hondo in seattle

Yep, I noticed. Instead of getting plays off in 15 seconds, the Bills were often close to Delay of Game penalties. Given the number of 3-and-outs we had last year, slowing the pace down seems like a sound decision.

Agreed. Despite the stats, it seemed there were too few holes. Sometimes I wonder if Hackett is the bigger problem. Spiller's yard per carry has tanked since Hackett took over. I'm not sure Hackett knows how to draw up plays that create space for the backs without the offensive linemen winning every one-on-one battle.

The Bills Backers of Seattle were chanting, "FREDDY! FREDDY! FREDDY!" after that one.

Bills overcame 100 yards in penalties and still won. No nattering now.

Based on 2013's stats, our defense is 61 yards per game better than theirs. Their offense is about 44 ypg better than ours. Not sure how this produces a line of Chicago by 7. There's been a lot of media buzz about EJ's poor play this preseason and the feud between Marrone and the FO. Mostly I think this is a bunch of crap and the team will be very focused and prepared. I say "mostly" because EJ really is a question mark. I don't think he'll regress from last season but I'm not convinced he'll take the big step forward we need. In another hour I'm driving to watch the game at South Lake Union in Seattle with a bunch of other Bills Backers and we'll find out.

Very possibly right. I'd even guess you were likely right. I've worked with a couple guys for a long time. At work, I'm their boss. And sometimes we argue - passionately once in a while. But we still produce better results than our competitors. And we're friends outside of work, attending each other's children's birthday parties, etc.

Bills 200. Bears 280. Total 480.

+1 And let me add: Hackett developing into a good OC. That would be exciting.

Very cool, whoever made this!

CJ sweep to the left for 4 yards (if we're going to be a running team this year, we might as well start establishing the run early) or Bubble screen to the right to Sammy for 6 yards (maybe an easy completion would be good for EJ's confidence and Sammy is, after all, the centerpiece of our 2014 and 2015 draft so let him earn his money)

This makes sense. Though that doesn't make it true.

Marrone: "Hey, did we have a discussion? Absolutely. I confirm that absolutely. Are we great? We talk every day, three times a day. We talk about a lot of things. We're competitive and I couldn't be happier with those guys, I really couldn't. And then the thing about Jim [Monos] is great, too, because I was one of the ones that recommended Jim to come here. " http://www.wgr550.com/pages/9034669.php?pid=425502

Saying Marrone is not on the same page as the FO means you buy Canfora's unsourced article. Graham, Wawrow and Kirby - who all have sources at OBD - say the article is not entirely accurate. Personally, I'm not jumping to conclusions though I will be watching more closely to see if I can discern a real rift and not just a temporary disagreement. Canfora's been wrong before and I'm hoping he's wrong now.

The "Bickering Bills" (a nickname that was probably overblown) evolved into the AFC Champion Bills. Let's hope something similar happens here.

There was an "If" in there. I don't expect EJ to suck consistently for weeks. I just think that's the only possibility that should lead to him being benched. I think Orton has played enough in the NFL that we know where's he's ceiling is at. Apparently, most franchises feel the same. And it's just not high enough. EJ is still an unsolved mystery. Unless he does regress, which happens, I'd like him to stay under center all season.

Despite what Orton has said, it will take him a few weeks to be ready. If EJ sucks consistently for those few weeks, Orton should take over. If EJ's merely average - or if he's inconsistently good and bad - he should keep the starting job. Orton is only an average QB anyway and EJ is still young and learning, and will benefit from game experience.

Awesome! Hilarious it was done in Texas.

It does sound familiar but Orton was actually much worse as a rookie. I suppose this supports the argument that EJ has a higher ceiling. Orton's QB rating his rookie year was about 60. As a starter for Denver, he settled in at about 87. Another Boilermaker, Drew Brews, had a QB rating of 76 his first year as a starter (his 2nd year in the league). The past four years, his QB rating has averaged about 100. Orton went up about 17 points while Brews improved about 24 points. If EJ improves 20 points versus his rookie year, he'll settle in with a 97 QB rating which is very good.

You are looking at Orton's career stats. He freakin' sucked as a rookie when thrust unexpectedly into the starting lineup. His rookie year skews his career numbers downward. Like most QBs, he's gotten better since. In his two years as the Broncos starter, when he had some talent around him, Orton had a QB rating of about 87 with about 7.1 yards per attempt and a QBR of about 50. These are respectable numbers. EJ had QB rating of about 77 last year with about 6.4 yards per completion and a 42 QBR. He wasn't nearly as productive as Buffalo's starter as Orton was as Denver's starter. In his only start for Dallas last year, Orton was 30 of 46 for 358 yards and 2TDs. I'd love to see EJ produce a game like that. I'm not saying Orton should start. I agree with the line of thought that says EJ may have a higher ceiling and we need to find out. But right now today Orton just might be the better QB.

This was surprising to me so I looked it up. And we were in fact 11th in hometown TV ratings (at least thru 15 games: http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/dallas-cowboys/headlines/20140103-cowboys-local-tv-ratings-rank-only-16th-among-nfl-teams.ece). I'm guessing the national interest in the Bills is weaker. Apparently the schedulers don't consider the Bills ready for prime time.

At least Thailand has other diversions.

Yeah, it was a Chris Brown PR piece but it was still nice to read the quotes. EJ is a hard-working kid. At least some people in the Bills organization - including apparently some players - believe in him. I certainly hope he'll succeed. But no one truly knows until he either does or doesn't. Sometimes all the hard work in the world can't make up for an innate lack of talent.

I so disagree. I'd probably take a healthy Freddy in his prime over any of these guys. You gotta remember the line Freddy ran behind when he was in his prime. He got all those yards on his own. I believe he was 1st or 2nd in the league one year in Yards After Contact (too lazy to look it up). He was exciting to watch back then. I think Freddy would have produced Thurman like numbers if he had played in the early 90s - and stayed healthy. Where he ranks in Bills history is debatable. The Bills have not been blessed with a lot of good QBs but we have been blessed with some dynamic backs.

He's been my favorite Bill since he was a backup years ago. Even then you could see he acted with class and played with determination. If he had played on a better team and stayed healthy, he would have been invited to multiple Pro Bowls. While his character is widely praised, I still think his talent is often underestimated.

I live in Seattle and would have trouble naming 5 players from the Seahawk squad despite their Super Bowl run. I'm not even slightly a fan. I'm not much of a NFL fan as far as that goes. I'm a Bills fan and will always be a Bills fan. I get a lot of grief from 'Hawk fans and that's great - it's all part of the fun of the sport.