vincec

Fitz has 8 games left to make his case, but he's doing it so far. If he keeps playing like this, the Bills will not draft his replacement. He will be the guy.

He won't go until the end of the year so he still has time to show something, but he hasn't looked good so far. Coaching is critical. Look at what Gailey has done with the offense using basically the same personnel as last season. In fact, they are arguably worse personnel wise without T.O.

I think the NFL is playing this right. Keep the helmets and face masks. If people use them as a weapon, then eject them from the game + a one game suspension for first offense. I love hearing defensive players complaining about rules put in to protect offensive players. Maybe the NFL should bring back crack back blocks to the knees or double team blocks where one player holds up an offensive player and another takes his knees out.

They're trying to put their best front 7 players versus the run on the field at the same time. That's why Kelsay is in there along with four other linemen and that's why Poz is playing OLB- to get them on the field. The apparently think that they are both better than Torbor. Frankly, I think it's a crock. My first approach would be to play a lot more cover 0 and use 8 and 9 men in the box vs the run- try to stop it with numbers. I mean, they're supposed to have some good secondary players, right? They should try and get something out of that. I also agree about Kelsay playing DE.

It'll be an ass whooping. When you have a team only meeting and only one guy says anything (and he's in his first year with the team), I doubt that hanging a quote from an opposing player in the locker room will wake any extra emotion. It's pretty clear to me that the team knows they're bad and that they have no confidence. I seriously doubt that they believe they can beat the Ravens for any reason.

A glimmer of hope for the future.

It'll be an ass whipping, no doubt, but I don't think it'll be the most lopsided. Baltimore's offense isn't strong enough to hang more than 35 points against the Bills, so I think that the Bills will keep it closer than the Packers game.

Right back at you slick.

No. In the NFL offensive linemen cannot go downfield and block until a pass behind the line of scrimmage has been completed. If the do, then they are ineligibly downfield. This makes is difficult for them to get into position to make their blocks on most quick screens. In college (and high school), linemen can block downfield on any pass behind the line of scrimmage as soon as the ball is snapped (and defensive players can hit any offensive player that is coming at them until a pass is thrown). That is why you see so many bubble screens and jailbreak screens in college but very few in the NFL. #1 is basically what they allow in the CFL. It's a lot of fun to watch and allows for much more creativity, IMO. Granted, it would give the offenses a tremendous boost. The should at least allow offensive players to be moving before the snap as long as they are not going forward. This would eliminate much of the advantage while still allowing for more creativity in play design. It would also eliminate the ridiculous "false start" penalties. Unless an offensive player crosses the LOS, there should be no penalty, IMO. I mean, what's the big deal by a tackle flinching? What advantage has he gained over the defense? Especially when the defense can do it without penalty. Cool. There are lots of good ideas in this thread!

It's not related to the original post, but what strikes me from the article is how far off the current NFL trends the Bills defense is. Speed over size? More stunts? Blitzing from all angles? The Bills are busy rolling the clock back to the 1980s.

I agree. Merriweather's hit was outrageous. As another poster pointed out it was a pure head butt. He didn't even hit him with any other part of his body. He basically jumped up and head butted the receiver. Ridiculous. A blatant attempt to injure.

All I'm saying is they are definitely NOT "great." Great players make the players around them better. I don't see the Bills secondary doing that.

Here's a couple from me: 1) Allow multiple members of the the offensive team to be in motion before the snap, including forward motion. It makes no sense that the defense can be jumping around, changing looks, showing "amoeba" defenses while the offense gets called for illegal motion if they flinch. 2) Also, allow offensive players to block downfield on throws behind the line of scrimmage like the do in college.

This. Tom Brady's QB rating last week was around 69 and he is better and has much more to work with than Fitzpatrick. I want to know one thing, however, if Fitzpatrick plays well will any of the people who slam him reconsider their opinion of him or will they just spin it to fit in their view of the world?

If our secondary was really great then they would at least be a middle of the pack group without a pass rush. Almost anyone can look good with a strong pass rush in front of them. Great DBs make their pass rush look good by making the QB hold the ball- at least once in a while.

You must not be very old. The Raiders were one of the winningest and most admired football franchises in the NFL until the last few years. They have won 3 Super Bowls and appeared in two others. From 1963 to 2002 they only had 7 losing seasons. They have 20 players in the hall of fame. I could go on, but I'm sure you get the idea.

This. In fact, the Bills would beat a UFL all star team.

Did some yardwork, cleaned my car, did laundry and played with my little boys. Now I am watching real football between Indy and Washington. The best Sunday I've had since football season started. Too bad the Bills don't have 3 or 4 bye weeks.

"The Chiefs and the Bills, two perennial playoff teams..." :lol:

This.

Fitz is playing well under very tough circumstances. I think he is clearly a guy who can "drive the Cadillac" as Bill Parcells used to say about Drew Bledsoe in his prime. He's not Brett Favre or Peyton Manning, but you can win games with him at QB if you put quality players around him. The question is, can you win a championship without a HOF QB? Some teams have done it, but most champions have had elite QBs. So the real question, IMO, is whether the Bills think they need a HOF caliber QB to win a championship. If so, then they really should take one next season with their top overall pick. If not, then they will get better much faster by drafting at other positions. PS- Fitz stays on the team regardless.

This team is beyond help. If you can't have fun by mocking their ineptitude then following the Bills would be no fun at all.

Windburn from the opposing DEs blowing past him.

I see this as a combination of Edwards not doing well and Jauron/Fewell being underestimated as far as their defensive teaching. But I also wonder, what exactly was the point of switching defensive schemes? Was it to expose the players on the defense as weak? It's the coach's job to put his players in a position to do well not put them in schemes where they suck. You switch to a 3-4 when you think you have better 3-4 personnel than 4-3.

Imagine what he could do if he was playing behind a real OL.