hondo in seattle

Nice post! Orton's sacks are worrisome. I'm not sure how much I agree with Papazoid that Orton goes down like a feather and doesn't see the sacks coming. He's certainly not the most elusive QB ever. Nonetheless, he seems willing to stand there waiting for a guy to come open even as the pocket collapses around him. This can be a good thing and a bad thing. I'm guessing his patience has resulted in more yards in completions than it's lost in additional sacks. Obviously, if we had better protection from our OL, we'd have fewer sacks, even with a comparatively immobile QB. We'd probably also fewer sacks if we had a running game, and a screen game.

Maybe my expectation are low because the announcers don't typically bother me. I know they're not going to know as much about the Bills as we do. I just hope the play-by-play guy calls the action somewhat fluently and the color guy provides me a bit of new information about the other team.

Good post. If you look at Orton's stats over the years, although there are some ups-and-downs, it's clear that he got better with time. His last year starting for Chicago was far better than his first. His stats with Denver were far better than his stats with Chicago. In limited action, his stats in Dallas were better yet. http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/O/OrtoKy00.htm I hope all this suggests two things: (1) Orton's good start with the Bills is not an aberration. He'll continue to perform well with us. Hopefully, he gets even better as he masters Hackett's offense. (2) EJ might still turn into a good starter someday.

I was panicked about our QB situation this preseason. EJ didn't look ready. And we didn't have anyone else worth mentioning. Going back in time a little farther, I was hoping we'd draft another QB this year. I'll admit I'm feeling pretty good now with Orton as the starter and EJ as the developmental project.

I was surprised when we extended Fitz. At the time, I was amazed how Gailey found a way to work around Fitz's weaknesses and capitalize on his strengths. But I wondered if it would last or if NFL defenses would catch up to us. Now we know. Orton is a different case. I don't think Hackett is making Orton look good so much as Orton is making Hackett look competent. It's only been four games, but I would consider extending Kyle if he continues to play at this level. Heck, he's 7th in the NFL in QB passer ratings right now. If he continues at that level, why wouldn't you extend him???

Now that you've admonished people, I'm sure they'll all behave differently now.

It didn't look like the Bills were ready for Vick to be under center. Contain broke down often. I think the Jets were the first team to break 100 yards rushing against the Bills and Vick lead the way with about 70.

Point taken. Curious to see Henderson with the highest overall grade.

I'm no expert on grading linemen, but isn't allowing pressure on 12% of pass plays a bad thing? If all five OL gave up pressure 12% of the time (assuming no overlap for the sake of argument), Orton would have guys on him 60% of the time.

If we go 3-1 over the next four games as you and others predict, we'll be 8-4. Do you think maybe the players (and coaches) then start to take it up a notch because they can smell the preseason? Sometimes teams catch a fire and start to roll. If we can go 3-1 and then 2-2, this would be a very fun season.

I'll play devil's advocate. I spent the better part of a year in Saudi Arabia. While that doesn't make me an expert, it does mean I know more about the place than someone who has never been there. Bradshaw played for 14 seasons, including 4 SB wins. He's covered the NFL for an additional 30 years. I don't know if this makes him an "expert," but he certainly knows more about football than the average fan.

Huh? How can any team with a 1-6 record and a QB who seems color blind at times be confident of any game?

I've predicted a Bills win every game this year. So I'm 4-3 which, I guess, is slightly better than random luck! I also predicted the Bills would have a poor OL this year. Sadly, that prediction seems pretty accurate thus far.

It's curious that two teams with such different W-L records have such similar production. Rank, Offense (Yards Gained) Bills 22 Jets 26 Rank, Defense (Yards Allowed) Jets 8 Bills 10 The Bills score about 19.3 points a game while the Jets give up about 26.4 points per game. Splitting the difference, the Bills should score about 23. The Jets score about 17.3 points per game while the Bills allow about 20.3 points per game. The Jets should therefore score about 19. Given the Jets are the home team (about a 3 point advantage), this game's more-or-less a toss up.

I think the problems are both physical and mental. Unfortunately, the physical part can't be fixed till the offseason. Hopefully Whaley signs some OL FAs and/or finds some studs in the draft. The mental part worries me. Our HC is an ex NFL lineman. Yet he, Hackett and Pat Morris together can't eliminate the mental mistakes?

I love the optimism man but was a competent QB really the one thing we were lacking? Cuz I thought we were also lacking... * consistent play from our defensive secondary. * even average play from our interior offensive line. * good coaching from our OC. * healthy running backs. But if we do indeed make it to 5-3 at the halfway mark, I'll start thinking playoffs with you.

His highlight reel is impressive but unless Marrone and the other coaches work miracles with the offensive line this week, Brown just isn't going to have the same kind of running lanes he saw in Philly. CJ and Freddy are both 1,000 yard backs. But they haven't found any room to run this year. Why would Brown be different? Is he faster than CJ? Stronger or more determined than Freddie? My only hope is that Marrone, an ex lineman himself, seems super motivated to improve the OL and get the running game going. But I don't know how much he can do in one week with our personnel. It's an old Bills refrain but when it comes to the OL and the running game, I keep thinking, "Wait till next year."

Great find with some interesting info about how important the NFL considers the London/UK market... "Outside the US, the UK is the NFL's most important market, and has experienced explosive growth over the past five years..." "The London office consists of 20 people under the leadership of the Managing Director..." "Reporting to the Managing Director, the Head of Marketing will be responsible for driving engagement with the NFL brand and delivering substantial growth of the UK fan base..."

Great work! The stats on the OL impact are disheartening - though not surprising. Bocephuz, I doubt if you have time to do this but it would be awesome if we could get comparative data on other QBs. Are Orton's numbers, when you break them down like this, comparatively good? Or weak?

We haven't averaged 30 per game since Kelly retired. But is it Orton's fault? Or the fault of the interior line? Or the OC?

Spags, you're a good guy but "probably" 9-7 ? Really? And you're blatantly showing your blinded fandom when you say "Geno is getting good." I'd still rather have EJ than Geno and EJ's our 2nd stringer because Orton is much better than either of the youngsters. And you're relying on Harvin to turn the team around? Here in Seattle they're happy to be rid of his cancerous attitude. In fact, the Hawks would have release him outright if the Jests hadn't ponied up for a player no one else wants. I'll be rooting for the Jests the next time you play the Pats or Fins but I don't see you winning next week against a better Bills team. As always, thanks for stopping by.

McKelvin's lack of ball skills used to drive me batty. Too often we've seen the guy have good position and allow the catch anyway. But two picks in the same game and now leading the league in INTs? Congrats to Leodis!

I used to use a pic of Hooks as my avatar. Let's hope Brown scores 4 TDs against the Jets like Hooks did against the Bengals one game. Or he leads us to a win like Hooks did against the Pats with back-to-back remarkable catches in the closing seconds of the game.

What helps your team more: 10 of 17 for 150 yards and 1 TD. or... 20 of 34 for 300 yards and 2 TDs? In terms of passer rating, they're identical. But in the real world, the quarterback with the 2nd line is more productive and contributing more to the team's success. You gotta move the ball up and down the field to score and the 2nd QB is doing that. That's why 300 yards is a benchmark. EJ's 296 yard game was a good game. The fact he missed getting 300 by 4 yards is meaningless. We'd all be thrilled if EJ could throw for 296 yards every time he took the field. The problem is that - so far at least - he can't. Or even close. He's young and still (hopefully) learning but thus far he hasn't been very productive.

You shouldn't be underwhelmed or surprised. Orton sucked his first year in the NFL but has gotten progressively better since. Signing him is proving to be one of Whaley's better moves.