CodeMonkey

This is his 4th season. Running backs are expected to perform their first season. When I see arguments like he is being used incorrectly, or he needs space to utilize his speed etc. that's fine. But this "he is young" BS needs to stop.

Out of curiosity, what makes you 100% sure that the Bills, knowing they had the tag to fall back to, bargained in good faith?

The Bills thought they would force Byrd to play this season by tagging him without having to commit to a long term deal. They, at the very least, miscalculated given who Byrd's agent is.

As to the OPs questions, I stopped reading after asking if the Bills should start Tuel.

In this case self-preservation is good business sense. It has been pointed out numerous times in numerous threads that this is a business decision for both Byrd and the Bills. Byrd knows that risking his future by playing this season on the tag is not good for his future (self-preservation if you will) or a sound business decision. Some, including me, find Byrds actions to be less than admirable or even worse, but I find no flaw in his logic. The Bills, also in my opinion, pulled a less than admirable move by tagging Byrd in the first place.

Don't confuse losing his heart with having sound business sense.

And I suspect they would be right in this particular case.

That was probably true at one point but defenses have adapted. The Jets seemed to substitute without too many issues last Sunday.

I generally do stuff like that every Sunday, record the game and watch it (with commercials removed) during dinner with the family. When you get the game down to 75 minutes like that it is a lot more fun and a whole lot more interesting, for me anyway. Watched it live last Sunday due to the late start. Not only was the game itself painful to watch, but it dragged on for hours with all the dead time. Thank god there is only 1 more 4pm game this season.

They are just running all the math. CPU cycles are cheap these days

Not unless there is a freak blizzard at the Ralph. Ravens by 10.

http://www.sportsclubstats.com/NFL/AFC/AFCEast/Buffalo.html

Look for one of Hammers posts. I think he has a link to a map etc. in his signature. We park there and it is not any worse getting to 90 after the game than any other lot. But you may want to postgame-tailgate for a while. Traffic right after a game is hideous.

Hammers lot is next to the RV lot. I won't be there, but enjoy!

The only way that could have been the most frustrating loss is if you expected great things early from this team. And if you did expect great things with rookies/unprovens all over the place in the coaching staff as well as players on a team that has sucked worse than should even be possible in the NFL for the last 13 years then the person you should be frustrated with is yourself in my opinion, for your unrealistic expectations. This group of players and coaches may or may not amount to anything. But it is far to early to tell one way or the other. Middle school, at least that's what they call it around here.

Hmmmm I just saw a thread called "It's time to sit/trade EJ". so I may have to retract my statement above and yield to the OP after all

I agree. Anyone on this board has watched more minutes of the Bills this season (probably by far) than any of the talking heads.

With the current secondary of the Bills I don't hold out much hope for a win. But I certainly hope to see signs of life from the offense as opposed to last Sunday.

CBS: All pick the Ravens straight up. With the spread (Bills + 3,5) 6 pick Ravens versus 2 for the Bills. ESPN: 9 All 13 pick Ravens and none pick the Bills. 4 don't have their picks in yet.

It's not much different than after a win, just polar opposite messages.

Condemning any player or coach after 2 or 3 games is forum overreaction at its very finest. Do I think Manuel had a bad game Sunday, certainly. Am I in love with the game plan or play calling (by the way, we do not know how many plays were changed by Manuel), absolutely not. Do I think the hurry up with this team is a huge mistake, definitely. But like it or not, particularly the delusional few who were/are predicting playoffs this year, this is a (re)building year. If I don't see steady improvement in all aspects of the offense in particular the 2nd half of the season I will be extremely disappointed. But the Bills organization didn't descend into obscurity in one season, and it certainly won't climb out in one season either.

Not most of the "fans" in this thread. All of the "man up" and "who waits til they are 100% to play" posts and both funny and sad at the same time. Sad to think some Bills fans don't get the simple concept that you have outlined.

I disagree in the case of this years Bills. So many new faces and coaches. New scheme. As you said, a rookie QB. Suspect OL. The top RB cannot pass block. I think the hurry-up in the Bills current environment is a huge coaching blunder. It is tough enough for a QB to assimilate into the NFL without piling more onto his shoulders. All the hurry-up has done thus far is to force the defense onto the field far more than they should be. Even suspect offenses like the Jets and going to score if you give them that many chances. Maybe by the end of the season I will be proven wrong and the hurry-up will be working great. But for now it is a disaster.

You would be too with 8 sacks and god knows how many knock downs.