jeffismagic

The national media is clueless about Buffalo. They thought the 9-7 record was us getting lucky. They have no idea how horrible the play calling, offensive coaching, and guard play was last year. The Bills have upgraded the offense big time. Because of injuries we could go 8-8. I see 8-8 as the floor and 12-4 as the ceiling.

Just checked in with Doug Whaley. We are going to get extra this month as the Fred cut is just the start. There will be more second guessing soon enough and Russ wants us ready to interact with the Bills fan community. Total Football Awareness. Now, let's talk about the idea that the Bills were 8-8 last year. Is this the new thing? Do we just create the record we want, not the record they had? Ok, I'll bite. This was a 10 win team last year but the college coaches in Marrone and Hackett, and their playcalling and offensive line coaching held back a 10 win team roster assembled by Doug.

Fred is a proud player and can still play football. So he is pissed and feels slighted. But I want my GM to be cold as ice and to make the best football decisions. McCoy is the starter and they are paying him to play 1st, 2nd and 3rd down. Right now we have a 5th round pick that can be a better compliment to McCoy and who can play special teams in Karlos Williams. Boobie Dixon can also play special teams, running back, short yardage. He even has played fullback for Greg Roman before. And now to the message board whipping boy in Bryce Brown. Brown will make the team but not dress. He has young, fresh legs and is the man if McCoy goes down for any length of time. He will also not dress when McCoy is healthy. The only player that could be argued over is Brown but Brown will sit on game day. Fred would not do that. So they cut him and are using fresher, cheaper legs.

Whaley played bad cop and Rex played good cop. I respect Whaley, I'm always the bad cop in real life. Someone has to do it. Better the GM then the coach.

Listening to Whaley, he is still in on keeping EJ and talking about his upside. If the GM had to keep only one of EJ or Cassel it would be EJ.

EJ's going nowhere. Listen to the Doug Whaley interview on the Bills website. The Bills will continue to develop EJ as Whaley mentioned that the Bills still think EJ has upside and room to grow.

Greg Roman has been talked about a running game genius. We also have Chris Palmer working here this year with our passing offense as a consultant. Could Palmer be someone that might also be having an influence with the passing game and QB's? It was mentioned that when we hired Palmer that he was brought to Buffalo to help develop our QB's...

Try this ONE SECRET TRICK for stopping Tyrod Taylor. If our coaching staff picked a QB that is easy to stop then we move on to the next man up. I trust Greg Roman to use Taylor's skill set the right way.

This isn't about hope, it's called high upside. I play to win fantasy leagues and Taylor is a great late round pick. QB's with far less passing skills have done well in fantasy. Tim Tebow in Denver was startable!

Screen passes and short throws to Harvin, Watkins, and McCoy count. I also expect Tyrod to throw deep. Let's not forget that in the Carolina game Tyrod threw two passes that could have been TD's. Plus Tyrod will get easy red zone scampers. If he runs for 60 yards, throws for 240, and gets 1 TD by ground and 1 by air, that's a nice scoring day for your QB.

There is no need to draft Tyrod high. However, if you are doing a QBBC approach. Taylor has value. I picked him up in the 14th round to start with Brady as my main guy in the 8th round. So I am rolling with Taylor to start the season as my league only awards 4 points a TD pass but you get 1 point for every 10 yards rushing. So Taylor gets a free TD to start every game if you assume he gets 40 yards minimum on the ground every game.

I am incredibly sad and shocked but I also credit Whaley for this. The best GM's let aging, great players leave a year or two early. Fred probably has 2 years left in him if he gets limited touches.

Roman would have been head coach already but the 49ers kept winning and made it to the Superbowl. He is already on NFL short lists. Bills win 11 games or more and Roman is gone.

You're worried about a quarterback that is not on the roster. I wouldn't want a scrambling quarterback with questionable throws either. That's not Tyrod. TT can make great throws from the pocket short, intermediate, and long. The last game he didn't go deep but he did in the Carolina game and has done so throughout training camp.

I give up. You are not reading and interacting with what I said but instead spinning everything. Rex will make the final call. He will do this with input from Whaley, Roman, and the Pegulas. The input is not direction or orders, but will be factors in the decision made.

Depends on how we go 3-0. This is about Terry and Kim Pegula's input. They care what the fans think. Of course the coaches ultimately must make the call by deciding who is best. But to think the Pegulas have no interaction with Rex is naive.

The fanbase is ABC. If Cassel starts and we lose 2 out of our first three games, the Rex Ryan era start will have fans rightly questioning the competency of the coaching staff.

So let's see. Here's the Bills brain trust that will make the decision. Rex Ryan: a gambler Greg Roman: unknown quantity Doug Whaley: a gambler Terry and Kim Pegula: Owners who are also fans and know what people want. I am sure they know that starting Cassel would be a PR disaster Even if Roman started out as a Cassel guy, I can't imagine anyone else yelling for Cassel here.

I just watched the post game interview with EJ. This kid knows he will get his chance to start soon enough. EJ, "See guys open, I throw them the ball." Looks like the game is slowing down for him and he could be a beast at QB in the future. Isn't this what all of us wanted? The 6'5'' 240 lb guy we selected in the first round to play QB, who has the work ethic and fight, to look like he belongs?! A case could be made for EJ over TT. For now, TT gives us a better chance to win in the short term but tell EJ to keep preparing as a starter. If TT gets injured or falters, EJ you're up.

Let's look at it this way, who gives us the best chance to pull out two wins against Indy and New England? Cassel will limit our running and passing game.

EJ under Marrone looked the best when he first got here. In his first pre-season he had moments that were pretty nice. But in his second year where we expected improvement, EJ looked scared and robotic. It also happened with Orton. He looked best when he didn't know the plays. As the year went on, the hackett/marrone combo made into the QB we saw in the Dolphins and Raiders game. Greg Roman and the new offensive coaches are in a different universe. We can add in the increased reps at practice, the play-calling based on each players strengths, real offensive line. Looks like the Bills QB's were made worse than they were by the coaches from Syracuse.

I like Cassel here as a veteran QB to work with EJ and TT. After this year our need for him is gone.

As a huge EJ fan, EJ is behind TT right now because of pocket presence. EJ has improved a lot but when there is pressure or a blitz, TT just has the edge there. Also add in the speed and TT can get plays there that EJ can't. With a clean pocket, EJ looks like a beast. He is getting closer to what we wanted and I am happy starting TT with EJ as the next man in. Cassel can stay on the team because I like having a vet QB that plays well with others. He can help TT and EJ in practice (unlike Orton last year).

For those saying pre-season doesn't matter, I give you... http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4446060

After the Colts are up 14-0, Matt Cassel get the ball at midfield after a huge return by Thigpen. 1st down. Defense stuffs the run as everyone is on the LOS. 2nd down. Throw in the flat to McCoy for 4 yards. 3rd and 6th. Watkins runs an out pattern and Cassel throws a 5 yard pass. Punt. The Ralph turns on the Bills and the rout is on.