berg1029

It definitely is concerning. Everyone and their mother could see that Tolbert was not getting the job done. Thus, you have to believe that the coaches can see that too. Halfway through the season, they did bench the guy for Cadet. Why did it take that long to realize that your player isn't suited for the role you are giving him? I have no issues with Tolbert being on the roster. They needed someone to help everyone buy in to what McD was selling, and Tolbert was that guy. That is fine. My issue with them was their attempt to fit a square peg into a round hole. Tolbert had never showed that he could be a consistent 2nd option even when he was younger. What makes them think that all of a sudden that is going to change? The guy has been a battering ram type player in the past, make use of what he can do well

His mistakes were definitely noticeable! He got beat a few times. But you would think that one bad game vs.the best team in the league wouldn't be enough to get him waived? Elston has definitely made a few plays out there this season. I hate to say it, but it seems like another questionable personnel move by mcbeane. These sorts of moves appear to be adding up in their first year on the job

People really should enjoy this a little bit more than they have been. The Bills are actually playing meaningful games in December. Now, "enjoying it" doesn't mean that you blindly accept everything that is coming out of OBD. As a fan, you have every right to question team decisions (and you should, especially in the case of the Bills!). Just appreciate the games because there is no guarantee that they will be doing this well next year

The thing is that Taylor is so conservative with throwing the ball that even the Bill's "aggressive" offense style is conservative. Their offense, when playing "conservative" is more like ultra conservative.

I don't get why everyone focuses on the "process" as being something mysterious that cannot be explained. Correct me if I'm wrong, he's just labeling what they do on a day to day basis-working out, studying film, practicing technique etc. To call this fool's gold is flat out insane, because every team has some version of this, whether or not they refer to it as the process. Selling the "process" is just McD's way of getting players to put in the work/"get addicted to the grind". Your issue isn't with the process, your issue is with personnel decisions

Why do people think this is so easy to do? As if there is some sort of magic bullet that will just stop Gronkowski in his tracks. Him, Brady, and the hoodie have been doing this for years and no one has "figured it out". Maybe they are just good players and are difficult to stop on a game to game basis

Yes, I approve of McD so far. However, that approval is very tepid. I think there have been enough mistakes regarding personnel evaluation and in game decisions that should make any fan a little bit nervous.

Wish they were cracking down on bad officiating instead

In hindsight, Watson would obviously be the pick. But the trade back with the Chiefs to get White/2018 1st rounder was a pretty good move as well.

If Tyrod is any way hobbled, I really hope they don't start him. Without his ability to escape pressure, Tyrod is just a sitting duck back there and we all know how long he takes to get rid of the ball

I'm not 100% sure the wide receiver talent is something to worry about at this point. Last year (when he had watkins, woods, and goodwin), if someone asked me about the quality of receivers that we have, I would have responded that they were middle of the road. Well, these guys have departed and are all having more success elsewhere than they did here. The QB talent here, imo, prevents being able to tell whether our current set of receivers are up to the task or not (much like assessing the last set of receivers was difficult). With that being said, I agree about Matthews. He is a possession receiver that just doesn't seem to be there/open for those crucial 3rd down catches to advance the chains. The Eagles certainly don't appear to be missing him. The other three are harder to assess because of faulty QBing. Imo, go for a cheaper vet, but someone that can stretch the field. Someone like a Taylor Gabriel from the Falcons. Having too many possession receivers like Benjamin will let the defense play close to the line.

Sadly, this. The part that really struck me was post Chiefs turnover on downs in the fourth quarter-Buffalo receives the ball at midfield. Nursing a 6 point lead, we decide to run the ball 2 straight times with the chiefs having 3 timeouts? I was only listening to the radio broadcast at this point, but it sounded like the third play was a designed run by Tyrod (correct me if I'm wrong). I couldn't believe that the play calling on this series was so unassertive. We only had a 6 point lead! We have the ball at midfield near field goal range. We have one of the least turnover prone QBs in the NFL and one of the best long range kickers. Go for the throat!

Are you implying that they should have made him punt returner when he was here? We already have a pretty good one-Tate (aside from that mistake today!). Or are you saying that they should have used him more as a WR? He seemed like a really lackluster receiver and he hasn't done much in Carolina (receiving wise) since Their mistake, imo, was trading for the guy in the first place (giving up a decent player too in the process). Not in their usage of him

In all likelihood, it was probably not going to be a good fit once they decided to switch defenses. With that being said, I felt like the guy never really got a fair shake in Buffalo. The game before he was traded, he only had 3 snaps. Coming off an ugly injury and not having played for a year, I felt like some more patience may have benefited the Bills in his situation. It would appear he was still in the recovery process when they traded him

Not surprisingly, I don't have a play by play listing of where DJ was vs where RR was. But if I had to take a guess, it is that they occasionally shared the field and weren't strictly rotating in for one another. edit: the article also notes that they are a part of a 3 way rotation also involving Kevin Pierre-Louis

With the Bills playing the Chiefs, it seems like an appropriate time to bring this up. Ragland appears to be getting more and more playing time with the Chiefs. Last week, he was in nearly an even timeshare for snaps with Derrick Johnson (Ragland 47 snaps vs Johnson 51 snaps out of 68 total Giant's offensive snaps) and led the team in tackles (including one TFL). It is also worth noting that the Giants averaged 3.5 yards/carry vs a season long average of 4.0 yards/carry. https://www.arrowheadpride.com/2017/11/20/16680936/chiefs-andy-reid-roundup-whats-missing-at-wr-reggie-ragland-a-rookie-parker-ehinger Only time will tell whether this was a good trade or not, but what do you all think? Was he just a bad fit in the Frazier defense? Will he end up being a solid player? Was the trade for a fourth round draft pick a good decision?

I don't think anyone has an issue with Tyrod as a person

You're missing the point-McD only deserves partial credit for the moves. He isn't the one that is ultimately responsible for the personnel moves. Your argument is that based on a bunch of personnel moves, McD is doing an okay job. What you should be focusing on is his coaching, which he is 100% responsible for. If you're not questioning how decisions are being made at this point, you're being kind of a homer (no offense).

This post seems to be more about personnel moves than actual coaching. While I realize McD had a hand in determining which moves were made, ultimately you should be talking about Beane and not McDermott. After all, if the moves completely doomed us, it would be Beane on the chopping block, not McD. But while we are talking about McDermott, you have to worry about him going forward. Is he able to appropriately assess players? From putting Peterman in to repeatedly using Mike Tolbert in a position he can't play (and cutting J Will in the process). You have to worry about his ability to evaluate talent. If he is making the final decision come draft time, there is a realistic chance that we could screw up this draft.

The fact that we are sitting at 5-5 with a team that is this bad should tell everyone that McDermott is a capable coach. We are 10 games into a year where no one gave us a chance.. and we have an even record with a shot at the playoffs. People are just mad because they gave fans hope that the Bills were something more when they were sitting at 5-2. I'm not upset with McD for starting Peterman this week, because the Bills needed to do something to shake things up on offense. However, a lot of the criticism that will be coming their way this week is well deserved because he was just so far off in his assessment of where Peterman was at. That worries me a lot

I feel like the Bills have missed the boat big time regarding running backs. A lot of questionable decisions have been made. Cutting J Will? Promoting Tolbert to RB2 when in the past he has played fullback? Never trying to utilize the player that they kept instead of J Will (Banyard)? Continuing to use Tolbert despite subpar play? Getting Cadet instead of just bringing back the obvious choice (Banyard)? Citing special teams contributions as being important for Tolbert's spot despite what has appeared to be a lack of special teams contributions?

They've definitely kept my attention with all the changes. Just keep shuffling your cards till you get the perfect draw!

Seems a bit premature for this decision, but the writing was ALMOST on the wall for Taylor. Taylor just hasn't been consistent enough to be considered "the answer" going forward. My biggest issue with him is that his lows are just so low. For instance, the Panthers game (literally didn't move the ball the entire game till the last 2 minutes). The Bengals game where we were gifted 3 turnovers yet only scored 16 points. Almost every game last year where for the first half we would do literally NOTHING and then score a bunch of garbage time points at the end to make the score respectable. His biggest strength was always that he took care of the ball and limited turnovers. To have this sort of overly cautious QB play be effective, everything else needs to be working- the defense, the running game, etc. The last 2 games we have seen what happens when the defense and/or the running game aren't working. It is possible to win with Taylor, but not consistently on a team like this that has so many issues

Honestly, I don't think the defense's issues stem from Dareus leaving. We had these issues before, but the difference is that we were creating turnovers. Without the turnovers, the defense looks pretty awful.

I swear, you're not reading, you're just arguing for the sake of arguing. But nevertheless, I'll clarify again: I said, tell me you wouldn't take Garoppolo over 80% of them. Of course there are individual examples of 1st round QBs that haven't sucked. Obviously, anyone would take a QB like Matt Ryan over him. Duh. But chances are, he will be better than a large majority of the QBs that have been selected in the first round.