Forward Progress

Our Red Zone Play has improved significantly on both sides of the ball. Red Zone Offence We have scored a TD on 73.3% of trips to the red zone this year, good for 6th in the league and up from 50% in 2015 (ranked 24th). It would be nice to get more red zone opportunities as we only reach the red zone 2.5 times per game (ranked 29th in the league) Red Zone Defense Opponents have scored a TD on 33.3% of trips to the red zone this year - 1st in the league by a wide margin (2nd best is Pittsburgh at 39.1%), up from 60% in 2015 (ranked 21st). We are entering the toughest stretch of our schedule, so I hope we can maintain this kind of performance. FP

Teams with the lead tend to run the ball more. We've jumped to early leads in each of our last three games, so we've kept the ball on the ground. Teams that are trailing tend to pass the ball more to conserve clock in order to catch up. I have no issue with low passing yards while we are winning games. FP

I was not thrilled when Rex hired his brother, Rob, this offseason. With a horrible defense in New Orleans, there was no reason to hire him other than nepotism, so I was grumbling about the hire. It's possible I was wrong. Rob calls the plays in the Red Zone, while Thurman calls the plays between the 20's. I can't argue with the results as we are now leading the league in red zone defense (see link). I think that both Thurman and Rob Ryan are benefitting from more focus in their preparation to understanding the tendencies of opposing offences both inside and outside of the redzone. I also like that Rex has finally delegated the DC responsibilities so he can be responsible for the entire team as a head coach should. https://www.teamrankings.com/nfl/stat/opponent-red-zone-scoring-pct So far, I have been wrong about Rob Ryan. For the moment, I am happy about this hire. The great thing about being a TBD poster is that I am free to fly off the handle and change my opinion any time I want. FP

Another improvement that I appreciate from Lynn is the play calls coming in faster. Under Roman the huddle broke so late that the snap was just before the play clock expired with the occasional burned timeout because they just weren't ready to play. FP

Of course he is!! He's a hard core Bills fan.

I've decided to adopt this practice, since it worked to well for Hondo. For the sake of the team, I will do whatever it takes.

But, but, but... if we get anymore wins against the NFC, it will come back to bite us. Sorry, I just couldn't resist.

Dan - It's not you, it's me. For the first two weeks, I wore my Bills jersey while watching the game and we lost them both. For the last two weeks, I left the jerseys in the closet. My jerseys need to stay in the closet for the sake of the team. It's too bad, because they are the best damn jerseys in the league, but a fans gotta do what a fans gotta do. FP

If you enjoy the humor of this thread, then this clip is for you! http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=move+the+deer+crossing+sign&view=detail&mid=11E8E3678DF88E17FB7D11E8E3678DF88E17FB7D&FORM=VIRE Enjoy!

There goes my first chance to repurpose my Kiko Alonso jersey. Maybe we will draft a LB in the first round, and that LB will choose number 50, and that LB will go on to be a perennial pro bowler and my jersey will be worth the $150 I spent on it.

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas.

Dear Roger, Please make penalties reviewable to get game-changing calls right, so we can talk about the plays that players make and not the mistakes that referees make that are deciding who wins and loses in the NFL. FP

Here is what I want to believe... Tyrod will be fine by Sunday and Rex is forcing Cincy to prepare for two different quaterbacks with this story line. I don't really believe it, but believing that I believe it makes me a little happier.

I know there are two camps on this one, but penalties should be reviewable, requiring clear evidence to overturn. What matters most is that the right call is made. The counter argument has always been that reviews slow down the pace of the game. If the number of available challenges remains at two per team, it doesn't slow down the game, because the number of challenges won't change. There are too many game changing blown calls the would have been corrected with video replay. FP

I am thinking the same way. I thought Cierre Wood looked like our best option after Karlos based on what we could see in the preseason. I don't see Boobie contributing other than short yardage situations, and even there he hasn't had the same level of success as he did last year.

I picked Sammy - the double coverages he's been carrying are on Harvin now. Should be a good day for Woods.

Richie Incognito getting some props. Whaley getting props too for taking a gamble and having it pay off. http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2015/10/01/richie-incognito-return-buffalo-bills-nfl-best-guards-pff-0 "One year after no one in the NFL would sign him in the wake of the bullying scandal, Richie Incognito is back. Not only has he been on his best behavior, he has rewarded Rex Ryan’s Bills by outperforming almost every other guard in the NFL"

That's right. Just like last year's preseason when Marrone/Hackett's offense couldn't generate anything because we were playing our vanilla offense. Remember how exciting it was when they revealed the whole playbook!!!

What I like is that it wasn't just a couple of big plays that show up on the stat sheet. He is consistently blanketing his recievers on every play. It feels like we had a first round pick this year. FP

Tyrod has carried himself very well so far and I don't expect that to change. He doesn't come across as the type of player who is going to get worked up over what the media (or a bunch of poster on a discussion forum) have to say. If you care too much about what the fans have to say, you will quickly become one. FP

I was surprised to see the Patriot* recievers get a free release off the line all day. Before the game when we discussed the strategy to beat the Patriots, the most common suggestion was to jam their recivers at the line to disrupt the timing of their quick passing attack. I think this would've delayed brady on a few more of his throws, allowing our front four just a little more time to hit the QB.

This is so true. Our defence had no answers for the Patriots attack. I think the reason the focus is so much on Tyrod is that we don't yet know what we have there. As for the defence, in spite of a poor outing, we expect them to bounce back and be strong this year. Thanks - I stand corrected.

Another poster commented on the final throw and interception, suggesting the throw was intended for Woods who was open 10 yards further downfield. I reviewed the highlights and think he was right and I am sure Woods would have made the catch. I have no issue with Sammy assuming it was for him and going up and after it, but I now believe it was a good throw to Woods and tipped by a freakish leap by Sammy. FP

In spite of our O-Line, our running game has still been effective, thanks to the talents of McCoy, Karlos and Taylor. I would descrife our running game as "opportunistic" with talented guys running for open space instead of through holes created by the O-Line. Pass protection hasn't been very good - it seemed like the pocket was getting pushed back into Taylor pretty easily by the Patriots. I felt the hype around the Dolphins was overblown this off season, but winning in Miami in the September heat is a real challenge. Every week so far has been a huge game for us and this one is big too. My countdown to Sunday starts every Monday. FP

I remember that game (but not the name of the Jets tackle). What I remember is the tackle having his hands up in the face of Mario all day with no calls. Mario was at an unfair disadvantage with his helmet pushed up or sideways on several plays that day. I'm usually okay with officiating. I don't expect the refs to get every call right, but the Jets O-line could do whatever they wanted on that day. I think it's a pretty good alignment for short yardage situations. If the defense counters with a lot of big slow guys, then the TE's will get good matchups. If the defence has small fast guys, then the running game should pick up the yards they need. I think we're lucky that the personnel of our base defence is the ideal blend of speed and size, so I expect that we can defend this better than most teams.