ChanOverChin

Let's be clear, Atlanta is considered to be the BEST team in the NFC and possibly the best team overall (the Pats have looked shaky at times and would be 1-2 if not for Brady's last minute heroics vs Houston). If the Bills beat Atlanta in Atlanta this week then do the they deserve some measure of respect?? To me, if they beat Atlanta after having already beaten Denver (who many would consider to be the best team in the AFC) then they certainly deserve to be ranked in the Top 10, if not the Top 5 overall. Your thoughts??

After beating a team like Denver the Bills have gained some much deserved respect. This has to do wonders for the confidence of the Bills' players and coaches because if they can beat Denver they can beat ANYBODY........including Atlanta. As amazing as it sounds, the Bills are the #1 defense in the entire league. That stellar defense and solid QB play from Taylor will give them the chance to win each and every week. The Bills have also been very fortunate on the injury front overall.......insofar as they have not lost key players for long periods of time.......like they have in the past. They did beat Denver pretty soundly WITHOUT the likes of starting DT M. Dareus and LT C. Glenn, which I would have thought would be unfathomable. They were able to do it because they were able to keep the game vs Denver close, which allowed them to run the ball, which in turn allowed them to call a lot of very effective play action plays and roll Taylor out left or right, where he becomes very dangerous. If they had been forced to pass the ball to make up for a somewhat large deficit it would have likely turned into a disastrous game because Denver would have just teed off on them with Von Miller and company. That's what Denver was hoping for, for sure.

The Rams are better for two reasons: 1. They have their QB of the future. 2. They have W. Phillips as their DC.

Rosen is our man. Great poise. Can make all of throws. Darden will be taken first overall. Bills will have a shot at Rosen and hopefully they will get him. After those two it's a real crapshoot IMHO.

A. Smith is a very good QB. If we could get him for a R3 pick next year it would be a steal. KC is going to want to start their R1 QB next year. We have nine draft picks for 2018 and ten draft picks for 2019. The Bills are likely to use at least some of those picks to trade for veteran players to fill obvious holes. The Bills could end up with R1 2018 pick Josh Rosen, Alex Smith, and Nate Peterman at QB next year. That would sure be a nice improvement over what they have now.

Having waived S Elston and LB Jenkins, the Bills are now down to only 51 players. Why would they do that with no new players in mind right away?? I say they will at least sign a new safety since they can't go with just three (Hyde/Poyer/Anderson). Since they have six LBs on the roster they may add a WR, which is a definite position of weakness. As an aside, if the Bills were truly trying to get better they would be adding guys like TE G. Barnidge, who could essentially fill the role of a go-to receiver. Instead, they will likely sign someone who we've never heard of, who went undrafted, and/or who has toiled on a practice somewhere.

Didn't McD go for it on 4th down near midfield in the Panther game?? Is that playing it close to the vest?? We don't know enough about McD to start labeling him. The fact is that Carolina has a very good defense. Unfortunately, the Bills aren't very good on offense. They need another TE and another WR. They need their starting LT to play full-time. Tyrod is not a good packet passer. I don't know why the Bills insist on trying to make him into one.

OP, you got the attention you wanted so be happy. The clapping is just McD's way of wanting to show his team encouragement........no matter the circumstance. Some coaches scream and yell and demean. McD doesn't. He tries to show that he's with them and that he believes in them. I think there's a time and a place for both, but I know from having coaches AAU basketball for 25+ years that you get much better results when you encourage your players and let them know that you believe in them than when you point out their faults and put them down. A big part of being a successful coach at any level, in any sport, is being able to properly motivate your players. The next time you see McD clapping his hands like that realize that what he's saying is that "We're in this together, we're going to stay positive, and we're going to give it our best effort to be successful together".

Cam Newton is the key because the Panthers have the better team. If Newton plays like he did last week the Bills could definitely win. newton was missing receivers all over the place.

McD coached the Carolina defense the past six seasons. He knows their personnel. He knows their schemes. He even knows HC R. Rivera's tendencies. Does all of that give the Bills an advantage from strategist standpoint. I, for one, say that it does. I think Carolina is easily more talented, esp. on defense, than the Bills. However, McD could very well tip the scale in Buffalo's favor this week. Your thoughts??

I'll have to look at the play again, but I thought that Burris was in the process of getting up. The point is that the refs acted like Burris was down because he was knocked down when a Bill pushed a Jet teammate into him. By that action alone, Burris was not legally down. I agree that if Wood tackled Burris while his knee was on the ground then he was down and the Jets retain the ball.

Let's talk about the play where Jets CB Burris intercepted the ball in the end zone. Burris ran the ball out of the end zone, a Jets play got pushed into Burris and knocked him down. Is he truly down and the play is over since a Bills player didn't actually knock him down/tackle him?? Obviously E. Wood didn't think he was legally down because he tackled him and stripped the ball from him. My take is that Burris was not legally down because the Bills did not tackle him, and thus, Wood was justified in tackling him. In that case, the Bills recover the fumble and return the ball to their offense on the very next play. Your take??

Flutie was easily the best of that group. Bledsoe was not the same player that he was in NE. Orton performed pretty well for us. Fitz had one really good year. I'd rank them: 1. Flutie 2. Orton 3. Taylor 4. Bledsoe 5. Fitz.

Yeah, the Bills aren't looking to pick up any of these guys. Welcome to Tank City baby!! They'll only be picking up guys you've never heard of from now until season's end.

THIS is why McBeane has been essentially holding back on the roster so that a franchise QB can be acquired in next year's draft. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apvbISrC3JI. Did you happen to see Rosen bring UCLA back from a 34 pt deficit to beat Texas A&M?? The whole idea is to position the Bills to select either Rosen, Darnold or Allen. The Bills actually have good starting players on offense, defense and ST, but it is their depth in those areas that is severely lacking. Unfortunately, when the injuries begin to mount the huge drop off in talent will begin to show itself and the slide will likely begin.

With Ragland recently traded expect the Bills to pick up a LB when final cuts are made. The 2018 Bills are going to struggle. There are a lot of very good players still on the roster, but the depth is severely lacking. When the injuries begin to mount and we need to depend upon Gary and Elston at S it's not going to be pretty.

Championship!!

My take (prior to Preseason Game #4), assuming no additional players are signed: Locks: 1. QB Tyrod Taylor 2. QB Nate Peterman 3. RB LeSean McCoy 4. FB Patrick Dimarco 5. RB Jonathan Williams 6. RB/FB Mike Tolbert 7. WR Jordan Matthews 8. WR Zay Jones 9. WR Andre Holmes 10. WR/PR Brandon Tate 11. TE Charles Clay 12. TE Nick O'Leary 13. OT Cordy Glenn 14. OT Dion Dawkins 15. OT Jordan Mills 16. OG Richie Incognito 17. C Eric Wood 18. C/G Ryan Groy 19. K Steven Hauschka 20. P Colton Schmidt 21. LS Reid Ferguson 22. DE Jerry Hughes 23. DE Shaq Lawson 24. DE Eddie Yarbrough 25. DT Kyle Williams 26. DT Marcell Dareus 27. DT Jerel Worthy 28. OLB Lorenzo Alexander 29. OLB Ramon Humber 30. MLB Preston Brown 31. MLB Gerald Hodges 32. CB Tre White 33. CB Shareece Wright 34. CB EJ Gaines 35. FS Jordan Poyer 36. SS Micah Hyde 37. OG J. Miller 38. DT Washington 39. CB Seymour The rest: QB: Yates is 50-50 (don't necessarily need a third QB). RB: Banyard 50-50; T. Jones 70-30 (ST player). TE: L. Thomas 60-40. WR: Streater 80-20 (depends upon injury status); C. Brown 60-40; Reilly 40-60. OG: Ducasse 70-30 (need 8 OLs, not much competition); Mudge 30-70. DE: R. Davis 80-20 (need to fill out the roster); Valles 50-50. DT: Coleman 60-40 (need to fill out the roster). LB: Ragland 70-30 (his knee may not be recovered well enough to contribute much at LB, but he stays to play ST); Vallejo 70-30 (McD draft pick, ST guy); Milano 65-35 (McD draft pick, ST guy. CB: L. Coleman 80-20 (need to fill out the roster, will cover the slot); Mabin 50-50. S: S. Gary 60-40 (need depth, need to fill out the roster); T. Elston 50-50 (need depth, need to fill out the roster). My 53 man projection (prior to preseason game #3), assuming no additional signings (even though we know there will be some): Offense - 24 QB: Taylor/Peterman. RB: McCoy/J. Williams/Tolbert/Ta. Jones. FB: DiMarco. TE: Clay/O'Leary/L. Thomas. WR: Mathews/Z. Jones/Holmes/Streater/C. Brown/Tate. OL: Glenn/Incognito/Wood/Miller/Mills/Dawkins/Groy/Ducasse. ST - 3 K/P/LS: Hauschka/Schmidt/Ferguson. Defense - 26 DE: Hughes/Lawson/Davis/Yarbrough. DT: Dareus/K. Williams/Worthy/Washington/Coleman. LB: P. Brown/Alexander/Hodges/Humber/Ragland/Vallejo/Milano. CB: White/Gaines/Wright/L. Coleman/Seymour/Mabin. S: Hyde/Poyer/Gary/Elston. Bills may look to add some help during final cuts at: 1. Backup S (big need). 2. OT - If Glenn isn't able to start Week #1. 3. WR - If Streater can't go. 4. CB - Weak group overall.

The Bills don't look like their poised to win more than 6 games. TT has been awful. Dareus has been crap. Our CBs are huge question marks. If Glenn can't play LT our offense is going to struggle mightily. I'm all for trying to win every game, give 100%. But the problem is that McBeane has not done enough (probably purposefully) to add to the mix. Our depth at CB, S, WR, LB and TE is seriously lacking. If TT doesn't play well this team is sunk.

The Bills will finally have some very strong options at QB instead of having to settle for what is leftover. Their options: 1. They could go all in on a top 3-5 draft pick (stud QB) in 2018. 2. They could trade for a young vet QB (i.e. K. Cousins). 3. They could trade for an older, more proven vet QB (i.e. B. Roethlisberger). 4. They could go with what they have in Taylor and Peterman as well as draft a young QB in rounds 2-5 while utilizing the majority of their draft picks (as many as 11 w/ seven in rounds 1-3) to shore up multiple positions. I happen to think that the McBeane Model will somehow make obtaining the best possible QB the highest priority in 2018.

McBeane (the combo that is McD and Beane) made some gutsy moves in trading away Watkins and Darby. I believe that Watkins was traded because of his vast injury history and that the time was right to trade him now in order to obtain the most value for him. Darby simply did not fit the new zone coverage defensive scheme very well. It's possibly that McBeane waited to make the Darby trade until it was confirmed that both trades would be accepted (since losing Watkins left a hole at WR and losing Darby left a hole at CB). The Bills filled those holes with WR J. Matthews and CB EJ Gaines. Matthews has actually outperformed Watkins to date. Gaines had a tremendous rookie, but a foot injury caused his ply in 2016 to tail off. Make no bones about it, these moves were made to help the Bills rebuild, but the most important part of that is to have the wherewithal (i.e. the draft picks) to obtain a franchise QB. That could turn out to be a top 5 pick in the 2018 Draft or it could be a veteran player that the Bills decide to trade for. The Bills currently have the following draft picks in 2018: R1/R1/R2/R2/R3/R3/R4/R5/R7 (9 picks). If they cut certain players (Ducasse, R. Davis, A. Holmes, others) they could acquire compensatory R3 and R4 picks in 2018 for losing Gilmore and Woods this year. Their 2018 draft picks would grow to R1/R1/R2/R2/R3/R3/R3/R4/R4/R5/R7 (11 picks - 7 in the first three rounds!!). The bottom line is that just about any player or players (yes, even Watkins and Darby) are worth trading to obtain a legitimate franchise QB, which is what the Bills have been missing these last 17 playoff-less years. The recent trades have actually been a master stroke because the Bills are finally on a path to obtain their very own franchise QB.

I'm in shock because I had high hopes for both Watkins and Darby. Obviously Beane/McD are not enamored with Watkins (his work ethic & his injury history). These moves were all about the 2018 draft picks. Beane's vision is all about building the Bills through the draft. The draft picks give Beane the wherewithal to build the team HIS way. You can bet that he's looking to obtain even more draft picks via compensatory picks if he's willing to do this. He could obtain a R3 and R4 for losing Gilmore and Woods. If that happens the Bills could have the following picks for the 2018 Draft: R1/R1/R2/R2/R3/R3/R3/R4/R4/R5/R6/R7 (12 picks 7 in the first three rounds). Remember how the J. Johnson-led Cowboys turned around their franchise by trading H. Walker for a boatload of picks and players. Those picks netted them HOFs T. Aikman/E. Smith/M. Irvin and ultimately the SB.

There is so much that is new. Where to start?? 1. How well does McD coach?? Is the team disciplined overall?? 2. Is Taylor a better player in Dennison's system?? 3. Have we become a short passing/play action offense?? 4. Are we well suited for the 4-3 defensive scheme?? 5. New vet players to watch: Yates/Tolbert/T. Jones/DiMarco/Boldin/Holmes/Streater/R. Ross/Ducasse/Mills/Hauschka/R. Davis/Yarbrough/Hodges/Hyde/Poyer/Rambo/Wright/Coleman/Ferguson. 6. Young returning vets: Sh. Lawson and R. Ragland. L. Thomas/J. Williams/O'Leary/Washingto/Worthy/A. Coleman. 7. Rookies: Peterman/Z. Jones/Dawkins/Milan/Vallejo/Rehkow/Sylve. I'm especially worried about the secondary so I'll be watching to see how the secondary performs overall tonight.

It's definitely exciting to see what Streater has done in practice thus far. But he knows that he has to prove himself in the preseason games to make the final roster. McD said so himself recently that the evaluation is not complete until the pads go on and they get to see the players in game situations. Streater is 6'-3" 200 lbs. Having that kind of size can really help this team, esp. as a #4 or #5 WR.

I don't think Streater is a lock to make the team just yet because of the numbers game and the fact that B. Tate will likely be needed to be the primary KOR and PR. I think the Bills will take SIX WRS. Watkins, Boldin, and Z. Jones are locks. Tate will likely be the KOR/PR. That leaves two WR spots open with Holmes, Streater, and C. Brown the primary candidates for those last two spots. Holmes and Streater are the favorites at this point. I think both can really help the team. Brown could show something in the preseason games either as a WR or as a PR that could force Tate or Streater off of the roster.