vincec

Marrone, as a former offensive lineman and offensive line coach, was asked about the value of chemistry on the OL early in the season. He basically said that he thinks it's overrated. He believes that you put the 5 best players out there and it's his job as the coach (or maybe specifically the OL coach) to get them to play well together.

The problem, IMO, is not that the Bills don't have good drafts but that they do a poor job of retaining the good players from their drafts once their rookie contracts are up.

Definitely agree with the decision to go for it. Should've run it a fourth time, IMO. I can hear Vince Lombardi saying "if you can't get one yard then you don't deserve to win". If the Bills are trying to develop an attitude that they can run it on anybody then that was a great opportunity to build confidence.

I think that Tuel is thinking the same thing which is why he asked to speak to Marrone. I definitely think that Tuel or Flynn will be cut when EJ comes back.

Bills certainly aren't going to keep 5 QBs going forward. Manuel is a given. Lewis looks safe based on his performance against Cleveland. That means that 1 or 2 of Tuel, Flynn and Dixon are going to be cut. Who's it going to be?

Receivers as a group are poor, but if the Bills can add (1) premium guy it would all be turned around because Woods and Johnson would be very strong #2 and #3 receivers. They could keep Goodwin and Easley as #4 and #5 because of their versatility and special teams contribution. WR #1 pick next season.

A lot of conflicting advice in this thread. I'd be curious to hear what you find and learn the truth.

I'm honestly stunned by the mishandling of the backup QB situation. The staff gave Tuel the backup job out of camp, ahead of Thad Lewis, and without even seeing him play a game they have decided that he can't start in the event of an injury to the starter (the definition of the backup QBs job) and that actually Thad Lewis is more ready than him. Why didn't they just declare Lewis at the backup and waive Tuel? Forget that they waived a competent backup in Tavaris Jackson without even giving him a chance, using the excuse that they can't split the practice reps over three players. Then they proceed to split the reps over three players with Kolb, Manuel and Tuel. I think that they really underestimated the importance of the backup QB in the NFL.

I don't know if he can get it done but we know that the guys on the roster right now can't get it done so I applaud the move. At least they're trying.

Honestly, they should've IR'd him two or three weeks ago when it became clear that Carpenter was pretty good. They could've used the roster spot for a DB or OG.

Nice one.

Really? Didn't he lose his job to Powell just last year? Now he's the upgrade over Powell? And 38 years old to boot. Hard to believe that this was the best option but the proof will be in the punting.

As long as Branch is out there, the Bills effectively have 3 DTs and a DE who is strong enough to play DT. Good luck running against that. Look for more wide runs and first down passes from Bills opponents to try and take advantage of Branch's perceived lack of mobility and pass rush.

Just IR Hopkins and get it over with. He can battle Carpenter next training camp for his job back. Powell hasn't punted well since pre-season when his competition was cut. He is very inconsistent and rarely seems to hit a good punt when you need one. Don't know if anyone better is out there but he doesn't look like a long term answer right now.

How can you possibly follow a 176 page game day thread? The updates are being written faster than you can read them, unless you're not watching the game.

Football stadiums are honestly a waste of money. There just aren't enough events that warrant a venue that big to justify it. 8 football games per year. Basketball games, concerts, hockey all typically use smaller venues. How often could you really book the thing? I think you'd be doing well to get 15-20 events per year, out of 365. Compare to a basketball/hockey sized stadium where you might have well over 100 events. And a new domed football stadium costs much more, so I say that it's not really worth it.

That's nothing, Mr. Miagi could fix it in 30 seconds.

Can't argue with that. But they seemed to make it harder than it needed to be.

I actually liked Chan but I think you're letting him off easy here. His defenses stunk because he didn't give a rats a$$ about defense. He had 2 of the worst defenses in team history yet the head coach still didn't feel the need to attend the defensive team meetings or give any input. He just let them crash and burn. Can you imagine Lombardi doing that? He might make a decent OC, but he's not head coaching material.

Are they still saving a roster spot for Hopkins?

Jackson plays like a man who's never had anything handed to him and needs to work twice as hard as the next guy for half the respect.

Chandler was a clear no catch. I thought Woods had a TD. Yes, the ball moved but he never lost control. The ball can move if the receiver maintains control. That's ok, the refs paid us back when they upheld Alonso's pick at the end, which was questionable.

+1. Bad game management. If they ran two plays they could've just kneeled down on third down and run it out.

Yes, hard work guarantees nothing, but without hard work he doesn't have a chance.

I'll actually respond instead of making a smartass comment: