Flip Johnson

The Colts are physically soft and will be walking into a maniacal atmosphere against a defense they've never seen before. Like Miami a year ago, they will have no shot. Miami was a decent team last year, but that crowd, that setting, they lose 100 times out of 100. Same situation.

The point is that when certain variables are in place, Cassel will succeed. It isn't random. He needs a running game and a good OC. In '08 he had McDaniels and a very productive group of RBs, and in '10 he had Charlie Weis and Thomas Jones/Jamaal Charles. Since that point he has generally had overmatched OCs, and injury-prone, ineffective, or underutilized RBs.

Sanchez was ludicrously bad in '09 and '10 and they went to the playoffs despite his poor play. He did play a couple solid games in the playoffs. http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/S/SancMa00.htm

FACT: Matt Cassel is the best QB Rex Ryan has ever had. That is not saying much, but his statistical performance is far better than that of Mark Sanchez or Geno Smith. FACT: Cassel's best years ('08 & '10) correspond exactly with the years that his team ran the ball the most. The '08 Pats team lacked a true feature back, but still ran the ball 513 times or 32.1 times per game. The '10 Chiefs team ran the ball 556 times or 34.8 times per game. OPINION: This is probably the deepest group of playmakers Cassel has ever played with. History says that when Matt Cassel has an OC who understands his strengths and weaknesses and stays committed to the running game, he will be successful. He has that in Greg Roman, and he has an elite RB in McCoy followed by a very deep group of backup RBs. Everyone needs to calm the freak down with the training camp trade scenarios. Sure, it would be exciting to see Tyrod Taylor pop, or to see EJ finally take a step forward. There is still a month for that to happen. But the truth is we are set up to have success with Matt Cassel.

Tebow's mechanics have clearly changed. Video can be found by scrolling down in the story. http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2015/07/23/tim-tebow-philadelphia-eagles-tom-house-quarterback-coach/30575803/ Obviously it will remain to be seen whether he can maintain consistency under stress. But this video is the first time I have ever seen him throw a football without the ridiculous exaggerated windup.

+1 I get the sense that he genuinely bleeds Buffalo and that there was nothing fake about his affection for Ralph. This looks like a smart business move by the Pegulas and would have to mean that Russ is being moved even further away from any decisions related to football ops.

This. Mobility seems like a huge plus in this system. You can also see why the Bills shot the wad to pick up Clay.

"#3 is a true statement but there's a flip side (no pun intended), of course. Love & loyalty from a coach motivates players to play harder and makes FAs less likely to seek greener pastures. It's a tough balancing act." I am not worried about a street free agent that could mentor our O-line. Overall, I think this quality has far more positives then negatives.

1. A veteran guy that Rex loves can show Seantrel Henderson that this is not 2014 and it is time to pull it together if he wants to play in this league. 2. As has been noted already, anyone who has read 'Collision Low Crossers' knows Rex loves Wayne Hunter. Who knows, the guy is an athlete and could offer the team something as a swing tackle. 3. On the negative side, (again, read the book) Rex's loyalty and even genuine love for his players has made him borderline sentimental in the past and can get his team in trouble.

"Belichick takes away whatever the offense does best" is one of the tiredest lines in sports. It was true at one time and has not actually been accurate for years.

I don't understand the notion that Jackson could be cut. The Bills are going to cut a guy who had 66 catches in 2014 and happens to be the most popular player in the city, because they like Bryce Brown? If Fred Jackson was a healthy cut there are 31 NFL teams who would sign him. He is an ideal backup/3rd down RB. His pass catching, blocking, and leadership are all well above average for the position.

Carucci is pretty even-handed. He's hardly been singing Manuel's praises, but what this tells me is that there is reasonable evidence to suggest that inadequate coaching has contributed to Manuel's struggles. Until EJ takes the curve we don't have hard evidence, but the idea that growth potential still remains is encouraging.

You would think Roman wants Dixon. I agree. But Goodwin has to actually do something. If he is just a smaller, more injury-prone, less talented alternative to Percy Harvin as a deep threat and a KR, then he could be in danger. That said, I think Lewis can safely be stashed on the practice squad. He is a 7th round pick that went to Central Arkansas.

The next time Schopp has an informed Bills take will be the first. Here is what I read into Rex's comments. He is freaking giddy about this defense and he knows that his D is going to wreck teams this year. He hasn't decided the QB yet. The process is going to play out at QB. Roman knows what he is doing and can adjust the offense to the strengths of the emerging QB. Whoever wins will be better than Mark Sanchez in 2009-10, and Rex took that QB to two AFC championships.

This was great. Sal C is not amazing on radio but I would love to see more film breakdown like this.

We're also assuming that Kujo couldn't have been useful last year. Obviously he was a mess in TC. But it is possible that he was making strides in practice all year long and Marrone was blind to it. Marrone was not quick to make adjustments of any kind on the O-Line. He was the last person to realize that Urbik was better than Cyril Richardson. He stuck with Pears the entire season. I do think that coaches at all levels allow for competition up until a certain point in the season. Then, while they keep giving lip service to the idea of competition, they aren't using practice to evaluate positional battles any longer. Kujo could have been a victim of that because Whaley's comments last fall indicated that he was developing.

I'm specifically talking about pass receptions. Last year the Bills completed 363 passes. 50% were caught by WRs, 32% were caught by RB/FBs, and 19% were caught by TEs. I believe this year the Bills will complete fewer passes because they will throw the ball less. Let's say the Bills' quarterbacks attempt 500 passes (31.25 per game) and complete them at a 60% rate. That is 300 completed passes. Who is going to catch those passes - and who is going to be unhappy with the amount of targets they are receiving? For example let's say in 2015 we have reception numbers like: Watkins 75 Woods 60 Harvin 40 Clay 50 McCoy 50 Those are fairly conservative estimates for everyone. It would leave 25 catches total for Fred Jackson (66 last year), Hogan (41 last year), Goodwin, Dez Lewis, O'Leary, Gragg, Gray, Bryce Brown, and Felton. Obviously, there could be injuries and we don't know how the Bills plan to utilize Harvin. But I see Watkins and Woods wanting 5-6 catches a game. McCoy is used to catching the ball out of the backfield, and Clay isn't being paid $8M/year to be a decoy. You can see that there is going to be a delicate balance between playing winning football (which could be 25 passes or less on a lot of days) and keeping these playmakers happy. The simple way to say this is: in 2015 we are going to have more and better pass catchers with fewer passes thrown. How is that going to work? My personal opinion is that Jackson and Hogan's numbers will drop drastically - they were products of our extremely conservative passing game.

There are maybe 8-10 QBs in the league that could make ANY team a playoff contender. There are probably 10 starting QBs in the league who couldn't make the playoffs with any roster. I don't put Cassel in either category. I see his skill set as being highly context-specific. He could never be the difference maker on a mediocre to poor roster. But history shows that if you put him in the right situation he can win a bunch of games.

I am fine if one of the young guys step up. Cassel would be a more than competent backup. I believe you can attribute the poor years of his career to coaching transition, injuries, and poor supporting cast. When Cassel is given an opportunity to succeed he can do it. He has not had much to work with in recent years. This is also where there is a huge drop off after the top 10 or so QBs in the NFL. I believe the Jags, Raiders, Browns, etc. would be contending teams if you gave them a top-flight QB. Cassel or Alex Smith or whoever can't help those teams. However, the Bills have the roster where a guy like Cassel can thrive. Are you saying Alex Smith would not have beaten the Texans, Chiefs, and Raiders last year?

There seems to be a narrative out there that Cassel is an uninspiring, "game manager" who might be able to lead the team to 10-6 if he can manage to keep from tripping over his own shoelaces. In Cassel's good years (08, '10) his QB rating was top 10, and his combined TD/INT ration was 48/18. He made a Pro Bowl. The '08 team scored 410 points and the '10 team scored 366 points. His '08 team had Sammy Morris as a lead RB, with a strong WR combo (Welker in his prime, still explosive Randy Moss). His '10 team had RB depth (Thomas Jones/Jamaal Charles) and mediocre receivers (Bowe/Moeaki). This is the best offensive personnel Cassel has ever played with. It is certainly the best defense. He is healthy and is not playing for Leslie Frazier, Todd Haley, or Romeo Crennel. There is a ton of similarity in Cassel's stat lines to Alex Smith's recent years in SF/KC. So while I understand that the YPA might not be high, Cassel is not the same as Orton, or Fitzpatrick, or other retread QBs. Smith is a better comp and the Bills would have won 12-13 games last year with Alex Smith as their QB. I don't see why Cassel can't put up a 95 rating, a 3-1 TD/INT ratio, while keeping his attempts at around 30 per game. If that is "game manager" it will still be a Pro Bowl stat line, and the team will win 12 games at minimum.

So do I. And Carucci thinks EJ will start in wk. 1. He is just saying that he thinks a case can be made that the Bills won't keep EJ around as a backup if he can't win the job. Joe B. is spinning that into an "EJ is in trouble" narrative.

They are just quoting Buscaglia. I suspect Joe's new gig with ch. 7 has him doing some speculative reporting to generate traffic. He doesn't have inside info and is just creating a scenario that doesn't make monetary sense. This notion came from Carucci, not an source inside the Bills. Furthermore, Carucci is one of the few people claiming that EJ will be the starter at the beginning of the year.

And for all the people who believe the Bills should draft 1 QB a year until they hit on one, this is my point. If you like ZM (not saying they do) why would you not see if the Titans would deal him for a mid-level pick rather than drafting someone like Bridge, Grayson, etc.?

I am not advocating for the idea per se. But if the Titans take Mariota they are not sitting him for long. He could be had and there are teams in the NFL that really like this guy.

It looks like the Titans attempt to deal for Phil Rivers is going to fall through. This means there is a good chance (according to Peter King/MMQB) that they will take Mariota at #2. I think they like Mettenberger, but I don't know what they're going to do with him if they have drafted a franchise QB. The kid has talent, although he doesn't have the mobility that Roman supposedly covets. Could he be had for a second or a third? http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-highlights/0ap3000000430265/Week-11-Zach-Mettenberger-highlights Discuss.