Shaw66

I agree with this. I don't think the point is that it's 21 or a projected 52. The u re in good shape. Getting through 2016 1nd 17 has been the cap problem and they're done with that. I also agree about the balance. I think particularly that these guys don't want to be spending their money outside the hashmarks. That's why Gilmore and Watkins are gone. Dareus is gone because he didn't fit.

I agree. I think they will replace Brown.

Spotrac says $21 million, 14th highest in the league.

You may be correct. From my seat it was difficult to know for sure whether Taylor could have avoided many sacks. It didn't look like it because he was in trouble almost immediately. In any case it looked like the best he could have done was throw the ball away. That might have helped but wouldn't have changed the outcome. He wasn't likely to have gotten positive outcomes out of those plays.

I'm sold on him meaning I would plan on him being my starter for the next five years. Meaning, I wouldn't trade up to replace him with a gilt-edged rookie. Meaning, if a QB I really really liked turned up late in the first round on in the second, I'd probably take him. Taylor looks much better to me this year than last year. I think he's playing like a top 15 quarterback. As much as I'd like to have a top 5 quarterback, the chances of getting one are slim. I don't buy your measure - he has to air it out for 400 yards in a head to head battle like Wilson and DeShaun Watson had a couple weeks ago. That can't be the measure of your QB, because it's too arbitrary. To have one of those duels you have to be on a team with good to great deep receiving threats, like Houston has. Your team's run game has to have failed., so you're throwing 45 times. I don't mean I don't want one of those guys. It would be great. I look at it differently. I think it's a sucker bet to keep looking for the Hall of Fame QB. If you have to look for a good quarterback, and when you find one you have to figure out how to win with him. What's a good QB? I think it's a guy who's regularly in or around the top 10 QBs in the league. When you have one of those, he's the guy you ride, trying to build a winner around him. I've been saying since he finished his first season in Buffalo that Taylor COULD be the guy. He did an awful lot right that first year; the only thing he didn't do was pile up yards, because his team didn't pass. The last two games he's looked improved to me, and that's what makes me think he's worth riding. The last two games he's been finding open receivers, open enough, and delivering catchable balls. Against Tampa he was conservative and threw a few balls out of bounds. Against New York there was little of that. He looked like a top-10 guy on the TDs to both Jones and Thompson. His throw up the sideline to Holmes was beautiful. He was consistently making throws that I admire when I see Brady and Brees and Rodgers make. He just looks good. I think he's looked better in the past couple of weeks because he's playing in a well-designed offense and he's starting to get comfortable in it. And I think it's likely to get better now that he has Benjamin to throw to. I like speed guys, but I also like the big guys, and the Bills have gone from Watkins and Woods - not tiny, but not big guys - to Matthews and Benjamin, with Clay coming back too. I'm expecting to be very happy with the second half of Tyrod's season. I said it a few weeks ago. Tyrod's contract is going to renegotiated in the off-season, and he's going to be five years, $100 million, minimum. With five picks in the first three rounds, I'm expecting the Bills to draft at least two offensive linemen.

Mobile version looks great. Thanks for your work.

That's interesting. Not surprising. But the team is built to run. And McD sticks to his plan until he's forced out of it. Down 10 with 18 minutes yo go he still wants to run. That's what he does. I'm curious to see what he does now that he has what looks like a quality receiving corps.

Alexander IS in and out a lot. I'm not sure on what downs, but he rotates out a lot. I agree that Milano looks good and might help, but I wouldn't take Humber off the field. I think he played very well last night. I'd rotate MIlano for Alexander. But I don't understand, and I think most others don't either, how the linebacker rotation is supposed to work. There's a reason they have the guys on the field that they have. One other thing: I think McDermott had veteran linebackers in Carolina. I think he values experience, which may be why we're seeing a lot of Alexander and Humber.

I gave the stats. At the end of the third quarter he was 15-21, 163 yards, 1 TD no INT. Extrapolate that to a fourth quarter and he's 20 for 28, 217 yards. Nothing wrong with that at all. He was playing competitive football, completing 75% of his passes, and they weren't checkdowns. He completed passes at the same percentage in the fourth quarter - he completed more because he was throwing more. I just don't see what there is to complain about in that kind of performance. Maybe you do. I can't help you with that.

Well the Jets must have studied the films well, because that hevy formation was totally useless. They got nothing every time they brought in the extra lineman.

My measure started with what I saw, confirmed by the stats. He was getting the ball out on time, hitting receiver with good accuracy, and downfield. It wasn't a checkdown game.

McCown didn't throw for 285 yards and 2 TDs. What was wrong with Taylor's performance last night? His footwork?

I find comments like this unbelievable. The guy completes 75% of his passes, throwing the ball downfield all night (not to the backs), 2 TDs and no interceptions, and your conclusion is that he has problems with his footwork and we'll just have to live with it. Extrapolate the guy's game over 16 games and its 464 completions (that would be third best in the history of the league), 32 touchdowns and 0 interceptions with a passer rating of 108.9 (25th best in the history of the league), and you're complaining about his footwork not being conducive to throwing. Okay, then, I guess he'll have to work on that footwork.

Well, I didn't see this, but I'm sure you're correct to some extent. It took me a while, but I've come to agree with the "lack of anticipation" crowd. I've seen it enough. BUT - he had a lot of throws where his anticipation was excellent. The one to Jones with defenders on either side of him - I don't think it was late - it was where and when it needed to be. The Jones TD to. The Thompson TD he threw it to the inside to allow Thompson to stay in bounds and curl around the defender. Although he can improve, I thought last night he looked like a competent professional quarterback. If he should have gotten the ball out on 2 out of 6 sacks, well, fine, there's something he can improve on. But he got the ball out just fine on a lot of plays last night, and he was throwing at guys who were open but well covered - he isn't waiting for guys to be wide open to throw. In short, I'm beginning to see real progress over his past two seasons. Well, Happy, that's their game. I just don't expect to see a pass happy offense from McDermott. He's too conservative for that. Plus, you need to recognize that through most of the third quarter the score was 10-7 and then 17-7. There was plenty of time left, and the Bills believe they can run the ball. So while I tend to feel the same way you do, I don't think it was crazy to keep trying to run. The offensive line wasn't pass protecting much better than it was run blocking.

One more thing: Junk that "heavy" formation with an extra offensive linemen. Six guys who can't get the job blocking are not better than five guys can't get the job done blocking.

The Rockpile Review by Shaw66 Good Gets Bad, Bad Gets Good Well, it didnt last long. The Bills got to 5-2, the press and fans presumed a win over the Jets and a 6-2 record at the halfway point of the 2017 season. The media love affair with the Bills turned out to be a one-night stand. Things are back to normal. The Patriots lead the division, the national press will love someone else, and the fans are depressed, want a new quarterback and wonder when all this will end. The Jets beat the Bills on Thursday night, 34-21, and the score didnt truly reflect the extent to which the Jets dominated Bill. It was a serious, impressive beat down. It also was the latest version of a lesson thats relearned by some team in the NFL every week: its really hard to win in this league. Why? Because every team (even a team that the press and the fans naively believed was tanking) has NFL-quality talent and can play at a high level. Based on the Bills performance at Met Life, the Bills off-season player-acquisition strategy would seem to be clear: draft and sign a lot of linemen, because the Bills showed Thursday where they are weak. They were pushed around all night on both sides of the ball. They were dominated. Much of what has been good about the Bills turned bad Thursday night, and some of what has been bad turned good. Good to Bad Turnovers. The Bills finally began to cough up the ball. All fumbles are avoidable, and the three the Bills had certainly were. The Matthews and OLeary fumbles were particularly damaging because they occurred in the middle of good-looking drives. They were drive killers. Taylors fumble, although no better, at least came toward the end of the game when the outcome was pretty clear. He was trying to make a play, and nearly succeeded. Still, he has to protect the ball if there was any hope, it ended when the Jets picked up the easy touchdown after he lost it. Takeaways. Worse yet, the Bills failed to take the ball away from the Jets. Leonard Johnson missed on one clear opportunity. But Ill say this; the lack of takeaways wasnt for lack of trying. I had great seats, on the 40, about three rows behind the Bills bench, and it was interesting how regularly the Bills were working to strip the ball. Some of that is visible on television or from farther away, but up close it was apparent how much emphasis the Bills put on takeaways. Practically every play, someone goes after the ball. Run game. Stuffed, completely. The revitalized Bills run game disappeared because the Bills were unable to control the line of scrimmage. The Jets took charge and stopped the run cold. Run defense. Same thing, in reverse. The Bills defensive front seven made some plays, but they were beaten badly often enough that the Jets got 10 first downs rushing on nearly 200 yards. Dareus would have helped but wouldnt have changed the outcome. Run and stop the run still works in the NFL, and the Jets did it. Tackling. The Bills had more missed tackles than were used to seeing this season. That helped the Jets pile up the yardage. Penalties. Looked like one of Rexs teams out there. False starts are maddening. Jerry Hughes reverted to his former self. Not good. The entire box score looks like a Bills box score from a couple of weeks ago, except the Jets have the Bills numbers and the Bills have the opponents numbers. Bad to Good It wasnt all bad. Zay Jones. Looked like a real NFL receiver. Confident, sharp cuts, sure hands, although he catches the ball with his body often. I didnt see the trip when he was injured, but I guessed the defenders play was suspect when the Jets didnt show any replays in the stadium. The receiving corps generally. I like Matthews. Hes a real professional. Works hard, runs his routes, sure hands. Matthews, Benjamin, Clay, Jones, Holmes and Thompson give the offense plenty to work with. Humber. Another real professional. He does his job, hes a sure tackler. I hope he returns. Sideline Views Its fun to see what goes on on the sideline. Like Shady taking a walk behind the bench just before the opening kickoff, taking a couple of hits of the smelling salts. Holmes came off the field after Thompsons touchdown, squatted near the punters net, head down, stayed there for 10-15 seconds. Then he walked ten yards back to the bench, put his hands on his knees and bent over the waist for another ten seconds. Looked like he was trying to clear his head. Sometime in the third quarter McDermott and Frazier had a long conversation about something. Hard to say, but it looked like McD explaining something he wanted to see done. Hauschka is ALWAYS preparing. One time he had the rubber band loop around his calves, and he was side-stepping, pushing against the resistance. Late in the fourth quarter he was still practicing his kicking stroke. Repetition, repetition, repetition. Glenn and Incognito are huge. Theyre all big men, but those two really stand out. Jets cheerleaders doing their version of the Rockettes line and leg kick was awesome. Michael Irvin walked by. Not my favorite. What I Liked Best At the risk of starting a firestorm, what I really liked in the Jets game was Tyrod Taylor. Well see what the second half of the season, but Im pretty much sold on him. Another night of excellent numbers. He was 29 for 40, 7.1 yards per attempt, 2 TDs. 109 passer rating. And before someone complains that he fattened his numbers in garbage time, he didnt. Through three quarters, he was 15-21 for a 7.8 average per attempt, with one touchdown. 110 passer rating. In the fourth quarter he just continued what hed been doing all game. And he made a bundle of excellent throws. Both TDs were delivered beautifully, one with zip to Jones and one with touch, deep, to Thompson. He had several excellent throws to receivers over the middle, including a couple to Jones, the fumble plays by Matthews and OLeary. Plus, hes in complete control. Never seems to be excited, runs the huddle efficiently. The sacks? It was hard to see from where I sat, but it looked to me like the sacks were on the oline. Taylor was in trouble quickly on those sacks, and he was in trouble from all sides. I didnt see missed receivers, and he often didnt even have a chance to throw the ball away. His running just complicates things for the defense. With his full complement of receivers likely to be on the field in 10 days, Im expecting the passing game to move to a higher level. Its good to have the mini-bye after that loss. Bills will have the opportunity to fix a few things on the lines and time to work Benjamin into the offense. GO BILLS!!! The Rockpile Review is written to share the passion we have for the Buffalo Bills. That passion was born in the Rockpile; its parents were everyday people of western New York who translated their dedication to a full days hard work and simple pleasures into love for a pro football team.

Great comments. Only, don't put the Jets game in the win column, not yet. NO games are easy in the NFL. The Jets will be ready.

Great article. Thanks.

Do you know how long I've waited to see someone in the national media write an article like this about the Bills? Yes, you do, because you've been waiting that long too. It feels great. Amazing.

I'll be there.

Do I like it? Sure! I haven't tracked it all the way through, but I think this means the Bills traded Ronald Darby and EJ Manuel for Jordan Matthews, Kelvin Benjamin and a third round pick. What's not to like about that? (Someone had a thread that said Beane is already the third worst GM in Bills' history. Really?) I didn't think Benjamin was all that good coming out of college, but he proved me wrong. He's tough, he has pretty good hands, and he's reliable. I don't think he's a deep threat. I think he's like Eric Decker, and I've always liked Decker. I assume the starters are now Matthews and Benjamin, if not Thursday night at least next week. It means Jones and Thompson and Holmes are really fighting for playing time. Thompson has the edge because of his speed, but Jones probably is coming on as a reliable, all-round guy. It's a great acquisition for Taylor, if Taylor will throw to guys who look covered. With Matthews and Benjamnin he has two quality targets, big guys who fight well for the ball. And Clay makes three. Those are serious targets. The important thing is that Dennison and the coaches now have options, combinations that can be matchup nightmares. Teams that have small corners will be at a real disadvantage. What I like best about this, what makes me think it will make a real difference in the offense, is that McDermott and Beane know this guy. Beane participated in drafting and signing him. He watched him as a rookie, watched him through rehabbing his knee, watched him come back last year. McD saw it all too. They have a very clear idea of the kind of guys they want, and they wanted Benjamin. He must be a good fit.

Thanks to all of you for the nice comments. I appreciate it.

It wasn't the long drive. It was the 9-play drive in the middle of the 4th quarter, the drive that started with 10 minutes left. If Bills go 3 and out, Raiders have a shot. Instead, the Bills got two first downs and almost the third and ran five minutes off the clock. That drive ended the game. The throw to Matthews was the second third down conversion of the drive. That drive was a professional drive. The offense knew what they had to do and went out and did it. The throw to Matthews was one of the key plays in the drive.

Thanks, Meanie. Other people see things in written words that writers didn't necessarily intend. (One time I saw Bob Dylan quoted saying he wished people would stop asking him what some song meant, because he doesn't know.) I really like and appreciate your comments about the rain. I didn't intend the metaphor, but you're absolutely right about it. And I didn't know exactly why Holmes's toe-tapping impressed me. You nailed it. High-end, detailed professional competence has been missing on this team for a long time. And thinking about it, that's why I was so impressed with Taylor on Sunday. He seemed to be doing all of the little things, without fanfare. Thanks for the comments.

believe it. When your qb's passer rating is in the mid 90s and you're a conservative coach, you aren't desperate to replace him.