Dorkington

The "Make Your Pick" polling has 84% of users picking NE, 16% picking Buf. Ouch.

The Bills are one of eight teams with a winning record, and a strength of schedule of .500 or greater. I think that's pretty cool. Arizona, San Francisco, Seattle, Detroit, NY Giants, Denver, Baltimore, and Buffalo --- Oh, and we're one of 6 teams with a strength of victory of .500 or greater.

Great news! Probably can unpin this, then

Excellent!

I think anyone looking at this game objectively will have the opinion it probably won't be a blow out either way. It's gonna be a tough game.

I could see him being the QB for the next handful of seasons, as we figure out a QB to develop, but that's not "long term" to me. I feel like "long term" is a guy you get as a rookie and retires on your team... Oh, also, regarding Fitz/Orton... If the 2011-2012 Bills had our current defense, I think they would have made the playoffs. So as long as we keep a strong defense, we can get by with an inconsistent "average" QB, while we figure out a young QB to develop (whether it be EJ or someone else).

Bradham and Brown, imo, have done ok in coverage for us this year... it seems most teams have a pass threat TE now, so I'm not sure why Gronk is any more special than what we've faced.

Just treat Wright as a 3rd WR, and throw Graham or a safety at him. Am I over simplifying this?

They struggled to put away Oak... lost to Miami and KC... and had one legit victory over a decent team, and they are top 5, that's really really weird. Is there a write up on this ELO? I generally trust the author in other arenas, but this just isn't adding up to me O.o

Surprised by that. The Patriots have been ranking pretty low in most metrics this year. The Bengals game must have boosted their standing quite a bit.

Coaches have a very short leash in the NFL these days... if he continues to put together such a defense, I imagine some vacancy will be ready for him next year, unfortunately. The cynic in me, says he'll be coaching the Bills next year (but seriously, hell if I know)

Damn!

Glad to hear it approved, hopefully the actual transaction is finalized smoothly.

Boy is that a loaded question. In the end, we have some good players, we just need to figure out how to use them. If Hackett wants to maintain this "power run" style (or whatever it's called), then we clearly need to move away from CJ. But it'd be a shame, because from 2011-2012, we saw what CJ is truly capable of in the right scheme.

I'm gonna ignore the rookie year, because... rookies. ypc - yards per carry, ypr - yards per reception, ypt - yards per touch 2011: 5.2 ypc / 6.9 ypr / 5.7 ypt 2012: 6.0 ypc /10.7 ypr / 6.8 ypt 2013: 4.6 ypc / 5.6 ypr / 4.8 ypt 2014: 3.5 ypc / 8.2 ypr / 4.3 ypt He improved every year under Chan. Whether that be him learning, or Chan figuring out how to use him, or a combination of the two, that's indisputable (his rookie year was worse than 2011). As soon as Hackett takes over? He regresses majorly. To be fair, he was also injured a bit, and the line made some changes. His carries stayed about the same (202 vs 207) but the amount of receptions dropped dramatically (33 vs 43) and the types of routes changed as well. This year, Hackett has designed some throws to CJ, already, so that's improving, but we're still power running him up the gut in heavy formations it seems. I'm not really sure what the answer is there, as I'm not an expert in run block design. But the holes certainly aren't there like they were in previous years. Fred can take a small hole, hit it with power, and fall forward for a few yards. CJ, however, cannot. The run designs that Hackett implements is best suited for power running backs. CJ is clearly effective, but on the right team, in the right system. CJ had a really high yards after contact number in 2012, because the holes were so large that linemen were only getting a hand/arm on him. This year, and last, the holes are smaller, and he's getting swallowed up, or he bounces away from them. We need a better blocking scheme, or we need to change to a full scale power running attack.

Also, I'm glad he brought up the CJ/LB mismatch, we really need to find a way to take advantage of that more often.

Orton sure does take some risks into tight windows, doesn't he? EJ sees that and doesn't chance it. I'm sure we'll have games where those risks bite us in the ass, but at least he's trying to make plays, so we'll see if it works long(ish) term.

I NEED MY INFORMATION NOW

Injury update on Wednesday like usual, I assume?

I'm not big on carrying Schwartz off the field, personally. But, I'm not exactly angered by it, considering the amount of showboating that happens in every game on both sides.

I feel like Richardson is doing better than anyone else so far at left guard... curious why Pears is in at right guard instead of Urbik, though. Either way, there's no instant solution here, it'll need to be addressed during the offseason.

Make Brady move, watch the seems, swing/screen passes, and I think we'll be golden.

My hopes are high, but my expectations low. I'm ready for an exciting game.

That link talked up Cinci's pass defense though...

Good read... I noticed the major improvement in their pass protection, which kinda makes me sad. Hopefully the Bills can disrupt Brady's rhythm, as it seemed he had all day to throw at times against the Bengals.