Rochesterfan

I agree with most of the sentiment, but I really can not get behind the above. Do they really have a good DC in Miami? They are 2 separate teams home and on the road - they are giving up under 20 pts per game at home, but when they go on the road - they are giving up significantly more on average - over 25 and closer to 30 pts per game and have a negative point differential overall on the season. So if we consider their offense to be very good and the defense is giving up more points on the season - either the defense is bad or the offense is not as good as we suspect. To the point of a DC that has been able to slow us down - We put up 497 yards of offense in game 1 and another 450 yards in game 2 with Josh throwing for 6 TDs and 0 Ints and getting 1 AFC player of the week honor. They have stopped us on a few drives and held us to FGs in the red zone sometimes, but basically in both games Josh has moved the Bills on most drives. The last statement is 100% correct, but I expect after this game the Dolphins will be looking to move on from the this DC as with the talent they have and how they played (they have gone from 6th to 12th to 24th in points against the last 3 seasons).

So basically you don’t want the Bills to “tip their hand”, but by activating Beasley and forcing the Dolphins go back and gameplan for Beasley is a bad thing? It is not lalalala crap - it is I genuinely do not understand what difference it makes if the Bills know the extent of the Hammy injury and expect that he is not going to play - why not get Cole activated. The Dolphins would have been planning for him - just as the Bills are planning for Skylar, but still watching for Bridgewater news. The Biggest loss in all this to me is McK typically plays Hill in the scout team and now you have lost that. We will see, but I expect (as you said in an earlier post) - you will have Cole doing his part, Shakir doing the man routes more, and Hines doing the heavy motion/sweeps.

Not really tipping your hand - McK pulled a hammy yesterday in practice - basically since then every Buffalo reporter has basically been saying he will not practice and based upon how the Bills treat soft tissue and muscle pulls - he will be out this weekend and depending on how bad it is maybe limited or out next week. The Bills will have to list him on the injury report - so how big of a surprise that your slot guy can’t go would it be for the Bills to call up the PS slot guy that has done it before. Why hide it at this point. The Bills are going to start and play the veteran slot guy and use Shakir as his back-up. We are beyond the larger salary cap situation- so the call up doesn’t impact that. I could understand for a physical issue - Phillips shoulder - that maybe you want to keep that close as he may or may not play, but a pure speed guy like McK with a pulled Hammy - they are not going to risk that when they have a player like Cole ready to go. As to the question of are PS players as invested - it depends on the player - most of them are only seeing time right now as scout duty, but activating a guy like Cole also tells the team - here is what we expect and who will be doing what. I don’t think McD at this point is trying to figure out how to trick the Dolphins - he is ready just line us up and go play - we are the better team and have been in both meetings. And now it is official - DNP for McK - just as reported in the section the reporters watch.

Why would it matter today versus Saturday? You have an injury to McKenzie who is DNP and not practicing - you know you need to bring up a WR and a DL - this gets him involved and active 100%. Since we are in the playoffs - there is no longer a cost to brining him up. He already walked off the TB team and has stated this was the only place he was coming back to - so I don’t really see a strategy or another team trying to take him. I see an injury that is taking out your starter and you activating his replacement giving you maximum flexibility come this weekend. Maybe I am wrong, but nothing suggests he was going anyplace and they needed this action and everything suggests the injury sustained by McK yesterday in practice makes this move required to provide WR slot depth.

Per the reports - he tweaked a Hammy. I would expect him out this week and hence the Beasley call up. Gives them multiple people at Slot - although Shakir was already seeing a nice increase in workload.

Because the injured player he is being called up for is McKenzie in the slot. You don’t sign Brown to the roster to fill a slot need - you sign the slot guy. Yes if no one else gets injured it matters very little if it is Brown or Beasley, but with Phillips already injured and we are short at DT and DE - another injury like Settle may mean you have to call up two DL players and then you are stuck with Brown, Diggs, Davis on the outside and only Shakir as a slot WR. I don’t think it has anything to do with anything other than proper roster maintenance. They plugged in for the injury. McKenzie Hamstring injury - he is most likely out at least this game and maybe next week.

Indy was the first spot looked at and they declined - Have a huge volleyball tournament in town eating up hotel space. Cincy was eliminated do to being outside and why would the Bills want to go there after the Monday night event. Chicago is also outside and a smaller venue. From all of the discussions - they were looking for a neutral site that would not be impacted by the weather and a city that would not be biased against either team. Their preference seemed to be a domed NFC stadium or Indy in a no division city. They tried Indy, Detroit, and Atlanta as their 3 primary venues. Detroit and Indy were unavailable - so it defaulted toward Atlanta. I think in reality the NFL did take a lot of consideration into making the call - Atlanta is a major airline hub - so fairly easy to get direct flights in and out. The weather should be fine and the dome will ensure the game is played in perfect conditions. For everything that screws us over - this seems like an excellent location that should be highly accommodating and will provide a venue that Bills fans can travel to and many are already in the area.

No - McKenzie came up with a Hamstring and was limited in practice. This allows you to have an entire healthy WR room and sit McKenzie to get the hamstring healthy.

But they were not fired for anything that occurred in the game - both the NFL and the NFLPA agreed the protocols as written were followed and the INC was not at fault. The NFLPA fired him because in their meetings he acted like most doctors can when questioned and got ticked at how they were questioning him and trying to lay blame - so he became combative with their attorney.

He should be sorry - terrible job coaching and getting nothing out of the year. He played a QB the entire game that was terrible (although none of them were good) - he should of started to switch things around to try and spark the team - they needed a frickin FG at some point - even if you stick the 3rd string guy in and let him run - you get more than from Flacco.

Potentially going to a team he was on staff with in the past and with a FO in Dan Morgan that knows him from multiple spots - why wouldn’t they interview him. Like Dabol in NYC - the GM/Assistant GM has worked with and believes they can work together. I actually think Dorsey could make a great HC - not sure he is ready, but he has QB experience and did a bit of scouting with Carolina originally, but this is more about finding a good fit between FO and coaching staff. Finding a highly qualified DC is much easier as those positions are not getting HC jobs - so you can pick those guys up all over, but a young talented OC that you are somewhat familiar with is what teams are dying for.

This exactly - it isn’t changing anytime soon and will only get bigger. The new WR deals means with huge range increases are just a foreshadowing of the new QB deals. The 4 guys mentioned above and then guys like Allen and Mahomes getting their next deals will all push what the league was worth a few years ago.

They most certainly have been switching on and off many games - early in the season it was Elam and Beneford switching with Jackson getting 100% of the snaps. Then injuries hit and you had a couple of games where Elam and Jackson both played nearly 100%. Then Elam got nicked up and the Bills rotated in Rhodes and White returned and you saw Jackson and Rhodes split time and Elam sit. And now Jackson and Elam are back to splitting time opposite White. For example as Elam has seen his play hover close to 50% the last 2 games - Jackson has seen his drop to 53% and 59% with him filling in for White on 8% of the snaps against Chicago. The Bills sat Elam for the 2 games against NE and NYJ as they ran a ton of zone and wanted better run support and that is fine. That is exactly what everyone including the Bills said about Elam prior to the season and as long as you have healthy DBs they are using them to mix up defensive coverages and make adjustments. Therefore based on Miami and Chicago breakdowns - there would have been no reason to not expect he would have rotated in series 3+4 and played nearly 50% of the snaps as they had done the 2 previous weeks against Cincinnati - so as I said even mentioning Cincinnati is just stupid and you trying to make it look like he wasn’t going to play. Jackson also rotated with Rhodes in the 1st NE game to give Rhodes playing time - they alternated ever 2 series throughout the game almost completely. I will be interested in this game as NE being a run team - do they want to play nearly 100% zone and work the edges with DBs to tackle in which case they may limit Elam with Beneford or do they maintain the nearly equal split of playing time between the 2.

Except they don’t - they have been playing different combinations of man and man zone and switching things off - which is why after they make adjustments teams find it harder to move the ball. They have been giving a ton of different looks not based on Elam or Jackson.

I guess that depends up what you are referencing. Pro Football focus had him at 47 and 48% of defensive snaps the last 2 games and 43% versus the NYJ in game #1 - so that is at least 3 times since October that he has broken 40% of defensive snaps and the last 2 have been nearly 50%. He is also alternating with Jackson - 2 series on and 2 series off - so since we had not even completed 2 series versus Cincinnati - there is no way I would even look at it - even bringing it up is stupid. Jackson starts as the Veteran and they have been running bland coverages - then they make adjustments and bring Elam in and then switch him out with other adjustments. Basically against 2 teams that run a bunch and the Bills wanted to run a lot of zone - they pulled him out. When they wanted more man corners against Miami - he played half the game. I think you are seeing exactly what the Bills want to do - they are using Jackson, White, and Elam to switch up coverages and make adjustments to get teams out of their game plans.

I hear what you are saying, but honestly I don’t think that had anything to do with the OL of the Jets changing with a guy they believed in or even a guy that made plays, but was essentially a complete shift in the Jags DL. Streverler’s first drive - the DL was crashing in just like they did to Wilson, but Streverler escaped the pocket a couple of times and also had a designed run and then the Jags switched up. They stopped rushing to a spot like they were for Wilson and rushed to contain and keep him in the pocket. They also stopped bringing extra pressure and played a spy defense. They were significantly less concerned about the passing game and getting pressure and more concerned with the QB running - so they stopped rushing. He did make a few nice throws, but it was obvious that he completely lacks the arm strength to play NFL ball. One pass was like 15-20 yards short and if he had gotten it out there it was a huge play.

I am fine with 90% of it. They did exactly what I expected. My only real complaint is I think it screwed over Cincinnati to much. Although I hate it - I would have been all for additional neutral site games of Buffalo/Cincinnati as that game could have gone either way and that impacts everything. I am glad they followed the rules as laid out and then looked at ways to adjust and I think given the terrible situation- the NFL tried and did an excellent job. I just feel for Cincinnati a bit right now. Good guys, Good Coach and took one on the chin for us - just as we did for KC.

White is out, Flacco to start with Wilson as his back-up. White never should of played last weekend with his ribs - terrible job by Salah.

Sign from above!

It has been done up-to this point, but will change with the games this weekend. It maybe correct that the lead is insurmountable - I have not done the math, but it will change.

There is very little change at this point, but a Bengals win over the Ravens helps by giving them another strong win, but the added loss the Ravens get hurts. The Pats win over the Bills (whom we beat earlier) would improve their record and help. Then it comes down to the slate of games being played. I think that the SOV in the end would still favor Cincinnati, but without inputting every scenario I do not know for sure.

Doesn’t work out - after week 1 you are at 6 teams then 3. If you have 8 teams you have to have 0 byes. To give 4 byes - you would have to expand to 12 teams in each conference.

Now I will say - if you get a big lead being fired up early - sure pull guys out and get some rest, but you need to win this game and then let the chips fall where they may.

It could change, but most likely it favors Cincinnati getting stronger by Beating the Ravens for a better SOV.

We currently do, but factoring in the Pat loss for us and the Ravens win for Cincinnati- we become tied.