norton20

They all played really well today and have been consistently good throughout the year.

Joe B's take on Bradham: (voted his least valuable player) Bradham’s mental errors - The start to Nigel Bradham’s season couldn’t have gone much better. He was the fast, aggressive linebacker the Bills were looking for without the injured Kiko Alonso. The past two weeks, though, Bradham has struggled to maintain the same form and it was especially evident against the New York Jets. Bradham was missing tackles, taking improper angles and allowing yardage to happen on the perimeter once again. To exacerbate all those problems, the linebacker took three separate personal foul calls that put the Bills in poor positions on the field. Marrone said after the game that he couldn’t repeat exactly what he said to Bradham about all the penalties, insinuating that it wouldn’t be appropriate for public consumption. It's safe to assume Marrone's message largely circled around the 'be smarter' principle. The third-year pro is a better player than what he has exhibited each of the last two weeks and they’ll need him to be a huge piece of the puzzle in the second half of the season. He has been a good player but his mind seemed elsewhere in the first half today. He made some tackles but he also didn't carry out his assignments and took some really stupid penalties that could have been significant if the Jets weren't intent on self destructing in both halves. Still I am thrilled they won. Any road divisional win is a good thing and it is nice to see the jets in disarray.

I thought he had a horrible 1st half. One of the worst of the season by any Bill as almost all of these bad plays came before the break. He settled down some after that but hoo boy that 1st half had me screaming at the tv.

310

Boobie into the middle of the pile for a loss of 1.

Amen. Weak guard play has been a killer. They'd throw better if they ran better. Play action might actually work. Cant do it with this line nor does it pass protect real well either (Orton's status as a statue of Blesoeian proportion notwithstanding). At least Orton will wait for a play to develop and can throw, with reasonable accuracy, passes into the middle of the field and sideline throws over 10 yards. It helps.

I Drugs are great aren't they! Clearly you must be on them. Great QB's are not for trade when in their primes. Call Indy in 2024.

Hughes, Dareus (and Cordy Glenn). Left tackles are hard to find and extending Glenn, given the state of this dreadful O line, would be a very very good idea.

I've taken to listening to the Bills radio broadcast when I can only because they at least tell me about injuries and know the players. In the past there used to be the 5-7 second delay which made listening to radio and watching tv simultaneously nearly impossible. This year the Bears game and the Vikings game were in sync with the radio and tv. The others, if I remember correctly, had the delay with the radio being ahead about 5+ seconds. I don't love Murph and Kelso as nary is heard a discouraging word but I like the broadcast geared toward those who know the team.

I can guess the 4th play, punt. It is who they are. It is what they do.

If the last 6 games are any indication, that sounds about right. BTW, have the Bills started on defense in any game this year? It seems like they ALWAYS start on offense and NEVER get a first down. I'm guessing. Does anybody know?

I thought the Jets played a really good game tonite and deserved to win. That's the best I've seen Geno Smith play and their O line was pretty much totally dominant. They just kept stalling out in the red zone when they had a chance to distance themselves early on. Pats are annoying but truly amazing at winning these kinds of games. Ugh.

I know this is about defense but I personally would like to be proactive (for once) and extend Glenn. He is the best LT we have had in a while and I don't want to have to look for another one any time soon. I would get Dareus re-done as well. I expect Hughes will get big bucks in free agency and will want to explore it. It will take a really big offer to keep him and with the amount invested in the rest of the D line and Dareus still out there, I'd be surprised if the Bills can make a preemptive bid for his services.

Thanks Bowery. That was excellent.

Who is Wade Smith? Long term, Marrone needs to change how he values guards. You can't just "coach em up". You need at least one of them to be athletically gifted enough to deal with the stud DT's that nearly every team has. The Dt's are #1 picks for a reason. For the short term, try passing in the 1st quarter instead of running 2 out of every 3 plays, mostly right up the middle with their smallest back. Play Urbik (not a great alternative but better than Pears). Pears can be blocking TE.

I think Minnesota is the most important game of the year. Losing your 3rd straight home game and going on the road the next week is just not a recipe for success. i don't care how dysfunctional the Jets are offensively, they are still tough to play in NY. If the Bills are 3-5 they are toast.

The guards on this team are terrible and they are taking the whole ship down with them. I blame Marrone who bragged when he first got here about how he could take lower round guys and free agents (off the street fa's, not other teams') and make them work. He wanted size. Well what he has now are 2 guys so slow, immobile and unable to play in any degree of space that they are killing this offense. Can't pull, can't get to a 2nd level. They fire out straight ahead and give little CJ about 2 inches of room where he is swallowed up immediately. CJ realizes his life expectancy is dropping by the minute when he pounds into the 1st round monsters like Suh and Wilfork so he bounces it outside and hopes for the best. If they could pull or getout in front of a play, Spiller might get a corner now and then and the behemoths inside might have to move enough for him to get a cutback INSIDE for a change. Marrone has been so hard headed about this and I have never agreed with him. Draft at least 1 quality guard next year please! That said, the OC has 2 speed burners in Spiller (look he took a kickoff back 100+, he still has a burst, he's not injured) and Goodwin, not to mention Watkins. Teams would KILL for that kind of speed. Can our OC figure out how to use it? No of course not. We spend the entire 1st half of games going 3 and out running 2 out of every 3 downs then get going a little after halftime when we have to throw. I truly and honestly think Marrone is Dick Jauron 2.0. He'd love a nice ploddy up the middle ground game and try to win 17-14 on the last kick. Don't blitz, play safe, don't throw in offensive wrinkles, just pound it behind the mastodons that cant move or block anyone. It is 2014. The best passing teams win a LOT these days. I didn't see the Vikings in the Super Bowl with the best running attack. The Bills have a QB now, who while not perfect (yes he holds it a while to try for plays to open up and is immobile), can at least get the ball out and in the middle of the field in intermediate routes. With respect to blitzing, I noticed that in the 2nd half Brady got the ball out in a REAL hurry. He rarely had to wait to make a decision. At halftime they must have cleaned up their keys because he looked really confident getting the ball out. I don't know if blitzing would have gotten there or even caused pressure, though trying it a little when they've scored on every possession sure wouldn't have hurt.

It didn't surprise me after Saturday. They seemed clueless about stopping EMU's option attack. After Army had beaten them down with it, one would think it would have been prepared. His level of coach speak was over the top too. That said, UB has been a tough place to recruit to. I suspect it has to be a real shock to the players. I hope they get the next hire right.