Ayjent

Bingo! The pressure up the middle is missing. I think Kyle is outplaying Marcel by a large margin, and to this point of the season Marcel is just another guy in the rotation and unless something drastic changes I don't see that changing. This is a team playing well, and the excuse of not being motivated by the team's direction is not really valid. I also think the philosophy of the D is to stop the run consistently and keep guys in coverage in the passing game. Nothing complicated, but its not going to generate much in the way of sacks unless you have guys that are just unblockable freaks of nature.

This game showed what a team win is. The Offense and defense were clutch once they went down 7 - a great drive by the Offense followed by a forced turnover. That's how you end a game. You knew the D was going to have a game where they had some struggles. However, they continue to be pretty good against the run and that forces teams to pass. Winston happened to have a good game and the Bucs have big, talented targets in Evans, Brate, and Howard and a very skilled veteran in Jackson. The safeties and LBs struggled in coverage, and the depth in the secondary is a concern. The slate of QBs is daunting in the next few weeks, but the Bills D is opportunistic and they tend to make teams rely on the passing game to move the ball. I'd like to see their 3rd and long defense be a bit better, but they aren't getting much push up the middle in the pass rush on those downs and I think that is key to this Defense being effective in those situations. It's why people are rightly dogging Marcel - a talented guy that doesn't seem to have his head or heart in the right place to be a dominant DT. He's not necessarily playing bad, but he isn't noticeably better than anyone in the rotation. The offense under Taylor has typically struggled in these situations and the Defense hasn't been reliable to get a stop or turnover in those situations for many, many years. And rarely have both aligned at the same time. They also bailed out the bad playcalling/execution of the first half that cost them 3 points. I've always been a supporter of Tyrod. He's better than half of the starters in the league in my opinion, although he has his limitations and I think people want Aaron Rodgers or some one of that caliber. I get it, but don't think that magically drafting a top 10 QB solves that problem. Moreover, Tyrod absolutely needs to be here until they are sure they have a better option waiting to take over that is on the roster at the same time. Hitting reset with an unknown commodity has been a folly of this organization for much of the drought as well. I didn't think Fitz was anything more than a really good backup that you'd like to come in on a good team. Yes he has enough ability to be a starter, but he is a low tier starter. However, the way Nix/Whaley handled the QB position that offseason was atrocious in every way imaginable (e.g., picking EJ, signing a very fragile Kolb, and the embarrassment of the prank call) - Shaw I believe we've had many conversations about this in the past, but is something I don't ever want to see this franchise do again - let go of a guy without a decent replacement in the system waiting to take over (it's kind of like quitting a job without having another one lined up before you do).

This offense is the product of a bad OC - yes the talent at WR and TE isn't good, but running stretch zone plays, not utilizing play action and benching good players is on the OC. They had good coaching with the same talent up front the past two years and they could run the ball. Don't oversell yourself on how good the WRs were the past two years - they were better than these guys now, sure - but not exactly a group that instilled fear.

I'll blame the QB when the QB deserves blame, but the run game and pass game are subpar in this offense and the difference from the past two years to this year is the OC. The run game is crap with Dennison, it's inconsistent and unreliable. The formations are tells, and there isn't much room for error - one bad down is usually a death knell for a drive. I've seen this show before and yes there are talent deficiencies, but playing the downs for the first down marker rather than for bigger yards usually ends up in bad offense. Good offense attacks on all three downs and puts defenses on their heels. Running on second down and long is just a prelude to a punt. If you have a good defense, then be aggressive - that's how you turn games into blowouts, instead of playing needlessly close. Tyrod hasn't really ever shown an ability to elevate his game to bring home games when the Bills need a final score to win and that pass to end the game was terrible. I get why people are down on him, but he is a decent QB that won't usually hurt a team with stupid mistakes. A lot of teams have much worse behind center and he's the best QB the Bills have had since Bledsoe, and this team with a semi-competent Defensive scheme the past two years would've been good enough to make the playoffs or in the hunt til the bitter end.

Yep and they even started Dawkins and Ducasse today to try to run that zone scheme more. That stretch zone run play is a drive killing play that is a tell from the formation and the tackle's first step. I don't watch game film all week and I know it. If I know it, I'm sure other DCs and defensive players who watch film know it. If you run for negative yards and don't even try to push the ball down the field in the first two downs very often, then you get a lot of Colton Schmidt. The WRs aren't helping, but the gameplan and personnel decisions today on the line were terrible coaching. I'm a gator fan and watching Nussmeier on Saturday and Denison on Sunday is like getting a root canal and then your Wisdom teeth taken out every weekend.

Lol. They stunk, and I'm not sure wtf they are thinking with that line they put together today up front. It's like they are more concerned with running a particular style of offensive scheme rather than one that works. The O this year is like Rex coaching the D last 2 years - its bad coaching and the wrong personnel.

If they continue to run that garbage stretch run play with this line they are going to continue to kill drives with it. Not saying that the line played well, but they've got to stop running that play. Its easy to recognize it before and after the snap, and I believe they only tried a deep throw once. The receivers are practice squad quality and It wasn't a very good game for Tyrod.

He's talented, but he never really played in a pro style passing game at Clemson. That move in the draft by the Bills FO was such a bad move, and a lot of us knew it at the time. That following Drafting EJ after passing up so many decent QBs in the prior years. I swear those two drafts had me so disappointed with the FO. You can say great hindsight, but I was very pissed after both of those drafts, knowing that they were dumb moves. Not so much that they picked Watkins, but to move up in that very deep WR draft for a WR that was primarily a screen WR surrendering a 1st and 4th. Truly baffling when they already had a decent group of WRs and had drafted 3 WRs in the past two years, had an established #1 with Stevie and traded the Bucs a 6th for Mike Williams. All of that draft capital spent on the WRs and never really materialized into anything formidable. The injuries have plagued Sammy, but he has never really established himself as a bonafide #1 option in the passing game because he just isn't as good as every one thought he would be. The injuries keep some mystique as to whether he could still show that he is an elite player, but I think it's a low percentage chance that he does

While the Bills could certainly use Watkins talent and familiarity. Let's not make any excuses for Watkins. Kupp and Woods are also new guys to the Rams. Yes those two had more time, but I think the bottom line is that he may just be a pretty good receiver but not even close to elite, and that's why his production is inconsistent.

Actually Atlanta has always received a ton of favorable calls since Matt Ryan has been their QB. I watch the Bucs games a lot too, and it always seems that the Falcons get an extra set of downs at least once in the redzone at some point in the game due to a highly questionable PI or illegal contact that had nothing to do with the play. I think if you look up the stats they are one of the top teams in 1st downs by penalty over the past several years. EDIT: Sorry that is the Pats that has been in the top 10 of penalties by first down the past few years (usually it is top 5). Atlanta is middle of the road.

Yes. It truly makes you wonder how much it is ego vs. intelligence with these coaches. I'm not saying that they are morons, but there are plenty of guys who are OCs in the NFL that just do things that is accepted as what you do vs. actually pushing the envelope and being innovative and adaptive.

The Offense and the running game didn't make the Bills 7-9, 8-8. It was a terrible Defensive Scheme that couldn't stop teams that should shoulder most of that blame. Now they've addressed the D, and the O takes a major step back, because the Bills can't put a complete competent staff or personnel together at the same time. This Offense hasn't changed except at the WR position - but I would argue that Woods and Matthews are a push with Matthews probably being a tad better receiver, a tad worse blocker. Sammy wasn't suiting up half the time anyhow. The Offense could move the ball and was effective the past two years - the difference this year - the OC. Trying to recreate an offense to emulate some ideal Offensive style without the personnel to run it seems like an exercise in futility and wastes what looks like a pretty good D IMO.

Not many QBs would've been successful out there today with that game plan. Taylor didn't do much, but he was far from the main reason the offense sucked today. The blame goes in this order - - Dennison - terrible play calling and bad play design, nothing creative and nothing to test Carolina's weaknesses. I knew what they were going to run 90% of the time because it is garbage, below average play calling that telegraphs what they are doing by formation and leaves so little room for error in execution on third down that it takes great platmaking to move the chains. If you are going to commit to keeping a D honest, and be predictable by formation you better utilize play action and bootlegs more than what they did today. - Offensive line - they got owned at the point of attack against the run and were inconsistent on passing downs. Part of this goes to predictability of the call and formation, but you can own the game if you are still successful when they know it's coming and can't stop it. They did next to nothing to move the LOS or create running lanes. - Tyrod - he's got to throw past the chains on third down unless it is so wide open that you can throw it short. That's my biggest complaint. Too frequent were passes thrown to short even on earlier downs. So I get the criticism, I do. However, very few QBs would've succeeded in impressing anyone with that game plan, play calling, not so great line play and lack of a run game. - Beane - personnel really hurt the Bills today and will all season...the lack of RB depth and lack of receiving talent is going to impact the ability to run and pass, especially if the OC isn't going to be creative.

It was a horrible offensive game plan and really bad play calling. They had absolutely nothing going on the ground and I can respect keeping the D honest, but you've got to at least run play action and call a cab downtown occasionally if you are going go that route.

That's on the OC as well. It's not like Taylor was given any chance to get momentum throwing when they stubbornly stuck with bad running calls all game.

Dennis on isn't a good OC. Same old story with Bills - flip flopping between good D and good O but never at the same time.

I think they like the contrast in running styles between McCoy and Tolbert because Tolbert is probably a much more physical tackle, while Shady requires discipline and technique to bottle in. Two entirely different approaches to tackling those two guys and that type of stuff gets into the heads of defenders. Tackling is the most important part of defense and for the best defenders it's almost instinctive, when you add an element of thinking to an instinctive player you've impacted their effectiveness and you keep them on their toes. I'm not calling the Bills genius for implementing such a 1-2 punch, because it's not like they are innovating here, but I get why they'd want Tolbert spelling McCoy, and I was impressed with his involvement in the offense. I'm not ready to call this as an arrow pointing up moment for the Bills, but it is refreshing to see good coaching and team discipline on display, especially on the D. I was worried about the Offense taking a step backwards, but I may have come to the realization that maybe the talent is there to be successful with whatever scheme they run as long as they put emphasis on running the ball.

Could be a solid pickup if he is healthy, and even if they want to give him a few weeks to heal, it's still a good signing. I thought Jenkins was overdrafted having watched him at Florida, but he does have speed and part of the reason I thought he was overdrafted was because he needed a little more time to beef up for the pro game. Now that he has been in the NFL and matured, he is a solid LB that is pretty good in coverage.

I don't think they will pass on a 1st round QB whether Taylor plays well or not, if that QB is a player they feel can run their offense better than Taylor. That's just the sense I get, but I hope that they do it wisely and not just make a move because they want their guy. Taylor gives them the luxury of being patient and taking a chance on a 2nd to 4th round pick panning out if the cost is too high to get the most coveted QBs that are in the top 10. There are likely going to be 4-5 first round prospects this next draft, but things seem to change a lot between the start of the college season and the actual draft. I'd really like to see them make this OL the real strength of the team and then have a young guy developing and pushing Taylor. That seems like the smartest way forward. I get the concept of changing culture Beane and McDermott had in mind in the roster turnover, but nothing changes a culture like winning and it's hard to win when you churn the roster.

I'd say KC is in a much better position to do what they did than the Bills to do the same, and at the same time you have to question whether the Bills could've used that pick on Mahomes if QB was the position they were so focused on improving. To me to pass on a guy that a good coach (not great btw) that has had sustained success with QBs and offense in this league moved up to get in order to stockpile draft picks would be baffling to then turn around and trade away to move up for a QB, and it would always be scrutinized as Mahomes vs. the 2018 Bills' QB pick. They need to turn that trade into two solid starters from the 2018 draft class (their own pick and the KC pick). The Bills chances of hitting on picks as solid starting talent increases with the number of players they put on the roster in the top 3 rounds. I would've like to have seen Dawkins make more of a push for a starting job.

Well this is where we'll see if this combo of McDermott and Beane are truly focused on building a long term sound team or think a franchise QB will solve all of the ills. I think you have a great situation for a young QB to come into and you keep Tyrod around until you find the guy you are sure is better - it may be next year it may be the following year. You don't need to be at the top of the draft class to get the best QB for your team, and they would be silly to let Tyrod go before they have clearly secured a better option. To let him go would be making the same mistake they have been making for many years of this 17 year drought - he brings stability and talent to a position that provides a situation for a young guy to prove it and outperform Taylor- not thrown to the wolves because there is no better option. However, this team will need to start replacing the aging stars like Incognito, Wood, Williams ASAP and they don't have the luxury of throwing multiple high picks into one player - that is a recipe for disaster, even if they hit on that player. You take your best shot at a QB where you draft without reaching and you build a young, talented OL and DL - this is where I hope Andy Reid's influence on McDermott occurs.

Yeah...it's hard to keep get excited with change, when the change seems to be only a change in the way the same unsuccessful W/L record is achieved not an improvement in the results. As fans we all love to rationalize why this time will be different, while at the same time keeping our guard up as we scrutinize the moves and decision-making looking for that signal to understand how this regime is going to disappoint us. This gets worse each time it happens, until we just have a sliver of optimism and a heavy dose of pessimism. This season seems particularly frustrating because even though a significant majority of Bills fans understood, especially with the hindisght of today, that Whaley and Rex should've been fired, there was an opportunity with a weak division outside of New England and relatively weak batch of AFC contenders to possibly sneak into the playoffs. The GM and coach are looking more long term than that, and that's understandable. However, I am fearful that they are little too prone to throw out the baby with the bath water in disassociating themselves from the players drafted by Whaley and his staff, and that the Beane/McDermott "process" may require more time to be successful than they realistically will get. This is exactly what I was getting at earlier, I'm looking at things and I'm finding flaws. I don't want to be looking for these flaws, but I constantly question whether I should trust these guys. We have learned over 17 years not to trust these guys, and that as fans watching moves unfold and having serious reservations to be proven right in having those reservations. I think the most frustrating thing in a lot of ways since 2010 is that when they start making some progress on one side of the field, they seemed destined as a franchise to constantly throw out the baby with the bath water each time they make a necessary change - that is organization issues at higher levels than coaching and we all see that has been the biggest problem with this franchise.

I don't disagree with you, but I think one of the downsides to both losing MG and cutting Williams is that now McDermott is saying things like "every snap" for Shady. Is it smart to run him into the ground? I just don't think that is wise.

I was just saying that ScottLaw's take on Gillislee's tender being too low was accurate and that Milano who came from the low tender hasn't shown to make up for Gillislee's loss of talent. Milano hasn't shown much yet, and usually defensive players show flashes of ability pretty soon even in their rookie year. Not saying he won't improve, but to see him as a solid contributor seems like a longshot in my mind.

Well. He's not wrong about them going too low on the tender at all. Getting Matt Milano hasn't exactly made this team better than when they had Gillislee - Milano is only on the team because of who drafted him, not because he necessarily deserved a roster spot over Hodges.