Dorkington

Really hoping it was just Pittsburgh's crap front seven that did this, and not Miami getting their starting OL back together

Ajayi was averaging 3.77 ypc before the Steelers game... after the Steelers game he's averaging 5.73 ypc. Kinda insane

4th in total yards, 2nd in total TDs Not bad

We need to not look past Miami.

Until someone in the AFC proves otherwise, the Pats are the favorites. I don't see what's so controversial about that.

Its exceedingly easy to tweak a muscle when working back into 'game shape' even if you're in 'gym shape', thats why so many do similar at the beginning of camp.

That helps dramatically.

The Bills are #2 according to Pro-Football-Reference's Simple Rating System

We are: 18th in score per drive percentage 24thT in plays per drive 21stT in yards per drive 2nd in turnover percentage (2nd least) 20th in time per drive 14th in points per drive We aren't great at sustaining drives, but when we do get going, we score touchdowns... and at least we don't turn the ball over very often. We definitely, as a whole, have room to improve offensively at least when it comes to sustaining drives and giving our defense a rest.

Both of our losses were by one score. All four of our wins were by multiple scores. Look at me painting an optimistic picture

"The Dolphins are now 7-1 when Albert, Pouncey, and James start & finish a game" Well, if that's the case, someone go take a wrench to one of their knees.

We're just a top 10 QB away from being an elite team, not sure how we can get rid of Whaley for building such a strong squad, but lacking a QB... which lets face it, if good QBs were easy to find, there wouldn't only be a handful in the league.

To be fair, we've only played @Oakland 3 times since 1981 Last time we won @ Raiders in general was 1991

If I was being fatalistic, I'd be back to my 0-16 expectation that I was having after the 0-2 start

Wait, can anyone blame any Bills fan for being cautious in their expectations? Jesus... I love our victories, but come on, can't I stay cautious? O.o

Were there any rumors of mutual interest at the time? We went with Kolb for some reason, was there an argument for Kolb over Palmer? We also had Fitz money on the books, not sure what our financials were looking like that offseason

This. We were done with Fitz, partially because of performance, partially because the new staff didn't really want him, and partially because of that stupid phone call. We were going to take a QB with our first pick. We traded back, and picked up Kiko/Shady + EJ. What should we have done instead? Even with hindsight being 20/20, I can't really see a clear 'better' answer. Hell, if we picked EJ and had better coaching, who knows what he would have developed into. Instead we picked him, gave him no QB coach, and the only vet presence was Kevin 'Scrambled Brains' Kolb.

I'm wondering if he'd be a good head coach candidate, as long as he has someone else calling the actual plays. He certainly seems to *design* some killer plays.

There is a fair amount of group-think involved though, because their interest is to sell ads. Using 'extreme' headlines results in clicks/eyes, which results in ad $$$. So yes, saying 'REX IS THE WORST' or "REX IS THE BEST' is a lot more likely on average, instead of 'Rex is middle of the road coach, and it greatly depends on his talent and his relationship with the GM'. Nuance isn't allowed when selling ads.

You'll have to explain this acronym to me? And also, do you disagree? The teams we've beaten so far have some serious weaknesses, don't you think a Tom Brady led Patriots will be a good barometer?

Who's giving them pity? It was a strong win, but also a game we *should* win. It'll be vastly different with Brady back there. Our other victories have come against teams with .500 record or worse currently.

Its amazing what beating the Pats 3rd QB does for our SoV

Hopefully we're in Tanny's head, since he's struggled against us. No road games are easy, and we badly need this win.

Didn't feel like starting a new thread, but just a note for everyone who is down on Carpenter... The Bills are 4th in the league in FG %, and tied for first in XP% (tied with 16 other teams, but still that means 15 teams have XP issues)

It's a must-win game for us against Miami, the rest of our schedule, while not as daunting as previously thought, is still pretty difficult.