name it. Clean it up.

This team needs to get its emotions under control. They were so whipped up in a frenzy leading up to the game that the game itself was a letdown. They were emontionally spent and burned out before the kickoff. Which resulted in a lot of dumb penalties that squandering good field position and momentum several times. You can't beat a team as proficient as New England playing stupid. All you end up is looking like a fool and a loud mouth a-hole that can't back it up. IMO, you're well paid professionals so act like it. And as Marv once said 'act like you've been here before'. As for all the trash talk and celebration you need to pick your spots and back it up with action. It makes me laugh when I see some guy celebrating making a tackle of a RB for a 2 yard loss on 2nd down after the opposing offense just moved the ball 70 yards on 10 plays down the field to a 1st and goal. Yeah you're great so what's the story with the last 10 plays that you got pancaked on?

A buddy at work that's a 49ers fan put the Bills loss in this perspective - 'you're not going to beat the Pats making a lot of mistakes but your guys did hang tough until the end though. And they didn't just roll over". Not that it makes me feel any better about the loss but it gives some outside perspective. I remember one of the few and far between times when the Bills beat NE in week one of the season a few years back and post game Brady said something like its only one game and its early in the season and there's a lot of football left to play. And now nobody can acuse the Bills of peaking in September!

My concern with Ryan is that NE did absolutely nothing that he hasn't seen before and their gameplan was consistent with what we've seen since Brady arrived on the scene. So why wasn't this team prepared? On the Gronkowski TD for example this was the exact same play they ran against Pittsburgh last week at the exact same spot on the field and the Bills defenders were looking at each other apparently not knowing what their assignments were which left their most dangerous receiver completely uncovered for an easy TD.. How can this happen? Either the players don't understand the gameplan or the coaches aren't planning for it. Either one is not acceptable. And all the talk about press coverage. What happened with that? Maybe with more experience with the new scheme these things solve themselves? Just put down the microphones and the Twitter accounts and just shut up, show up, and play the game.

Extra time or not I suspect that Roman knows exactly what to expect from Belichick. He'll be wagering that Taylor is not going to beat his defense solely through the air. He'll bring extra support down into the box on early downs to stuff the run and try to get the Bills into 3rd and longs. They'll show a 3 or 4 man passive pass rush trying to keep containment on Taylor, frustrating him and forcing him into throws, and showing him a lot of different looks in the secondary. This should provide some early game 1st down one-on-one opportunities for Clay, Watkins, or Harvin, maybe even McCoy out of the backfield. If I'm Roman I'll dial up some 1st and 2nd down play-action passes to try and burn them early and flush them out of their scheme. Then the Bills might be in the position to dictate the play vs. getting dictated to like Bills coaching staffs have done against the NE staff for years.

The writer is just telling his audience what they want to hear. He should be reminded that Belichek was a failed head coach prior to being hired by the Patriots and Brady was a nobody late round after thought draft pick. The success of NE is owed more to once in a lifetime luck than some grand master plan executed to perfection. As for the Bills, why can't Ryan become the next successful head coach after a 'failed' job at a previous team? And why can't Taylor become the next QB none of the experts expected to become a great NFL QB? Will it happen? Who knows. Could it? Sure. But for this guy to think New England's dominance will continue forever is just plain stupid and more or less faulty linear thinking.

Darby's PI penalties are a concern. He needs to learn what he can and when he can get away with playing on the edge of the rules. The positive side of the penalties, if there is one, is that he's stuck like glue most of the time to the receivers so this to me demonstrates pretty good coverage skills. He's not getting faked out of his shorts so he has a good comprehension of route running and coverage technique. He's got great closing speed. The downside is his height when matched up with taller receivers. If he can adjust his game to turn his head and play the ball he can be a solid corner. He might be in for a rough go week one because you know he's going to get picked and I expect they'll roll some coverage help his way.

I take it to a much simpler level on defense which is point allowed per game. The Bills were 4th last year at 18.1 points per game. I'm sure there's a high correlation between a top 10 scoring offense and a top 10 QB and that is certainly a valid stat. The Bills ranked 18th at 21.4 points per game which is a differential of +3.3. I think the point differential tells a pretty interesting story. The other teams with a positive differential were AFC, NE 9.7, Miami .9, Pitt 4.3, Cinn 1.3, Balt 5.6, Ind 5.6, Houston 4.1, Denver 8, KC 4.5. The NFC Dallas 7.2, Phil 4.6, GB 8.6, Detroit 2.4, Seattle 8.8, Ariz .7. The Panthers made it to the playoffs with a -2.2 only because the entire division had losing records. The final 4 in the AFC were NE, Denver, Ind, and Baltimore which happen to be the top 4 in this category. So the question to me about the 2015 Bills is this. Can the defense be marginally better and allow a couple points less and can the offense be a even just slightly more effective in converting one of those FG's from 2014 into a TD in 2015 to get the team into the 5 to 7 point differential level which implies a playoff level complete team?

I too was puzzled by some of the Bills picks (a CB in the 2nd, another RB?) but there's a big difference between what guys like Kiper do and what professional scouts and NFL front offices do when it comes to the draft. Scouts and general managers are talent evaluators and have specific criteria for selecting players and determining how they fit with their team. For the most part, teams don't say a lot about their internal thought processes and player evaluation techniques because its one element of competition. The draft guru's are not professional talent evaluators. I believe it was Bill Parcells who said that Kiper was not a talent evaluator but rather an 'information gatherer'. I think this observation, them being information gatherers, is correct for the media people in general.

I expected the league would hot-wire the lottery to 'select' Toronto for the #1 pick but they sure screwed the pooch with the pick going to Edmonton, 2 time zones away from the big eastern Canadian hockey viewers in Ontario and Quebec along with major US markets. And think how the McDavid vs. Eichel duel would have fueled the Sabres/Leafs rivalry for the next decade? Personally, I don't like the draft lottery in any sport. The draft is a sport's main tools to produce competitive balance. A lottery just adds luck and random probability to the mix. It is anti-competitive. Some suspect the league changed the 'rules' during the off season to punish the Sabres for what many claim is an obvious attempt to 'tank' and get the #1 overall pick. Maybe so, but the Sabres aren't the first and only team to go into total breakdown and rebuild mode. They've just been more honest and forthright about their intentions along with having an astute fan base that understands the reality of the situation. Getting either 'generational talent' might be something like a choice between Payton Manning and Tom Brady at their best under center for the Bills next season..

While we all know that Germany did not bomb Pearl Harbor the only country Germany issued a formal declaration of war against during WW2 was the United States. My favorite screen from Animal House is with Bulushi up on the ladder on the side of the sorority house. Favorite line, "You messed up, you trusted us, I suggest you start drinking heavily", advice to Flounder after his bother's Lincoln got totaled..

For some reason it seems the Bills always get the short end of the stick with the compensatory formula and picks. And I never understood the rationale behind the compensatory pick process. After all, a 'free agent' is no longer under contract to his former team. At that point the team has no 'rights' to the player (he's off their active payroll) so by him signing elsewhere they actually lost nothing. Technically they 'lost' nothing. Use Revis as an example. The Patriots, by not paying a bonus payment to Revis prior to a contractual deadline voiding the deal and made the player a free agent. Then Revis signs a very generous contract with the Jets. What did the Patriots lose? They voluntarily 'opted out' of a contract both parties agreed to (even though both knew year 2 was never going to happen) and released the player from his contractual obligations to the team. Why should they get compensation picks in the draft?

Adding to what you say. For the first time in what seems like forever, I trust that we have a professional and competent head coach along with good assistant coaches in all three phases of the game. We have a GM, HC, and owner that are all on the same page with everybody pulling in the same direction. The offense has added 'skill' players Harvin, Clay, McCoy, along with blocking FB Felton and G Incognito plus 2 QB's in Taylor and Cassel. This complements Woods, Watkins, EJ, and FJ already on the roster. There's still the 2 big questions about the QB and the O-line. My expectation is this offensive staff will do a better job of developing the younger guys already on the roster and one or two of them will emerge to challenge for starting spots on the line. Adding through the draft might also happen. As for the QB, I don't expect pro bowl caliber play but they'll get just enough so the position isn't a glaring weakness or viewed as a liability to the offense.

Yes. I saw somewhere, and I cannot recall where, that one of the terms on the trade was the Bills and McCoy were to 're-work' his current contract. That would relieve some of the cap hit in 2015 and in return give McCoy some guaranteed money in 2016. Something his current deal doesn't provide. This is expected before the 3/10 official date for trades. If this condition is not met then I would think the trade agreement would be voided. Doubt it would come to this. But after letting his emotions cool off I can't imagine why McCoy would reject the trade. Absent any other alternative, why would he want to stay someplace where he is obviously no longer wanted?

What Marrone could have said was "I tried to leverage a 9-7 season with the Bills into an extension for myself and some of the coaching staff along with increased say over personnel but the new ownership refused. So from my perspective I was left with no choice other than to opt out of my contract with the Bills and pocket $4M while pursuing other head coaching openings. I thought the Jets job was going to be mine but a lot of negative reports came out in the press and owner Woody Johnson got cold feet and rejected the advice of his advisors and went in another direction. Things starting to go south at that point with the other openings. I cancelled an interview with Denver because I knew they were going another direction and I didn't want to waste my time. I could have got a 'consulting' gig down in Houston but I took the offensive line position here in Jacksonville because by my estimation Gus has a good chance of being fired during the course of next season because the Jaguars should be bad again and that might leave me an opportunity to promote to the head coaching job here".

If I was calling the plays in that situation with 2nd and goal at the 1 I would have run Lynch 3 straight times if necessary. I didn't see the game clock as inhibiting doing this. And if the Patriots stopped me then I'd be able to say we gave it our best shot and they stopped us and they deserved the victory. I could live with the outcome without any reservations or doubt whatsoever. And I'd feel absolutely no need to gave the second guessers any type of explanation. But there's no way around it, the way they lost leaves you feeling they gave the game away.

I haven't read the entire thread because of the lengthy topic so I appologize if this has been discussed but the Seahawks also wasted 2 timeouts on their final drive. The first on a 2nd and 10 from the Patriots 49 and the second after the Kearse catch down to the 6. In both instances the game clock was stopped but the 40 second play clock was about to expire. The first on an incomplete pass and the second on a tackle out of bounds. Whether or not the playcall was delayed or the offense didn't line up fast enough this is simply unacceptable given the context of the Super Bowl and the situation. You have 40 seconds to get the play called and the offense set in the biggest game of the season and there's no sense of urgency so you need to waste 2 timeouts. If they had all 3 or even 2 of their timeouts rather than 1 it might have impacted the 2nd and goal from the 1 call which resulted in the interception. That said, there was plenty of time on the playclock to run 3 plays from the 1 even if they chose to run Lynch 3 times. They blew it.

No problem, I can take it. It might be your opinion of Mr. Brand's talent and accomplishments are quite a bit higher than mine. I think the guys a second-teir comedic talent. When I see Katy Perry and consider her to be potential 'A' list it appears to me she traded down. And I haven't done too bad with the ladies either having been with a decent number of chicks that were way hotter than her at that age, so on that I wouldn't concede any runaway victory to the guy.

Really dude?