fergie's ire

Put another way, the ONLY times teams have stopped them from getting to the Superbowl they first beat them in the regular season.

Tackling was the major concern about him when drafted. Though it is the smallest of sample sizes, I did find it encouraging that Hairston had the best tackle that anyone in the back 7 has seemingly had in games (stuck the guy, stopped him, AND wrapped up).

That had crossed my mind. I remember a few years ago he took a shot against the Packers that people suspected was concussion causing...and did not seem right for a few games after. However, I would think that, since it wasn't severe enough that he got pulled from the came, that if that were the case, he'd be better by now...but who knows.

Yeah. Something seems off. There were a couple of passes in the first half, with open receivers, that Josh missed BADLY.

One of the reasons that people always cite for wanting a big one tech is that he will require double teams and free up Ed. However, you can also draw double teams through penetration. That's exactly what happened on the first sack of the game by Ed. Hoecht drew a double team and Ed was easily able to get in on Dalton.

Hey!! It's Franklin.

There's been talk about Poyer and Hancock stepping in at safety. What about Franklin? Anybody know if he can actually play safety or is he a safety like Codrington is a corner?

I think that is what it best about the Rapp injury. I've heard the coaching staff LOVES Rapp. The fan base thinks he is a big part of the problem. Well, whether it is Poyer or Hancock or someone else, at least fans and coaches will get to see how it looks with another option.

It DID and I think that was the one silver lining of that game. If not for Tre leaving his man wide open who a desperate Penix was able to hit for a big play, it would've been a very good second half. They gave the offense plenty of chances to take back the lead. I hope it also showed that even though the Bills were down to backup corners, they could stick with ATL receivers long enough. The D Line HAS been getting pressure and have to trust that and risk the corners playing tight. Sure, the ATL receivers are not the KC receivers...but still.

It is common for these McDermott teams to have a two game losing streak which everyone (here and in the media) seem to be pointing out. In an earlier thread, someone commented that McDermott's teams go on a tear after a loss, but someone pointed out that's not true and they often drop a second game. However, what IS true, which I don't see people mentioning is that McDermott teams DO go on a tear after the second loss. Here's the Bills record after a two game losing streak from 2020 on: 9-1, 4-0, 7-0, 6-1, 10-2 (and the second loss was the giveaway to NE).

Yes, I heard a lot of "Look out for the Jets. Things are going to change because the Jets got a guy from a well run organization who is going to bring about a culture change." At the time, I thought "Isn't that EXACTLY what they said when Salah was hired?"

Remember the Titans? At least for the #1 pick...they probably think they already have a quarterback.

In the immortal words of NSYNC: bye bye bye

I almost wonder if that's been the plan all along. If they activate him just before the bye he can get some coaching and practices that are less game plan focused. Seems like a good week to work on getting him up to speed.

Agreed. Part of the problem might also be schematic. Bills have been getting quick pressure, but if receivers aren't facing tight coverage, that doesn't help. The QB can always dump it quickly to an open receiver. If you want to have an aggressive defense, the corners need to be aggressive and play the receivers tight from the line. It might mean getting beat deep occasionally, but if it also leeds to turnovers and short possessions, you can live with that. Of course, it would help to have at least one corner with speed which is why Hairston is so important, and his injury is why you probably want at least one more.

I think that's probably true...but they also only have 8 IR to return slots for the year and I think they've used two. I'm guessing they hope to use a couple when Hairston and the suspended players come back. I think they want to do everything they can to make sure they are stocked up for the post-season.

Eligible after the 6th game...so after the bye.

What I found odd, is that a couple of years ago, he was very critical of Josh turning the ball over too much. He even said something along the lines of "I understand that he is taking chances and that he can complete many of these throws that nobody else can, but still, he turns the ball over too much for my liking." I think that's a fair criticism...but really odd coming from Warner. He was part of the greatest show on turf, and Mike Martz actually said that he told his QBs not to fear throwing interceptions. He wanted them to throw fifty fifty balls down field, knowing that with their receivers it was more like 75/25. It seemed odd for a coach to say "I don't care if my QB throws an interception," but even stranger for that QB to later saying he doesn't like seeing QBs turn the ball over.

A Kevin Spacey of meatheads?

He did look fine....but then I think I saw Babich with a Tonya Knocker.

Ah nice! And given that, I was able to backtrack to stats for last year. They are at 26 percent...which a quick scan tells me they are high-middle in blitz rate. (Atlanta and Detroit lead the league in the mid 30s.) Last year they blitzed 19 percent...so a pretty sizeable jump.

Thanks....but I think it might be beyond me. I saw individual totals and then a team total at the bottom. But then is that total number of blitzes or total number of blitzers? In other words if they send Taron and Bernard on one play, is that two bitzes or one on their total? Plus I wanted a comparison to last year, so a blitz percentage for the year would be helpful...I know that could be figured out from this information...but that is too much math for my brain.

I grew up a few miles from the campus and it was always fun to go to games....and hey, when I was a kid they had Big ED...Ed Marinaro (future star of Hill Street Blues). He was robbed, robbed I tell ya, of the Heisman Trophy.

I agree...but I don't think the Bills coaching staff cares, and good for them. The Patriots used to do this where they would work on stuff in September as if it were pre-season. Often, they would lose a game early in the season and look bad in some close wins. Media and wishful opposing fans would trumpet the end of the Patriot era...and then they were great come December and January. McDermott said that he sat Codrington because he wanted to look at Samual and Strong. I think players are being sat who COULD play but want to heal them up. It's almost like load management. The focus is on winning in the playoffs not winning now. They're doing that and still undefeated? That's awesome. If they can keep it up until the bye, they will be in great shape.

Yes, I have been trying to find stats on blitz rates...this year vs last. Seems they are doing more, but for some reason fans don't seem to notice a difference. It might be because those blitzes are not getting home. I even remember someone on this board posting that he wishes Bills would blitz corners like other teams do. Well, I remember that Tre blitzed Tua...and whiffed. I also seem to remember that there were several corner blitzes that were effective vs the run against the Jets. The Bills are doing these things. It's just that they are bad at them and they are often out of position (particularly against Baltimore). The hope is that they will learn and get better throughout the year. The bye will help...as will getting players back. So WILL they get better? Hard to say and it might be really bad if they don't, but I don't think the Bills are playing it safe and doing the same old thing, which I appreciate.