billsfan89

2nd and 7 just run in with Singletary or Moss there. No need to do a designed run there for Josh.

Went too cute there should have run it with Singletary there

That's exactly that type of "hard earned yard" that Moss was brought in to get.

This defense was going to give up points, that's just a fact when playing the Chiefs. The offense was always just going to have score 30 to have a chance. The defense just needs to avoid giving up a huge spot.

Right call to pick up that flag

Solid return by Roberts there, helps to shift the field position a bit

Defense looking solid on that first drive there.

Not a bad idea to get him some snaps.

I have never met anyone who has liked Joe Buck

Murphy and Henry being out won't hurt. Neither have been very impactful this season. I think the D-line rotation needs to be shortened to 6-7 players as opposed to 8-9. Jefferson, Oliver and Butler should get the playing time at DT whereas Addision, Hughes, and either AJ or Johnson should get the rotation at DE. While I like the idea of a wave of players to keep things fresh maybe the rotation is just too much and players aren't getting into a groove. Even at 6-7 players rotating in the D-line should still play fresh. Edumonds the back half of last season was playing at a Pro-Bowl level. The D-line has had a combination of bad luck (Star opting out and AJ not having a proper off-season) and bad timing (Henry not recovering from his injury and Hughes hitting and age wall) hell the players Beane brought into replace Lawson and Phillips have been solid (Jefferson and Addison) so the issue is more so with the players that were already on the roster.

I don't think Phillips and Lawson would be performing better than Jefferson and Addison who are performing solidly. So to think if you had both Lawson and Phillips the team would have a much better D-line is flawed. The players that replaced them are doing about as well as they would be doing. Do you think the difference between Lawson/J.Phillips and Jefferson/Addison is what is causing the D-line issues? Hughes getting older, H.Phillips not looking good, Star being out, and AJ not having an impact all still would be issues even if Lawson and Phillips were here instead of Jefferson/Addison.

Neither are doing that great on either team they are on. Phillips has two sacks but he has graded out poorly and Cardinals fans have basically stated that he has only had one good game and been mostly invisible. Shaq has been OK for the Fins but not that dynamic and might be hurt (I know he missed one game for them.) Honestly Addision and Jefferson have been pretty decent and two of the better D-line players this season. Overall it is more so on Hughes getting older seemingly, Henry being off, Star being missed and AJ not having as big of an impact as he could are all more the culprit.

Honestly the players they brought in to replace Jordan and Shaq aren't the issue (Addision and Jefferson) and Shaq and Jordan aren't having great seasons in their new teams either. The issue is age is catching up to Hughes, Henry hasn't been good (seems to me like he hasn't recovered from his injury), Butler has stunk and Ed Oliver hasn't taken that next step up just yet. It's more so on the existing players than on the guys that replaced Shaq and Jordan Phillips in my opinion.

Looking at the D-line I can definitely say that DE is a pressing need. As far as DT goes I think getting Star back and dumping Butler would help and maybe the team can get Phillips back to full strength. As far as DE, Murphy is as good as gone and I think they will ask Hughes (barring a better performance the rest of the season) to take a pay cut. I would still want Hughes on the team for one more season as a rotational player and for the locker room but he will have to take a pay cut as he just isn't worth what he is owed next season. I like what Addision has brought as a supplemental pass rusher, he just can't be the sole main pass rusher on the team, he is roughly on pace for 7.5 sacks. The way I look at the D-line next season. Definitely brining back - Ed Oliver, Star, Jefferson, Addision, and AJ Not retained - Butler and Murphy Retained if a pay cut is taken - Hughes Retained but on the bubble - Phillips and Johnson That's about 5 players who are firmly back on the line in some role whereas there are 2-3 more who will be on the bubble or asked to take a pay cut.

Murphy is a JAG rotational player, I am fine with dumping him and giving his snaps to other players or just having the other guys in front of him play more. As far as Phillips I think his injury is hampering him. Phillips was a beast the first 5 games of the season. Once he got hurt the run defense began its horrid stretch of play and I think the two are at least somewhat related last season. I am OK with benching both and promoting/activating other younger players. Phillips might need a week off and Murphy you probably should just cut.

Honestly I think he hasn't recovered from the injury. He was a beast last year before he got hurt.

You just have to hope Butler can anchor the middle

The Bills held Henry to 3.1 yards a carry and the Titans as a team rushed for 4.1 yards (while not badly mostly inflated by Tanny breaking off a few big chunks.) For all that big highlight the Bills defense actually held Henry in check.

Jets going full fire sale not surprising.

On the eyeball test I would actually say the lack of pass rush and poor D-line play is what contributed to the bad defensive stretches. The Miami game was the only game where bad LB play was exposed and that was due to playing two backups there. I think that when the D-line is winning you see much better play from the rest of the defense. The LB play when Milano and Edumonds are in is actually good. Yes Edumonds could hit some holes better but I think that issue gets overstated. Edumonds looked below average last year in the middle of the season when the rush defense was getting gashed due to bad D-line play. Then the D-line plays better and Edumonds looks like an All-Pro. It's on the D-line to improve the play of the defense, they have to win the one on one battles. This team is 20th in sacks and probably around that in other pass rush metrics. I would also say that the run defense is below average as well. Right now this team's most glaring need is a pass rusher. I think against the Raiders and Titans the run defense was pretty effective but the pass rush is holding the LB's and Secondary out to dry. Right now as far as getting more of a pass rush going the guys on the roster are going to have to just improve or there is going to have to be a big time trade to acquire that elite player that can set the tone for the defense.

Honestly I am shocked that the D-line has been at best inconsistent this season. The D-line rolls 9 deep with quality starting players but yet lacks that elite player that could set the tone for the game. I thought Ed Oliver could be that player but he hasn't taken that next step. I have even liked what Addision and Q.Jefferson have brought to the team so it isn't like the new additions are playing worse than Shaq and Phillips were last year. It is just that Oliver hasn't taken that step up, Hughes's age might be catching up to him, Harry's injury might still not have him at 100% and Murphy/AJ are more in line with rotational players at this point. If there is one big addition this team should go out and make I would say it should be at DE. Not sure who would be out there on the trade market but if this team can find a big time pass rusher at DE it could prove to be that final piece this team needs to fix the defense. Yes I am not thrilled about the CB position beyond Tre or the TE position but the CB's outside of Tre are fine if there is a better pass rush and the TE position is masked by having 4 good WR's. Looking at the trade market I would say that Yannick sitting on a bad Minny team with a one year deal is ripe for a trade. I would easily offer Minnesota a 2nd round pick and a 6th for him. The team could trade back Murphy or cut Murphy to ease the cap hit to basically be fairly minimal. Minny would get back the 2nd they paid for him plus a late rounder. Other than Yannick I don't see where a big trade could happen at DE, Aldon Smith could maybe be had cheaper but Dallas sadly is still in their divisional hunt.

I meant more so, if teams want to use artifical turf why isn't there uniformity? I would think turf that is the same everywhere would be uniform.

How does the NFL not have a universal turf? Why are teams allowed to have different types of turf?

If a defense is gearing up to stop downfield throws then Josh has to dink and dunk. If teams are going to respect you deep then you kill them down low. The fact that teams will respect Josh's deep ability so much already shows that the offense is special. In fact if Josh and the offense sees that they are giving them the short stuff early in the game and Josh dinks and dunks his way to TD's and field goals the defense will then adjust to try and clamp down on the shorter stuff and then Josh can kill them in the deep game. If a defense is going to make it easy for you then make it easy.

Brown should help, but it's up to Josh to take what the defense is giving him and Daboll and the staff to make sure he does that.