Rochesterfan

Nope - Kuechly has made a living as a MLB in the exact defense McDermott runs. Up until this year - with the switch to a 3-4 - he has always played the Edmunds role. He is the perfect mentor and trainer to help Edmunds continue to grow. I do not see them getting rid of Luke, but he would be a great add. He has an in depth knowledge of this D and would be like another coach. He also talked about his respect for McDermott during the summer - so I could see this if they let him go. Mentor/future coach role.

You conveniently forgot the one route where we have a tied record and the Bills still win. The Bills beat the Pats and the Jets and the Dolphins find a way week 17 to beat the Pats. Now we have a shot to win based on Divisional Record 5-1 to 4-2 and therefore a tied record would give the Bills the division. It is a long shot all the way around, but it is still a viable option.

Actually - it means that if that if the Bills and the Pats at this point end up with the same record (and the same divisional record) - for example: we both win our week 17 games (or both lose): and the Bills beat the Pats - no matter what other combination of wins and loses - The pats will have the tie breaker. Whether the teams are both 10 - 6 or 13 - 3 or anyplace in between - if the Bills beat the Pats and the two teams have the same result in their final divisional game - the tiebreaker stays in NE based on common opponents. The Bills need 1 of 2 things to happen - they need a better final record or they need to beat the Pats and the Jets and Miami has to beat NE - then the Bills would win divisional 5-1 versus 4-2. It is just the way it works with the balanced NFL schedule.

Yes it is totally backward logic, but it works out - just looking at it from a different perspective. It is also backwards to think that the Philly loss cost us more than if we had lost to AFC opponents like Denver and Tennessee- if we are talking divisional winner/tiebreaker. If you are looking at conference winner then AFC wins are better, but in the divisional tiebreakers - common opponents are the 2nd breaker after divisional wins - so NFC games have added importance.

If the Pats had won (and beat KC - their other non common opponent) - they would be 2-0 versus non-common and the Bills would be 2-0 versus non-common. If we end up with the same record then by default in that case we would have to have the same record against common opponents. It is just a weird logic problem. By having an additional loss in the non-common opponents - to have the same record - they must have an additional win in the common opponents - it is the only way to have an identical record. Opponents. Bills. Pats Non common. 2-0. 1-1 common. 9-5. 10-4 total. 11-5. 11-5 as an example. It did not matter if it was Houston or KC in this case - it is just the fact that it was a non common game and therefore to have the same total record the Pats must (due to the schedule) have an additional common opponent win to have the same total record. At this point the Pats could lose both non-common opponents games and if we end up with the same record - they would have to have 2 additional common opponents wins. The only Kicker is Miami. If the Pats lose to the Bills and Miami - we would have the tiebreaker if we had the same record (assuming we beat the Jets). If we lose to the Jets and they lose to Miami - then we would need to have a better record as Divisional record is tied again.

It came from PFF and WGR was touting it earlier. They were missing the line that NE must beat Miami and then this is true - a Miami loss brings divisional record into play. The logic on this is messed up, but it works out. If NE beats Miami - so they would end up with the same divisional record as the Bills - then the loss to Houston (a non-common opponent) would mean that the the Bills would be 2-0 versus non common opponents and the Pats would be at best 1-1 (could still be 0-2) and therefore if we end up with the same record if the Pats lost one in the non-common opponent’s piece - to have the same record they would have to have a better common opponent record.

Yep - and in reality - I prefer him running some type of crossing or post routes because he seems to pick up and track the ball better when he can be more turned toward the ball. The deep sideline go routes and the deep corner routes where he is trying to track the ball with only a head turn and he has to adjust speed to the depth of the pass seems difficult for him. There is almost no way he makes the TD catch that Brown made against Denver. The wind was swirling and Brown had to adjust his speed multiple times in route to running through the ball to make the diving catch. I like Foster on the post, deep in cuts, and deep crossing routes like his catch against Dallas. He was coming across on JA’s roll and he could see the ball all the way into his hands without tracking. He is really good at those. McKenzie (McKittrick for those having fun) seems able to track a bit better and made a catch against Dallas similar to Duke Williams catch on the touch pass over the LBs heading toward the sidelines and I think that is a route Foster struggles with. Unfortunately McKenzie got tripped up by the turf monster or that could have been a huge gain with his speed and moves.

The NFL did not cave to the Saints. He is head of the competition committee and he forced the rule change through the committee. The NFL then has to figure out how to make it work. Blame the coaches and GMs. It is obvious the NFL did not want the change - see how it has been enforced.

Tannehill looks good right now, but as teams get used to the new Titans with him at QB - that team will fall apart. Tannehill is average and that team is riding the QB change, but we have seen this before with Tannehill - it most likely will not continue in the face of a good defense.

Draft pick wise. The Dolphins have the Steelers #1 pick for Fitzpatrick. Every Steelers win makes that pick later in the 1st round. It looked originally like it might be a top 10 pick - I would love to see Pittsburgh get enough wins to be late teens or even - as long as Buffalo beats them - low twenties as the 6th seed. The same goes for Houston - hate the team, but would love for them to get in and push that pick further back also. Instead of what at one point looked like potentially 3 picks in the top 15 - if Pittsburgh and Houston can be in the 20’s it hurts who the Dolphins can draft.

Nope - I have no problems seeing Gore out there. Yeldon - I want him no where near the field - if everyone is healthy. I am hoping Gore gets a job on this Bills staff - he has stated he wanted to go into coaching and was hoping to get a job on the previous Miami staff. I am not sure I want him as RB coach, but as an assistant with an emphasis on training and taking care of your body and just to have his presence there to help guide would be awesome.

The issue is that sometimes JA slides, sometimes he dives headfirst, and sometimes he runs right through a defensive player. The defenders and the referees do not know what he is going to do - so they are bound to give the defenders a bit more leeway. The quote supposedly was “he slide late and I am warning you not to do that again”. If JA slides every time - he gets that call right away, but because he tends to maximize his yardage and only slides about 30% of the time - what is a defender supposed to do - you are running at him, but you don’t know if he is going to slide, juke, leap over, or barrel through you - so you have to be prepared and the refs should give the leeway. The refs job is damn near impossible and every call is scrutinized by two fan bases and every fan base thinks they are getting screwed - yes even the Cowboys and the Pats. I do not believe at all that there is any kind of league wide bias or planned outcomes. I think some teams get better teams of officials more often and have a better understanding of what they can get away with as each team calls things differently. If someone said an individual referee was betting on games and had a bias - I could believe that, but it would be rare. If you try to say the league has anything set-up or the league wants calls to go a specific way - I call total BS. There is no way an owner like Jerry Jones - who is outspoken and interviewed as frequently as he is - would allow the Pats to have a run of success that allowed them to pass his team. There is no way these owners as competitive as they are would agree to anything like that - they just would not.

Kroft was basically replaced by Knox. They signed Kroft because they had basically no TEs on the roster that could both block and catch. Drafting Knox gave them a TE that could do both (along with Sweeney) and then with the Kroft injuries- Knox was able to show what he could do. Running a basic 11 formation with Singletary and 3 WRs - Knox and Kroft are interchangeable and Knox is further along in the offense and slightly better. I think if the run a 1 RB and 2 TE set both Kroft and Knox make a nice combo because both can block and catch making it harder in a balanced set to know what to cover.

I think the same thing - especially with the critical nature of the play.

Really - we were talking about how balanced he was - especially compared to a guy like Aikman.

Even half way competent QB play and they beat the Raiders last week and Pittsburgh this week. I get it that with only 1 game separation - not wanting the wins, but I think not getting a win when you had a chance might cost them long term. I think their coach is outmatched and that locker room must be defeated.

My only issue with Feliciano was some of the shotgun snaps were slow and high. I prefer Morse because he is much more consistent in those snaps. Feliciano is a bit stronger and a good point of attack guy.

I think that the Bills are happy to have 2 TEs that can both block and catch - allowing them to be more or less interchangeable. Right now Knox is the slightly better option all around, but Kroft has found a few plays also. I don’t mind at all what I am seeing. They need to tighten up the presnaps, but overall you are getting blocking and some pass catching out of multiple TEs.

Virgil - there was no groin kick. There was a foot that was in the groin the Rudolph was pushing off with as Garrett is lifting him off the ground by his face mask. He did not even making a kicking motion - it was a groin push off with a guy lifting you by you face. I think the fine was ok - would not have been upset if higher, but based on outcomes previously- seems about right. Now if there is any proof of a slur - which I doubt - I think a suspension is warranted.

If the OP had posted something like this - even part of it to facilitate a discussion and then linked the Podcast and the time - then you have thread. Thank You for this.

Again - if the OP wants to discuss the issue then put that in the statement with a link to the cast and the time and that becomes the discussion. The OP that admits to being financially linked to the website and is just trying to get clicks to the website. So for that I will respectfully disagree with you. The topic could be relevant, but the original post to me is still just an AD to his site. As to the Sullivan junk - I have no doubt that McDermott is a control freak and can be a real jerk to some of these guys. They have a tight group and try to keep things on lockdown - so it is no wonder he would go off. It also does not surprise me in the least that a guy fired from the Buffalo News that was Negative and Anti-Bills and now lacks access would report this because he has nothing to lose - he is not getting back in, but confirming the story and then telling it with his own negative spin has always been his problem. Fairburn on his Podcast talked about being called out for mentioning the Pat Shurmer quote because although it was seen by the reporter - they had been told not to discuss things seen in the locker room - as that could give an advantage away. The same would go for a fake punt. Ideally for the coaches - they would not let reporters into the areas at all, but the fans are insatiable so we want info. It is a fine line to juggle for both reporters and coaches. If anyone doubts that McDermott could be a complete Jerk to someone - just watch him on the sidelines with the Refs - he goes totally insane at times - so I have no doubt that he would do the same thing elsewhere within the organization or to media. He wants to win and is no different than many other control freak coaches like Belichek that do everything to keep control on his situation totally.

Again don’t care about Jerry and I hate it when people try to hype their own podcasts/websites. Get that out of here. I think it should be bannable and an auto lock. Per COC: Do NOT post: Advertisements (We sell ad space to anyone who wants to get their website noticed). To me this is the OP that admits to running/investing in SoundCloud and is just trying to get clicks to his site for a waste of time podcast. Plus it is the second time he has posted the thread. Post what you want to discuss, but he wants the clicks only. If there is something relevant for discussion - it would be different, but Jerry is a lying douche that is anti-Bills - so go away Jerry and take your crap with you. .

Honestly - many of the players talk about smoking an hour or so before kickoff in the locker room. So technically several players have admitted to using directly at work.

Not a chance in heck would I listen to anything with Jerry. Hoping he will just go away. He is a useless tool. Sorry not giving you a click.

I would disagree with that. What is the one thing everyone was saying right after the incident - How could he do that? If he was truly called a racial slur and that was what caused him to flip out - don’t you think that he would have been saying that in the confrontation - something like “how dare you say” that along with some expletives. Other players would have known something happened and was said. Second by stating right away it would have gotten to the root of the insanity and would have provided an understanding (not acceptance) of the actions. Many people that watch and cover the sport would still not condone his actions, but have an understanding of why and he would have gotten more support in his position. I do not think it would have changed the ruling - he still deserved the suspension, but it would change the narrative toward him. The delay in stating that until his trial means almost no one will believe him and he looks even worse. Stating it right after the event - he would be a much more believable person and more importantly- his apology and actions would be seen in a different light.