hondo in seattle

CJ had a cut? And for that some fans didn't want him back in? A cut? A boo-boo? If he had torn a ligament or sprained an ankle or something like that, Marrone would need to keep him out. Otherwise, I agree with San Jose.

I understand why OBD decided to sign Kolb and give him a look. But I couldn't agree with you more about TJax. Kolb had a record of fragility and to get rid of the only other veteran QB struck me as strange. Depending on EJ's recovery, we could end up starting Matt Leinart against the Pats with a mere two weeks of preparation. Bad news. For the Bills sake, but - more imporantly - for Kolb's sake, I hope he's okay and able to safely resume his career. And I hope to see a healthy EJ under center when NE comes to town.

This has been discussed in other threads. The old K-Gun often acted in a hurry-up mode. Then again, that offense had Hall-of-Famers on it: Kelly, Thomas, Lofton and - hopefully - Reed. With all that talent, it was likely to get first downs. I wonder how wise it is to run a up-tempo offense with much less talent. It's going to produce a lot of 3-and-outs. I really hope Pettine and the Bills staff are working hard on the conditioning of the defensive unit, because they're going to be on the field a lot.

I share the bolded concern. I was surprised and dismayed when we cut TJax. That left us with one experienced-but-fragile QB and two rookies. The fragile vet has been hurt twice since then and now we're flying in retreads who have no understanding of our offense. I get that they wanted to give EJ more reps. But whether Jackson was in camp or not, they could have given EJ exactly the number or reps they wanted.

I think Chan was a better de facto OC than most people give him credit for. When Chan came to Buffalo, we had a poor line, no QB worth mentioning, a forgettable TE, one WR with talent and a couple good RBs. Somehow he got some decent production out of that. CJ averaged 6 yards per carry last year partly because Chan didn't run him until he puked. Chan carefully picked the optimal times and optimal plays to use CJ. And now Levitre is gone. So, yeah, I am worried about the running game. Then again, it's only preseason. We don't know yet how effectively Marrone & Hackett will maximize the talent they do have.

The two preseason wins proved nothing. The preseason loss proved nothing. We're probably not as good as we looked against the Colts. We're probably not as bad as we looked against the Skins. We won't find out until the regular season gets under way. I'm taking this game like any other preseason game... with a grain of salt.

+1

It was painful to watch but I hope this ends the silliness that Tuel ought to be allowed to compete with EJ for the starting spot.

I've seen his highlights. It's the 'lowlights' that concern me. Maybe I don't know how to evaluate college ball but even his highlights don't convince me he's better than some of the other receivers we have on the roster. Guys who loaf, guys who don't block, guys who don't run the right routes, aren't great by definition. A lot has to change for Rogers to become great. I'm reallying hoping Hilliard, Hacket and Marrone can make those changes in Rogers and prove you right. I'm just not exactly expecting it.

If I drank beer, I'd drink one for Ronald F. Theel. I was living in California at the time of "The Comeback." My wife (now ex) came in when the score was 35-3 and tried to persuade me to take her shopping. Although I was miserable, I refused to budge. She asked, "Has any team ever come back from a score like that?" I wasn't definitively sure but grumbled, "No... but anything's possible." She responded with something like, "Well then, don't be stupid. You know they're going to lose so it's better to take me shopping." I wish I had instead been able to watch the game in person with someone like your dad. You have great memories to treasure. May he rest in peace.

Carlin Isles was both a sprinter and football player (RB) at Ashland University. As you can imagine watching the vid, he was a talented KR. However, at 5' 8" and 157 lbs, he's just too small for the NFL. But his speed, open field running skills, and understanding of angles make him a natural at rugby. Still new to the sport, he's tearing it up. http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9482734/carlin-isles-future-us-rugby http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlin_Isles

I don't get all the love for Rogers. Yes, I know he's strong & athletic and that some draft pundits (not all) thought he might have 1st or 2nd round talent. They thought that about Woods, too. The difference is that Woods was actually drafted in the 2nd round because he's a polished, talented WR with his head on straight. Rogers wasn't drafted in the 1st, 2nd, or any round because not a single team thought he was worthy of even a 7th round pick. Professional scouts, apparently, have no love for the guy. I hope the Rogers lovers on this board turn out to be correct and the scouts wrong. But from what we've seen of Rogers so far in preseason (and what's been reported about Rogers performance in practices), he's on the bubble. And if he gets cut, he won't end up on the PS because some other team will sign him to kick the tires and see if there's anything there. Roger's problems go way beyond his drug history. Here's what one predraft scouting report had to say about his weaknesses: "Off-field maturity and on-field effort have been issues. Stops his route at times if not the primary target. Body language on the field can be defeating. Lacks great explosiveness to run by corners, no extra gear. Will struggle to track the football at times. Not a very instinctual receiver, doesn't always run the routes he should, doesn't fight to get open when the play breaks down." http://www.nfl.com/draft/2013/profiles/darick-rogers?id=2540179 We've already heard of similar things at St. John Fisher - like Rogers loafing back to the huddle instead of running like the other receivers. This doesn't sound like the kind of guy that Marrone wants on the team. Right now the NFL WR that Dar'rick Rogers most resembles is Charles Rogers who also had tremendous potential but never accomplished anything as a pro because of issues with maturity and consistency of effort. "Potential" just isn't worth much without some other important attributes. Ike Hilliard will have to do heroic work as receivers coach for Rogers to survive the Turk.

I agree with this. And how about the ability to read defenses? Which implies a wililngness to study film.

I agree with the first highlighted sentence. And I'm hoping the 2nd highlighted sentence proves to be true.

He might be the only small town writer I read. Usually, I can find the same information elsewhere but Pollock presents it well. I'm not surprised he's had other offers.

Here's a different - and interesting - take on the Bills defense... http://nfl.si.com/2013/08/17/the-all-22-christian-ponders-confusion-against-buffalos-defense-speaks-to-a-larger-issue/?sct=nfl_bf4_a4 The article is mostly about Ponder but does break down some of the things the Bills were doing including using psycho fronts (love that expression!). The last sentence concludes: As for Buffalo’s defense? Things are looking pretty bright right now.

I don't have any answers to the OP's original questions but I do have some thoughts about an uptempo offense. For an uptempo attack to be effective, you need play-makers on offense. There's no point going 3-and-out in 60 seconds because you can't make the first down. A bad up tempo offense puts a lot of stress on your defense when it can't convert. But if you got speed and players with big play ability, the up-tempo gives them more opportunities. You need to remember that an uptempo attack just doesn't give your players more chances with the ball, if gives the opponent more possessions too. For example, when the Bills ran the no-huddle K-Gun in 1991, they finished the year #2 in the NFL in plays, #2 in points and #1 in yards. Great offensive production. But despite some of the superstars they had on defense, they finished 2nd last in yards allowed as the Bills lead the NFL in plays run against them. http://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/1991/opp.htm So besides needing play-makers on offense to capitalize on an up-tempo offense, you need highly conditioned athletes all around and good depth on defense because your starters are going to need breathers.

http://espn.go.com/b...-trick-or-treat I think it was cool to read Ponder saying this in Rodak's article: "Just their whole defense was pretty exotic. They had some exotic personnel and different schemes, it was a little different and sometimes it was a little hard for us to identify." After quoting Leslie Frazier saying something about the Vikes not preparing for the game the same way as the Bills, Rokak goes on to say: Was the Vikings not being ready for Pettine's defense the Bills' problem? Not at all. And come the regular season, when teams do prepare for it, Pettine still has ways of keeping defenses off balance. Seeing Frazier's name reminds me I wanted him to be chosen as our head coach instead of Gailey a few years ago. Frazier went 3-13 in his first year as a HC of the Vikes but 10-6 last year. He's already produced one more winning season than Chan. But Chan's gone now and I'm happy thus far with Marrone.

Good Find! They also listed about a dozen players who they really liked before the draft. Two became Bills: EJ Manuel, QB, Florida State - 6'5" / 237 / 4.65 Manuel almost made it into our underrated group, but he’s well known enough where we wanted to blow the whistle on guys like Jeff Tuel instead. This is an underrated QB class as I got into earlier today on the blog. Back to Manuel. He’s the one guy that has the athletic upside to be elite at the position and he’s as good on film as anybody else in the group. We think he is a good value anywhere after the first half of round one. E.J.’s got all the physical tools in abundance and he’s a winner. While we like Geno Smith some and the same goes for Matt Barkley, Ryan Nassib and Tyler Wilson--Manuel is the guy if we are taking a QB early. Robert Woods, WR, USC - 6’1” / 190 / 4.51 Woods is the total package. He’s got the hands and he can run all the routes. He also plays faster than his timed speed. Woods is a threat anywhere on the field. We love this guy’s floor. http://rotobahn.com/rotobahns-guys/ Goodwin and Tuel both made their underrated list: http://rotobahn.com/respect-the-blog/

This logic makes absolute sense to me!

I agree that the rookie class is exciting. But I'm not sure I like the two TE idea if you're suggesting they're on the field together. The Pats ran two TEs because they had two great ones. Their TEs were better than their WRs. Hackett says he'll put our best five skilled position players on the field together as much as he can. I'm not sure either Chandler or Gragg are in the top five, let alone both of them. Our strength is RB and maybe WR.

This really feels like Rodak writing something just because he's paid to write something. Even he calls it a "potential issue," not an actual issue. Running back is a "potential issue" too if, god forbid, CJ and Freddy get hurt.

Kelly is an offensive innovator. He's more than just an uptempo spread guy. He's a thinker who matches scheme to talent. But his lack of NFL experience does cause worry. Can he work with older, pro players? Can he build and manage a playoff caliber staff? Can he dissect NFL offenses and defenses as well as, say, Bill Belichick? Does he know how to assess NFL talent? Will he and the front office acquire enough talent to win? I expect Kelly will succeed in the end. But if he doesn't start winning within the first couple years, he'll run back to the NCAA. Good article about Kelly here: http://special.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/web/sports/17159053-41/story.csp Marrone's NFL experience makes him as good a candidate, in my mind, as Kelly.

What does Steven A. Smith actually know about football? Then again, I can't say I loved the pick when EJ's name was called out. I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it.

I'm getting sentimental as I grow older. Almost had tears in my eyes. Great story. Moats has his head on straight: "I was so honored to meet him because he risks his life each day to keep us safe. He’s always served the country (with 21 years in the U.S. Navy) and the community. It was really emotional and felt really good to know that a small step of kindness meant that much to him... People think that it’s such an honor to meet us football players, but the real honor is meeting them." http://www.buffalobills.com/news/article-1/Moats-sends-healing-text-message/9c443889-22d3-44c4-9e3a-97498a35e0a8