The Frankish Reich

Since you asked -- Hogan, 23 catches, 288 yards. Bills current top 4 (from the OP above) -- 23 catches, 283 yards. It's Hogan by 5 yards!

Nope, I wasn't there, but I saw a profile of Murray talking about this tour with excerpts of the performances. I just have to say that some people would pay to watch Bill Murray go through a series of farts and burps for 90 minutes ... and yes, people do pay good money to watch Dylan butcher Sinatra too.

We will see that some day. (Unless the concussion thing, etc., brings a radical rugby-style reform to the NFL.) I see no end to the ever increasing size of line players. When I was a kid in the 1970s DTs rarely went above 270. 1980s: Refrigerator Perry was an amusement at 330-350. 2010s: Dareus is listed at 331; no DT on the current roster is under 290. Again, unless the rules committee makes some kind of radical change, I predict we'll see the first high-300s guys within a decade, and then what's to stop Sumo guy?* *By the way, I also want to see the morbidly obese hockey goalie thing happen. Pro sports used to be so much more fun in the Bill Veek "hey let's bring in a dwarf" days ... now being a losing franchise is just dull.

Excellent point. Turnover differential through 5 games: Bills +8. On pace for about +25 Last year's leader for the full season: KC and OAK at +16 2015 full season: CAR + 20 (that's a good way to go 15-1) 2014 full season: GB + 14 Teams can have lucky runs for a full season ... again, Carolina in 2015. But we know by now that in particular creating turnovers has a large element of randomness. CAR 2014: +3 CAR 2015: +20 CAR 2016: -2 CAR 2017 so far: -6 I will say Taylor in particular is great at avoiding turnovers. Taking those sacks drives us crazy, but he doesn't throw picks, so we'll probably have a good turnover ratio. But this level, which is dependent on not losing fumbles too, is very unlikely to continue.

Bills Fans, Letting the Perfect Be The Enemy of The Good Since 1997. - Cam: sure, he took them to the playoffs, went 15-1 in 2015, but he lost the Super Bowl and is definitely not Hall of Fame material. So lucky we missed out on him! - Wentz: sure, he started from Day 1, made the Eagles competitive right away, and so far has led his team to the best record in the conference in his second season. But I still see some inconsistency ... he's no Brady! So glad we didn't get him; let's hold out for the real deal who will be available someday in some other draft (universe?) - Watson: sure, he took over right away, and immediately turned a dormant offense into something opponents now worry about. Sure, he had that 5 touchdown game. But he hasn't looked perfect! I'm concerned about his fastball velocity. We were very smart to pass on him at pick #10! We were able to get a Franchise Cornerback AND perhaps and additional 32nd overall pick by trading down!

I like Bill Murray. I'll watch most anything with him in it. About 70% of the time it's good, and a decent portion of that is brilliant. But ... I'm sorry, I'm just not getting this latest shtick. Singing standards straight, but poorly. Not like horrible karaoke guy poorly, but still poorly. What am I missing? Is this like people paying to see Bob Dylan sing Frank Sinatra?

Mike Shula isn't dumb. Was that Cam all on his own?

Why throw 3 in a row 20+ yards downfield? Weren't they just moving the ball with short passes? McCaffrey?

Schwartzie hitting those cheesesteaks hard, huh?

Not looking so impressive that we kinda sorta almost beat Carolina ...

Not even close to the best post ever. The "Gilmore and Darby need to cut their dreads so they can see the ball" thread was far superior.

I'm not a huge Watt fan, but .... I kind of wanted to see what that front 7 would look like with Mercilus, Clowney, and JJ all going at full strength at the same time. It had promised to be legendary, but now I doubt it will ever happen.

And in the AFC this year, all that adversity adds up to ... in the playoff hunt!

Absolutely. Our competition includes teams such as the Bengals, Ravens, Colts, Raiders-with-EJ (probably for a while), Jaguars, Ravens, Dolphins, etc., etc. All seriously flawed teams, just like the Bills. Because there are so many mediocre teams out there, the likelihood of making the playoffs is probably around 1 in 4 at best. But it's a crapshoot. We've been competitive in every game, and I see no reason (even with the injuries we have right now) why that can't continue.

+8 through 5 games in turnover differential explains a lot. In other words, the low scoring/conservative risk averse offense is part of the reason for the low number of points surrendered. That doesn't mean that the defense isn't good, but it does mean that these kind of stats can't be looked at in isolation.

Not the first guy who's been absolutely convinced that a stripper really loves him for who he is, and not for his money ... and/or for his coke ....

Mostly agree -- but I'd say "isn't an NFL caliber starter." EJ Manuel had more rushing yards yesterday. Running -- not just scrambling, but designed runs and grabbing the opportunity to run on pass plays when the pocket breaks down or his 1st/2nd reads are covered -- is absolutely essential to his game. It's like Mike Vick, Pocket Passer ... a pretty useless player, which is exactly what he became when he lost the ability to run effectively. I'm not sure how much of this is Tyrod being coached not to run vs. Tyrod trying to show he can succeed without running vs. Tyrod trying to protect his body for this season vs. Tyrod trying to protect his body for free agency after this season. Probably a little bit of each. But I do know that he is an extremely limited QB when you (or he himself) takes away the running element of his game. And as others have noticed, a non-running Tyrod also has a negative impact on the Bills running game as a whole. So Tyrod, it's time to put that critical element back into your game ...

[re-posted from the closed thread] PFF offers the following Miller grades - 2015: 38.7 (awful by their scale) 2016: 77.8 (described as a "solid dependable player" and one of PFF's top 10 most improved 2nd year players) 2017 first 4 games: 39.1 (back to awful, the 64th highest guard rating so far this year ... and remember, there's, umm, 64 starting guards in the NFL) So maybe it isn't just "he's a Whaley guy." Maybe it is that we literally can't get any worse?

I even liked Reilly back when he wore #15 with "Hogan" on his back.

Anyone with a PFF subscription? If so, how do they have Miller rated this year so far? Is this a case of Miller regressing, or is this simply the new coaching staff not liking him/liking Ducasse more? EDIT: PFF offers the following Miller grades - 2015: 38.7 (awful by their scale) 2016: 77.8 (described as a "solid dependable player" and one of PFF's top 10 most improved 2nd year players) 2017 first 4 games: 39.1 (back to awful, the 64th highest guard rating so far this year ... and remember, there's, umm, 64 starting guards in the NFL) So maybe it isn't just "he's a Whaley guy." Maybe it is that we literally can't get any worse?

Richard Thaler won the Nobel Prize* in economics today. An unusually interesting guy within the so-called "dismal science," I see that he even took a look at market inefficiencies in the NFL draft. Because we're all about the Bills, let me summarize from our perspective: trading down for Tre White = smart. Trading up for Sammy Watkins (maybe for Zay Jones too?) = not so smart. (Note: this is somewhat dated, before the current CBA changed draft compensation slot rules, but the general point stands) http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/04/business/04view.html?ref=business *Yeah, technically not a Nobel Prize because not established by Nobel, but that's how it's become known.

And he was stuck in an extremely conservative offense in KC the first few years, even under Andy Reid. Part of that is what the Bills are going through: a lack of weapons at WR/TE (the forgettable DeWayne Bowe was his best WR), and an offense in which the only big talent at a skill position was at RB. Add Kelce/Hill/Hunt and suddenly Smith can throw deep ...

I saw quite a few of his games at Utah. He's a tremendous athlete. Here's one of the scouting reports, in which one scout is quoted as saying he had the best pre-draft workout "since Troy Aikman." http://www.espn.com/nfl/draft05/columns/story?columnist=pasquarelli_len&id=2015296

And we're seeing it again: the rookie QBs who've "got it" often usually show it right away. Wentz and Prescott last year. Watson this year. Goff may be an exception?

Correct with Sammy, but I'm talking about those 3rd (Hunt) to 5th (Hill) round picks that are really viewed as pure speed guys. Guys like Goodwin or TJ Graham ....