billsfan89

Bills seem like they finally have a good fullback, McIntyre was decent (And a really good Special Teams player) but Frank the Tank seem more like an old school power fullback lead blocker type.

I just hope for .500 or better and EJ looks legit

The team clearly felt it was much easier to find a guard than it is to find a FS (Let alone the cost difference in the tags). And considering Nix's semi-success with finding guys like Pears, Urbik and to a lesser extent Reinhart maybe they thought that the team would find another player and plug him in for cheap and the drop in production wouldn't be too bad. Also weren't the Bills making offers to a couple of guards in free agency (Vazquez who signed with Denver comes to mind) so they clearly thought they needed someone to replace Andy. I can't blame the Bills for wanting to keep Byrd over Levitre considering the replace-ability of guards compared to FS. But what I do fault them for is not going out and getting a guard in the 4th or 5th round (We didn't need two safties there esp when you tag a guy at FS) and then signing another veteran.

I always like to give my assessment of the team with week by week grades. Grading the Offense (Pass and Rush attack), the defense (Pass and Rush D), and Special Teams. Feel free to drop in your grades here. OFFENSE OVERALL B- (434 total yards 2 turnovers) Rush attack C+, CJ had a huge 38 yard run get called back in the first half, but his first half performance left a lot to be desired. He did rip a huge run in that final drive. Freddie got the ball into the end-zone and converted a couple of third and shorts but nothing dynamic. Team averaged 4.5 rush yards but it sputtered a lot in the first half which led to a slow offensive start Pass attack B-. Stevie came to play and Woods helped out big time, they also got some contributions from the backfield. But EJ did cause two turnovers which could have cost them. Chandler needs to get involved more and so does TJ. But the team got the big plays when it mattered most. Defense Overall A- (308 total yards given up 1 turnover forced 6 sacks) Rush Defense A- Got gashed a little at the end but despite that they held serve under 4 yards a carry. Pass defense A- The Pass rush was great, 6 sacks and the pressure was consistent, Mario led the way but it wasn't just him having a monster game. Justin Rodgers got burnt big once and it could have been more. Greg Olsen also had a nice day but Steve Smith and the other receivers (Outside of Ginn's big play) were for the most part held in check. Rodgers could be an issue but hopefully Gilmore comes back and solves it. Special Teams Overall B- (No turnovers, forced turnovers, or TD's) Carpenter hit the 55 yarder but missed one early, the punting was decent, and they let up some returns to Ginn including the 36 yarder. But they didn't have any glaring mistakes nor dynamic plays kind of a decent game out of the ST unit.

Back to back weeks the defense looked like a legit NFL defense. Some issues against the run here and there but overall the defense has looked good not great but good. But the coaching has made this defense aggressive, smart, and better in coverage. Also Cudos to Mario for leading the way on the pass rush, last week he didn't do too bad but this week he showed how good he can be. Kyle Williams put in another good effort, I will have to watch again to see how good Dareus did.

How long is Marquise out for? Also maybe they let TJ return some?

My fantasy teams hopes rest on CJ so I hope he can produce, but 2000 yards is overly optimistic, I hope so but I think the hole at LG and susceptible rookie QB are going to make it so CJ can't have monster games on a consistent basis which is what you need to do in order to do something crazy like 2000 yards.

Start Stevie, I like Woods but he is still developing, Stevie is a proven commodity and likely will be EJ's safety valve.

Pro Football Prospectus ranked Leonard as the worst safety in the league during the year that he started, he really didn't have much traction during his tenure here. His first year with the Jets he was the QB of the defense and played well, after that he has been very injury prone. He looked capable on Sunday, hopefully he stays on the field.

I thought both played well, Kiko is just a rookie he could have played better but he made plays out there and seemed to be present in coverage.

Its pretty obvious Geno Smith isn't going to make it in the NFL, he doesn't have the raw natural talent and skillset of Mike Vick when he was in Atlanta and he didn't study too much tape and in the NFL you have to put that extra prep in if you want to make it. Too much money on the line for 90% of the players to not study tape. The defenders are going to try to know you better than you know yourself.

I think we go uber aggressive early see if we can get to him with some blitzes but I would expect to basically be going back and forth from heavy blitzes and heavy coverage packages. Basically go from 7-8 men blitzes to 8 in coverage no in between I think that's the way he will go.

Franchise long snapper

Its a tricky injury for sure, Byrd still gets his 7 million for this year no matter what so I can't feel too bad for the guy. I think it would be best for both sides to let Byrd heal for the first few weeks of the season and get treatment. We need to up the guys trade value and help the defense out when he gets out on the field. Byrd also needs to prove he is healthy, seems like a symbiotic relationship.

The guy still wants a big contract, if that's what he was doing then he is an idiot. His best option is to play this season get through it and then force the Bills to trade him to a team that's willing to pay him the long term money he commands. Why force yourself to miss games with a fake injury? That would seem to lower your perceived value and lessen your case to earn big dollars on a long term deal. I think it has to be a legit injury it makes no sense for it to be anything else. His 7 million is guaranteed either way so no sense preserving it with a fake injury.

Easley kept at it after having to go through so many injuries, good on him that he made the roster and will get a chance to showcase what he can do. I think he will have to make a huge impact on special teams though, I think Woods, Stevie, TJ and Goodwin will be the guys that get a majority of the burn at WR but Easley was a special teams ace in college so it makes sense that they might want him to be the 5th WR and play a lot of special teams.

The Bills getting disrespected going up against the Pats* is nothing new and the Bills have earned it. With the Bills inexperienced roster, mediocre preseason, injury at QB, injury to Gilmore, and a talent level that isn't that great I think its OK for the bookies to set a high line even with Gronk out and the Pats* poor pre-season showing. Overall its not hard to see how the Bills could be huge underdogs I hope we shock the world but its not hard to see what the bookies see esp with Tuel starting.

Too many young guys on the roster at WR, got to try to develop Woods, Goodwin, T,J and even Easley along with already having Stevie in place. Still we can scoff at SD for making a dumb move by signing him but we ended up getting Mark Anderson and while it cost the team a little less money it didn't exactly work out.

Plus too he was traded over a week ago, I doubt they started to put in their week one scheme in place to a major extent back then. Its probably last week and this week that they have gone into real schemes.

Wouldn't mind Marcus Trufant team could use a veteran presence at corner and he seems like he might have enough left to give the team some good play for a few weeks.

I would have to disagree while he was never going to be a superstar or even a pro-bowler he was looking like a guy that could craft out a career in the NFL as a legit slot receiver. 61 receptions, 658 yards, and 5 TD's in 2011 is not a stat line to sneeze at esp with Fitz as your QB. He seemed like a guy who could craft out that role in a similar manner Brandon Stokley has/did (Stokley only had 1 season better than Nelson had in 2011 and that was on a stacked Colts team with Manning). Just because you aren't a pro-bowler doesn't mean you are a marginal player.

I always loved David Nelson as a player, guy reminded me of a Joe Jurevicius type possession receiver not a dynamic type but a reliable guy that can make a lot of grabs to keep drives moving and alive. Sad to see he is kind of a marginal NFL player after that knee injury. Hopefully he lands somewhere or maybe he just takes a year to rehab his knee and try and catch on with a team next year.

Is CJ on the last year of his deal, I thought he still had one more?

I think the defensive system alone will make the D-line look better, but how good is yet to be seen have a bad feeling about week one.

Blame the teams awful policy of making their season ticket holders pay for pre-season games not the process of pre-season. If you had 18 regular season games by the time the playoffs rolled around the rosters would be further depleted than they already are. Take a look at the week 16 and 17 rosters of a lot of NFL teams its so depleted, now play another two games plus the playoffs? That's just too much wear and tear.