Utah John

In my view the Bills have taken EJ back to where he should have been at the start of 2013. Sitting behind a veteran, and learning. I don't see a lot of difference between Orton and Kolb regarding talent level, so starting now EJ is back to being the future QB of the team. Where he should have been all along. Remember last year when Kolb got hurt there was a carousel of QB candidates through the Bills' camp, looking for the Kolb replacement. The Bills couldn't find anyone adequate so they tossed EJ into the fire. Now they're pulling him back out. I don't know if EJ has what it takes. I think he has the arm but he's afraid to use it. I think he's smart enough to learn the system. I question his moxie. What I do know is this, that he was never going to become successful by continuing to fail, and that's all he's prepared to do now. If he sits for the rest of this year, and maybe next year, that will still be less time on the bench than Aaron Rogers had sitting behind Bret Favre. He will still be a young man with a great deal of athletic potential. The failure of the Bills organization in this is not necessarily in drafting EJ, it's in not securing a replacement for Kolb, and then not having game plans that fit EJ's abilities. For all the criticism of the Texans game plan, i.e. too much passing, keep in mind those passes were open, but both the passer and the receivers failed to convert. With better skilled players the game plan was fine, and would have been pretty smart since the Texans were focused on stopping the run. So where was the adjustment to realize the passes wouldn't work, so it was time to switch to a run-centric offense? Hackett is a bigger problem than EJ.

They're benching EJ, not cutting him. Remember at the start of 2013, the plan was to sit Manuel and have Kolb play while EJ learned. Kolb got hurt and Manuel looked decent so they put him in. He played OK for a rookie. But he's playing worse than ever now. The Bills want to win, and they really do have the talent to do so. Sure they have weak areas, like every other team has weak areas, but the future is now, as George Allen used to say. (If you don't know who George Allen was, you missed a lot of good football in the day.) So you've got Fred Jackson pushing himself to play hard every play. But he's 33 and is going to break down eventually. Are you going to tell Fred Jackson to suck it up, keeping being an overachieving hero and burn out and when EJ finally figures things out we'll send a photo of the Bills in the playoffs to wherever he's living at that time? No, you owe it to Fred Jackson to take your best chance at winning. Let EJ sit and watch and learn. This year, maybe next year, like Aaron Rogers did behind Bret Favre in Green Bay. EJ has real talent and skills, but he's in over his head, and he's wasting a year of the careers of his teammates.

Chandler says EJ made some great throws. Hmmm. He made some routine throws that any competent QB is expected to make. Nothing brilliant, nothing really difficult. He missed a LOT of other routine throws that any competent QB is expected to make. Just as bad, he didn't even see wide open receivers that even one of his overthrown softie passes could have gotten to.

Byrd is a smart player who worked well in Pettine's systems. Like a lot of other players, his skills might not translate into success elsewhere. He is not a physical specimen like many other safeties. He reads QBs and sees how plays are developing, and he reacts. Why he isn't able to do it in NO, I can't say for sure, but it is probably due to what he's asked to do by his position coaches and DC. Either that or he got tired of faking injuries, so now he shows up but doesn't really show up.

The answer is, probably yes. Whether he's better right now that everyone else is not the only thing that matters. If the Bills thought EJ was as good today as he's going to get, he'd deserve to be cut. They look at him as a red-shirt rookie, who is learning as he goes, and they see enough potential to keep him on the field even if he costs the team wins that they could reasonably get with an average QB. So the reason he would probably start for other teams is that they have immediate AND longer term needs, and they're looking ahead.

There do seem to be different rules in the last minutes. Last year the Patriots were playing the Panthers, and Luke Keuchly mauled Gronkowski in the end zone -- no call. Our Corey Graham got away with PI at Chicago. Woods was definitely denied the chance to run. The refs could have figured Woods initiated the contact, but the guy had his hand on him. There's no way it wouldn't have been called except in that situation, where PI would have set up the Bills on the 20 or so with a minute or more on the clock, and a chance to win. But gosh EJ was terrible. Most of the passes that were dropped could have been thrown a lot better. Several incompletions were to open receivers but the pass was not where it needed to be. Even against Chicago, it was only because two of our receivers could elevate and snag EJ's high wimpy throws that the Bills were able to move the ball in critical periods. Fortunately Fitz gave us ample reminders why he wasn't the guy, either. Watching him miss open receivers, in such sharp contrast to what Rivers did last week, shows how rare and special it is to have a superior QB.

The first one to come to mind was Nate Odomes. He was a great CB for the Bills but couldn't transfer that when he signed for large money with Seattle.

Gailey was a good coach, who could be a great offensive coordinator. His biggest failing was his choice of defensive coordinators, and bad luck on defense. Dave Wannstedt looked like a good plan, but Wannstedt's view was that a dominant defensive line could mask weak LBs. Then Mario Williams hurt his wrist and Marcel Dareus didn't show up, and the defensive line wasn't a force as expected, and then it turned out Wannstedt couldn't scheme. All that is the responsibility of the head coach, but it wasn't like Gailey was a fool. Some reasonable things he did just didn't work out.

No, I think Schwartz's schemes are much better balanced to defend both the run and the pass. The pass defense is worse partly because of the absences of Byrd and Kiko. I think it's a good enough defense to win games just with competent offensive play. Last year, it wasn't.

The only way you can say RGIII is a bust is to look at "bust" as another term for "broken." He got caught up in the hype of the Skins making the playoffs in his rookie year, and his idiot coach and the incompetent team doctor were complicit in playing him and subjecting him to further and disastrous injury. I don't think he'll ever be the same special player he was. He might turn into a competent professional QB, doing the things expected of normal players, but he clearly had the special and rare skills the Skins went after. But you don't buy a Ferrari to haul manure, and it was a real shame how he was treated by his team.

Tell me which Bills players will be injured, and when, and I'll tell you how confident or pessimistic I am.

Maybe they could each score some free tickets.

Evans was on the downhill part of his career when he was traded, but I had the sense that the Bills were trying to do right by him by sending him to a playoff-caliber team to give him a shot at least once. It was clear the Bills weren't going to get Evans to the SB. If Evans had held on to a particular pass from Flacco it might have worked out, too. (Actually I think the defender knocked the ball out of Evans' hands, so it wasn't a drop.)

The key I think is using Graham to cover Gates. Graham is almost big enough to be a safety and he obviously has great coverage skills. The key will be whether Schwartz can come up with a scheme to take this single piece out of the Charger's system. The Chargers have some high-effort RBs but no one in the talent class of ours. Stop Gates and you stop the Chargers. The Bills' advantage is there is no single guy you can stop and therefore stop the system. Three good WRs, three good RBs, one average TE trump a great TE and average other guys.

They must have a LOT of jerseys in the HOF.

I was wondering why I hardly ever heard Dareus' name called. In past years it would have meant he was dogging it. This year it means he's playing so well the other team can't afford to let him loose.

At one point the announcers confused Marcel Dareus and Kyle Williams. Granted they're both large men but their uniform numbers are completely different.

On Spiller's TD return, he caught the ball with 9:35 left in the quarter and crossed the goal line with 9:24 left (the time keeper let another second click off). 102 yards in 11 seconds, with him slowing down at the end, having had to make a cut when he crossed the 20, and wearing pads and a helmet. That'll do, that'll do. Also I commend Polish Dave on the most effective point-counterpoint I've seen on this board.

Exactly. Focus on beating San Diego, not on someone's perception.

This will be tougher than a lot of Bills fans think. Philbin is an impressive coach. The 5-2 used last week will force the Bills to use practice time this week to prepare, but there's no guarantee the Dolphins will start with it or stay with it. The Dolphins are injured at LB so quick shots into the middle of the D, or jet sweeps, should work and should negate the strong D-line. Also the Dolphins' offensive strength is their running attack, not passing as Chicago's is, which plays into the Bills' defensive strength.. Especially if we get Rivers back we should be OK on defense. I think the final score will be 17-14 but I don't know who wins.

Does anyone know what percentage of the Bills revenue comes from ticket sales and anything else related to home game attendance, how much comes from their share of away games, and how much comes from television? Of course the teams want to sell tickets and get money, but beyond paying for the privilege of getting in to the game, the other function the fans provide is a free staging and sound track. Imagine watching an NFL game on television, being played in a huge empty stadium. No fans in the stands, no cheering. No wall of sound when the home team does something right, and no blast of silence when the visitors score. No Elvis, no funny hats, no babes. The experience for the TV viewer would be cut way back, regardless of the quality of play on the field. I think the real reason for the blackout rule is to enhance the television experience by coercing more fans to attend.

The Bills D last year got lots of great stats against the pass but was gouged by the run. Enter Schwartz and Spikes. Teams that rely on the pass will struggle against the Bills. Teams with a strong passing attack will do well. Unfortunately for Miami, they match up very badly with the Bills D. Unfortunately for the Bills, they also match up badly with the Miami D. I think the Bills O line is better (less bad?) than the Patriots O line, but they need to be a LOT better to hold up. NE's line turned into Kleenex against the Miami D. If Brady struggled, what will EJ do? The biggest factor isn't players, it's coaching. Miami's Philbin is really impressive. He's been in his job longer than Marrone and his team, and he's making a series of innovations. The Fins D had the Pats completely befuddled last week. So this week, presumably the Bills will have worked out ways to attack what the Fins did last week. If the Fins pull another surprise against the Bills, will the Bills be able to adjust and find new ways to attack? To me that's the biggest question.

I get the strong feeling that Senator Schumer intervened in the entire process of the Bills sale to ensure they would not be moved away from NYS. That isn't an issue with the Pegulas, who have turned into WNY's Easter Bunny, Santa Claus, and Tooth Fairy all rolled into two. But even the Bon Jovi crew was reported to be willing to sign an affidavit saying they wouldn't move the team. The only reason I can think of for that is league pressure, making it clear the team couldn't be moved, and the only reason I can think of for that is political pressure.

Watching the replay, I don't think any part of Jackson's body touched out of bounds until the ball touched the pylon. They're always saying the goal line stretches in both directions outward from the field to infinity, so I think it should have been called a touchdown.

I wonder why Fox is broadcasting the Bills game. Generally the visiting team determines which network broadcasts a game, with CBS "owning" the AFC and Fox the NFC. It will be interesting to hear the comments about the Bills from a crew that doesn't know much about them.