2003Contenders

Seems to me that he started off slowly but got better in the second half. In addition to the Stills long pass he gave up, there was another deep pass i the first half that Tannehill completed against Leodis on a rollout that was thankfully called back because of offensive holding. But he certainly looked much better in the 2nd half.

One question, you indicated that "Miller has a similar sequence of back to back plays where he gets blown up by Suh and Suh gets Taylor in the grasp.. then on the next play he is very stout .. holding up on a Suh bull rush just long enough for buy time for TT to throw the bomb to Sammy." The latter was the play where CBS indicated that Miller should have been flagged for holding Suh. Is it your opinion that Miller did a good job there and did not hold -- or are you saying that, since he didn't get flagged for it, it was not a hold?

Wilcotts is fine, and I thought he was actually very good today. He also kept asking the same question I have asked all year: if opposing QBs are making it a point to counter the pass rush by getting the ball out of their hand so quickly, the linemen need to be jumping up to bat down passes.

Yea, I think reaction to the way the defense has played thus far has been way over the top. I know that the sack numbers are way down, but sacks only represent a piece of the overall defense. In fact, of the first 7 games, I would argue that the defense has played very well in 5 of those games. The remaining two, where the defense struggled, were against teams that are collectively 15-0 and have elite offenses. One hand feeds the other, and if the special teams and offense improve (which they should as guys start getting healthy again) -- then the defense will be in better position to improve as well. Schwartz did a fine job, but the Bills' defense started off a bit slow last year too. Remember Week 3 against the Chargers and Week 6 against the Pats? It takes time for players and new coaches to get on the same page.

That was Graham. The only way the Jags win the game is if they score a TD -- both safeties should have been playing deep and preventing anyone from getting behind them. Still, credit Bortles with a fine pass and Hurns with great hands and concentration to catch the pass and stay in bounds.

When I saw Jerry Hughes with a higher grade than a C -- and that he had supposed;y played well all year long -- I quit reading.

I think Marrone made a number of key mistakes -- hiring Hackett as his OC, for example -- but he had instilled a sense of discipline that Rex is slowly but surely destroying. A classic example is Jerry Hughes, who found his way onto Marrone's doghouse on more than one occasion. Yet, Marrone managed to get Pro Bowl-level play from Hughes to the point where Hughes cashed in handsomely in the off-season. So far this year Hughes has been MIA for Rex. Marrone's people skills were also lacking. He had trouble getting along with the front office. I suspect more than anything else it was his clashes with Whaley that ultimately did him in. The two didn't see eye-to-eye on the QB situation. And it is a good bet that Whaley is the one who leaked all the "St. Doug" stuff to the press. Working in a toxic environment like that, it may be hard to fault him for cashing in on the golden parachute. Trouble is, he was arrogant believing that the Jets job was his for the taking -- and couldn't keep his mouth shut when he left. Ironic that Whaley himself may be on the hot seat now, largely because of the QB mess.

Actually in looking at that play again, I am convinced now that it was most definitely NOT PI. In fact, it looked like the receiver saw that the ball was overthrown and flopped, hoping to draw a flag. He immediately waved his hand for the flag -- but didn't protest too much. The replay also showed the Jags' coaching staff -- and there did not appear to be any outrage on their part in feeling that a penalty had been overlooked. If anything, the flag that WAS thrown against the Bills for excessive celebration was ridiculous. Fortunately, Gay did such a good job squibbing the kickoff that the penalty was not a factor.

Case in point: Do you think the Bengals win that game on Sunday with Andy Dalton out, Marvin Jones out, Jeremy Hill out, Gio Bernard on a snap-count, A.J. Green out after the first half, RT Andre Smith out after the first series, and Safety Reggie Nelson out? That was essentially the position that the Bills were in. Injuries are certainly a valid excuse. Bill Parcells once said that the coaching performance he and his staff did back in 2000 with the Jets' decimated by injury (Remember Ray Lucas at QB?) to get the team to 8-8 was the best of his career. Let's hope the team can get by the Jags in their current state and hope they get healthy during the bye.

That was one of the most maddening drafts that the Bills ever had. Not only because they missed on some key players, but because they also had the opportunity to trade down but didn't. Marv made a mess of that draft. But there was plenty of blame to go around -- classic case where the suits didn't trust their scouts' opinions. A reliable source told me the following: 1. The scouts had D'Brik Ferguson as their highest rated player. Modrak and Marv pursued the possibility of trading up, but the cost was deemed too high. 2. When the Bills picked at 8, the scouts had Ngata as the highest rated player on their board. However, there was some concern about his propensity to "take plays off". Also, perceived as more of a NT, Jauron was more interested in a 3-Technique type. He was supposedly clamoring for Broderick Buckley. 3. In the weeks before the draft, the scouts had done their due diligence reviewing the QBs. They had Cutler rated as their top QB in the draft -- ahead of both Young and Leinart. Marv believed that JP had not been given a fair shot up until that point and did not want to draft a first round QB to further "confuse the situation". Modrak agreed that Ngata deserved to be ranked higher on the board but felt that a potential franchise QB like Cutler trumped that. He REALLY wanted the team to draft Cutler at 8. 4. There was also strong consideration for Michael Huff, the DB from Texas. However, the Bills had more or less black-balled that school since receiving what they believed were inaccurate assessments about Mike Williams a few years before. (This was largely a Modrak prejudice) They also shared the view of many front office people around the league that Mack Brown was simply not putting out NFL-ready players. As it turned out, Huff went one pick before the BIlls to the Raiders anyway. 5. Given the varying opinions -- Ngata, Buckley, Cutler -- about who the team should select with that pick, Marv tried to play the role of appeaser. He instead tried to identify a player that everyone in the room could live with. Someone who was versatile. Someone who came from a big time college program. Someone who was still young and could be with the team for well over a decade. Someone with no character issues and a high floor (not necessarily a high ceiling). Someone who filled a position of need. Marv's consensus pick was Donte Whitner, who was barely 20 years old from Ohio State (renowned for cranking out defensive backs), and could play either corner or safety. The Bills had just recently parted ways with Lawyer Milloy and needed a replacement. 6. Once the decision was made on Whitner, the team never truly investigated the possibility of trading down. Most draftniks had Whitner as more of a mid-to-late first round choice. Meanwhile, both the Broncos (at 15) and the Eagles (a couple of picks further down) were trying to move up to 8. Both were willing to give up plenty to do so. However, Marv was worried that the Ravens (who supposedly also liked Whitner) would take him at #14. So he ignored any possible trade options -- and the team actually raced to the podium to make the Whitner selection. The Ravens wound up trading up one spot (with division rival Cleveland) to get Ngata. 7. While Whitner was the team's consensus choice, Modrak was still angry that they had passed on Cutler. He was rightfully insistent that JP was never going to be a franchise QB. The guy he loved in the 2nd half of the first round was John McCargo. So the dubious decision to move up from the 2nd to get him was Marv's way of pacifying Modrak. Whew! At least they did land Kyle Williams in the 5th round in that draft -- and Whitner kind of was what they were looking for. A decent player that was not a bust -- but you ordinarily want more of an impact player with the #8 pick overall.

With the benefit of 48 hours removal from the game, I have chilled a bit from my initial (over)reaction to what we saw Sunday. 1. Despite all the hyperbole we heard in the preseason and all the false expectations that we as fans placed on this team, it is pretty clear that this team (as it exists now) is not an elite football team. That was evidenced by what we saw in Week 2, when Brady and Billy B. had their way with the Bills at Orchard Park. The good news is that there really are probably only 2 teams in the AFC that I would categorize as elite right now -- and we have already lost to both of them, the Patriots and Bengals (more on that in a minute). The Bills belong in that next echelon of teams -- along with 8-10 other AFC teams -- that could vie for a wild card spot. 2. The Bengals are a very good football team -- especially, now that Andy Dalton appears to have figured it out. They have one of the best offensive lines in the game, a thunder-and-lightning RB duo, and plenty of depth. The Bills were able to mostly limit the damage done by both AJ Green and Tyler Eifert (minus one horrible goal line match-up). Credit the Bengals for having other guys like Marvin Jones who were able to step up. Defensively they also have one of the better units in the league top-to-bottom. 3. Injuries do matter -- and they are not an excuse. Like I said, the Bengals are a very good football team -- but most importantly, unlike the Bills, the Bengals have more or less been injury free and mostly had their full compliment of players available on Sunday. Do you think that an offense without their starting QB (Dalton), their between-the-tackle RB (Jeremy Hill), their #2 WR (Marvin Jones), minus their starting RT for most of the game and their top WR (A.J. Green) out for all of the second half -- could have scored 21 points against the Bills on Sunday? That was essentially the position the Bills' offense was in with no Tyrod, Karlos, Percy, Henderson out early in the 1st quarter, and Sammy out for all of the 2nd half. On an even playing field, I actually like the Bills' chances -- even if playing on the road in Cinci. 4. The defense failed to get any pressure on Dalton and also to force any turnovers. It almost seemed like they were trying to play a bend-but-don't break variant. The Bengals really did not burn the offense, aside from the one deep pass to Jones, which was more or less a Hail Mary. At the time, I really thought that Gilmore had come down with the ball. Otherwise, the defense played very conservatively. It was almost like the coaches' game plan was to expect Dalton to make mistakes -- and to his credit he didn't. In the days of Dick Jauron, that may have been the way to go. However, with the defensive line that the Bills have, I seriously question that mind-set. It is also counter to Rex's usual aggressive style. I expect the defense to be VERY aggressive this week against Bortles and the Jags. 5. Often times defensive style is determined by game flow. Thanks to continued dumb penalties and poor special teams, the Bengals were in great field position for most of the game. With the offense so depleted, the Bills were never able to worry the Bengals into believing that they had to play catch-up -- so Cinci was able to stick with their own mistake-free game plan. 6. I know it is only 6 games so far, but a pattern certainly exists of playing better on the road that at home. For one more week (in London) hopefully this pattern continues. Still, the existence of the pattern is puzzling. It is almost like the team is too reved up when they are at home -- only to be easily deflated. You could just sense all the wind coming out of their sails after the Marvin Jones completion to start the 2nd half. If the Bills can take care of business against the Jags in London, they have an extra week to get healthy. I honestly believe that with a fully healthy squad on both sides of the ball, this team is capable of beating any opponent on their remaining schedule (aside from the road trip against the Pats). Go Bills!

Prayers for a full and speedy recovery! God bless.

I Was thinking more 1999 Doug Flutie. Bills won a lot of 13-10 type games that year.

I don't think so. Even his biggest detractors say that EJ is a stand-up guy and the sort of guy you root for. I think it is a combination of factors: 1. Everyone in the media knew that the Bills were going to draft a QB in the first round of the 2013 draft. It's just Manual wasn't the guy they predicted. So when the Bills picked him instead of Nassib or Geno or whomever, these media types who predicted that the Bills would take a different QB wanted EJ to fail to justify their prediction. Guys like Kiper do this all the time. 2. That 2013 draft class was terrible for QBs. Buddy kept saying that history has shown that every year there is 1-2 franchise QBs that come out. Alas, it does not look like that will be the case for this draft class. It may not be that EJ was the WRONG QB for them to take -- it amy simply be that there was not a first-round worthy QB in that draft class, and Buddy should not have pigeon-holed the first round selection as such. I will say that it does sound like the Bills front office were astute enough to realize that the draft class was a weak one at QB. At least they traded down and acquired the Kiko pick for doing so. 3. With a new owner, head coach and offensive cooridnator -- and a GM who can deny culpability (Whaley was on staff but Buddy was technically the GM when the EJ pick was made) -- the "penalty" for missing on the EJ pick is no longer in play. Hence, the team actually brought in competition for the starting QB job this year and the coaching staff and front office haven't floated the puff pieces about EJ that we heard the last two years. I have been hoping and hoping that the light bulb would go on for EJ and that he would solve the team's QB issue for once and for all. But eventually you have to say that where there is smoke there is fire. He was inherited by the current regime, and the prior regime had more or less lost faith in him. He has all the tangibles you would want -- he just doesn't appear to have the natural feel for the position, which is what many of his detractors said at the time he was drafted.

I heard from a reasonably reliable source that at the time the Bills had three players on their board: Lynch, Poz and Revis. Marv supposedly wanted Poz, whereas Modrak wanted Revis. Modrak, who had made an impression on Marv by accurately picking all 11 selections prior to the Bills' pick, was able to convince Marv that Poz could be had later in the draft. However, he lost the battle over Lynch vs. Revis, as many in the room (including Marv) felt that RB was a much bigger need, given the recent departure of McGahee. This was probably another one of those picks where marv was trying to make a pick that everyone in the room could live with -- rather than necessarily taking the "best" player on the board. The Bills did a good job leading up to the draft keeping outiders guessing. The 49ers, for example, supposedly thought that the Bills were interested in Patrick Willis, when in reality they had Poz ranked higher. In retrospect, it probably doesn't matter much. Lynch has proven to be worthy of the selection, but his off-field issues while in Buffalo cut his time here short. Revis would have been out the door when his first contract came up. Modrak supposedly wanted Cutler over Whitner in 2006, Revis over Lynch in 2007 and Cushing over Maybin in 2009. (Leodis was his guy in 2008). Wonder how much our fate over the years may have changed if the team had gone along with his advice.

That Revis guy really sucks.

I think Kujo will have an impact at RT this year -- to at least push Henderson.

Oh come on. Not saying that Jim was always an angel off the field, but I don't think anyone can argue his passion about getting on the field. I remember that season VERY well. Kelly was in a contract year, and the team seemed uninterested in extending him prior to that last year due to his age, perceived regression and the recent acquisition of Todd Collins, who they were supposedly high on at the time. Kelly did contemplate holding out, but Ralph supposedly gave him a handshake deal that they would discuss an extension after the season. While no new deal was ever reached, Ralph made up for it by giving Kelly an ambassador title and paying him something like $2 M. Kelly DID have a serious hamstring injury, which caused him to miss a few games -- and opened the door for Todd Collins. Kelly tried to rush back on the field -- and played very well in his return game against the Bengals -- I believe he tossed 3 TD passes in the first half. Then he aggravated the hammy in that game and had to come out. Like him or not, the team has been a wasteland at the QB position since his retirement. I am sure that the "slight" on Lavar was unintentional. Perhaps Kelly was distracted or something.

I would be more interested in the OTHER L. Collins who fell out of the first round, Landon Collins.

Marrone is gone. Move on.

I may in the minority here, but despite some of the lower rankings by PFF and others, I did not think that Urbik played THAT poorly last season. I know he was banged up in the preseason and somehow wound up in St. Doug's doghouse. It was only by a matter of attrition that he finally got on the field once Williams went down for the season and Richardson proved to be unready for prime time. From what I observed, Urbik was clearly the best of the 3.

For all we know Clay could have come in and underwhelmed the Bills last week -- and he may not even be in their plans anymore. The only comment I have heard from OBD regarding Clay is what Whaley said last Thursday: basically that the Transition Tag presents extra complications and the team was trying to decide whether to present Clay with an offer or not. Honestly, when I heard that, I was under the impression at the time that the Bills had decided to move on. I think the speculation ran wild when Chandler was cut -- but the events may be unrelated. The coaches may have simply felt that Chandler was a poor fit and/or not worth his 2015 salary.

Doesn't really matter. Clay is not limited to the Dolphins and Bills as he can sign with whomever he chooses NOW. Once he does that Miami has 5 days to decide whether or not to take over that contract.

Well, it may not be Clay who is holding up the proposed offer. The Bills may still be looking through the language of the Suh contract to deliver the best possible proposal.

Remember, as much as the Bills may want Clay, every player has his price. If the Browns hypothetically offer him more than the Bills, that will mean that the Browns placed a higher premium on Clay than the Bills did. Should that happen, I think when we see the contract terms, we will be probably agree that the Bills were wise not to pay Gronk money for a guy who is good but not THAT good.