jethro_tull

there's always cleveland. good thing.

look on the bright side, the way teams are bunched in the standings losing out could move them up 10 positions in the draft. it sure looks like that's what they're after.

incredibly well done, i am so glad i watched it. it completely erased any "sting" from wide right or any of the other losses. great reminders of what an amazing ride that was! hey guys, we're ready for another one. any time now. not true. this show mends the heartbreak, watch it if you can on the other air times.

IK Enemkpali

Once again, Scwartz and the Bills were essentially FOUR AND EIGHT vs THE AFC!!!!!! Since the Bills are in the AFC conference, THIS SUCKS! TAKE HIM DOWN FROM YOUR THRONE!

Absolutely wrong. In Marrone's second and best season the Bills were essentially 4 and 8 vs. the AFC. That pretty much sucks if you are in the AFC. Also doesn't look so good for the Jim Schwartz fan club either. This season they are 5 and 5 in the AFC. I'm not happy with the season as it is unfolding and yesterday's game was a bad one but the coaches need more time.

He may not be very good in cold weather (which is not good). What we do know is that he (and the Bills) need a successful running attack during a game to keep the defense honest to establish the passing game. The Bills OL was straining to open running lanes against a very stout patriots defensive front and once Miller was replaced by Urbik it got worse.

It does not seem so crazy if the patriots are near the red zone and will probably score regardless of your best usual defensive efforts. Rushing 9 is a basic number- the "ideal" number is rushing as few players as possible that allows one guy to sprint unblocked right to Brady. You know he's going to throw, basic coverage is not working for any team, you need to make contact with the QB before he throws- period. A sprinting unblocked defender can make this happen. The Patriots are daring some team to stop them. I see a lot of talk about pressing or mugging the receivers as they come off the line. Who on the Bills defense is fast enough and big enough to effectively mug Gronkowski?

The idea is to have a player get a clear, unblocked path sprinting right to Brady. A player sprinting right towards him should be able to make contact before he throws the ball- and at least get him to deviate from the original play.

Those critical two seconds. But WE KNOW HE IS GOING TO THROW THE BALL! Coverage isn't working and probably will never work because their timing is so good- their plays are so embedded it's like muscle memory at this point. The key must be to get to the QB to stop or disrupt the planned throw- within those critical two seconds.

Except for the Jags loss, the Bills were beaten by two teams who outmatched them and had well established QBs and systems. Make that extremely well established QBs and systems. The Jags loss was a bad one, but it did happen against our backup QB- who happened to have a horrible game. They might not turn into legit contenders, but they most assuredly are better than we saw early last Sunday AM and should continue to improve.

Thanks! The whole idea of the "risk" is that the patriots will score anyway, what do you have to lose? it may not be 9 rushing but there needs to be a way to have at least (1) guy who can sprint directly to the QB. one misippi two mis---BOOM!

exactly. two seconds is all the defense has. for the rusher to get to brady he must get behind the line untouched with a clear line of sight. rushing 9 should accomplsh this, no?

the seahawks also had success and had that game in hand.

If you can't match them on talent, game plan and execution aren't you giving up (in effect) unless you at least try something out of the box to stop them? Hoping for "any given Sunday" doesn't get it done either. They are going to be undefeated unless some team finds a different way.

At this point the Patriots and their scoring point source Tom Brady are literally unstoppable in the conventional football sense. The usual football defensive gameplan is not working. It seems as if teams need to start taking risks or go beyond conventional defensive wisdom. Especially near the red zone, where if teams don't do something differently he / they are going to score anyway. Should teams (the Bills) concede that they are going to score and take some unconventional risks to try and stop them? Example- rush 9 and cover 2, one guy covering Gronkowski and one guy covering Edeleman? Something different?

It is ludicrous to start thinking about firing Ryan. Dennis Thurman, possibly but it all depends on how the season pans out. The only sore spot I have with Rex is that he talked way too much when he took the job. It would have sat a lot better if he set realistic expectations that usually coincide with ANY new coaching change and new systems, regardless of roster talent. For those of you who thought Jim Schwartz belongs on a throne, he was essentially 4 and 8 vs the AFC.

they would have to go 6 and 3 in the remaining 9 games.

We Bills fans are an impatient bunch and deservedly so but another coaching change after only 7 games is the last thing this teams needs. It needs a QB that knows what he's doing more than anything else. If the Patriots hadn't laid down in last year's final game, Jim Schwartz' defense was a disappointing 4 and 8 vs. the AFC last season. It had spectacular moments but wasn't really that great.

No. Like JIm Schwartz, Josh McDaniels, Chan Gailey, Marc Trestman, Todd Haley, Pat Shurmer, Mike Shula, Norv Turner, Romeo Crenell, Wade Phillips, Mike Mularkey, Dick Jauron, Gregg Williams and Dave Wannsteadt.

But where would he land? He has a good thing now, potentially great. He could wind up on a dysfunctional team if he fails as a head coach. Think Rick Pettine is happy?

i read that article this morning- nice sentiment but not enough substance to be convincing.

Show him the numbers- coordinators that become head coaches usually wind up back where they started.

The Patriots neutralized the Bills pressure defense by giving up the run and running 5-receiver sets. Brady was able to find an open guy among the 5 eligible receivers before the Bills could get to him. Very easy for him to do. The Bills did not have an answer for that attack. At that point the Bills have to give them the run. You give them the run by rushing 4 and cover 2 on the 2 receivers most likely to get the ball. You also have to change the matchups, subbing more DBs for some of the slower coverage LBs because the Bills LBs cannot cover as well as they need to, especially against Gronkowski, Edelman or Dion Lewis who are the top (3) NE receivers by a mile. Stop those guys and then you have to anticipate what the Patriots will do next when that starts working.

chicago area football fans are very knowledgeable about the rest of the league. many know more about the Bills than do many Bills fans.