bobobonators

lol. Come on man.

this is being discussed elsewhere on the first page http://forums.twobillsdrive.com/topic/189041-tracking-the-defense/page-7

After all that RG3 has been through, I'm rooting for him to turn his career around. It would be a great redemption story in Cleveland, for both the team and the player...just not vs us.

Overall, I 100% agree with everything you said. Above all, I think we should actually let the season play out, before commenting on "turning things around".

JMC, lets not circle jerk e/o please.

I 100% agree with everything you said. My point being, it's not that simple to find a winning strategy. A great QB is obviously the goal of any franchise. However, plenty of franchises still manage to win games and make it to the playoffs with average QB play.

I suppose I am.

Simple, b/c TT wasn't starting before 2015.

But that's the thing though, Vic obviously didn't think the Bills were average heading into this game. No objective person would pick an average team to go into Oakland and beat the Raiders. Vic could've said "Few people, including myself, expected these Bills to go into Oakland and actually upset the high-powered Raiders" But he didn't say that. He said he was anticipating the upset. So on Friday, December 2, 2016, Vic thought that Rex, TT, the defense, the morale, etc was good enough to upset the Raiders. Not to compete, not to keep it close, but to upset the Raiders. On December 7, 2016, it's panic mode. I'm sorry, but are you a fan or a reporter? I get you want people to read your articles, but please stay objective with your expectations and analysis.

Even after last week's loss and the Colt's win against the Jets, Tyrod has a better winning % than Luck since 2015. The colts have gotten progressively worse since the 2014 season, in the vaunted AFC South. If it was all about the QB, the super bowl would have the GOAT Brees playing in it every single season. Saints can't even make the playoffs for 3 years.

I guess you could make that argument. But in your hypothetical, just think about what you're saying here: Vic believed that the Bills were going to go into Oakland and beat the then 9-2 Raiders who, along with the Cowboys, are everyone's darlings right now. So how do you go from THAT, to THIS in less than 5 days? I just can't reconcile that disparity. It's the Love/Hate nonsense that's expected of a fan on this board.

You can't say "I thought the Bills were going to beat Oakland" 5 days ago, and now there are serious concerns 5 days later. That represents the bipolar nature of being a Buffalo Bills sports fan and nothing more - the very same things we see in this forum. If Oakland represents everything that is currently great in the NFL, how bad can the Bills be if Vic 5 days ago expected them to actually upset the Raiders. But now 5 days later everything is in the toilet bowl? Ok. A lot of people need to be medicated. That's the only thing I'm seeing from Bills fans and sports writers.

Can we at least wait until the season is over before we figure out what we need to turn around? We're 6-6, not 3-9. We have more negative threads on here than in the Jets forum.

To be fair: weeks 11-13 they played the browns and a no Luck colts team. They did play Eli week 13 though and did well.

Im excited for this game. I felt we matched up well vs Oakland and for 60% of the game we dominated them. I feel we match up even better vs Pitt and its at home. We need to play smart and believe in ourselves. We need to believe we can beat a franchise like Pitt and then execute for a full 60min.

Unreal.

No.

Because if all of the Victoria Secret angels threw a party and only guys were invited, you wouldn't attend if invited? "Sorry gals, im not signing that waiver - I know what goes on at those parties"

Correct. From the numbers, there is absolutely NO correlation between an offense's 3 and out % and a defense's performance: you look at the best offenses in the NFL at 3rd down %'s, they have some of the worst defenses in the NFL: 1. Redskins 2. Falcons 3. Saints 4. Chargers 5. Panthers Those are the top 5 teams in the NFL at having the fewest 3 and outs. They are the elite offenses at sustaining drives. And they all have horrible defense in pts/game, with the highest ranked team of those being Washington at #20 in pts/game on defense, and the rest being abominations. Meanwhile, some of the worst offenses in the nfl at sustaining drives have some of the best defenses in pts/game (as listed in previous post). ZERO correlation. Fact: if the defense is good, the defense is good. The defense WANTS to be on the field, b/c they know they can stop an opposing offense. The defense knows they're going to get a strip sack. The defense knows they're going to get an INT. The defense doesn't run away with its tail between its legs saying "oh no, the offense went 3 and out, what are we going to do now?" The end.

I get what you're saying, you don't have to be obnoxious about it. I'm not aware of a 3 and out % "in bunches" stat. I don't think that's tracked, except on this message board. Some of the best defenses in the NFL have some of the worst offensive 3 and out %'s. 3 and out % rankings: #31: Rams - 28.87%; have #15 defense in pts/game (better than Bills Defense pts/game) #30: Broncos - 28.86%: have the #6 defense in pts/game (better than the Bills defense pts/game) #28: NY Giants - 24.48%: have the #8 defense in pts/game (better than the Bills defense pts/game) #27: Bills - 24.43% #26: Lions - 23.48%: have the #11 defense in pts/game (better than the Bills Defense) #25: Cardinals - 23.45%: have the #11 defense tied with Detroit in pts/game (better than the Bills Defense) #24: Bears - 22.90%: have the #16 defense in pts/game (better than the Bills Defense) #23: Patriots - 22.56%: have the #2 defense in pts/game (better than the Bills Defense) Additional teams in the bottom half of the NFL in 3rd down % rankings on offense, but still have a better defensive ranking than the Bills in pts/game: Chiefs Vikings Bengals Steelers

The Arizona Cardinals have an almost identical 3rd down % as us on offense and they have the #2 defense. The Los Angeles Rams have a substantially worse 3rd down % than us and their defense is better than ours both in yards and pts/game. At what point does this excuse just become an excuse. Its a factor, certainly, but not an overwhelming one.

How many freaking threads can we possibly create discussing the same exact ****.

If we are to apply the same logic to that Defense as we do the current Offense around here, that #4 Defense wasn't good enough.

The plan was there. EJ didn't work out. Poop happens.