BigDingus

You may not have noticed, but Tyrod stopped looking down field & the line stopped blocking for McCoy. In fact, I'm pretty sure the line decided they hated McCoy and wanted him to die considering how they let half the defense into the backfield the second the ball was snapped. Oh, and then there were the stupid penalties. Those affect things too ya know. Tyrod has never been good at 3rd & long.

I believed you until you said "Might lose, might win." HA! Caught you! LIAR! We're playing the Patriots! You fool, I can see through your lies like spam in a zip-locked bag! (Kudos if you know where that quote is from) The Bills don't "win" against the Patriots, did you think we were just going to overlook such a massive slip-up? No no no...too smart for you sir.

That's doable! Ravens losing to Colts will be a hard sell, but I can see it. Chargers losing to the Jets I can definitely see. The Jets play harder than their record shows. They nearly beat the Saints today but had some bad luck down the stretch. Either way they'll play hard. I believe!

Bingo. We've had their WR's. It's the #1 overall pick QB that makes the difference. And for the record: 1. COOPER KUPP (WHO?!) - 58 receptions for 804 yards & 4 TDs 2. Woods - 53 receptions for 748 yards & 5 TDs 3. Gurley - 54 receptions for 602 yards & 4 TDs 4. Watkins - 36 receptions for 563 yards & 7 TDs Yeah, the 3rd round rookie is leading the team in receptions & yards. Watkins has 7 TDs, so that's nice and all. But considering he cost two 1st round picks, had only a year left, and about to demand a lot of money, not worth that production (and that's with a great passing QB). Even their RB has more yards & receptions than Watkins. Here's a look at his stats today in a 42-7 win over Seattle: 2 receptions on 5 targets for 14 yards and 0 TDs. WOW! Woods is having his best year, but was a free agent. And even though this is his best year ever, it's still worse than all of Jordan Matthew's seasons before he came to Buffalo. And regarding that QB they have? Thrown for 3953 yards (282 per game), 24 TDs & 7 Ints along with only 24 sacks. Compare that to Tyrod - thrown for 2,314 (178 per game) yards, 13 TDs & 4 Ints along with 36 sacks. Yeah...I'm gonna go out on a limb & say a QB made the biggest difference.

I just want us to skip to the last week of the season. I have 0 confidence in beating NE, and I'm an optimist when it comes to most things. I hope it comes down to whether we beat the Dolphins or not & that's it. If it depends on the NE game, I'm going to be very sad.

The way our guys tackle they'll all just throw an arm at his shoulder or try to go for the ball. He'll get at least 60 yards after the catch by the end of the game simply because of broken tackles. Oh, I forgot. The "tackle" where a tiny DB launches themselves at him and ricochet off him into the dirt. We've seen that dozens of times lol

They developed in a completely different manner. They developed by starting on the bench, then getting more reps, then getting more targets (or in Hogan's case a better QB), or were just better in the first place, etc. Tate was 21 of 38 (55%) for 227 yards in 11 games his rookie season. Comparatively, Jones is 25 of 68 (36%) for 291 yards in 12 games... So Jones has 30 more targets and only 4 more catches than Tate had. Tate also had smaller numbers because he wasn't the #2 starting WR. Again, big difference. Doug Baldwin was 51 of 86 (59%) for 788 yards in his rookie season. That's good for 3.2 receptions on 5.3 targets for 49 yards per game...Compare that to Jones who averages 1.5 receptions on 5.6 targets for 24 yards per game. That's MORE receptions on LESS targets for DOUBLE the yardage...both as rookies, only Baldwin was signed as an UNDRAFTED Free Agent compared to a high 2nd round pick! Speaking of Undrafted Free Agents, Chris Hogan was also an UDFA...compared to a 2nd round pick who was made an instant starter....Want to know his rookie year stats while we're at it? 10 receptions on 17 targets (58%)... The dude didn't play! He was backup to the backups and a bench warmer, yet still caught almost 60% of the passes thrown his way because again, you don't forget how to catch just because you're a rookie. Want to see his follow up year where he actually got SOME time on the field? 41 of 61 (67%). He still caught the ball at a high rate. The funny thing is it's still not like Chris Hogan developed into some super star or anything...His best season was with Tom Brady throwing to him, and he totaled 680 yards on 38 of 57 (66%) receptions. Besides that, all his seasons are 400-something total yards. Is that what we're looking for with Zay Jones? Maybe he'll blossom into a 400 yards-a-year receiving "threat" like Hogan? Everyone you mentioned had superior rookie years to Jones with less opportunities and more in their way holding them back statistically. No, you don't need 3 years. Those guys didn't.

Speaking of attendance, what the heck was going on today? The stadium looked pathetic on TV, and actually pretty sad. We were playing the Dolphins, a divisional rival, at home for the first time and with a playoff spot on the line. They just beat the Patriots, and were also fighting for contention. We haven't made the post-season in 18 years, and this was the LAST home game of the season! Why did so few people care? We're still 8 days away from Christmas, it wasn't snowing, and tickets were dirt cheap. I really don't understand it.

Yep. People act like rookie WR's don't come in and consistently contribute all the time. They do. And even if their overall numbers aren't lights out, they also are a byproduct of how many attempts they get, how much play time they get, how big of a focal point of the offensive gameplan they are, etc. If they have 280 yards and 30 receptions, it's usually because they're 3rd or 4th string who only play limited snaps and don't get a lot of targets. Not instant day-1 starters who get 60-70 targets and only come away with 1/3 of them. Big difference.

Absolutely agree that it's mainly on him. Tyrod has not been a good passer this year, nor has he shown an ability to "throw receivers open" or hit timing routes. He also plays it safe and won't throw to guys who aren't wide open most of the time. However, he's given Jones numerous chances and hit him in stride, in the hands, or at least in very close vicinity where most NFL receivers would catch the ball, but nope. Zay simply doesn't come down with the catch.

They don't need 3... Not in today's NFL where the game & rules are setup around making the passing game easier and more dominant. DBs don't have half the tools available to them they did in the past, as now they'd get flagged constantly. QB's are protected more than ever before. Schemes and formations have changed more towards a pro-spread system. QB's take most of their snaps out of shotgun now. Seriously, WR's have it far easier now than even 10-15 years ago. They can come out & make an impact right away. And you may have to learn to deal with the speed of the NFL, the timing, the routes, etc. but the one thing you don't have to relearn is how to catch a ball. And Zay Jones has been awful at that. And yes, the announcers said he had one of the worst reception rates in the league along with highest drop rate. That's not ok for even a rookie, and especially not a highly touted 2nd round pick. He should get 1 more year, but 3 is too much. If you can't figure out how to catch a ball in 32 games, you're not going to. Moulds wasn't dropping balls. Moulds wasn't targeted as many times a Zay. Moulds wasn't an instant starter. Moulds didn't play in an era where the passing game thrives like it does today.

http://www.espn.com/video/clip?id=21798997 I just find this line funny (and definitely not true) - "There's times when I kinda forget about it, and they reminded me." Riiiiiiggghhht lol. I love Shady as much as anyone else, but having listened to him talk the past few seasons, if there's one thing he pays attention to it's his stats! Hell, he even pays attention to every other RB's individual stats day-to-day. He's even thrown out other RB's numbers in post game press conferences when those same RB's were playing at the same time as he was! I get it, he was trying to be a little humble, but still it's amusing to think he ever wasn't paying attention to the exact amount of yards needed to get there. Anyway, very happy for him and glad he's part of the Bills. Been the best thing about this team since he's been here. When he went down today I don't think I took a single breath until he moved. Even though his YPC has gone down, it's easy to see that's more a product of a regression in O-line play than his own abilities. He's just a quick and agile as he's ever been when he finds a hole. Congrats Shady, thanks for all your hard work!

Is it ever?

Not being able to stop a nosebleed almost cost us the game. If not for Cutler gifting us some turnovers, the defense was giving up plays all 2nd half. If it was 3rd & 20, you just knew they'd make it. 4th & 14? Easy stop for anyone but the Bills. It was maddening out there.

I can see why that was called. It looks worse in hindsight, but when your team execution is horrendous, it's hard to blame the coach. The second they snapped the ball, 2 men were 3 yards into the backfield right in front of McCoy...our O-line was trash in the run game all day, so McDermott probably wanted to call a designed play & give them time to talk it over to ensure there weren't any stupid mistakes. But nope, still were stupid mistakes. I mean 4th & goal at the 1 yard line, and Groy gets added as a 6th linemen only to get a false start? Then Mills gets a personal foul called on him on top of it? Seriously, the discipline of this line is atrocious. You have yard to go to get a TD and put away the game, instead you get 2 offensive penalties that stack & get the kicking team sent out on the field And that doesn't even include the blown up run plays that got us to 4th down in the first place. Looking back earlier, we had Ducasse get beat by a freaking corner leading to a sack! He just tapped the guy, then got burnt, getting Tyrod blown up... Thankfully they were MOSTLY good on pass protection other than a few stupid sacks like that. Tyrod usually had a lot of time to throw, he just started playing it safe again once the 2nd half came around. 100% right. Don't see anything wrong with the call.

Definitely good to see a win, and yes, it wouldn't have been simple. But Cutler has done it plenty of times before, and our defense wasn't stopping anything all 2nd half unless we got a turnover. 3rd and 20? No problem. 4th and 14? Easy. And considering the Bills have an impressive history of losing in dramatic fashion (Cowboys game on MNF anyone?), I wouldn't have been surprised. The second half our team went to sleep, so I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried after the Dolphins recovered the onside kick.

I'm going to give the Dolphins credit though. At least they made it a game, and had a chance to tie it up at the end. Cutler has 23 4th quarter comebacks compared to Tyrod's 3, so at least there was a serious chance of them getting the W at the end. Thankfully, we have some new blood on this team that hasn't been drowned in loser mentality yet. New Blood like Tre' White who decided he's going to nip it in the bud and not let the Dolphins add another ridiculous choke display to our team's extensive resume.

And although the Bills tried as hard as they could to choke the game away, Tre' White says "No! Stop that ****!" At least some new blood on this team who isn't used to losing in dramatic fashion came through.

Our run blocking is horrific. Get a new O-line coach, rehire Kromer if you have to, and draft/trade for all new linemen but Incognito & Wood...maybe leave Mills for depth.

One more thing I think should be a new team rule: TATE, STOP TRYING TO RUN OUT KICK RETURNS! Yes, he got lucky with a late hit on him this time, but 99.999999% of the time he fails to get even close to the 25 yard line. STOP.

And I don't care if I get backlash, I'm going to be that guy, but Tyrod still isn't impressive today. His numbers are good (for him), and decent overall, but besides a couple mid-range passes to Clay & McCoy for TD, all his yardage has been from guys making plays after a short pass. He's still not throwing the ball well deep, as his few attempts have been way off the mark. He has definitely made some good plays with his feet, which I give all the credit in the world to him for. However, he's had good pass protection through most of the game and at times hangs on way too long to the ball. Really wish he'd target Benjamin more. This second half he looks like he's reverting back to his more recent weak performances, and his completion percentage is steadily dropping... 59% completion percentage, averaging 7.7 yards per completion. I mean it's "ok" but still not great by any means.

I really don't get why Tyrod throws those soft, slow floater passes on short routes to the outside like that... I mean besides it not getting there fast enough, allowing the defenders to close in on the receiver (in this case Clay), they're low and behind not even allowing for the CHANGE of Clay getting YAC. It's really frustrating, especially when our O-line can't run block for **** right now. Groy & Ducasse are having atrocious games as usual and just look pathetic.

They do not run the same schemes at all. OSU runs a spread like Texas Tech or Arizona State where not much is required of the QB to make reads. If you want to look at QB's that came from schools running those offenses, check out Kliff Kingsbury, Graham Harrell, Bryce Petty, Johnny Manziel, Geno Smith, Blaine Gabbert, or Weeden. But unlike those guys, Mayfield has far more talent, ability and "intangible" skills that lead to success in the NFL. He has the ability, talent, intelligence & athleticism of someone like Pat Mahomes except with the benefit of starting for 4 years & playing in a better offense. If you want to compare the system, compare it to the one ran by Sam Bradford or Colt McCoy, who actually line up under center on occasion, have to make reads, call audibles, and run a more pro-style offense. Bradford was a great talent, taken number 1 overall for a reason. He just couldn't stay healthy. McCoy was never a huge talent, and didn't have the arm or play-making ability needed to be a good NFL starter. The NFL has incorporated a ton of spread schemes, but developed with NFL defenses in mind, as you now see QB take the large majority of their snaps from shotgun. That doesn't mean it's an OSU, Texas Tech, Mizzou, Arizona State, Hawaii, Washington State, etc. type spread where the QB inserted doesn't even matter & will throw for 4000+ yards easy every season.

Why are there so few fans? The stadium looks so sad today, and really seems weird when we're playing 1) the last home game of the year, 2) in control of a wildcard spot & on the verge of making the playoffs for the first time in 18 years, and 3) playing a divisional rival.

My problem is he plays at Oklahoma State. We've seen tons of QB's that played in that exact same system and put up the exact same numbers be complete failures in the NFL. He'll probably turn out to be the next Brandon Weeden rather than the next Jared Goff.