Buddo

The Benjamin TD overturn. Confirmed shortly after by the 4th and 1 the cheaters got after challenge. While they did originally get a bad spot, I didn't think you could then simply give them a first down, without re-spotting the football, and perhaps getting the chains out.

The officiating was appalling. Would the Cheaters have won anyway? Probably, but it would be nice to see the outcome when the players are solely responsible for the end result. . Games in the NFL are very often decided by momentum swings. Whenever the Bills looked like they had a momentum swing going their way, officiating, either on the field, or away from it, took that momentum away from them. An area of Taylors play, I wanted to see a big improvement in, was in not taking stupid sacks. They themselves cause momentum swings, and put the team in bad downs and distances. I wanted to see that improvement, as I felt it was an area that any QB should be able to get better in. At the start of the season, I thought he might be achieving that improvement, but as the season has progressed, he's started to take more and more sacks for big losses. To the point where I suspect that many Bills fans around the country, spend a lot of time on a Sunday, yelling at their TVs 'get rid of it!' Irrespective of whether or not the Bills make the playoffs, we still need better QB play, for a more consistent future. Taylor is probably the ideal backup QB for any NFL team, as he's about 0.500, and takes care of the football, but that simply isn't enough for a starter.

The Pats have regularly got away with stuff against the Bills, over a good few years now. From Wilfork attacking Losman's knee, to Chandler getting a cheap shot from behind, (iirc, resulting in another concussion), to the latest from gronkowski. All of these were dirty play, and basically have been got away with. There comes a time, when you simply have to stop people walking all over you. If that results in 'extra - curricular' events, then so be it. Much like their cheating, the Patsies have exhibited scant regard for the rules when it comes to 'fair play'. Cheap shots, late hits etc., are simply playing the game by the same rules as they use. Until you show them that you are going to do to them, what they have been doing to you, it will continue. It's noticeable to me, that they don't do this stuff against teams like the Steelers, Ravens, Giants, etc. where they know they will get it back.

If Tyrod can't run, then there's not much point him starting, if the weather is going to be crap. And if the weather is going to be crap, he's only likely to get injured again, if he's already got a dodgy leg. Probably in the best interests of both the team and Tyrod, to start Peterman.

I'm not sure I've seen a more cowardly act on the football field tbh. Just about any injury that happens to that pos, is simply karma, from here onwards.

Someone mentioned Fairchild and Jauron earlier in the thread. If you remember those years, then Fairchild was actually a competent OC, but he had crap to work with, coupled with Jauron's desire to be ultra conservative offensively. You only have to look at the OCs we had after Fairchild, under Jauron, to realize that Fairchild wasn't the problem. Yet fans pretty much hated Fairchild, and wanted him gone. A concern here would be that Dennison isn't anywhere near as bad as we are making out, and its as much about what he has to work with, somewhat like the situation with Fairchild, and that he's made the scapegoat before being able to fully implement what he wants to do. McDermott strikes me as a HC who will be pretty clear how he wants things to be, so if you are chasing Dennison to run him out of town, you should also be chasing McDermott. This is a very weird season, that is still to play out. After last week, it seems it could go every which way still, from a playoff spot, to another collapse. While I'm not overly enamoured of all of the moves McBean have made, I still think that both they, and the coaching staff generally (I might make an exception for Castillo), need to be given another year, at least.

If ever there was a reason to make any call able to be challenged, that was it. Although Hughes getting called for celebrating a tackle with a team mate, the other year, is close.

After that ridiculous call on Gaines for a personal foul, that pick was seriously poetic justice. zebras tried their worst, but it wasn't enough.

In the sort of 'window' you are talking about, you should be able to spend some solid coin, on good FAs who can bolster the lines. In that window, you should also have drafted some in slightly lower rounds, who are also good enough to provide the sort of protection needed - e.g. Glenn. As regards looking after said QB, if you start him, you should be looking for him to be throwing as little as possible to begin with, and having a good TE on the roster. Pretty much what the Steelers did.

Another aspect of moving Dareus, that doesn't seem to be being thought about, is the impact on the other players around him - especially the likes of Kyle and Hughes. While it may seem a little odd to talk in terms of trust and Dareus, I'd be willing to bet that both Kyle and Hughes trusted Dareus, on the field, to be doing his job, on any given play. Although it's probably fair to say that ideas of continuity, when made in reference to the lines, are more important when you look at O-Lines, it's still something that has an impact on the D-Line as well. Kyle, Hughes and Dareus, have played a lot together over the last several years, and likely know each others game inside out. I'd also say that the regression in the D-Line performance, has impacted what the LBers are able to do. In fairness, they aren't the most talented bunch we've seen, but if the opposition are getting to them sooner, it makes shedding blocks (which they aren't especially good at anway) that much more difficult, as they haven't got enough momentum built up. I don't doubt that the style of D we are playing, has also been 'figured out', to an extent, and that combined with the lack of 'push' up front, is resulting in the D playing an awful lot on the back foot. Add in a lack of offensive production, so that their time on the field has increased, and you see the recipe coming together for the abysmal defensive performances that have been suddenly the norm. The oft injured Gaines having been missing, isn't helping the secondary either. Having said all of that, the amount of poor tackling technique that has also suddenly reared its ugly head, is something that the defensive players have no excuse for, whatsoever. Getting turnovers is important, but the first man to the football, should be stopping the play first and foremost, and not even be thinking of stripping the football.

Dareus's impact, isn't to be measured in snap counts. If he's in on opposition run plays that aren't successful, he's affecting their game plan. Perhaps one of the more telling things that this team has done since he was traded, is to re-sign a bigger bodied DT, and let another one go, in an effort to do something about shoring up the middle. Actions are speaking louder than statistics, or should I say snap counts. Even when the D was really firing with Schwartz a few years back, Dareus missed a game or two towards the end of the season, and we got run all over again, all of a sudden. He returned, iirc, and all of a sudden the run D is back performing. There's a reason why teams pay big money to DTs with Dareus's skill set, and that's because they make life a lot easier for the players around them.

If there as many decent QB prospects as some seem to believe, then there shouldn't be a problem getting one of the better ones. You just have to choose (very) wisely. As regards the O-Line, what we really need, is a healthy Glenn to begin with, and then a RT who can actually pass protect. Pass protection has been awful for the last 3 years, both under Ryan, and (still) now. A good(ish) run blocking O-Line, is not a good overall O-Line. On offense this year, the regression seems to have happened, because, like Ryan did with the D, guys are being asked/told/expected, to play in ways they simply aren't up to. While Dennison probably deserves some of the flak for the alteration in schemes, especially with his preference (supposedly) for zone blocking, Castillo should also be getting his share, as he's the guy supposedly teaching the necessary techniques (and failing). While there's certainly some legitimacy in the argument about getting an O-Line in place before getting your QB, the reality is, that we've missed on prospects in the past, by not taking them soon enough, whether it be 'Big Ben', Cousins, or Russel Wilson. If the previous few games have shown us anything, it's that we currently don't have a QB who we can trust. We absolutely need to get one for the future, before anything else. Find a good one, then you have a few years before you have to pay him, and in that time, if necessary, you can spend money in FA to give him the protection he needs, while also drafting guys for the future on the line.

I'm obviously not alone in being wrong about Peterman providing a 'spark', although in an odd way, he might have managed to set the fire that cremates our excuse for an O-Line - particularly on the RHS.

Moving Dareus has impacted the D, way more that people want to believe, imho. To the extent that they have had to bring back a bigger bodied guy, to try and stem the rushing through the middle. Put simply, Dareus's presence, stopped teams from trying to run up the middle, as when he was in, he stopped it happening., That freed up the LBers and Secondary to be able to make their own plays. For the most part, I think the players do fit the defensive schemes, but they decided to create a big hole in the middle, that has become blatantly obvious, to all of our opponents. The O-Line has been poor at pass protection, for the last few years. Quite obviously, nothing that the coaches have done, has changed that, and in moving away from the run blocking schemes that have previously worked, they have neutered what was recently a strength. I'm curious to know who decided that with the simple addition of Ducasse over Miller, that this O-Line would be successful running a zone blocking system, as they obviously don't qualify as the smartest guy in the room. When fit, Glenn rarely gets beat. Incognitos swan song aside, healthy he is far and away our best O-Lineman. (Glenn) After the way Groy performed in place of the injured Woods last season, you would have to think that perhaps we simply aren't putting the best guys out there. While Glenn is still unfit, you could give the interior a boost by using Groy at Center, and moving Woods back to RG, where he started his career for us. I think that Dawkins shows some promise, and it's a big ask for him to start as a rookie, but needs must. Henderson should be being given a shot, as the RT simply isn't doing anything.

I'm more than a little suspicious of 'the process'. The current showing for it seems to be 'my way, or the highway'. McDermott (or Beane) hasn't earned the right to do that yet, as he's proven nothing. I can see the rationale behind most of the trades, some of which come down to money decisions. Thing is, they have been shown to be mistakes, on two counts. Firstly, the Watkins trade, which became almost inevitable when they decided not to pick up his last year option. The injury concerns were not unreasonable, and yet we've had to go out and trade for another receiver, to replace him, in one way or another. And he's now injured. A similar scenario has played out with Dareus. The middle has been torn out of the D-Line, to the extent that they had to dump a lightweight DT, and bring back a bigger body, just to try and replace what they traded away for next to nothing. Dareus in the middle, wasn't getting run on, and teams didn't try to go there regularly, meaning that life became easier for the LBers and secondary. A few years back, towards the end of a season, Dareus missed a game against, I think, the Raiders. The D had been playing really well, yet the Raiders ran all over us. I think that was when Schwartz was DC. Makes you wonder how much relevant film that the coaches watched, before deciding that our run D was going to be just dandy without Dareus. Seems to me that some of 'the process', needs a good deal of refinement, before it will work, and it also seems as though that 'refinement', is going to have to be done in respect of self criticism, by McDermott and Beane.

While undoubtedly the Bills have been inept on both D and O the last couple of games, the Offense has been non existent, whether it be pass or run. While the 'traditional' approach has been to run to set up the pass, you can do it either way, i.e. pass to set up the run or vice versa. On Offense, we have achieved neither, and it has become glaringly obvious, that teams are simply stacking the box, and daring us to beat them with the pass. Tyrod has had two games in which to figure out how to achieve that, and simply hasn't managed it, at all. Tbh, it isn't any sort of stretch, to say that he hasn't really managed to do that, through most of his time here. We've all seen it, and it's not some sort of 'overnight epiphany'. Something had to change, and realistically, certainly on Offense, about the only thing that makes any real sense to change, is the QB. Admittedly we still have O-Line 'issues', but we aren't overly blessed with a full range of talent or health there atm. I don't doubt either, that they are also trying to get the run D sorted. Re-signing a large lump of DT, being one part of that. I don't expect it will be enough on its own, but improvement in the basics, and actually getting some production from the Offense, might just make enough of a difference, to actually get us back playing in the same game, as the opposition.

Generating 'excitement' is no rationale for exposing to injury, one of the few constants, we have had in our secondary. We simply don't have the depth as it is, without risking more from our starters there. White is a rookie, who has generally performed well, I see no reason to put any more on his plate than continuing to improve as a starting CB. 'Star' players get to be called that, by performing over a year or three. When White has earned that 'star' tag, you might consider it then, but now, not it you can possibly find anyone else to do it.

The D-Line play doesn't help them, but getting offsides before the snap, being confused by a simple motion across the line, and then bad angles plus poor tackling, is pretty much all on them. Humber has been awful the last couple of games, Alexander doesn't have the speed to hold the edge anymore, and Brown is getting blown up by blocks. If there is an excuse for any of them, it's probably Brown, as the poor D-Line play affects him more through the middle, as it's a lot harder to shed a guy who has been able to get momentum forward already.

He had the easiest job in the world yesterday......;(

I don't think I've ever seen such a dominating run performance, since the SB when Riggins ran all over someone for the 'Skins. The drive that ended with Brees running in a TD, was pure humiliation. Imho, it's a good job Brees decided to save his arm, or we could have been beaten worse. I genuinely don't think I can say anything at all positive about it from the Bills side, it was that awful. There have been some awful games to watch over the years, the bad weather game against the Browns a particular few hours I'd like back, but I don't think I've seen a worse Bills performance than this one.

I think there have been mistakes made. Strikes me as though there's been an element of 'I'm the smartest guy in the room', going on, and there are lessons that need to be learned. Trading Dareus has not proved to be a good idea. I really don't care about statistics on this one - just look at the results, and the manner in which they've happened. Some of the other trading has been questionable, imho, although not all of them. They have to have an especially good draft in 2018, to turn things around now.

In respect of the 'box' problem after an 'I' , it's probably something to do with a dodgy ipad update.. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-41886969 As regards refreshing, sometimes it's the browser button, and sometimes I just go to the Stadium Wall from the end of the page once I've finished reading the thread.

Thanks, try and get some sleep, and save the head scratching for later.

Not a bad article. It's certainly attempting to be relatively even handed about it. Personally, I'm not convinced it was a good move. I'm not sure the immediate savings are worth creating the hole, when it would appear that Dareus was 'getting on board'. While we might be ok for this season, with Kyle still performing, we are certainly going to have to address DT in FA or the draft next year. 'My way, or the highway' appears to be the stance of the GM/HC, and while it's not necessarily a bad thing, it's going to require an awful lot of good luck when drafting, for it to succeed. A concern, for me, going forward, is that to be a truly good HC, or GM, you have to be able to deal with talented people, who may not necessarily conform to everything you want them to do, or say. Especially if you are the guys that drafted them in the first place. Jury is going to be out on that one.

Iirc, wasn't Washington a healthy scratch for one of the last games of last year, due to 'not practicing very well'. And that was by Anthony Lynn. Work ethic or attitude might be the 'problem'. Seems a shame, tbh, as he's certainly flashed ability, but if he doesn't want it bad enough, then he will be gone, possibly even just cut, if we have need of roster space.