hondo in seattle

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.

On a related issue, who gets more carries this week: Bryce or Boobie? Boobie's supposedly been dressing - and Brown has not - because Dixon plays ST. With both dressed, which one does Hackett, Marrone actually like more in the backfield? Brown is averaging 4.6 ypc for his career. Dixon, a short yardage specialist, is averaging a mere 2.5 though he's picking up 3.9 as a Bill.

I'm surprised by the pessimism. Yep, the Jets are better than their record. But their record is 1-6. Despite their strengths, they pretty adept at finding ways to lose. Despite our weaknesses, we've found ways to win more often than not so far this season. And, yes, the interior of our OL isn't good. But that isn't news. We've been worried about this since camp. Somehow, we're still 4-3. Because of the matchups, I think both teams will find it challenging to move the ball but I'll go with the Bills in a low scoring affair.

I never feel embarrassed by a win. This is football. Lots of games are won by grit, determination... and defense. We committed four turnovers and still won. Somebody did something right. I've too often seen the Bills find ways to lose. How exciting to see them find a way to win at the end! Go Bills!

From a Seattle message board: "Danny O'Neil is talking about it on KIRO right now and is speculating that it may have something to do with the fact that Percy hasn't been practicing the past few weeks, basically he's saying that it may be an attitude thing." http://forums.twobil...er/page__st__40 (Thanks to Smooth for the link).

This is comical. Certainly Marrone and Hacket open themselves to criticism. But none of us know half of what you need to know to be a successful OC in the NFL. It's often true that outsiders think they can do some job better than the insiders. It's rarely true. The question isn't whether Hackett knows the OC better job better than the average fan. He does. The question is can he do it better than the 31 other OCs in the NFL. He can't. At least not yet.

The old adage, "Game are won in the trenches" still has some validity. Our own defensive trench guys are (usually) keeping us in games. But our offensive trenchmen limit our ability to run or throw.

I voted Marrone because I expect Marrone to continue. I might even want Marrone. I don't think he's doing a great job but I don't want to fire him just to fire him only to replace him with someone worse. If The Chin wants to come coach Buffalo, though, I'm all for it.

I didn't want Trump to buy the Bills - despite his promises to keep them in Buffalo - because I just don't like the guy. His classless, sour-grapes criticism of the Pegulas reinforces my non-liking of him.

As has been said maybe a million times in various threads, Hackett has a lot to learn. Spiller would be more effective in a different offense run by a different OC. He'd also be more effective if we had a better OL. And, finally, he'd be more effective if he was stronger and hit "holes" (as much as the OL creates them) with decisiveness. Mods, can we merge the Hackett-is-a-failure thread?

Mostly true but we had 600 yards passing in the past two games. Someone is getting some receiving yards, just not Williams.

I hope EJ learns and gets better. But for now, I agree with this. Orton is throwing for 300 yards a game. You can talk about QBR and passer efficiency rating but sometimes you just need production. Though production w/o turnovers would be much better!

I've seen some good Bills assessments from the Globe before (after the SB years, let me add in deference to House). They seem to cover the NFL pretty well. But it's kind of funny to read: "Corner Leodis McKelvin has excellent ball skills..."

I like this plan because his ideas on building a NFL winner are repeatable. He built the Bills into a team that could get to the SB every year. Got Carolina to the NFC Championship game in his 2nd or 3rd year. Then built the Colts into a SB winner. Polian also loves Buffalo. (Btw, I was reading parts of his book in the bookstore the other day - he spends most of the book reflecting on his time with the Bills. Great stuff).

6.0 YPC carry a couple years ago. Maybe we can trade Hackett????

If I recall, we had a run of maybe 6 games when Fitz was the starter where we averaged close to 30 points per game. And it was amazing - partly because Fitz was the QB. Any coach who can get 30 points per game with a Fitz led offense and a weak OL is a genius! But Chan couldn't sustain it. So in the end I don't think Chan was a genius. And I don't think Hackett is entirely unqualified to be an OC. I even sympathize with Hackett for the guards and QBs he had to work with last year. All the same, I do fault him for misusing CJ. Chan may not have been a genius but he did use Spiller better than Hackett. Let's see if Orton gets the passing game going and if that, in turn, starts to open up the run game, making CJ more productive.

It's true that it took Chan a while to learn how to use Spiller. But he did learn. Hackett has not. At least not yet. You would think he'd study the tapes and figure out the problem. The stats you cite show Spiller getting about 600 total yards offense less under Hackett (1st year) than under Gailey (last year). That's a significant drop. Worse, maybe, are the stats you leave out. Let's look at CJ's yards per carry: 2011: 5.2 2012: 6.0 2013: 4.6 2012: 3.5 In Spiller's last two years with Chan, he ran for more than 5 yards per carry! That's awesome productivity that he hasn't been able to match under Hackett.

It's almost anticlimactic now... but this is a day worth celebrating!

So Khan says we need to upgrade the stadium experience. So do McNair and Rooney. Today, I suspect, other owners will say the same. Of course NFL owners want us to either upgrade our stadium or, preferably, build a new one. It's all about branding. Every stadium reflects on the NFL brand. Why wouldn't other owners want us to upgrade our stadium when it costs them nothing?

I'm not certain I've seen Orton make any throws EJ couldn't make. I am certain that Orton was more consistent with both his throws and decisions than EJ has been this year.