mjt328

Freddie's knees just haven't been the same over the past 2-3 years. He seems to go down with virtually every hit in the knee.

Hackett got really conservative in the Baltimore game, and we almost let them back in the game. Don't be afraid to put the ball in the air and go downfield.

Huge hole by the O-Line.

Ugly throw. will give Manuel credit though. He knew the blitz was coming and got the ball out really quick.

Not a good pass. Touchdown anyway.

I'm pretty sure we have run on 1st down every time so far today.

Impossible to tell where the ball was. Yay for us.

Punting from within our 40. Again.

EJ has two passes downfield today, and both times he's stared the receiver down bad.

Gilmore has been a massive disappointment since coming back.

How is 3 and out not a bad drive?

Agreed. But I'm getting tired of complaining about EJ and Hackett.

Honestly, I don't see our D-Line getting pushed around much anymore. And most All-22 reviews that I've read this season are saying the same thing. Kyle, Marcel and Branch are all having very good years stopping the run. Most of the big runs are failures in gap responsibility, and breakdowns due to our aggressive play-calling.

My point was to dig deeper into the stats. A lot of people see "Ranked 30th in Rush Defense" and assume that nothing has changed from past years. In reality, we are allowing a full YPC less than last year. Detroit is currently ranked Top 10 in rushing defense. However, they have only gone against 203 rushing attempts. The Bills have seen 296 rushing attempts. Bills are allowing 4.0 YPC. Detroit is allowing 4.5 YPC. I must ask...Do you not feel the defense has improved this year?

Yeah, I realized that, but didn't want to take the time to re-rank all 32 teams. The main point is... offensive turnovers/special teams returns are directly leading to a whopping 5 PPG for the opponent!!! That's almost a touchdown every week.

These numbers are through Week 10: RUSHING DEFENSE: The Bills have allowed a total of 1,173 yards on the ground (Ranked 30th in the NFL). Of course, this sounds terrible as usual. However... They have also faced the 2nd most rushes in the NFL (only 1 rush behind Jacksonville). If you go by Yards Per Rush, the Bills have allowed only 4.0 YPA = Ranked 13th in the NFL. Not too bad after all. PASSING DEFENSE: The Bills have allowed a total of 2,386 yards in the air (Ranked 25th in the NFL). Broken down by Yards Per Attempt, those numbers improve yet again -- to 7.1 YPA (Ranked 15th in the NFL). I think it's also important to point out the injury factor. The Bills played without Stephon Gilmore and Jairus Byrd (both were out Weeks 1-5) and Leodis McKelvin (out most of Week 3 and all of Week 4). Since all four starters have been in the lineup (beginning with Week 6 against Cincinnati), the Bills have only allowed 6.3 YPA. If applied to the entire season, that would be good enough to Rank 5th in the entire NFL. TURNOVERS/SACKS: The Bills are ranked 2nd in the NFL in sacks with 33. They are tied for 12th in the NFL with 16 turnovers (13 interceptions and 3 fumbles). Those 13 interceptions ties them with Denver, Seattle and Carolina for the league lead. POINTS ALLOWED: The Bills have allowed 259 points (Ranked 29th in the NFL). If you break that down per game, they have allowed 25.9 points (Ranked 24th in the NFL). At first glance, this looks pretty bad. But if you look closer, you will see that: > Buffalo's offense has given away 3 defensive touchdowns (2 against KC and 1 against Cleveland). Special teams has allowed 1 touchdown as well (Cleveland). If you take these points away, the Bills have allowed 23.1 per game - ranking them around 14th in the NFL. > There have been 7 times where the opponent has gotten the ball inside Buffalo's 35 yard line (either off an offensive turnover or punt/kick return) and the defense has held them to a field goal. If you take these points away, the defense is averaging only 21.0 points allowed - ranking them around 8th in the NFL. SUMMARY: - Despite the team's 3-7 record, the defense has improved immensely under Mike Pettine's leadership. Their aggressive nature has them racking up lots of sacks and forcing lots of interceptions. - The poor statistical rankings are heavily influenced by the poor play on offense. - Injuries in the secondary were significant. Since the starters have returned, the defensive backfield has played excellent.

The criticism about EJ Manuel isn't just a reaction from "bad games" against Pittsburgh or New York. Through his 6 games, people are seeing SERIOUS problems with his fundamental throwing ability. He's not just making stupid rookie mistakes. He's not just getting confused by defensive coordinators. He's standing in a clean pocket and throwing 5 yard passes into the dirt. He can't seem to throw a catchable ball anywhere near the sidelines. And he already seems scared to go downfield, for fear of making a mistake. Guys like Andrew Luck and RG3 get a bigger pass on bad games, because they have also shown (numerous times) that they are capable of greatness. So far, Manuel's claim to fame is drive against Carolina (where he dinked and dunked down the field, then got a pass interference call). The only other thing Bills fans have to go on is the mysterious "IT" factor that some say he's got.

This is 2013. Not every good NFL team is the "physical" type that pushes teams around on the line of scrimmage. Indianapolis (with Peyton) was a powerhouse for years, and they were about as finesse as you get. We do have a good nucleus on this team. If EJ could complete ANYTHING yesterday, you might have seen some running lanes open for Fred and CJ. And the defense played pretty well through 3 quarters, until it was clear the game was lost. The missing piece has been (for 14 years) and continues to be - Quarterback.

How do we know this? There is no written rule that states you CAN'T draft a QB in the 1st Round two years in a row. At some point, an NFL franchise has to have the balls to buck the trend. Why can't it be us (for once)? Carolina drafted Cam Newton 1st overall after taking Jimmy Clausen in the 2nd Round only a year earlier. The Redskins took RG3 2nd overall, then doubled up with Kirk Cousins in the 3rd Round. In an era where Luck, RGIII, Wilson, Dalton, etc. are leading playoff teams as rookies, why are teams so STUBBORN to stick with a sinking ship for 2-4 years? It's absolutely ridiculous. What's the worst thing that could happen? You kill EJ's confidence? Well, guess what. If he can't handle competition for his spot, he was never going to be the guy anyway. Don't want to waste another 1st round pick? Well, your team isn't going anywhere without a top QB, so technically you are wasting all of your picks by waiting around for a lost cause. And if by some miracle you end up with TWO good QBs, you can easily get a 1st round pick back (and probably more) by making a trade.

Thank you. I'm laughing at all these people afraid of EJ's confidence being "shaken" by the negativity. Many of the best players in the NFL were told constantly that they weren't good enough, and couldn't cut it. Instead of curling into a ball, they worked harder than ever to be great. That's absolutely what I expect from Manuel. And if he doesn't have that attitude, I would rather he implodes quickly so that we can cut bait ASAP.

We know Hackett's playbook includes screens, play action, motion, etc. and we know they practice these plays - because we HAVE seen them at various points this season with all 3 QBs. However, I don't think Hackett understands how/when to properly implement these concepts into a game plan. I think he is totally overwhelmed when the bullets start flying on Sunday afternoon, and doesn't know how to respond when the plays he's attempting aren't working. Truthfully, this is what separates the great coaches from everyone else. Every formation and play has strengths and weaknesses. Football is a non-stop chess match. Some have the skill to counter an opponent. Others are clueless until Monday film session. Screens called at the right time, and executed properly can be HUGE for an offense. Screens called at the wrong time are usually lost yardage. As an inherently-conservative coach, Hackett chooses to use these plays sparingly - instead of making them into a big part of the offensive gameplan. He would prefer running a halfback dive into an 8-man front several times every week. The rookie excuse has worn thin. They are 10 games into a 16 game season. Jim Harbaugh left Stanford, took over a 49er team that hadn't made the playoffs in years (and who usually drafted around the same spot as the Bills), and almost took them to the Super Bowl his first year. They went to the big game a year later, and are 6-3 this year.

What is it the youngsters say nowadays? Face...Palm?

My suggestions for Hackett: 1) I think the read-option should be completely scrapped. NFL defenses figured out how to stop it in the offseason. And EJ sucks at making the correct reads. Tear this formation out of the playbook completely and put EJ under center. 2) We have possibly the best RB tandem in the NFL. They should be the focal point of our offense. We should always be running the ball more often than passing. And when passing, we should be involving our running backs as much as possible. To have an almost non-existent screen game - with Spiller and FJax on the team - it's almost inexcusable. 3) PLAY ACTION!!!! All season, teams have been crowing the line, stacking the box and keying on our running game. So instead of constantly running between the tackles with 7-8 in the box, make them pay for it! This will result in big passing plays AND make things easier for the running game.

When I look at this Bills squad, I don't see a ton of "needs" other than QB. Even without a 1st round pick, I could see all of our weak spots get easily addressed with a couple solid free agent pickups and with the other slots in the draft. > Our biggest holes are at left guard (Legursky) and outside linebacker (Moats). Truthfully, neither of those spots is really pulling our team down on a weekly basis... (at least since Colin Brown was released). Both of these positions could be adequately addressed in free agency or with 2nd-4th round picks. > Early in the season, we had big problems at cornerback - but most of that was an injury/depth problem. Our top 3 guys are Gilmore, McKelvin and Robey, who are all pretty decent. I wouldn't mind adding another 1-2 guys, but it's not a big need that needs to be addressed in the 1st round. > Assuming we don't re-sign any of our free agents, we are looking at replacing our tight end (Chandler), defensive end (Carrington/Branch) and free safety (Byrd).

Obviously, he should get the last 6 games to show some progression and improvement. But if we don't see it, I'm all for taking a QB in the 1st round again. Funny. The same people who talk about his maturity, leadership, etc. - these are the same people that want to see him coddled. They are afraid that drafting another QB early will destroy his confidence. I'm sorry, but I want the guy who comes out every week to prove his doubters wrong.