Rochesterfan

How or better yet why would we vote now? We have not seen the block, we have not seen who is starting where, we do not know who the QB will be, - all of these things matter. I do not anticipate it being very different from last year. They lost a guard, but have a better scheme supposedly so it balances out.

Or maybe they felt the could get TT and a one year deal rather than a multi year deal for AJ

Saw this - class act all the way

I think based upon what other like Sal C and Fairburn talked about last year was the offense was designed to get passes off fairly quickly on 3 and 5 step drops - especially early in the year. The idea was with the players picked up Zay Jones, Matthews and the change of scheme - outside zone that the Bills were going to attack at different depths, but stretching the field horizontally and putting pressure on the CBs. This was to open holes in the running game, but it did not work that way. There were few designed delayed runs called. Many times at the 3 or 5 step drop the ball did not come out and then pressure started leaking and TT did what he did best - avoid the rush and scrambled around. Many times the sacks and pressure were on TT for moving outside the protection and into the rush.

I also believe that reviewing and discussing this can have some impact on what we expect the next offense to produce. It is very easy to say that TT made few mistakes and therefore with QB change and the OL changes the offense will be worse, but it is also correct to look at the new OC and the new QB trio and the youth at WR and think maybe they can get more out of less through better design and a QB that will make the plays in the passing game. TT was not a bad QB, but he was also not a drop and rhythm passer and the offense last year and the one this year will be looking for QBs to throw in rhythm to the WRs. TT was very good at the deep outside throws and the comeback routes that allowed him to see the WR and the coverage and make his plays. It is part of the reason I believe Landry in Cleveland is going to explode on TT at some point by game 4 or so. He is used to making a break and getting the ball in stride 3 or 4 yards down field and I do not think he will like the routes like Robert Woods ran - 7 - 10yard comebacks.

Oh - I agree fully - I also think he and TT will not mesh real well as TT is more of a reactionary thrower and sort of free wheels the offense and my guess is that will not go over very well. I just believe that Hue is very short lived and they are looking for a reason to kick him out and I believe Haley will get the job on an interim basis at some point this year. I also think Dorsey will want an offensive guy to lead the team and develop the QB - we will see how it all plays out - especially with hard knocks

You are a strapping Jock.

I agree and that may have been the talk before as he was hired, but then after the season the owner makes the statement Hue will be back and then doubled down on that during the playoffs. Sometimes things change if the person in power thinks it will reflect poorly on him and then others are left scrambling to make do and pick up the pieces.

It is on the owner - I think he wanted to pluck Nagy from the tree.

Because the the owner was an idiot and would not keep his mouth shut - I believe if John Dorsey had been allowed to hire - Nagy would be coaching Cleveland rather than Chicago. Now they have Hue for the year and Todd Haley as the OC and probable heir apparent if they want an offensive coach. It should be fun.

Is any part of that the fact the Browns were willing to trade a 2nd and a 3rd for AJ less than 6 months before? More draft capital than they traded for TT. I do not really care - I think similar to here - TT will be hard to beat out because he makes so few mistakes - so he does not lose games. The Browns will be hard pressed next year to remove that from the lineup to replace with a rookie. The worst part for the Browns is that I do not think the GM feels Hue is the long term answer and would have replaced him if the owner did not open his mouth; therefore I think that you are teaching Mayfield a system and preparing him and next year a new coaching system come in to replace that and try to design a system around his college strengths that he has started to grow out of. It will be an interesting couple of years for the Browns.

Agreed - would not pay for the Buffalo News team, but Fairburn, Vogl, Cover 1 and Kris Baker pushed it over the top. All aboard -

I think this will be very interesting because a ton of people complained about the subscription model with the Buffalo News. If the Athletic can succeed on that model - which it has elsewhere- then I think it shows more about the staff at TBN like Bucky and Sully not connecting with the modern fans. The line-up the Athletic is putting out seems like a great group with excellent Bills and Sabres coverage from some great analysts (with the possible exception of thin skinned TG), but it should blow away what the TBN was doing and was much more in line with what the Fans have asked about in TBN threads before. I think it will go to show how important the staff is and the fact that guys like Bucky and Sully lasted as long as they did was more harmful than helpful to the TBN long term.

Great except that defense held the Giants to 10 points at halftime and had a Safety. If Dickerson was complaining about the defense in that game - he needed to look in the mirror because the offense forgot to show up after blowing up the previous game. If he complained the next year - he might have a point as Washington just man handled the Bills, but he also had a special place in that because although they were told to provide no bulletin board material - he went out and got quoted making all the pig noises and insulting the Washington OL - which was seen as a huge issue and lead to his firing. He did have good sources because he had built some friends on the team, but those started evaporating as the offense and defensive coaches and front office starting changing, but he kept acting like he had sources.

Thats Bull - he started shortly after being fired after the 2nd Super Bowl. The Bills were great through the early part - he was negative because the Bills fired his butt after the Redskin Super Bowl because he could not keep his mouth shut. He was spiteful that he was scapegoated because of his loud mouth and brash talk - went to Radio and essentially destroyed any remaining bonds with that staff. The man knew his stuff, but he did not know when to tone it down or rein it in.

His takes were legendary, but typically for the wrong reason. He was a complete blowhard that chose to purposely go against what the Bills were doing out of spite. I could not stand him then when he knew what they were doing - I doubt I would listen now when he is just another person. I would rather listen to old takes of Art Wander rather than the “coach”.

I agree - I also think timing had a lot to do with the struggles he had. He came from a timing offense and got a lot of throws just after the breaks and as he was running free. TT was late on throws and I think they never got into a good rhythm- that then lead to him getting into his own head and created stone hands. Mix it all of that with his injury and I think it was just really bad. I don’t know what he will give us, but I suspect he and a bunch of these young guys mixed with the new QB and offense are going to surprise some people.

Seems like both are making a lot of plays - nothing would shock me at this point, but I am really starting to like what I hear.

Cool - I have never seen that - good to know

I think a lot like coaching - training tends to lag behind because people do what they have always done. When TO broke his leg and started using hyperbaric chamber and that was like witchcraft at the time even though it was used to aid recovery outside the NFL. Suddenly NFL teams like the Cowboys were investing in that. It would not surprise me if TB12 has some great ideas, but it has also been shown to be full of crap before. I think he mixes some fresh ideas with some risky alternatives and for some people that works and for others it does not. I also think he is way ahead what NFL teams are doing and things like yoga on their days off would help the players more than some of the excessive lifting, but much like ballet in the 80’s - even though that helps balance - it is not manly enough for these players.

Would not mind #1, but do NOT want the network halftime show. Those are a total waste and I skip them at home - rather see more Red Zone Action or highlights from our game. I dislike the idea of doing celebrations pregame. Halftime is not bad, but there is a ton going on pre-game and I feel like you will be just trying to fit it in with no good time for it. I would like to see more replays on the screens and less volume on some of the things like the train horn. More scores and more fantasy numbers/highlights. I don’t mind some of the ads, but the volume control is all over - many times you can’t hear anything and then something blasts so loud that you think you are going deaf. More security patrolling the lots and better control over some of the rowdier groups both in and out of stadium. I would also love to see more checkpoints around the stadium stopping the drunk drivers. Bigger family areas with with restrictions on drinking and in a better location than the end zone corner. I hate that I can’t bring my daughter and son and actually enjoy the game. Even the preseason kids days had 2 drunk idiots fighting in our section and swearing at each other until the cops broke it up and dragged them away, but then others just start. A designated area for Uber/Lyft to come in and pick people up or drop them off. Provide some access to help get drunk people home.

I agree fully with with you on Moss - there was enough issues on the field - his attitude in Oakland - basically admitting that he was not trying because he was not enjoying himself and his 2nd time in Minn basically throwing the coach under the bus and adopting a him or me attitude that cost both of them their jobs. Overall that attitude was still better than TO’s and with similar numbers shows that the voters rightly took that into account with TO. I think Moss also had a lot more off the field issues than TO again showing the voters did not take that stuff into account - which is consistent with what they have said. I personally do not think either of them were worthy of being 1st ballot HOFs, but Moss had less baggage on the field and in that regards was more worthy to me. Maybe it is for the best- we will see how disrespectful and disruptive he is as we approach the day.

Flamboyant? The guy was suspended on 3 different teams for on the field actions. It is the writers responsibility to take that into account. I think they should be transparent, but to me a 1st ballot HOFer needs not only to be a great player, but he should be the best of the best in most accounts. The fact that teams like Philadelphia signed him, but then due to TO’s actions suspended him for 1/2 a season and cut him - is a huge sign of the type of player he was. He fought teammates, called out Jeff Garcia and insinuated he was gay, he called out McNabb on multiple occasions, got into a fist fight with Hugh Douglas, the list goes on and on. All of that is legitimate actions that should be taken into account when deciding on his worthiness. To me they do not exclude you, but they also make it so that if you do not want to vote for him in year 1 it is acceptable. Then for him to act like a petulant child after lobbying for the honor just speaks to his character. This is a celebration of the honor and it is a celebration of all of the HOF players - he is dishonoring the ceremony ad his classmates. It is all about TO.

Definitely- I think Baseball is even worse than Football for these types of votes, but if you are going to be on the committee- then be open about it. You have some writers that treat it like a joke - I believe it was Lebatard that was willing to allow a fan to fill out his Hall of Fame ballot. That is the kind of junk that ruins the integrity of the vote.

None - other than can you imagine the backlash in today’s twitterverse. I think they they should all be required to provide the exact card they are voting from and then be asked to account for their decisions. I believe that many of these media members that are on good terms with each other make agreements to help so and so this year and I will help your guy next year. Ideally they would make it more transparent and allow scrutiny of the process, but alas they are mostly a bunch of keyboard jockeys that prefer to spew venom than answer for their decision- that is my opinion.