Big C

This is another game, like last week, where we look at the opponent and say to ourselves "we are so much better" / "this should be a win," etc. etc., but when looking at the stats, we matchup very closely. But the one that stands out to me here is, depsite out fairly miserable PPG offense, we score more than they do and they allow significantly more points than we do. We should definitely leave NJ with a 5-3 record, there is no question. My feelings toward this game are sort of similar to the Falcons game last year. We are playing a team with talent, but one that is essentially just playing for pride at this point. We, on the other hand have to win to keep pace in the conference and by all means should be playing with our highest intensity. The Falcons game last year was essentially our last chance as we needed to win out to even get to 9-7, while we have time to regain ground this time, but it's simply one of those games where a good team has to win and we need to show that we are a good team and get a legitimate run going. PS you link to the NFL.com preview is from two years ago. I saw Santonio Holmes and thought it was some fluke but then they started talking about new OC Tony Sparano / newly acquired Tim Tebow and I kind of laughed a little. So much has changed!

Watching enough Bills games will surely kill you someday. I never watch games alone.

I think usually it's more important to get the guy down than go for the ball and risk giving up more yardage. But I've seen some plays make a concerted effort to swing for the ball while making the tackle. I've seen Spikes do it a couple times.

Sammy had a real bad game where he dropped three passes. His grade was -3+, which offsets his grade from this past week or Detroit. I don't think anything is particularly off with that grade yet and going forward I expect it to trend positive. But of course it is imperfect. The minutia of the game they are trying to capture numerically can never be exactly right.

Dareus > Hughes. He is an all around beast. But I want both, dammit!

Eeeek. Way to drive the market up, jerks!

Rivers looked good in preseason and even the first game. Don't know what happened, but I am definitely imPreston with Brown (lolol).

That was a sweet grab by Weddle too.

The Chargers are missing Flowers and Verrett, in fairness. But yeah it's clearly Denver. San Diego is cooling off big time.

I have to think Marrone had a big say in this.

SD ran the same draw three 1st downs in a row.

Not at all. Watching Peyton play is simply a delight. Plus, the Broncos get a lot of high-profile matchups this year that merit primetime showings.

Minnesota's D was ranked 7th going into last week. So, 3 excellent defenses to start. I also just can't imagine EJ leading the comeback drive last week. He doesn't read defenses well enough to get off the quick snap on that 4th and 20 and he certainly does not thread the needle with that throw. EJ is a hard worker, but Orton's veteran qualities are what we need right now.

What do you mean he doesn't have the speed? Spiller ran a 4.28, Brown ran a 4.32.

Geno played really tough against NE and I think that means he's due for a setback.

Hey, this is an interesting fact: The last time the Bills sacked a Jets QB in NJ was Mark Brunell in January 2011. Read it in Elliott Harrison's picks for the week (Picked us to lose 20-19)

Sammy had a groin injury?

Are you taking issue with him not looking so hot or him hitting the holes? I didn't think he was hitting the holes in preseason. I realize now I should not have said "definitely" hits the holes, but he was doing a lot of that with Philly. I didn't analyze much of his work in preseason to see if it was him preemptively bouncing or our reserve OL just being terrible.

Remember that shot Geno took from Dareus at the very beginning of our home game last year?

That is true. But he did rush for 178 yards on 19 carries, with 2 TDs. The next week he rushed for 169 yards and another 2 TDs. From a fantasy perspective, this is great. For the Bills, it could cost us a win (and it did in his second game). Besides the fumbles, my concern is that Bryce played with a far better OL in Philly, even though they were missing Peters in 2012. He didn't look so hot with us in preseason. I think he can be electric and he definitely hits holes, or lack thereof with force unlike what we've seen from Spiller. Can't wait to see what happens on Sunday.

I worry more when we face no-name RBs.

Obviously. Right now it looks like the race is between Sammy and Kelvin Benjamin.

Wynn and Charles are really coming into their own this year. Branch was a good run stuffer for us, and I would have been fine with keeping him over, say, Corbin Bryant, but oh well. I'm not surprised no one picked him up prior to now. He looked dreadful in preseason, not to mention the off-field shenanigans.

Certainly Marrone has some say in personnel decisions. I get the feeling that C. Williams was more of a Marrone choice, as he wanted to develop a huge run blocking line. Whaley taking CK is looking like a mistake, but so far I don't know what else he should have done. We needed one and he got the best one available at that time. I guess he could have drafted Morgan Moses, but I don't think he's starting in Washington or anything. If Henderson pans out, he'll get a pass for it though.

CJ and Ellington seem very similar. Surprised they wouldn't be looking for more of a bruiser to complement him.