Rochesterfan

Ok so I have 2 points: 1. You are saying it is ok for Belichek not to use time outs and be conservative there because they were up by 10 (3 after the TD) with Minnesota getting the ball to start the second half and Belicheck having one of the greatest if not the greatest QBs of all time. McDermott though is supposed to be aggressive with a rookie QB and a bad offense in a 1 score game getting the ball to start the second half. Not sure I agree with that, but ok - seems a bit backwards - I would think Belichek with Brady would be the more aggressive one. 2. Then let’s take a trip back a couple of weeks and see how NE handles a drive by Tennessee losing by 7 late in the second half. Low and behold NE allowed the Titans to move down the field and use 3:30 minutes to the 2 minute warning without using any timeouts. NE had 2 timeouts just like Buffalo. At the 2 minute warning it was 3rd and 2 and the Titans get a first down to the 2 yard line, but Belichek did not take a time out there. NE stops the first and goal run from the 2 and takes their first timeout after 40+ seconds ran off the clock. Belichek then used his timeout and the Titans scored with 1:09 left. NE got a touchback so with the greatest QB of all time - they got to start at the 25 with 1:08 and a timeout. Funny they got to the Titan 43 with 2 seconds left - did not kick a FG and Brady got sacked on the Hail Mary. The 2 set-ups were nearly identical- The Bills took a second timeout at the exact same play and time as Belicheck in his game. The biggest difference is Buffalo started at the 10 rather than the 25 and had about 15 seconds less, but Josh got them further than Brady and got off the Hail Mary pass. Overall - could McDermott have done better - Yes of course, but the fact is he treated it exactly like KC did in their game and NE in their game - calling a timeout when the open is in goal to goal and they have limited number of plays left to control the clock. Coaches also tend to like to keep 1 timeout on offense which is why both NE and Buffalo waited - so they could keep that 1 timeout in case of a sack or other issue when they get the ball back. I think there is a lot to digest, but I don’t think McDermott was much different than about 99% of the other coaches and played it more aggressive when he could and tighter with the initial field position. That is my opinion of course, but it seems to match what other coaches have done - including Belichek with Brady.

Are you sure about this? Because in the NE game at the half - the Vikings got the ball with under 2 minutes (1:57) to be exact and drove down the field. They were at the NE 25 with almost 1:30 left. Minnesota completed a pass in play and NE did not use a TIme-out - let 30 run off. Next play is a 5 yard run by Minnesota to the 22 - again no time-out by NE and another 30 seconds run off. Then a completion and Minnesota uses a time-out. Another run out bounds and another completion with Minnesota using a time out. Then the touchdown with 15 seconds left and NE had all of their timeouts. I think you missed the entire point and don’t like the coach do you are projecting - when McDermott actually used a timeout to conserve enough clock to try and make a play before the half and Belicheck did the exact opposite in his game and let a minute and 15 run off rather than use timeouts. I think hindsight would actually help you a bit in this case. I agree - especially with the timeout. I think the issue is you have a lot of guys that are 1st and 2nd year players and although a quick out would work - with 5 seconds they need to understand the entire situation and I think right now these guys are being coached on a lot of basics - route running - hitting specific depths - seeing things that the QB sees. You have an undrafted rookie, a 2nd year player in Zay, and a guy you picked up off a practice squad a few weeks ago as your primary WRs. I think the coaching staff talks about and runs end of half plays, but I do not believe these young players have seen or prepared the way veterans do for these plays and it costs the team right now. They will all be better for it in the future.

I think normally you are right, but I am guessing based upon the 4th quarter FG of 55 yards that 58 was outside of his range in that direction and the coach new it. The 55 yard miss would have barely cleared the upright If in the center - I am not sure he had the leg in that humidity to get 58. Maybe I am wrong, but typically the kicker gives a maximum distance they are comfortable with and that expands a bit at the end of the game where they tried from 55.

It it would be great if they had started beyond their 25. I am sure many things would have been different, but after the kick-off and penalty they started at their own 10. They ran 4 plays 2 runs and a pass to get a first down and a 3rd run before getting a play beyond the 25 yard line - with Tellers false start. The one play they ran where the snap was passed the Bills own 25 - was a 20 yard completion - a chunk play. Every other play on that drive was inside their own 25. The mistake was the timeout after the completion because either a run or a pass gets you a shot at the FG, but with only 5 seconds it had to be quick and down with the timeout and I am not sure all of the 1st year players on the offense were ready for that. That really left the Hail Mary as the only option (once the time-out was used). So I am not sure exactly what your complaint is in your thread - since once they got to your point on the field - they did exactly what you asked. Right?

Total Hot take and not even correctly written as to what happened - at least get the story correct before you complain. The Bills used their second time-out after stopping the Dolphins on first and goal inside the 10. Just exactly like the KC Chiefs did in their game. They were the only 2 games in which a defense called a timeout with the other team driving late in the first half that I saw. So they used the same strategy as the only other team I saw utilize a timeout on defense. So oops - wrong #1 in the take. Next paragraph - we did not run 3 straight times before passing. Let’s look at the facts - after the penalty on the kickoff the Bills are starting on their own 10 yard line. Most teams then have to decide do we go or do we slow play the drive. On their own 10 within 1 score and getting the ball to start the second half - the Bills played it like the majority of teams and ran on first down. The worst thing they could do is go 3 and out without taking any time and punt from deep in their end and give up the last second FG. They ran again forcing Miami to use timeouts both times and run some time. 3rd down they passed for a first down and got out of bounds. So 2 runs then a pass. Forcing Miami to use 2 time-outs to help prevent a Dolphins drive and getting the first down. On 1st and ten they then get a false start and go back to essentially their own 20 and 1st and 15. Now they just want to run the clock out - so a quick handoff to Shady, but he breaks it for 18 and goes out of bounds - now they are in legit scoring position to start to attack. A beautiful completion to the 41 gives them a legitimate chance with 9 seconds left. Here is where the criticism can come in - they did not seem to know if they wanted 1 short play to get the FG maybe a run or short pass or how they wanted to go forward and they waste their final timeout. At that point I have to assume 58 yards was pushing his range - especially as we saw at the end of the game the 55 yard miss did not have 3 more yards - so 58 was not really an option. After wasting the timeout - that left the Hail Mary as the sole option. The real criticism is not being ready after the completion to the 41. A 5 or 10 yard completion over the middle and a timeout makes the FG a legit threat. Other than that he played it exactly like most coaches would have given how the game had played out, time-out situation, and field position. Right now I think McDermott struggles because he has a young “gunslinger” QB that makes a ton of plays, but makes a ton of mistakes. He half plays things to prevent a costly mistake, but try to score. I see him getting more aggressive as the offense grows.

Easy because as the back-up QB - he is involved in the practice - whereas you can let the punter, kicker, and snapper go off during practice and kick 200 - 300 times during the week. If Barkley is the holder that number goes way down. That is the reason the NFL changed years ago to the punter holding. It allows for much more practice during the week.

Yet - if you pay attention at all - we are at/near the top for number of snaps played by 1st and 2nd year players. The older guys are mostly fill ins while we rebuild. There is a ton of youth on the o-line (many penalties), Lbs, cbs - so the overall age matters little - the guys out their playing are very young and they are making young player mistakes.

The throw was wobbly, but you expect an NFL receiver to get that. It was good enough and he had no one around - make a play for your QB.

No - I would not put in a waiver claim on him. Let him sit suspended for his 6+ games on the commissioners exempt list and maybe over the summer you can talk and determine what exactly happened from his point of view. If you get what you feel are honest answers with remorse then you discuss the ability to sign him to a 1 year tryout contract with a ton of proper wording to protect your team. The NFL will also mandate some kind of classes for him and those must be completed and he has to understand why what he did was wrong. Again the only way to know that is to sit and talk to him. Finally - I believe if he is claimed - he will never really understand why and what the problem was with his actions. If he goes unclaimed - maybe it brings some consequences to his actions and that might bring about change. I am all for second chances, but I also want a full background check in deep detail before I sign this guy - has there been other issues - you may have some from his draft year, but I want everything reviewed before I take a chance - so you can lay everything bare and there is not time with a waiver claim.

I would be somehat surprised. I think someone will pick him up, but my guess is there will still be some suspension time. Typically these are now a minimum of 6 weeks - plus time on the commissioners list. We we will have to see, but figure commissioners list for this week - then the last 5 weeks of this season. My guess is he will miss game 1 and maybe 2 next year also. Just my opinion on it though.

I would assume TMZ pays big money for the tape much later - so they find some guy to copy it and pay. The NFL goes through normal channels immediately and cannot get it. If the NFL wanted to get it - I am sure they could of gone the route of find someone to copy it and get it to them, but what do they do then - you suspend, but hold the video? There is no good look that works - so they go the easy out and say - we could not get it.

This is so awesome and the perfect contrast to the thread on Hunt. The NFL has so many good stories that go untold or undertold and the bad stories get way to much pub. Makes me respect the guy all the more! Pay it forward ?

No, but to be fair - I had the message board bookmarked and did not go to anything other than the message board when it was open. It is no different here - I only come here for the board - I do not go to any of the other content because it was not worth it.

He seems to take these here cheap shots mostly on sliding QBs - maybe once again this week JA should just run right over and truck Kiko and then we do not have to worry. He went through Jack - a bigger better LB in this last game and hurt the safety Church on the long run - I hope he does the same in this game.

No the point is he has like an 8 year old daughter - so what you said was extremely illegal and gross. If you want to argue that they should not cut him without a replacement say that - the “joke” about him getting cut for some sexual reason is just in bad taste and unnecessary. There was no reason to go where you went - even if it is a joke and the fact that they hav cut him multiple times with a replacement should tell you exactly what they think of his punting. Let’s go through the facts - he was in a competition with Cory in Training Camp that many media members said that there was a good chance that Cory was going to win. Cory got hurt - leaving only Colton left. Did the Bills just keep him - nope they had tryouts and brought in Jon Ryan for a game to compete. When neither of them were acceptable both Colton and Jon end up cut before game 1 and the new Corey was brought in. People on here complained, but he did not have a drop off and was better than we are seeing from Colton even as a rookie. Then he gets hurt. The Bills turn back to Colton to ensure a transition, but they continue to look for other punters. It is obvious that Colton is good on placement of short punts, but they are losing field position on every exchange of punts - so they are looking for a different replacement level player. After the terrible job last week with hang time - they decide to make a change again. This new guy might be better - might be worse - might be the same, but if he is not better - my guess is they bring more guys in and try again. This team can not have an area that they just accept as bad because you have a familiar name. They are looking at a bunch of positions and starting rookies/1st year guys and trying to see what they have going forward - good for them. Just look at WR - the number of snaps for the established guys is way down, while rookies are way up. Look and entire discussion about why I think they cut him and no reason involved anything sexual - it is an actual football discussion on a football board - with real observations.

Excellent - assumed this was coming, but good to see. If he had stayed on his sideline the line the fight would never had progressed.

This is just disgusting and unnecessary - I do not understand why this fan base thinks this way. A below average punter that they tried to replace in training camp, but his competition was injured. They did replace him prior to game 1 with a better kicker, but he gets hurt. Now they try to replace him again - what is not to understand - they do not feel he is good enough and is not doing his job. Why is it always something about sex that someone loses their job or this guy must have a sex tape of the coach or else they would replace/cut him. Why can it not be that the coaching staff and the GM actually evaluate these players after every game with the knowledge of what they told them to do and decide when they want to make replacements. They knew Teller was the future at guard, but did not think he was ready early in the season - must be Ducasse has something on McDermott. They knew the WRs needed upgrading, but were working with the raw talents of a guy like Foster, they knew the punter needed upgrading (we are on punter number 3) - must be the starter did something to the coaches daughter. WHY? Just terrible - they are churning the bottom 1/4 of the roster like a middling team should looking to get better and perhaps find guys to compete in the future. The worst part of this entire quote is the age of McDermotts daughter - it is just so inappropriate.

Yep - agreed - which is exactly why he was replaced. Constant improvement - even trying little things.

Nope - it says with the injury - go get the guy you are familiar with and you know can handle it, but continue to look to get better. This happens all the time to replacement level guys ask CJ Spiller a couple of years ago - he was signed and cut in KC like 8 times in one season, but they seem ok. The response says more about you than the signing says about the GM. He is trying to improve the roster.

I don’t think so. Very inconsistent with several shorter punts that were returnable. He did have 2 punts that ended up inside the 5, but the booming punts when we were backed up just do not happen. That was why they replaced him before the season and the only reason he was back was the injury. That is my opinion on what is going on here.

Nope - trading him for a fourth round pick would be even worse than if the Bills try to sign Bell this off season. Shady is part of their plans and he provides more than yards - he seems to help bring guys together across the team and for a HC that is preaching playing for each other - he is invaluable.

I don’t disagree, but that is also one of the reasons the Steelers have stayed out of Cap Jail. They have very few Dareus situations where you give that big contract with guarantees up front and the players then no longer play to their maximum. They give guarantees, but you earn them each year. Bell is a notoriously dangerous guy to give huge money to upfront. He has already been suspended multiple times for drugs - so you have that issue and you have a super talented o-line that once again this year with Conners proved it is more about them than Bell. I understand Bell thinking he is worth it and I get the Steelers saying we will give it to you, but you have to earn it each year. I think that whoever overpays for Bell in the off-season - assuming he even becomes free- will get a guy that returns to normal RB status and the will be greatly overpaying for actual production. The one exception might be Indy if they can keep the line getting better - he may be able to produce there and make an AAV of 15 million work, but Buffalo, NYJ, Cleveland, etc - he will not be worth it.

Yep - except for the multiple extensions Pittsburgh offered him at 14+ million for the next 3 years and the 4 year extension they offered him last year at over 12 million a season. Both deals would have made him the highest paid RB in the league at that time. He wanted more - he wants to be paid as a high end WR at over 16+ million.

He had 2 punts that bounced and were downed inside the 5 - great. He had 3 punts with little air time and gave up huge returns - luckily they called a penalty on Jac to negate the one return. A second had offsetting penalties to hold off another good return. He only had 1 fair catch and a touchback. Overall it is easy to see why they tried to replace him. He is way to inconsistent to say he had an excellent game.

No way - do not want to get into Cap jail for a RB. Like I said I would max out around 8 million and if he wants more - go get it elsewhere. Maybe the Jets do 14+ million - good for them. I think with his style he is a product of the Steelers more than an elite player. Give him an average line and he becomes a very average back. Agreed - people always assume they want choirboy players, but they have repeatedly stated they want guys that love the game and play for their teammates. To me that is the opposite of Bell. This holdout was was all about Bell and that rings very poor in my mind about who he is.