Shaw66

I think you underestimate arm strength as part of what makes QBs effective, but I generally agree with your conclusion. I left the game after Pererman's first possession, so I didn't see his touchdown drive. I've watched the video, and that's what makes me agree with you. His pocket presence, his scanning of the field and his decisiveness all LOOKED like an NFL QB. Taylor never looked like that.

It's very simple. 60 miles per hour is 88 feet per second. 50 miles per hour is about 73 feet per second. So think about what that means. It means that for a guy who can throw 60 mph, when' he's throwing the ball 30 yards, the ball takes one second from his hand to the receiver's hands. For a guy who throws the ball 50 miles per hour, it takes the ball 1.2 seconds to get there. That means that the guy who's throwing 50 has to release the ball two tenths of a second earlier than the the guy with the better arm. That means the guy with the weaker arm has to DECIDE TO THROW two tenths of second earlier. That means the guy with the weaker arm has two tenths of second less to see whether a linebacker is dropping into coverage, a safety is closing, whatever. That's a huge difference. Well that remains to be seem. There's no question in my mind that we're going to see some rookie mistakes. But you see those from any QB. There's simply no way to know today whether Peterman will panic or be calm under pressure when he has 25 NFL games under his belt. Exactly. And some throws over the middle with quick closing windows.

Good point about what they tested at the combine. You may be right. It depends how they tested it. But to suggest it isn't important just isn't true. You know who has good awareness and throw anticipation? Ryan Fitzpatrick. His problem - he couldn't deliver the ball fast enough. He had to wind up to throw it on a line, and the NFL doesn't give you time to wind up. You're right, he does throw a nice ball. And that may be enough in the short term, especially because none of his primary receivers are deep threats. We'll see.

Interesting comments. Thanks. Particularly interesting that Peterman's number was corrected to 53. No one gave a link, but I'll take it. To say arm strength doesn't matter is just nonsense. It absolutely matters. It matters on deep balls, because the guys with weaker arms have to use their bodies more to get the ball there on time, and more body motion generally affects accuracy negatively. It also matters on the shorter line drive throws for the same reason. Pennington would have been an NFL star if he had arm strength. He was dealy accurate, and he was smart, but defenses knew he wasn't going to hurt them deep, and limited his effectiveness. Interesting comments from several of you about guys improving their arm strengthj with, I suppose, coaching, training and practice. Finally, ball velocity IS what it's all about. The higher the initial velocity, the faster the ball gets there and the longer it will go. It's basic physics. If I throw it 10% faster than you, the ball is going to go 10% farther; if we're throwing the same distance, mine will get there 10% faster.

Peterman has a lot going for him. I think his number 1 attribute may be his intelligence and decision making. The Wonderlic test presumably measures quick and accurate thinking. Peterman had a 32 on the Wonderlic, not lights out, but among the best of the QBs coming out of the last draft, and pretty good overall. Taylor had an apparently had a 15, and the biggest complaint about Taylor is decision making and a slow trigger. We'll see about that. The biggest complaint about Peterman, and something certainly worth worrying about, is arm strength. I didn't know it, but at the combine they use a radar gun to determine the release velocity of thrown footballs. Peterman was 49 mph, among the worst at the combine. The best is in the high 50s, and just about all the name guys coming out of the draft are at or above 55. So Peterman is 10-15% below where the best prospects are. Over the years, very few guys are clocked below 50. In fact, the only familiar name at the bottom of the velocity test is - Tyrod Taylor, clocked at 50. Now, Taylor's interesting to me, because arm strength has not been a problem since he came to the Bills. Did he improve his delivery and increase his delivery velocity in his four seasons at Baltimore? I don't know, but if he did, that means that Peterman's major weakness could be addressed. Brady also had a pretty poor deep ball early in his career, and he's improved that a lot. Maybe there's hope. You can see all the numbers here.

I spotted Peterman in his junior year in high school.

The stuff that Cover1 does is consistently good. Take the time to go this article. FIrst, note that it was done BEFORE Peterman was named the starter and it says that Peterman is closer to starting than you might think. Great call. Look at his discussion of the plays. It's excellent. It shows Peterman's decision making and quick trigger. It also discusses what may be Peterman's biggest problem - lack of arm strength. We'll have to live with that, but the Bills's receiving strength is short and middle, not deep, so Peterman may be a match for those receivers. Nicely done.

Not that it matters, but wouldn't they have saved the $5 million in 2018 cap if they'd traded him after the end of the season? I didn't know that you can roll cap savings forward into a future season. Anyway, we agree that the difference in cap money isn't significant - he was moved when he was moved for reasons other than the cap.

I'm sure someone else must have said this, but here goes: The players are the same as last season. The offense was good last season. The only thing that changed was coaches and the system. Explain again why the problem is the players not the coaches and the system. When the system changes the players need to change and that may be what's good about the Peterman move. But the system didn't have to change.

They game plan for guys. That's why you hear players and coaches talk about opponents by number. When a play is called in the huddle, blockers still don't know their assignments, because they don't what defensive alignment they're going to face. So they come to the line, the center calls out the blocking assignments based on the defensive alignment. Each of the blockers knows that his assignment is one thing if 99 is in front of him and it's something else if 99 isn't. There was a good SI article a couple years ago with some star left tackle who described his assignment on a particular play. His assignment depended on the alignment AND on the personnel.

In other words, on 30% of the defensive snaps, Dareus would have attracted an extra blocker. Do you think that wouldn't have made a difference? I agree, and I said that. Bills wouldn't have won with Dareus. I really don't have a problem with the trade. I'm not arguing it shouldn't have happened. All I said in the OP was that he would have attracted double teams which would have helped in the running game, because the blocker not needed on Dareus was usually all over Preston Brown, leaving no one to fill the inside running gaps.

I'm not a cap guru, but I think the cap hit the Bills are taking in 2018 would be exactly the same if they'd kept him through the end of this season. That's why I think he was a daily headache. For example, I don't know but I'd guess that McD doesn't want anyone who doesn't practice hard every day. I don't know but I'd guess that Dareus is not a great practice player.

That doesn't mean Dareus didn't make a difference. Maybe without Dareus Ajayi would have had 300. Bills wouldn't have won Sunday with Dareus in the lineup, but I'm sure he would have made a difference.

Well, I think Scott has a point. The salary dump was more important than the sixth round pick, so why not take advantage of his services for the season. You can always cut him to dump salary in 2018, and the cap hit would be there regardless of when they got rid of him. And it's hard to argue that they miss him in the middle. NO ONE ran like that against the Bills when Dareus was in the lineup. I'm guessing they traded him because McDermott didn't want to have to deal with him any more.

I agree. And further to Taylor running, last night the announcers said Cam Newton went to the coaches during the off-season and told them they have let him be the player he is. They were trying to protect him by not calling running plays. He's running again this season, and the results are obvious. His rushing yards are back up where they used to be, and his passer rating has gone up, too.

Happy - I won't quote your long post, but I want to respond, mostly to say I agree. You see this all the time - coach comes in and replaces a system that's working because he likes his system better. One problem with your review of the offense is that Dennison's offense has had several excellent games this season. Now, it may be that the Jets and the Saints have developed the blue print for stopping that offense. Denver Atlanta Denver Oakland were among the best games in Taylor's career. We'll see in the next few weeks. Where I really agree is on how they're using Taylor. Anthony Lynn DID get Tyrod going by putting him on the move. And it drives me nuts to watch Brees particularly, but Wilson and Smith, too, throwing from BEHIND the line, not INSIDE the pocket. Those guys get to throw with the line in front of them, which gives them a good view of escape routes AND assures them that they always can retreat, because they don't have to worry about the DEs coming around the backside. That's critically important, because unlike most QBs, you don't worry so much about those guys getting 15 yards behind the line of scrimmage. Why? Because if they're back that far, they're in open field, which allows them to use their speed and elusiveness to escape, return to the line of scrimmage and find a receiver. Sticking Taylor INSIDE the pocket takes away his ability to avoid tacklers.

This says what I couldn't find words for. It was bewildering to see a team that had been so sound in all aspects of the game become completely clueless. And, no, I have no explanation.

I seriously considered doing exactly that. I really meant it when I said there's nothing to say that's why I wrote some of the stupid stuff I wrote.

I left early and didn't see his TD drive. I agree about this. He looked good. In charge, good decisions. Good throws.

Of course, we don't know what Dennison is thinking or trying to do, but I agree with your point of view. I've often thought that Brees is a good model for Taylor. Yesterday was a good example. The Saints don't form a pocket for Brees, so that he is free to move around back there. I think Taylor needs deeper drops, so the DEs can't loop around him and contain him.

The Rockpile Review – by Shaw66 Horrible No words adequately describe the Bills’ loss to the Saints. Embarrassing. Ugly. Amateurish. Outclassed isn’t nearly strong enough. The Saints aren’t in a different class; they are in a different galaxy from where the Bills have been loitering lately. I’d like to write a column about what the Bills did well on Sunday, but there isn’t a column’s worth of material. I mean, besides having the correct number of players on the field for most plays, what did the Bills do out there for three hours?. Breaking news: Our sources tell us Kelvin Benjamin filed an emergency appeal with the NFL office on Sunday night, asking to have his trade to the Bills rescinded. Benjamin explained that the trade must be voided because he lied to the Bills’ doctors during his physical. He claims he failed to disclose that he has a rare genetic disorder that will cause him to be unable to run or jump after his 27th birthday in February. The response was brief: “Dear Benjie – Your nose is growing. Sorry, you’ve gotta stay in Buffalo. Yours, Roger” Careful observers understood that the game was over after the Saints first play in the first quarter. Brees noticed the Bills’ defense had not yet taken the field, demanded the ball and threw a slant pass to a WIDE OPEN Michael Thomas for 13 yards. Okay, the Bills were actually on the field, but it didn’t look that way to Brees. And so it went, all afternoon. The Bills gave the Saints openings, big openings, really big openings, and Brees took them. First downs were the candy, and the Bills were the baby. I suppose some assistant assistant coach, some little lizard stayed up late Sunday night, studying the film and cataloging every way the Saints took apart the Bills, play by play, position by position, but to what end? GEICO totals your car when the cost of repairing all of the damage exceeds the value of the car before the accident. All the Bills’ gecko could do Sunday night was examine the heap and shake his head. I mean, really, what is there to say when you’re looking at a total wreck? Fun Fact: Nick O’Leary is Tom Watson’s brother. I look back at the game, and all I can think is no one did anything. They sprang Shady on one long run. Yay. Taylor did nothing. I can’t complain about Taylor much. Fans near me said he had Benjamin open deep up the left sideline in the second quarter and dumped the ball off short. I didn’t see it. But when I was watching receivers, no one was open. The Bills take what the defense gives them, and all they were given all day was the 6-yard dump off over the middle once in a while. He could have thrown better to Clay, but it was good enough that the interception wasn’t on him. The Saints say they kept Taylor in the pocket all game. They can take credit if they want, but so far as I could tell, the Bills didn’t try to get Taylor outside the pocket. Some passes, like slants, don’t require much timing or familiarity between passer and receiver. Some, like fades, back shoulder throws and out patterns, do. Taylor targeted his brand new receiver, the guy Taylor has had the least amount of time to work with, three times. One slant for a completion. One out and one deep fade. Result: one completion and two incompletions where the timing was clearly off. Whose idea was that? It was remarkably stupid play selection. It wasn’t so much that Taylor was bad; it was that nothing he did was good. Let’s see now. The Bills had no business being on the same field with the Saints. The Bills beat Denver and Atlanta soundly, and Denver and Atlanta beat Dallas. So does that mean the Browns can beat the Cowboys? I’m dead serious: does anyone think the Bills would have beaten the Browns on Sunday? “PLAYOFFS!!!??!!! PLAYOFFS!!!!??!??” Then, of course, there was the defense. I was really glad to be at New Era on Sunday, because I got to see NFL history. The ten-play 94-yard drive was one of the most amazing things I’ve seen on a football field. Do the math – that’s 9.4 yards per carry in a sustained drive. That’s incredible. How did it happen? The cliché is a warm knife through butter. That’s as good an explanation as any. I was SO glad that Brees didn’t throw it on that last play. It was special when he ran for the TD. Of course, from the Bills point of view, it wasn’t special. It was total humiliation. Maybe it was the right long-term move, but unloading Dareus left the Bills powerless to stop runs up the middle. Preston Brown was useless against the run on Sunday, solidly blocked time and again by linemen who weren’t needed to double-team anyone on the Bills’ defensive line. The pass defense wasn’t much better, but it didn’t need to be. Brees took enough of what he wanted, and he let his running backs do the best. I rarely leave games early. I did on Sunday. I stayed to watch Peterman’s debut. After his five and out, I’d seen enough and headed for home. After all, what could be left to see? Six or seven New Orleans runs as the clock ran out, right? (Plus, in the car I could listen to Robert Woods, Sammy Watkins and Nickell Robey Coleman beat the Texans.) So I missed the Peterman fireworks. How was I to know that the Saints would score on two plays? (Oh, I guess I should have known. Or did the Bills let them score to give Peterman another chance?) So did Peterman actually look good, or was he just taking what the Saints were giving him? I have to believe that he was throwing against a soft defense, but whatever it was, he got the touchdown. Peterman would have done nothing to change the beat down in the first 58 minutes. It was inevitable that the Peterman drumbeat would begin seconds after the final whistle. And it was inevitable that McDermott would say on Monday that Taylor is his starter. The NFL is said to be considering a long-overdue realignment of divisions to take advantage of natural rivalries. Although the plan isn’t complete, sources say one of the divisions will include the Browns, 49ers, Giants and Bills. Two weeks ago, Sean McDermott was a front runner for NFL coach of the year. If he can turn this around, he’s the coach of the century. 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 day’s hard work and simple pleasures into love for a pro football team.

Umm, do Atlanta, Denver and Oakland not count as big gsmes?

So the decision the Court cites says that in order to get an order lifting the suspension pending his court case he has to show (1) whether the movant will suffer irreparable injury absent a stay, (2) whether a party will suffer substantial injury if a stay is issued, (3) whether the movant has demonstrated a substantial possibility, although less than a likelihood, of success on appeal, and (4) the public interests that may be affected. Here's what it means: (1) Zeke does suffer irreparable injury, because if he misses games he'll never get them back if he wins. (2) The NFL probably argued that they suffer substantial injury if the stay is issued, because stays like that undercut their authority to enforce their player contracts. (3) This decision may mean that the Court already has decided that there isn't a substantial possibility that Zeke will win. After all, Brady already lost his appeal, and he had better facts. (4) There's no public interest in letting Zeke play. In legal terms, that doesn't mean if the public is interested - it means are your rights and mine affected negatively if he doesn't play. The answer to that is no. So this decision probably means Zeke loses his appeal, but that won't be decided until an expedited hearing and decision. As someone said, Zeke has to be careful - if the Second Circuit takes four or five weeks, Zeke could miss playoff games.

I would LOVE to know what is going on here, because Kroy never seems to be a problem when he fills in. What underlies what I'm saying is that what goes into these decisions is so far beyond what we actually know that it's hard to question the decision. For example: Some coaches have a philosophy that says you have to practice well before you play. Maybe that's it. Maybe Kroy doesn't have the footspeed to play the position consistently. Maybe when the coaches grade his performance in games he doesn't grade out as well as the guys who play ahead of him. Maybe he's in the doghouse for some reason. Maybe it's one of ten other things I can't think of. I'm sure there's a reason he isn't a starter. I have enough confidence in the coaches to trust their reasoning. Yes, I'd love to know the reason, just like I'd like to know their reasons for their decisions at the back-up running back spot. But no, that isn't the kind of information coaches divulge, because they don't want to give opponents a competitive advantage and because it violates personnel policies.

Thanks for the informative post. What was not 100% accurate? I said there's a reason he doesn't start. That's 100% accurate. There IS a reason. I don't know and you don't know what it is, but there IS a reason. You actually think there's NO reason he doesn't start. You think that for the past 20 weeks the coaches NEVER discussed who should start at right guard? NEVER talked about it? I think you need to explain yourself.