hondo in seattle

I'm not convinced Shady gets suspended if no charges are filed given the differing accounts provided by the eyewitnesses. Yes it would seem the video shows McCoy violating the Personal Conduct Policy, but circumstances matter. After being embarrassed by Brady in Deflategate, I'm not sure Goodell would be enthusiastic about inserting himself in a questionable case.

For the sake of the Bills, I hope this is the true story.

After 100 pages we're still exactly nowhere.

Good luck to Jim!

"... no longer a viable running threat." Kind of sad to read those lines. Reminds me that everything that exists, without exception, is subject to decay.

Shady is not an exemplary human being but he tends to get into small-time trouble rather than big-time trouble. He's not snorting coke, waving guns around, or beating up his girlfriend as far as we know. Is a headache? Yeah, sometimes. Should we cut him? Not based on what I know.

I don't share the negativity toward Goodwin that my brother Bills fans seem to have. I wish him well in his Olympic pursuits. I hope he medals. If he comes back to the Bills after his long jumping stuff and fails to earn a roster spot because he was too focused on long jumping, so be it. I don't blame the guy for wanting to represent his country and pursue Olympic glory. On the other hand, if he earns a roster spot with the Bills again, I'll cheer for him as hard as I cheer for any other Bill.

As you say, judging team performance requires the accumulation of many statistics. But let's roll with points per drive since you brought it up as a better stat than yards or points allowed. Here's Rex's standings as a DC and HC... Baltimore 2005 #10 2006 #1 2007 #23 2008 #1 New York 2009 #1 2010 #5 2011 #6 2012 #13 2013 #17 2014 #24 Buffalo 2015 #14 Rex has been able to deliver results when he has the right players for his scheme. 3 out of 11 years as DC or HC, his D was the best in the NFL in points allowed per drive. It's still disappointing Rex wasn't able to do more with the players he had last year. And it's worrisome that he hasn't fielded a good D since 2011. Maybe GunnerBill is right and Rex has failed to keep up with the evolution of offensive football. Incidentally, the Bills were #1 in pts allowed/drive, #2 in yards allowed/drive, and #7 in turnovers/drive, and #1 in overall drive success rate under Schwartz in 2014 (according to Football Outsiders). It wasn't all about the sacks. http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/drivestats2012

Why transition him? His size and speed say WR. Then again, despite his measurables, he's never been a particularly good WR. So I'm wondering, what skills does he possess that say he'd be a better safety? Because he can tackle on special teams? Yep, George Wilson worked out and maybe Easley would too. But when I look at the guy's skill set I see a WR, just not a particularly great one. Torn meniscus, heart ailment, hamstring issues, broken knee... His biggest problem is fragility and that'll hurt him as much at safety as it did at WR.

Yep, this could be interesting. If Shady doesn't get arrested and all we're left with is contradictory accounts, what can Roger do? Right not it seems possible Shady (1) only acted in defense of his friend, and (2) didn't actually make contact. I'm not sure I believe that version of events and Goodell might doubt it too. But in the absence of conclusive evidence, I don't think he can suspend Shady. Goodell has been accused in the past of overstepping his authority. He may want to be cautious here in meting out NFL justice.

This is a classic he-said/she-said case. The only other witness, Malcolm Saxon, isn't saying much. So this has turned into a Rorschach test of sorts. Where anyone falls on this issue says more about their own personal views about Peyton and the Manning family, college athletes in general, women in locker rooms, etc. than it does about what actually happened which none of us can know. I have no opinion on which version of events - Peyton's or Jamie's - is true. So I won't judge either party.

I had forgotten about the 51 rule though still think it's smart of Whaley to have 67 players locked up under contract. Saying the Bills will be worse without Super Mario is highly speculative. If he plays in 2016 like he did in '15, the Bills will be better off without him. He wasn't productive last season and at least a couple of his fellow players were unhappy with his effort. In other words, he was bad for team morale. Rex still runs the D so I personally wouldn't expect Super Mario to play any differently this season. And that makes him expendable. He didn't come close to earning his salary last year.

We have 67 players under contract. That's a big number. No one else in the AFCE has more than 60. That's 67 players we can keep if we want. But we can jettison them too. It's a position of strength. These 67 players cannot court other teams but we still can court other players. But this situation artificially inflates our cap number for now. Clearly not all these 67 players will make our final 53 man roster. But until we release a bunch of them - which we will inevitably do - our cap number looks high. I guess the big questions are who we will release to get down to 53 and - more importantly - who we will release to get down to $155 million (or whatever the final 2016 number is).

Good stuff, GKG

I actually didn't know how Rex has struggled with scoring stats. His record is indeed spotty... 2005 #10 2006 #1 2007 #22 2008 #3 2009 #1 2010 #6 2011 #20 2012 #20 2013 #19 2014 #24 2015 #15 Rex once with the Ravens ('06) and once with the Jets ('09) built the stingiest defense in the NFL. But the recent track record is admittedly dismaying. Let's hope Rex can recapture his old magic but I'm feeling less optimistic now than I was earlier today before looking at these numbers. (Thanks, Mister Defense).

Sadly true. Yikes, you released the Williams triplets?!?!?! Good point.

I don't mind people bashing Rex for his performance last year. But let's get the facts right when we do criticize him. Here are Rex's defensive rankings as a DC and HC. 2005 #5 2006 #1 2007 #6 2008 #2 2009 #1 2010 #3 2011 #5 2012 #8 2013 #8 2014 #6 2015 #19 I don't see a pattern of regression. I see a guy who - until last season - consistently placed his D in the top ten every year. And as KoolAid observes, Rex doesn't draft players. Yes, he has some input. But he doesn't hire or manage the scouts, doesn't set up the personnel evaluation system, and ultimately doesn't make the pick. And we do know that Rex was not happy with the drafts in New York. Under the circumstances, I don't think we can hold him accountable for draft picks. FWIW, in Rex's four years as the DC of the Ravens, his D never finished worse than 6th and only one year (2006) did they draft a defensive player first. They drafted Mark Clayton in the 1st rd in 2005, Ben Grubbs (G) in 2007 and Flacco in 2008. Rex did fine with later picks.

Harvin beat out Woods for #2 which might say good things about Percy or bad things about Woods. Harvin might not be the most refined route runner in the world but he does have a unique skill set. At 5'11" 184 lbs, we all know how fragile he's been in his career. He's only 27 (good) but has already missed 39 games due to injuries (bad). Worth signing to a new contract? At the right price, I think so. Based on the quotes we've read in the media, it sounds like DW wants him to stay and he wants to stay.

This is a football forum. Intellectual humor is not allowed. Kind of funny, though.

DA reportedly has concerns about the case... "While McCoy and his associates were initially cited as the instigators, further investigation led the DA's office to have concerns about the actions of the officers in question. Gonzalez indicated the DA has questioned why a 911 call was not placed on the night in question and whether the officers were intoxicated at the time of the incident." http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2617731-lesean-mccoy-arrest-warrant-to-be-delayed-by-district-attorney

Whether the off-duty cops at the scene assessed it as aggravated assault or not is irrelevant. Maybe they didn't have a good view of the beat down. Maybe they were too drunk to assess the situation clearly. It doesn't really matter how they - correctly or incorrectly - evaluated the situation. What matters is what actually happened. The police and DA are apparently trying to determine that from witness statements and video. Imagine two cops at a play. One of the actors shoots another. The cops think it's all part of the play. They don't think a crime was committed. But it turns out one actor really did shoot the other. An incorrect real-time assessment by law enforcement doesn't preclude a fair application of the law later on.

Regarding Mario, if he stays with the Bills, I'd expect him to play in '16 like he did in '15. He clearly doesn't like the scheme and coaching staff. Which makes him a negative locker room presence. I say let him go. Regarding Cordy, while he's not the best LT in the league, he's the best tackle LT we have and not easily replaced. We can't let the line go backwards. I say sign him to a 4/5 year contract. Expecting a bounce-back year seems like blindfolded Bills fan optimism. Something I'm guilty of myself every off-season. I'm trying hard to be see things clearly this year without my normal red, white and royal blue lenses. If you can find good reasons to believe in a bounce-back year for Mario, please share them.

I'm not sure Rex is a ground and pound guy. I don't think he's such a micromanager that he wouldn't let Roman open up an aerial attack. I think he's been a pound & ground guy in the past out of necessity. Look at his QBs over the years. I think Yolo nails it. And I think you gotta put some of this on DW, too. Whaley couldn't find a premiere QB to build the offense around. So he did the next best thing, he got us a premiere back in Shady. And Roman built the offense around Shady.

During the same press conference that Rex announced the hiring of his brother, he also said this: “Because we’ve got to be like this [Fingers interlocked]. For us to be at our best, we have to be like this. I think some of the moves I’ve made will allow me to bring it even closer." Any chance this comment has something to do with Donnie Hendersen? Maybe going a little rogue as a coach and not wholeheartedly supporting the Rex program? http://www.buffalonews.com/city-region/ryan-reasserts-control-of-bills-20160123

Do you really need to call a fellow Bills fan a "FOOL" because he has a different opinion than you? I personally consider the Bills Nation a band of brothers held together by bonds of friendship forged by years of shared hopes and disappointments. A differing opinion doesn't matter much among friends, especially since none of us are decision makers at OBD anyway.