BillsFan4

Sharp looking Jersey. I really like these a lot. I wish the Sabres would go back to royal blue. Actually, I heard a rumor that they are going to switch back to the royal blue jerseys in a few years for their 50th anniversary season. I hope it's true.

This was the right move IMO. I understand why why he went with Peterman. It was a justifiable switch. But he showed that he probably isn't ready yet, and with the way the O line and the entire team in general is playing right now, you're not really giving a rookie QB any chance to succeed anyway. No reason to destroy Peterman's confidence completely, especially with the next 2 games on the schedule - playing in arrowhead and then against Belichick and the Pats, who eat rookie QBs alive. Plus, switching back to TT ensures that you don't start to lose the locker room. You can always go back to Peterman if TT and the offense continue to struggle, and the Bills continue to lose. Once they are (or I guess I should say If they are) eliminated from the playoffs, then you can play for the future... I just hope this lights a fire under Tyrod's butt. A lot of times I get the impression that he's playing not to lose (the game, and the starting job). He needs to feel the urgency, take a few risks, and also give his receivers a chance to win a contested catch.

At least with the Pegulas I feel like there is a chance the Bills/Sabres can reach that ultimate goal of a championship and sustained success. I definitely didnt feel feel that way under the previous ownership of both teams. We never had owners willing to dedicate the budget and resources necessary to truly be a championship caliber team on a regular basis. We are a small market team that now has ownership who are willing to compete with the big market teams. That's an extremely unusual situation for a small market team. Most are internal budget teams with limited spending and resources, which makes it harder to compete with the big boys. We now know that money is no longer a huge road block to building a competitive team... IMO that's a big deal for a team in Buffalo. I still feel feel lucky to this day that the Pegulas bought both teams.

How can you possibly say that the first time GM and head coach combos have failed miserably already? They are 10 and 20 games in to their tenures. Just under 2/3rds of a single season for McBeane, and 1/4 of a single season for Botterill and Housley... Neither have had a chance to build the team they want. Beane hasn't even had a draft or free agency yet (he came roughly 2 months after it had started). Botterill had 1 draft, after only 1 month on the job, with all of Tim Murray's old scouts who had been scouting for Tim Murray type players all year (although Botterill sure seems to have made the best of a less than ideal situation. The Mittelstadt pick looks like it could be a home run). The way way I look at it - the Pegulas only recently put the people in place, from top to bottom, that they truly wanted. They gave Whaley and Regier a chance to put their current teams over the top by opening the check books in a way we have NEVER seen in Buffalo. When have the Bills or Sabres EVER been cap teams? It may have happened in a random year or two, but they were both almost Always internal budget teams. We hired cheap coaches, cheap GMs, cheap scouts (and in the Sabres case they actually scouted off video tape!) etc etc. When that didn't work out, they cleaned house and brought in the people they wanted. For the Bills it's McDermott and Beane. For the Sabres it was LaFontaine, which only lasted 2 months and then they were more/less stuck with Tim Murray. So they gave him a chance, and made the change to the guy they wanted - Jason Botterill. So lets maybe give them more than 1/4 to 2/3rds of a season, yeah? I think the Pegulas have been great for Buffalo. When have either of our sports teams ever been able to compete, salary wise, with the big boys of the league? As I said above, we used to go after the cheap hires and cheap feee agents. We'd watch our best players leave over monetary reasons. Remember when the Sabres were a true Cup contender and Presidents trophy team ('06 & '07) and we watched both of our co-captains and best players walk in the same offseason (Briere & Drury)? Remember when they used to try and recruit free agents by sending them a coach class plane ticket? Now they recruit with a private plane and yacht + the nicest facilities in both the NFL & NHL (locker rooms, gyms etc). Remember when we had bare bones staffs and put no focus on player development? Now we are on the cutting edge of the league with technology and player development staffs. I could go on and on about all the money they've poured in... and that's not even mentioning all the good they've done for the city of Buffalo. The businesses they've built, the jobs they've added etc. They are new owners. They may make a mistake here and there but I have faith they will get it right. I am perfectly happy with our billionaire owners, who are also big fans of the teams they bought, and I am thankful that both of those teams futures are cemented in Buffalo for a very long time (as they've already said their kids will eventually take over once they are gone).

I've been saying this for years - bad teams stay bad by constantly changing coaches and GMs. Our Bills are a perfect example of this. The Browns too. We we have to stick with this current regime for at least 4-5 years. It would be so insane to even think of firing either of them now. They haven't even had the chance to start building their team yet. We are basically still in the tear down phase. Beane hired the right type of experienced staff to have a damn good shot at building something through the draft. Let's see what they do... Plus, the damage is done now anyway. They've torn the team down. Let's see how they build it back up. I like the types of players they have acquired so far - high character guys with talent, too - Hyde/Poyer/Jones/White/Benjamin/Matthews etc. I'm excited to see how they draft.

lol I was just going to say the same thing.Don't worry chiefs, you are playing Buffalo next. It seems like both of our teams are the slump-busters of the NHL/NFL. I can't even count how many times the Bills/Sabres have played a struggling team and made them look great.

I sure hope we don't come out and look pathetic in that winter classic. They better play with some fire/determination for that game.

I would have loved to be able to keep Robert Woods, but I don't know if that was really an option? (Outside of the tag) I read during last season that him and the Bills were not even trying to negotiate a new contract. That Woods wanted to test free agency. I also read where he said that he really wanted to play back at home (cali) which is why he was so quick to sign with the Rams when they made an offer. So if the above is actually true (which I believe it is), I don't know that he would have been willing to re-sign here, outside of maybe a ridiculous overpay or tagging him.

This place can be kind of terrible after a loss (and during one, too). All the negative posters crawl out of the woodwork (some who seem to hardly post when things are going good, which I find quite strange). The sky is falling... Exactly. We were projected to be a bottom 3 team in the NFL and many of these same fans griping agreed with that assessment. They overachieved big time in the first weeks of the year and gave us an early glimpse of what this defense can look like when playing McDermott's scheme properly. But now their talent level has caught back up with them. Instead of giving people hope for the future, it seems to have done the opposite. As I said before, we are not even in the building stage of the rebuild. They've stripped the team down and have yet to start building it up again. I'm going to hold my judgement until they actually add some talent. The new front office hasn't even had a draft yet. Beane hired what looks like a top of the line front office, personnel and scouting staff in order to build through the draft. Maybe we should, you know, give them a chance to actually do that before declaring them a total failure with no hopes of ever succeeding?

Great to hear there is no ligament damage! Hopefully it's just more of a Zay Jones hyperextension type thing and he'll be back in a week or two... fingers crossed!

So why are you here, on the Bills board then, "wasting your time"?

I'd take the Pegula's over Trump ANY DAY. Had trump bought the team theyd they'd be on their way to wherever he could make the most profit. This post is a total overreaction IMO. Both teams are in the rebuilding stage. The Bills haven't even started the building stage of their rebuild. They are still just getting rid of guys and stockpiling picks. Maybe we can wait and see what happens when they actually start adding talent with their pile of draft picks before we declare that they are forever a failure?

I am perfectly fine with them drafting a QB in the 1st if the right QB is there at their pick. They are absolutely not in any position to trade away their draft for a QB though, regardless of how important the position is. I think that even even if they do draft a QB in the 1st, they will need some type of decent bridge QB for next season. Whether that's Tyrod or not I don't know (he is under contract already), but I just don't want to see a rookie QB ruined by being forced to start too soon with too little talent around him. That's what worries me most - there is so little talent on both sides of the ball. You are putting a rookie QB in a bad position if you're asking him to start next year. Even the best QBs in the NFL need talent around them. If you put a 1st or 2nd year QB on the field with this horrid defense and horrid offense (especially the o line) you are just asking for failure IMO. So, having said all that I still want a QB in the 1st next year if the right one is there. They just need a decent bridge QB on the team so he isn't forced to start too soon (which will probably happen anyway if the losing piles up). All things considered, I guess I would understand if they decided to wait until 2019 to draft a QB, too.

Man, these Buffalo sports weekends have been brutal... 2 weeks in a row now we had the Sabres play Friday + Saturday and the Bills on Sunday. 2 weeks in a row they lost all 3 games. We have 3 more weekends in a row with 3 Buffalo games. I'm not sure how much more I can take. It's not even the losing, it's that both teams have just looked absolutely brutal doing so. It really makes you question everything - coaches, players, direction of the team etc etc. I hate it. I know we have 2 rookie coaches with rebuilding teams and have to be patient, but damn it's tough at times (like right after a brutal loss).

I agree that they can't give away their stockpile of picks for a QB. There are just WAY too many holes to do that. We need 2 (or 3) LBs, at least 1 or 2 D Line, maybe a CB, 2 to 3 O linemen, WR, RB, QB, and then depth at almost every position and that's just off the top of my head... You can't fill all the holes on this team in 1 draft. There's too many. But I don't agree that they should pass on a QB all together. If the right QB is still there with one of their picks in the 1st, they should take him.

Come on Peterman. Let's put together a good drive here.

I know at least 1 pick wasnt Peterman's fault, and a 2nd really wasn't totally his fault either as his throwing arm was hit. But Do you pull him now? Or do you give him more time? One more pick could put this game his game out of reach.

That was as much on the right side of the line as it was on Peterman.

Thanks for sharing Logic. That was a good, insightful read. I think this is a good point, and maybe is something some people don't consider when blaming Dennison for the offense's struggles - "With Taylor, you lose a lot of the designed plays, which is a problem not just because of a coach’s ego (though a portion of it is a coach’s ego), but also because your play-caller/play-designer has a strategy to exploit the defensive coordinator’s scheme and strategy. And, as we often forget when we chart individual plays, play-calls are not made in a vacuum. It’s game theory, the end result of an opponent’s tendencies and anticipating how they will react to a certain scenario, and play-calls are often built off previous play-calls. Playing out-of-structure undeniably makes the job of a play-caller more difficult (due to the fact that Taylor is not an aggressive, anticipatory thrower, your play-caller is already working with some limitations.) And, with Taylor, if you fall behind, as Saints DE Cameron Jordan pointed out last week, you’re basically done. Once the threat of the run game is out of the equation, the Bills are too easy to defend." I know McDermott claimed it was 100% his decision bench TT but I still think Dennison probably requested the change. Just last season he had success with a rookie 7th round pick starting and I'm sure he feels he can do it again with Peterman.

Damn do the Sabres suck!! Its like they they don't know how to do the most basic things in hockey. They cant transition through the neutral zone to save their lives. Can't enter or set up in the offensive zone. Don't know how to create scoring chances... Its ugly to watch. The compete level is horrendous. I watched every damn game through the tank years, when we literally had almost no NHL talent on the ice. Never lost interest. But this season is testing me. I honestly don't know how much more of this I can watch. They seem to have accepted losing. They go down by a goal and the game is all but over it seems.

Where did you see/read that McDermott went after Bill Musgrave? I hadn't seen that. I seen all the stuff about how Mike McCoy was said to be McDermott's 1st choice. I also seen that he was said to be interested in Brad Childress and Greg Olson, and that Childress possibly chose to stay in KC (they did give him a promotion to asst. head coach shortly after Dennison was hired here, maybe to keep him there?). Never heard any mention of McDermott's interest in Bill Musgrave though. All I can remember reading on him was people speculating that he'd be a candidate in Buffalo. He is currently employed as a QB coach in Denver. It'd be kind of depressing if he chose that job over being the Bills OC...

I'm very curious to see if our receivers can get more yards after the catch with Peterman. The Bills were ranked dead last - #32 - in YAC in both 2015 and 2016. I wondered how much was on Tyrod's ball placement and waiting for a receiver to come open (which can allows a DB to jump the route and in turn not allow for YAC) but I was always quick to point out Greg Roman's offenses had usually been near the bottom of the NFL in YAC. So I was reluctant to put the blame on TT and was always quick to point out Roman's historic lack of YAC in his offense. Now the Bills are once again ranked the bottom of the NFL in yards after the catch (29th). I guess this year you could put the blame on the receiving corps (although Jordan Matthews has been ranked pretty high in YAC (20-ish) in 2 of his 3&1/2 seasons. Lesean McCoy is also known for YAC and is usually ranked pretty high and Clay was pretty decent with YAC in Miami). But you have to start wondering how much blame TT deserves for it, with the Bills being on their 3rd OC with the same results... and Dennison's offenses have done ok with YAC in the past. His offenses have been ranked as high as #4 in YAC (which was not the case with Roman). I'm definitely curious to see if Peterman being able to throw the ball before a receiver breaks his route will have a positive impact on our receivers YAC. That has been something our offenses have been desperately missing.

I know McDermott said it was his decision alone and it didn't involve his other coaches. But as soon as he said that my first thought was "I wonder if he is possibly covering for Dennison (etc)."? I honestly wonder if Dennison was a big part of this change being made. I can't see McDermott making a change at QB without heavy input from his offensive coordinator. I wonder if Dennison came into his office and said his game plans weren't being taken advantage of with Tyrod.

He did it on that throw to Kelvin Benjamin, too. Ive said it already, but when you watch the breakdown of Peterman's performance on Sunday it's actually pretty impressive. Numerous anticipatory throws, reading the defense and finding the hole in coverage and delivering the ball there.

I tink it's more about what Peterman did on the field, and knowing what Tyrod is & isn't capable of than Tyrod having 1 bad game. Tyrod wasn't properly utilizing his weapons on offense. Wasn't throwing to open receivers, was checking down way too much. Too scared of making a mistake (etc etc, we've all watched Tyrod...). Peterman came in and was able to read the defense, audible at the LOS, throw the ball to open holes in coverage BEFORE the receiver even made his break. He did some good things and IMO earned this shot. They know now what they have in TT. They can always go back to him if the Chargers game is a disaster for Peterman. But you are not going to get a better chance during this remaining season to make a change to Peterman. 3-6 Chargers in a half empty stadium that will be likely to have just as many Bills fans as Chargers fans (if not more).