transplantbillsfan

Because Shady says Taylor deserves most of the blame it and so it must be? Whatever you say, boss. I guess an OL who couldn't block for $h/+ today shoulders no blame. Or a Head Coach who (this is all too familiar) can't manage the clock. We're still 1st place and remain there for at least another week. I already think this team is better than anyone suspected simply because of the defense. Hopefully the offense picks up some slack starting next week against probably an even better defense.

So you think our playcalling was good today?

No, it's what our OC chooses to do with him. That's the difference. It's funny how quickly people forget what they say in the off-season. Everyone was saying that it was obvious that we would throw the ball a whole bunch more than we did the last few years. Today, we should have.

Only throws when guys are wide open? Did you actually watch the game?

I don't really know what you're saying here. You think offensive playcalling was good? Anytime the bills handed it to a running back out of the backfield on first down they were stuffed. I think they gained a net total of 4 or 5 yards on those types of plays. And then predictably when a run would work we had to go right back to it. I think that happened four times for a net gain of -1 yard. Players need to execute, but the play calling needs to be fairly unpredictable. Or at least it should set up the players in positions to succeed. The Panthers are strong against the run and have an elite front seven. They were weaker on the backend and you could actually see it when we decide to throw the ball a little. Got I feel bad for the defense because they played their butts off. Everyone else better learn from this because if that's the defense we field for the rest of the season, this team could exceed a lot of expectations.

Run run pass... so frustrating. All week, the talk was that we wouldn't really be able to run and we would need to air it out. Why the hell didn't we?

Oh man, good recap! Thanks! So honest question, is he still a Bill next year? His contract is up after this year, right?

It's a good breakdown of a single play the OP discusses for those who'd rather see it than read it. Don't mind Gugny, he just woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning

Nice 5+ minute breakdown of that play.

If that's what you said, you're even more wrong. He was the 11th best QB passing on 3rd down Egg where now?

You presented it as though he's incompetent on 3rd and long and it's a problem he's always had and struggled with. He was 6th in 2016 overall and I can't find 2015 at the moment but he was at least top 10 and I believe top 5 then. That's over 29 games. Taylor's actually a QB you want on 3rd and long. He's actually had bigger issues on 3rd and short, so seeing him high there is hopefully a sign of things to continue.

Hey how about we get back to talking about Taylor, even though it's now a distant memory in this thread. Based on the 1st week alone, here's how Taylor ranks in some key passing stats: http://stats.washingtonpost.com/fb/leaders.asp?range=NFL&rank=098&type=Passing %First Downs, Pass on 3rd Down- 11th %1st Dwn/Pass Att, 3rd & 8+- 19th %1st Dwn/Pass Att, 3rd & <3- tied for 1st Passing Yards- 18th YAC- 9th YPA- 6th Passing TDs- tied for 5th 25+ yard passes- tied for 10th %First Downs/Attempt- 9th % TDs/Attempts- tied for 6th

Come on, Shaw. A 3 foot high pass is a terrible pass to any NFL player in almost any situation. If there is a midget league out there, though, then it becomes a great pass

You took that as me being defensive? I criticized the timing of his throw and then talked about the pass itself, which is what everyone else here is doing. Why do you assume I'm being any more defensive than you or anyone else discussing this issue?

Geez. That pass got some miles on it, huh? I get the timing argument. Taylor could have thrown it a little earlier. But no one seems to know if Jones or Clay was the 1st read. Looks like Jones to me, but I don't know. Do you? If Jones was the 1st read, we're picking over likely a fraction of a second when Taylor should have thrown the ball earlier. We're fans so we can nitpick like that. But maybe it should just make us appreciate how damn difficult the position is...? And regardless, isn't it still something Taylor seems to be progressing on? Throwing over the middle and going through reads is something absolutely no QB gets 100% right, including Brady. Seems good we're nitpicking this. However, Clay should have and could have caught that ball. Last year in the 2nd NE game I spent a long time and a number of posts critiquing a gorgeous bomb that hit Clay right in the hand that he couldn't pull in largely because I think he lacks good hands combined with ball awareness. And that's what came into play here, again. Is blame supposed to be adjusted based on the WRs or should all NFL WRs/TEs be expected to catch footballs that don't involve acrobatic feats?

We're at least on the same page with QBs more than I thought. I think your "institutional cohesion" thing can just happen much more quickly than you, I guess. I think new coaches and GMs can very quickly bring that in if they're the right guys.

First of all, I'm sorry if I was supposed to put this another forum. Move it if necessary. I remember just a few years ago I would constantly see NFL coverage all over ESPN. NFL live was on like every day twice a day. They'd have a fantasy stuff. And on SportsCenter they would always have lots a lot of the NFL and now have very little coverage. I don't watch as much TV as I used to, mainly because I'm busier. So, maybe my perspective is off. But even ESPN radio stations feel the same way. Is the big shakeup that happened at ESPN over the last year connected with the disintegrating relationship with the NFL? Or am I just imagining all of this?

OK, I love the work, but I have a question. You said there were 36 total passing plays, correct? That would imply 28 pass attempts, 2 sacks, and 6 scrambles. Right? Did you count it out while watching? I ask because kneel downs are usually counted as rushes. And Buffalo ended the game with three straight kneel downs from Taylor for -3 yards. Did the NFL not officially count those as rushes? On top of that, on the second to last drive, there were two designed runs for a total of 14 yards by Taylor. Those weren't passing plays. I'm not trying to criticize. You might be aware if you've looked at some of my previous posts, but I am genuinely a believer that you should separate scrambles from designed runs. That scrambles should be factored into net passing yards the exact same way that sacks are.

And bingo!!!! You're the first to do it, from what I've seen. I came here after that atrocious game waiting to make the Tyrod/Watson comparison. This is the first I've read.

If Taylor always falls in the middle. If he's never as bad as he was against Baltimore or Cincy or all those other games I mentioned but he's never as good as he was against Seattle or Miami, then I think it becomes a legitimate question of whether you should replace him. If Taylor always plays at a level (this is a general level of QB play I'm talking about, not stats... we can quip and quibble over what games I choose, if you really want, but that's not the intention) as high as, but no higher than the 2 Miami games in 2015 but no lower than a game like the Jags or Cardinals game last year, I think sacrificing a really high ceiling for a really high floor is something a lot of NFL coaches would take.

I agree that consistency is the issue. But I think it's not so much an issue of consistently seeing games like Seattle or Miami. It's more about eliminating games like the whole Ravens game and very long stretches of the Jets game and the whole Bengals game and most of the Pittsburgh game and the 2nd half of the Raiders game from last year. Or let those pop up once or twice a year rather than 5 or 6 times. Expecting consistent greatness seems unreasonable. Just get rid of the bad. Sure, we'll wait til Sunday. If he sucks, everyone will say it was the Jets. If he plays well, everyone will say "let's wait another week and see if he can keep it up." ​And the pendulum swings. Personally, I think Carolina's D is one of the best in the league. Sunday's gonna be fun.

This, I think, is the one thing I hope Crusher and xRushx and their ilk take away from this discussion. Disagree. Disagree strongly. We all obviously will. But don't turn into a playground bully throwing out grade school insults at the people you disagree with.

Wow, this is disappointing and a little unnerving, Crusher. There was never anything in that conversation (that I wasn't a part of, by the way. I came in after the fact to find that gem) that was so bad that someone on a message board (you) couldn't just walk away or say something respectfully like "I disagree" or "let's agree to disagree" or, hell, even just "you guys are jerks, I'm walking away." Nope, instead you let the demon out. And all of us saw it. Now say 5 Hail Mary's And just to let everyone know, I realize I'm certainly not guilt free. Most of us aren't. We just don't ever take it to the level where we're saying anything like "I cant wait for Tyrod to fail so I can come back and destroy you clowns."

Very nicely put

Better than what projected stats? C'mon man! We need numbers and we'll need a pic of you eating your shoe if it happens!