KingRex

Given that the Jets were headed toward 2-14 even before they lost there #1 WR, and the Fins lost their QB before reclaiming an already retired Cutler and now the Bills have put down another piece in their 2018 plan for glory, the big challenge for the Pats is how on earth to get motivated for a playoff run when your entire division says No Mas?

My understanding also was that late in the game he led the team with tackles to his credit. Not an authoritative show of greatness, but a sign he was in on plays. He also slipped a couple of times and I'd try a new pair of shoes before panicking and cutting him.

Not surprising actually as the newly arrived Boldin was in active. Let's wait awhile before we throw him under the bus.

The simple fact is that given the long Bills playoff drought and the Pegula's having to strike the balance between investing well for the long-term and the powerful NFL and human desire to win NOW, there simply is gonna be a huge premium on what alternatives at starting QB gives the Bills the best chance (Or even much of a chance) at making the playoffs next year? Given the simple shortage of credible QB talent in the NFL, even if a 2017 team led by Tyrod is unlikely to make the playoffs, I see no more likely alternativeto him. For example, even if you think Tyrod is unlikely to lead the 2017 Bills to the playoffs next yea, even a bad chance is a better chance than any rookie QB available at the Bills pick (or worth the risk to give away the store to trade up. Is Tyrod worth $30 mill? Unlikely but more likely than any real alternative. If you disagree then make the case. We fans are all ears!.

From a football perspective I disagree with Kapernick taking an action which at best is a distraction from the immediate football goal of winning the game. However, as a human being, I agree with Kap on the substance that it is the "right" thing for a perceived leader (deservedly or not stud athletes are role models for kids) to take a stand in favor of the rights to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness of an aggrieved party in US society. I totally agree that Kap as an American has every right to protest even far more vigorously than simply not hand over hearting when the anthem is played. He can burn the flag for all I care (in the proper setting - like in a protest in the public square but not out of the blue prior to a game) and be wellwithin hs rights as an American. However, as a football fan his protest is merely a distraction from the game. Pro football is unimportant "mere" entertainment in the big picture. I do not find Kap doing the "right" thing to be very entertaining for this fan. I watch football to forget about important stuff!

Is EJ a good enough and/or seasoned enough player to deserve to be named a starting NFL QB? NOPE! This is particularly true when you have the unproven (to date) but obviously talented Tyrod as your potential franchise QB. However, this is a completely different question than the one reality actually has us asking. If (when in today's NFL) Tyrod goes down for 3 games with some nick or injury, can EJ credibly fill in as starter for 3 games in the role Frank Reich used to adequately play for Jimbo. Even with tis question clunkers like the one EJ displayed against Jax in the UK give real doubt. However, EJ has shown he can lead an NFL team to victory even in nice come from behind performances that with good luck and a lot of support he is at least a .500 NFL QB! He is not someone a TEAM can reasonably expect to start in Game 1 and lead the TEAM to an SB. However, we do not expect or demand this. I am comfortable EJ can fill our current needs as #2 which quite frankly is to make it reasonable for Cardell to sit and learn.

Unfortunately, this team is not a TEAM (yet?) and the wrong type of person can easily do more harm than good to making his group into a winner. My big fear with this group is that they have as yet to demonstrate the internal maturity of player leadership that an older hand like a Peyton Manning who has done it before forces on his young testosterone and other drug laden talented youth to discipline themselves. A talented headcase can become a cancer on a team not only because the "talent" is a self-centered egoist, but also when the group does not have vet leadership to force the talented kid to shape-up or ship out. Tyrod is too young and hasn't done it yet, Shady is too focused on himself and his barroom brawls and no defensive vet has emerged to be a refuse to lose player that actually picking up a headcase who may be far more talented than our current #3 WR can actually hurt the team.

This situation is not a panic certainly, and really does not even add up to even a big problem yet. The reality is that we have several imperfect players who while they cannot be mistaken for Pro Bowl RTs did see some significant time at RT last year on a Bils team which led the NFL in rushing yardage (and thanks to the mixture of the talents of Tyrod and his blockers avoided sacks). Right now, if the Bills can acquire more talent at a reasonable price then by all means get 'em. However, if I go into the season looking to find one guy to start from Henderson, Mills, and Cujo, and then the loser from these three to be my back-up I am not panicking. In fact, I would not be shocked if part of the reason Slauson went to SD is because he judged that there was less competition in SD rather than go up against three young RTs none of whom are great but all have some potential upside.

The 7 PpG prediction says a lot more about Brandt than Ragland. As far as actual player assessment the key seems to me is a rather obvious understanding that yes Ragland does not have the speed to be great in coverage, but looking at the stats, the things he does well (great tackler, excellent instincts, and recognized leadership of a great D), this SEC player of the year is not a great cover guy but is a good one. When one adds in the fact his pass rush ability will make him valuable on 3rd down (the folks who have labeled him a 2 down back look fairly foolish), and that he is slated as our Will LB rather than the Sam LB with TE pass coverage primary duty or the Mike LB with crossing pattern duty, it's quite easy to see why the Bills would not have been displeased if Lawson had not slipped to become their pick-up with pick # 19. As long as the docs prove to be right about the enlarged aorta issue, the Bills braintrust also scored big getting this 1st round level talent with a 2nd round pic.

have Williams as a last name. Not only is this team likely to have Aaron, Kyle, Karlos and likely Duke Williamses pn their final roster, but having loss Mario to FA, the team then drafted Jonathan to bring the contingent up to 6. This compares quite favorably to alleged common last names Smith (zero) and Jones (one). An interesting oddity.

Yep, I was referring to Woods. You actually pointed out one problem on this team we are just beginning to solve : there are too many players named Williams. Right now on a roster approaching 80 inflated for training camp, there are 5 players named Williams. Is this a problem? Nope. However this is a real oddity. Think about it, When one thinks of common last names in this society, I am not sure of the true stats but Smith and Jones are examples of twp likely common last names. However, thanks to the drafting of Cardale from OSU, there is now one Jones. Even odder there are no Smiths on this roster whatsoever. In the face of this on a roughly 80 man roster there are 5 men named Williams. The Bills under Rex have started to reduce this number at the cost of a lot of contract dead space by cutting its highest priced player, Mario. However, when one looks at reality, my bet is that when the training camp smoke clears our pared down into the 50s (there is the Practice Squad issue for names on the roster) my bet is that Aaron, duke, Kyle, and Karlos all make this roster and that the loss of a Williams named Mario is going to be offset by the addition of draftee Johnathan to the roster. Is this a big issue? Nope. However, it strikes me as being right up there in importance with the color of throwback jerseys and or other issues which routinely get their own threads (it actually strikes me as of smaller note than the Jills lawsuits or the import of the Shout song, but hey different people focus on different things. Oh well, in a society where our President has Hussein as a middle name I guess having 5 of 50+ player named Williams is simply a statisticalk oddity and I will leave it to the many number hounds who are on the Wall to tell us how odd this fact is and how odd that there are so many more Williams than Smiths or Jones combines is?

Very little actually in terms of his likely actual production. He likely at best is a diamond in the rough who will need some serious coaching in how to run both complex and even relatively simple routes before he is a legit pro at WR. In fact he may never become a consistent legitimate threat to catch the ball a lot and stand-up to a full season of getting hit. He can run the fly because of his world class speed. Even better he has demonstrated good hands which will differentiate him from past high speed guys who could out run the opposing CB but then had alligator arms and drop the pass.. However, what Kolby has right now and quite likely after a pre-season is that his play though likely easily defensed by an opponents fastest CB, if he plays it will be a boon for Watkins whose production is now demanding the fastest opposing CB and a double-team to neutralize him. Opposing DCs will likely have to pick their poison and either cover Kolby one on one with their fastest CB thus leaving Watkins to face B talent or give Watkins the cover he deserves and plan on Kolby not simply outrunning the CB. Add to this a three WR set which likely gives our #2 WR Williams a shot at getting covered likely one on one with Watkins getting the opponents best cover guy and Kolby getting their fastest CB. I expect little production from a third day choice rookie WR, but I really like what getting a WR who is mutant fast and demonstrated at TCU good hands because in 3 WR sets h can do a lot to liberate Watkins and Williams to actually produce. Add our RB cast (augmented with a rookie longshot who had 1st round talent before injury and is now cleared by our medical staff, but is still only #4 on our depth chart) which will demand 7 in the box and our O personnel looks foreboding to me even with the loss of Harvin and Hogan.

Who it turns out may be a headcase until (or if) he gets older. It would not surprise me if he ends up following the Marshawn Lynch model. Talented athlete but a bit of a legend in his own mind, who actually profits from leaving the team which originally drafted him because his problems finally make him mature.

I would say the answer to this is that the certain answer to this is NOT YET. In order for it to be worth giving up a future 1st for Sammy the results would have to be something like: 1. Sammy plays a pivotal role in getting this team into an SB win, at least an appearance or maybe simply a final four. If Sammy were to play a pivotal role in achieving one of the above goals then trading a 1st for him was worth it. 2. Sammy does not play a pivotal role in delivering the goals above but proves to be a perennial Pro Bowl worthy candidate. In this case the Bills squad does not luck out into winning key games or King Rex proves not capable of coaching this team to some achievement, but Watkins achieves personal accomplishments to make him a feared WR during his career. In order to be worth the price of a traded 1st while Sammy would not need to turnout to achieve like a poor team's Jerry Rice, but would need to produce much better in his career than lets say an Eric Moulds. Actually, while the answer for Watkins is not yet in the view of this over-observer of the NFL, his results are actually so far so good as Sammy has shown real world achievements in his first two years that far exceed what perennial Pro Bowl talent Moulds achieved in his first two years. In addition, while in the real world Moulds did clearly become the best offensive athlete on the team and real world threat. Watkins has already attained this status while Moulds showed every sign of being a failed pick after 2 years. Sammy not only has achieved despite injury but really is saying a lot of the right things to establish himself as a leader (after his inauspicious rhetorical start) while Moulds turned out to be a failure as a team leader. 3. He needs to better than the other credible choices that the Bills could have had at WR without trading up for Sammy. Actually I think that only Beckham was a credible first round alternative to Sammy in his class and actually he achieved in his highlight reel 1st year results that made the alternative of picking him in the Bills given spot a better alternative than trading up for Sammy. However, Beckham has turned out to be an idiot rather than a leader his second year. I think a better argument can be made to actually risk Sammy being taken by someone else if we did not trade up than to try to argue Beckham was a better choice. The real answer to this question is NOT YET for Sammy but so far he is promising. With a not unseen amount of dumb luck, Sammy could easily prove to be a pivotal part of a winner OR avoid injury to his young body to rack up personal acievements which though doubtful are doable.

Quite frankly, we simply need to beat them straight up or even with such a critical and surprising win as beating a Pats team which mowed us down earlier in the season, it still would simply be a matter of time until we ended up on the short en of the game score. Ultimately (be it the incredibly unlikely this year), this team will simply have to just beat the Pats on the field w/o the benefit of some Jedi word trap (these aren't the droids you want or be overconfident since you're undefeated and home against a team you manhandled earlier in the season. We just need to beat them!

next week! This about the level of confidence I have in I have in King Rex. The King is dead (or at least not moving very much). Long live the king

During that time I actually valued Darryl Talley more as a Bill because I thought he was such a great vocal motivator for the team. Biscuit struck me as a more physically talented and gifted athlete, but I always felt Biscuit did less with the gifts he had than Talley who though limited physically in many ways he did more with that those limited gifts than the more speedy others.

Actually, my third string RB (assuming Karlos beats him out is neither Bryce or Booby, its Fred Jax since we are talking pure fantasy here and just ranking them as players. Ol' Fred is hurt too much as an elder to think of him as a starter, but unless cap balancing he is my #2 or #3.

The main indications EJ was gonna get cut were from crack media mavens like WGR or Carucci (or is more accurate to label them as on crack) who were on record declaring Cassel the WINNER of the Bills QB battle. The simple actual facts are that on the actual field of play this pre-season EJ had by far the best TD passes (a bomb for a TD in game 1, 4 other scoring TD passes, and achievement of the maximum possible QB rating in game 3. In fact, despite these actual factual occurrences, Tyrod deserved in the minds of most folks due to his running threat and heads up play the starting QB job. The actual events at QB this pre-season simply stand as clear PROOF that the Buffalo sports media simply does a BAD job reporting on the Bills.

. The answer to the trivia question : What player signed the richest 1 year contract in NFL history? Matt Cassel signed a 1 year $14 million contract in 2009 with NE as a season ending injury to Tom Brady and timing forced the Pats to give him a franchise tag which he signed. Even more ironically this came after Cassel NEVER even started a game in college as a QB. This all makes sense though as the 2 QBs who beat him out in college were BOTH Heisman winners Leinart and Palmer. Nothing bad at all to say about Cassel. He has taken great advantage of some miraculous opportunities by being a GREAT practice player behind some of the most honored #1 QBs ever in the game (the two Heisman winners and Brady). He also has a downright bizarre litany of injuries to him at the wrong time but not only impressive practice work as the #2 behind greatness, but short-term impressive play leading to several AFC player of the week honors and even a 2010 pro bowl berth. However, after signing some huge contracts events have conspired to several times force teams to bale rather than pay him a huge bonus. When teams bale, he then gets a huge buyout, OR the chance to resign with another huge one-time gift, OR both. Cassel has not only received the one-time dividends of his franchise deal but also signed a $60 million (about $40+ mill guaranteed) deal with KC and this was about 3-4 contracts ago. In the recent Bills deal for example he got $500,000 from us and a guarantee that we felt good about cutting him from. It would seem no unreasonable that the market got the Bills to pay him some more to resign him or that the Boys will now be motivated to give him a few hundred K to sign a longer-term deal with them to smooth out any cap implications of their acquisition of him. My guess is that Cassel and his pregnant wife are doing quite fine with this situation.

Beating him up s a great thing to do! Just a hard thing to do when his average release time is under 2 seconds. A tactical key will be delaing all the eligible receivers at the LOS to delay Brady's release. The DL then needs to establish superiority with their first moves and get Brady out of the pocket. A subtle game that will develop quickly each play!

I think one of the keys to beating Belicheat and particularly with Tom Brady is gonna be the ability of individual Bills to forget bad plays and get right back up on the horse and not second guess yourself. Watching the B-Cheat/Brady duo through the decade, they simply do an excellent job of getting in the head of opposing players. Opponents then begin to second guess themselves as the Pats run the same basic plays again and again but Brady recognizes where a strategic weakness is on each play and exploits it, The Bills players will "simply" not allow the second guessing to begin by being able to forget about any failed plays they have but strap it on and react to the next play by what they see on the field and not hesitate. This is easier said than done though as a key will be for the inner brain of the player to recognize the general strategic approach of past Pat successes as few teams seem to go back to the well and have players do the same thing that worked last time. They just count on Belicheat to strategically employ the playcalling and Brady then quickly choose 1 or 2 options about which opposing player is gonna be a step or two late and then hit that receiver. To the extent the Bills players can use their own strategery of forgetting about the results of each play so they do not hesitate, but at the same time remember how each play was implemented while not getting caught up in the result, they will react properly and be there. If the individual Bills overthink this like this fans we will be cooked. The bottomline for players Don't be like me just perform!

This key observation to me is that this approach is exactly what Rex wanted. He emphasized getting players difficult to match-up against individually so that it opened up exploitation elsewhere. Generally, I am not concerned by lack of production yards by McCoy or Watkins Sunday as this failure to achieve devastating total yardage #s by McCoy came in some part from over-attention paid to McCoy which sprung TT for a big run and allowed Williams to get yardage and a big play. Likewise attention to Watkins appears to have contributed to Harvin getting singled on his TD and TT getting an easy read and lofting a bomb to Harvin. NE is good/great, but I think our players match-up well against anyone. Bellicheat may dedicate a spy to TT but if so then one less defender holding the line on McCoy. Likewise, NE may double or chip Harvin and if so Watkins get singled or gets a free start on a fly pattern.

8. I wonder what difference it will make when the OL improves? It is impressive that even with the poor OL play you point out this team ended the half with a 17-0 lead on a pretty good offense with a great QB. 16-0!!!!!!

1. I wonder how great this D will be with Dareus? 2. I wonder how great this D will be with a full game from Corey Graham? 3. I wonder how it will get even tougher on opposing QBs when the CBs are supplemented with McKelvin. 4. I wonder how much more this against QBs less talented than Luck aka just about everbody else) 5. I wonder what this O will be like when teams stop DTing Watkins because they are getting burned by Harvin, and key catches by Clay/Woods 6. I wonder how much even more productive will be if LeSean performs as well as he has in the past. 7. I wonder if we can go 16-0. The room for improvement is scary good!!!!