eball

All hail The Chroise!

Has anyone asked the obvious question: why? This seems to be a bizarre fetish as I don't know why any Bills fan would covet a Bledsoe or Travis Henry jersey.

I'll reserve my conversation for the adults on the forum, son. Your brand of immaturity isn't my style.

Another solid take! You can critique a lot of things about the Bills, but it's hard to fathom including Hughes' play as one of them.

I'll believe that when you start agreeing with @JohnC about the Sabres.

It's just getting a bit ridiculous, the immature perspective.

Are you 15 years old? Serious question.

The OP is taking a lot of heat for this thread, and rightfully so. Preseason games are nothing more than glorified practices. I think they are somewhat important for new coaching staffs as they test out their game management preparation, and they're obviously important for young players trying to make a roster by standing out in a way they can't during training camp. For teams with established coaching staffs and veteran players the goal of preseason is to stay healthy. Yeah, you'll hear your occasional coach say something like "whenever we're playing we are playing to win" but nobody really cares. The Bills are not dealing with any scheme changes this year. For them this preseason is (I would presume) mostly about getting the new starting OL some live reps together, as well as giving Josh some time with his new receivers. The defense has almost nothing to prove during these practice games. It's also a good opportunity for Heath Farwell to get his ST in gear.

There's a lot of talk about how horrible the Bills' run defense was last year (they DID look bad in 2-3 games), and that the only reason their pass D was #1 is because teams didn't need to throw as much. Some perspective: Rush yards/carry against: 4.2 (10th best; league average was 4.4) Rush attempts against: 440 (10th most; league average was 414.8) So, teams only ran against the Bills approximately 1.5 more times per game than the league average, for 0.2 fewer yards/carry. Funny what happens when you don't just look at 2-3 games out of a 16-game schedule, huh? I expect the run defense to improve this year -- but it's already at least decent. Where the Bills really need to improve is on offense and ST, and not giving teams short fields.

The biggest reason I dislike Gase is also one of the biggest reasons I like McD. One of these men is a leader, and one is not. Also, Gase had a much more talented roster in Miami than what McD had his first two seasons in Buffalo. If your response to that is "well, McD traded or cut talent" then we're speaking in circles again, because that's not the issue. The issue is "what do you get out of the talent you have" and McD has surpassed Gase in that area (in my opinion). Yes, much of this discussion is based in speculation and if Gase leads the Jets to prominence I'll admit I was wrong -- but I don't think I'll have to.

As I've been saying all along, the Bills knew their chances of truly competing last season were slim and as a result they got a somewhat raw guy like Tremaine a "free" year of starting experience in the NFL. I think it is a mistake to equate some of Edmunds' "struggles" last year (particularly against the run) with the notion that he is not "instinctive" or won't be a top level MLB. The dude was 20 and was tasked with running the defense! There are some great parallels between Edmunds and Allen, actually. Two raw prospects with oodles of talent who both got "thrown into the fire" last season with mixed results but who showed a lot of promise as the season wore on. Excited to see what year two brings for both of these guys.

I think most of this is spot on. It’s actually one of your better efforts. What I never understand is when fans automatically assume none of it will happen. And what fun is following your team if you’re not going to be optimistic? No guarantees indeed.

These posts are great but it always comes down to people in one of two camps: those who see hope and optimism, and those who insist the Bills will never figure it out. The latter group has had a good run but their window of opportunity is closing.

Obviously. Marrone can thank his agent for the clause in his contract with Buffalo, but at the end of the day he’s a douche who overplayed his hand and couldn’t finish what he started.

Do you mean coaches named Black? That’s a really weird question.

So far Gase’s claim to fame is getting a decent year out of Jay Cutler in Chicago and having success (surprise!) with Peyton Manning. His play calling in Miami was awful. Think what you want, but I believe Gase will be out of a job in two years. Oh, and the Jets have a bad secondary (outside of Adams) also.

I figured, but I don’t like shackling McBeane with the decisions of former GMs and coaches because it’s clear they are doing things differently.

Under McBeane that is simply not true unless you think one 3rd round draft pick (and no trades) is “way too much emphasis.”

Very mediocre OL on paper. Very questionable HC hire. A DC who is a legend in his own mind but who really hasn’t put a great defense on the field in some time. Those are big question marks on a team you expect to take a leap forward.

Saint Doug is as fake as they come. He’ll pretend he’s hip — remember all of the old school rap he played at Bills’ practices? Still a douchebag, obviously.

No the key is to look at the specifics of these supposed “quick turnarounds” — what do they all have in common? Really good QBs not in their rookie seasons. Everyone is expecting a significant step forward for the Bills this year if Allen is “the guy.”

Don’t you worry, I was on this over as soon as it came out.

Neither the Bears nor Eagles made waves in their QBs’ rookie seasons.

Is this guy related to Fendi Onabun?

It takes a special type of person to create a thread like this. And by special I mean “someone I’ll never invite to my home.”