Utah John
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I thought Hughes earned a sack too. But all these plays will be reviewed by the league, and adjustments made as needed.
Hughes has somewhat fewer sacks this year, at least that's my impression without checking, but he's playing at an even higher level. He was back in coverage a lot yesterday, doing more LB than DE work and making plays all over the field.
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Every player has a range of quality where he usually plays, with a ceiling and a basement. TT's showing us his ceiling is occasionally pretty high, when he makes some spectacular play to escape a pass rush, or hits a tough throw (or both). Generally he's an average QB, with his overall score pulled down by often missing routine, must-make throws. He has GOT to be able to keep drives alive by hitting quick outs and slants, and he misses 50% of throws that any NFL QB should make 99% of the time. He sure is fun to watch, and he's the best we've had since Bledsoe, but gosh he's not dependable.
The thing that I really don't like is that he doesn't seem to be improving in this area. At the same time, he's not hitting his deep throws anymore.
As for the game, I think the Bills play to match their opponents. If they're playing a strong team, they play well. They were better than the Rams with the Rams missing 3 out of 4 D linemen, but the Bills played down to them, particularly the O. Without the pick-six I don't know if we win.
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I work for the federal government. There's a law called the Hatch Act that forbids political activities at work. We aren't at work to talk politics, we're at work to work. There are times when something's bugging me and I would love to chat about it with someone at work, but if that gets started it would not only waste time, it would cause divisions and resentments among the work force. What if the senior government civilian in an organization came out for one of the candidates? Think what that would do to people. Thank God for the Hatch Act, seriously.
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J Williams is a rookie and hasn't earned game playing time, which is not to say he's not playing well. There's a clear pecking order with McCoy, Gillislee, and then scraps. Williams has to show he can manage blitz pickups (speaking of that, Mr McCoy, how do you spell o-le?), hot reads as a receiver, motion formations, etc in order to get time on the field during games. It's all part of the learning process, and with McCoy and Gillislee in front of him, he's not going to get much of a chance for now.
That said, during preseason Williams looked really good, which is what kept him on the roster. Will JW turn out better than KW? I honestly don't know. But KW was a real force last year, a true weapon, and the running game this year misses him
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Giving him a tryout, sure. If he's in shape and has his head on straight, signing him and cutting Bush would be an improvement. Maybe Bush isn't showing anything in practice these days, but I don't see him on the field. KW would be a complete improvement when we need a power back who also poses a home run threat.
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It isn't a curse as much as a bad choice. The Bills players from the Fredonia days talked about how the town's layout was conducive to a bunch of guys hitting the bars for a couple of beers after practice. The result was a strong sense of team bonding. I haven't been to SJF but what I hear is that the layout just doesn't work out the same.
Moving to SJF was a financial one, to regionalize the team. Are there more Rochester-area fans buying tickets because training camp is near there? I don't know, but it would have to be a heck of a lot of tickets to make up for missing the playoffs since Fredonia.
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Speaking of AZ, maybe the decisive loss to the Bills got them questioning themselves, and they followed up with a stinker against LA.
Probably won't happen to NE, what with Brady coming back. I'm not sure whether to root for the Browns, or tell them to duck.
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Oh, come on. Give Affleck a break. Really. He's a fan of a team, the same as us, just a different team. I've had worse reactions than that to a Bills loss.
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SAS is a jerk, no question, but a lot of his criticisms about Ryan are valid. This week I'll call him Rex, but more often than not he's Wrecks in my book. Hoping to be proven wrong as long as he coaches the Bills.
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Games like this, with teams that don't know each other particularly well, and with more or less equivalent talent level and strengths/weaknesses, usually come down to good coaching. Can the coach find weaknesses to exploit? Are there tendencies that are revealed from film study and analytics? Does the coach have his players focused and confident?
I have no clue how good the Rams are this year. They've been pretty bad lately but sometimes improvement comes quickly. Fisher keeps getting hired because he was working somewhere else, like a guy who's famous for being famous. I think he's consistently ... meh. Ryan can do a great job getting a team ready, with lots of creative defensive plays, or his guys can just show up and get beat. We've all seen both. Who knows what next week will bring.
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Well if the pats don't give up, what team was that yesterday that didn't even try to get a quick TD with five minutes left?
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Here's what I liked best of all: During the last five minutes or so, with their team down by two scores (16 points), the Pats just gave up. Really. They quit. Amazing. You assume any pro team will make its best effort, always, under any circumstances. Their TE, Bennett, was killing the Bills' DBs. Gronk was on the field. Amendola, Edelman, Hogan, all ready to go. And, the Pats were running routine running plays into the line, apparently to pad stats for their RBs. No effort to score quickly to try to win. Incredible. They GAVE UP.
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Reggie should be wherever he can rehabilitate best. Maybe that's at the stadium, getting around on crutches and going to meetings, so he develops a connection with the other players and learns how the schemes work. Maybe that's at home. It's not our call.
Lawson should definitely be at the stadium every day. His arm might be in a sling or not in a sling, but he can still walk without risk and should certainly be attending meetings.
Whether they or other injured players are usually on the sidelines, I'm not sure why they would be. They would be in the way, they can't really help anything or serve any purpose.
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Personally I think Karlos Williams provided a dimension to the running game that's missing this year. Great combination of power and speed, mostly power. Granted, Gillislee like Fred Jackson seems to find ways to get the tough yard when needed, but KW would get four in the same situation.
But, I think he's finished. For his sake I hope I'm wrong, but maybe he'll serve as a wakeup call to the knuckleheads coming into the league, all full of themselves and thinking they've got it made.
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The Bills have made their bed for this year and are going to lie in it. It's TT -- EJ -- Cardale. They are willing to spend the year letting TT show what he's got. Next year will be without EJ so there's room for an addition. If TT isn't cutting it, probably he'll be released or traded since they can't afford two premium-cost QBs.
If Romo comes back and looks completely healed and strong, and Dallas wants to move to Prescott, Romo might be OK. But trading for him means accepting his contract, which means no TT.
So, there are too many questions right now to answer the question.
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Where was this defensive backfield? Last Thursday, half of it (the safeties) was in the box because Wrecks decided he needed to stop the run. So with no deep help, we saw a series of jump balls between our CBs and Jets receivers 5 or 6 inches taller. It should have taken no more than a quarter for Wrecks to realize he had to adjust his D. Instead we blew that game. Today's game was how last week should have gone.
I think one difference is that the Ravens and especially the Jets have very good D lines. I don't think I heard the names of any of the Cardinals D linemen today having made a really good play. Today there were running lanes and time to pass, that weren't there the first two games.
Also probably the Cardinals were expecting to play in snow, and the nice weather fooled them.
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Marv Levy was pretty old also when he took over a disaster team mid-season. That worked out OK, and Levy didn't have a very good track record before then. Coughlin? Sure. Better than Wrecks any day.
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What bothered me was the absence of adjustments. It wasn't working the way it was, but Wrecks just kept on.
In two years the D line has gone from the best in football to a disaster. Kyle Williams is still playing hard, but the rest? Part of the problem was fatigue. The Bills probably lost the game on the first Jets drive, when they just wore out and then couldn't recharge. I know, these are professionals who are supposed to be in shape, but any defense gets tired faster than the offense does. In years past the Bills had such depth at DT and DE they could roll out two high-quality lines. On Thursday they dressed five defensive linemen. Jerry Hughes started out great, then evaporated.
About that first drive by the Jets. They got their first, first down with a pass Gilmore couldn't break up (though he was in position). The Jets' second first down came on a third down play where Fitz was sacked, but there was a phantom holding call on Gilmore. Without that terrible call, the Bills get off the field, the D line doesn't get worn out, and who knows what happens then. Of course the real problem, Wrecks, wasn't going anywhere, just standing there watching with him mouth hanging open, so probably the result would be the same.
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The frustration was revealed in the second half of the Jets game. The Bills were in 3rd and makeable, and TT threw one of his half dozen ducks toward Clay, who was not exactly making the best effort either. Incomplete, fourth down, and Watkins was on the other side of the field, watching, and then pounding the ground in frustration. I suspected it was frustration at the incompetence of TT to hit basic, elementary-school throws that an NFL QB has to hit 99 times out of 100.
I haven't seen any injury reports about Watkins, but he wasn't on the field when the Bills were making their slow-motion last-gasp attempt to come back. I hope his foot was just sore. My guess is, his heart was sore. He knows he's a talented player but it just isn't working. I think Watkins will be in Buffalo until his rookie contract runs out, and then takes less money than the Bills offer, to go. Anywhere.
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I see you fellow old guys bragging about the games you've seen. Well we all forget details sometimes but for heaven's sake not this one. It was 51-3, not 52-3.
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Unfortunately for the 2016 Bills they weren't playing the 5-11 2015 Ravens. The Ravens look pretty good. The Bills D was about a B+ which is far better than last year, and except for a really good runner they had the Ravens offense well contained. This looks like the team we expected to see at the start of last year, pretty good defense, shaky offense.
The Bills never got into the flow yesterday, because they couldn't convert third downs and stay on the field often enough. So Shady didn't get enough carries and none of the WRs got enough targets. Why? Taylor played poorly but he was only part of the problem. He needed better protection. On Thursday the Bills with Cordy Glenn hurt play the Jets with their fearsome D line. Gronk is not the answer to protecting Taylor, and Felton is a good pass protector. This is a good move.
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Look, I hope Watkins is OK to play, and he gets through this year in good shape, and comes back in 2017 in actual good health.
But these things happen. No one thinks Keenan Allen is a kitty or fragile, but look at this:
2016 NFL Knee Allen blew out his ACL during play in Week 1, ending his 2016 season.
2015 NFL Kidney Allen came down for a touchdown pass hard on his back and lacerated his kidney. He had to undergo surgery and was placed on IR
2014 NFL Ankle Allen got pulled awkwardly in his week 15 game against the Broncos and had to leave with a sprained ankle and fractured collarbone. He missed the final 2 games of the season.
2012 College Knee Allen tore his PCL in college that required surgery
Finally I doubt the Chargers fans are beating up on their best player because he's been hurt. They're disappointed but they suck it up and move on. Just what we ought to do. In our case, there's a good chance Watkins can be productive all year, whereas Allen is out, so we should be happy to have Watkins as long as he can play.
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The Ravens were 5-11 last year and this year are aiming at 11-5 and see no reason not to shoot for the division championship. The Bills were 8-8 last year and this year are aiming at 10-6, or 9-7 if that squeaks them into the playoffs, and never talk like they're going to take the division from the Patriots.
A man's reach should exceed his grasp. A team that is just trying to be less mediocre, well...
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Someone please find Tyrod's mojo. He misplaced it somewhere between Week 17 last year against the Jets, and Week 1 this year. No sense of confidence or attacking. Even his miraculous throw to Clay was just scrambling to stay alive. He NEVER attacked the deep secondary. Why not put Watkins in the slot if that's all you're going to ask him to do. Woods made some plays, but what happened to the other WRs?
Tyrod is just as quick and strong and agile as ever. Use your skills, Tyrod, and attack the defense.
Bills power rankings
in The Stadium Wall Archives
Posted
There are legitimate reasons for the media to question the Bills recent success. OK. But, few teams consistently blow out opponents. Few teams have balanced attacks and solid, aggressive defenses, and reliable STs. Nearly all teams are weak in one area or another. The Bills are a pretty balanced team, pretty good in all phases (with rushing making up for passing on offense), without obvious weaknesses. They belong in the second quintile, I think. A quintile is 1/5th of the total, or 7 or 8 teams in the NFL. There are 7 or 8 teams clearly better than the Bills, at least now. The Bills belong in the second group of 7 or 8 teams. Exactly where they fit in that group will vary week to week.
If not too many more serious injuries happen, and we get Shaq and Sammy back, we could challenge to get into the top quintile.
It's nice having this discussion, and not being Cleveland.