twoandfourteen

For months, we've heard... "You can win with Tyrod!" "Scheme an offense around Tyrod!" "Tyrod is better than like, 20 other QBs!" After watching frequent punchline Blake Bortles today duel it out with all-time great Ben Roethlisberger, I really honestly want to see that stuff end. It's not really a local thing anymore, but the national media narrative -- especially the criticism and insinuations, if not outright accusations, of racism regarding the Bills and Western New York concerning Tyrod Taylor's time here have no basis in fact or reality. Even Blake Bortles is capable of playing at an entirely different level than Taylor is.

No. Next topic.

Yep. I would have been ok with that result, too. Your second point is why I am all-in on trading whatever it takes to swing for a guy like that.

No argument here.

Interesting take. With even below-average QB play this season, the Bills probably win 2 more games and would still be playing this weekend.

These two things are not mutually exclusive. Both can be true -- and it pretty much sums up the Bills approach to offense over the past two decades. And we all know how that turned out.

Whatever it takes. It's not like the Bills have been killing it on draft picks over the years anyway. That's a function of the pieces around him. But you can have all the other pieces -- For example: McCoy, Watkins, Woods, Clay, Dareus... and without the QB, you're not going to win. It's a lot easier to get the other pieces than it is to get the QB. Plus, if you get lucky and land a truly transcendent talent at QB, you can turn guys like Julian Edelman and Chris Hogan into stars.

Sign me up for that, 10 times out of 10. There are no guarantees in sports. But at the very least with a QB like Rivers, I know I have a shot going into every game.

Nope, it's not. But I'd trade the whole draft if it gets the Bills the next Phil Rivers or Drew Brees. Think Philly or LA regrets making big moves for Wentz or Goff?

No agenda -- in fact, I was big on Tyrod in the beginning. I was at the Colts game when he hit Harvin and I remember saying "We got ourselves a QB, boys"... The guy looked the part, had the presence and charisma to be the face of the franchise, and was a great story too -- being a 6th round pick and all of that. But over time, it unfortunately just didn't work out. He never really progressed and then this season, things went south. Which is why I started to wonder why -- he's a really smart guy, I can't imagine he would put himself in a position to fail. I may seem to be very anti-Taylor, but it's more of a problem with the narratives going around about him from people who don't watch Bills games like we do. I have all the respect in the world for the guy as a person and a professional. You really can't do much better than TT in that regard. Most of all though, I've had enough of watching nearly two decades of football that looks nothing like the fun, exciting games we see from other teams -- like the Saints, Patriots, Steelers, etc. I mean, those teams have QBs that have all thrown for 500 yards in a game.... could you imagine what a 47-45 Bills game would be like where we see our QB go for 502 yards and 5 TDs? That's what I want to see. This is what we've had though: 2015-2017 NFL Passing Games over 300 yards passing - 301 - 161-138-2 (.538) Bills - 2 (0-2-0) 32nd in NFL http://pfref.com/tiny/a9ysV Games with less than 280 yards passing - 1106 - 533-571-2 (.483) Bills - 45 (24-21-0, .533) - 1st in NFL http://pfref.com/tiny/3tBoH Games with less than 230 yards passing - 732 - 328-403-1 (.449) Bills - 35 (21-14-0, .600) - 1st in NFL http://pfref.com/tiny/MJ346 Games with less than 200 yards passing - 500 - 216-284-0 (.432) Bills - 27 (18-9-0, .667) - 1st in NFL http://pfref.com/tiny/WdGiP Games with less than 180 yards passing - 352 - 150-202-0 (.426) Bills - 21 (14-7-0, .667) - 1st in NFL (31 teams) http://pfref.com/tiny/Nkp1X Games with less than 130 yards passing - 111 - 46-65-0 (.414) Bills - 8 (4-4-0, .500) - 2nd in NFL (28 teams) http://pfref.com/tiny/w9aOz Games with less than 100 yards passing - 47 - 17-30-0 (.362) Bills - 5 (3-2-0, .600) - 1st in NFL (20 teams) http://pfref.com/tiny/TUChT The Bills have led the league in most games with the least amount of passing offense. It's like they aren't even playing the same sport as the really good teams. Now, I already know what's coming. "But they have a winning record in those games!" True, but those are all crappy, boring wins against mostly garbage teams. Against big-time teams like New England or New Orleans, we get blown out of the stadium. I'd like to see the Bills be an entertaining, marquee matchup for a change. Instead, we get 3 points on the big stage against the Jaguars with everyone watching.

"Laying the groundwork" means moving on from the JV playbook for Tyrod and moving the team in a more pass-oriented, professional offense. Like the big boys do. Got any more Mariota insight? I believe Romo called that TD pass a "dime". I've already counted at least 4 or 5 throws that Tyrod would never even attempt.

There are always exceptions and outliers. I'll stick to building around a QB and passing game, thanks.

In 1985.

I can still hear his voice calling the game. Takes me right back to being a kid watching Michigan on the floor in my parent's living room.

It occurred to me earlier today... maybe it wasn't a case of McD and RD refusing to fit a traditional offense to Tyrod, but of all three agreeing to try and expand Tyrod's skills as a QB. The Bills get to install their desired offense and Tyrod gets a shot at "on the job" training. Look at it this way, running a very specific "read option" offense limits Taylor's options. So if this worked even a little bit, it would have made Tyrod a more accomplished player and more attractive FA. Or even a permanent answer here in Buffalo. At least now, he has exposure to a different system and can continue to work on it. Somewhere else.

Here you go -- 2015-2017, tied or losing after 3 quarters: http://pfref.com/tiny/fW7Y2 I won't ruin it for you.

You originally said "scheming to your strengths". According to wikipedia: The Oklahoma playbook describes the quarterback, the architect behind the Wishbone, as, "a running back who can throw." McD & Beaner were laying the groundwork for the future this year and they weren't going to waste another season because the JV QB can't run a modern NFL offense.

You are essentially asking for the Bills to run the Wishbone.

Found it: JAX-10 BUF-3 FINAL Luck Bradford Bridgewater Palmer (retired, but still played in 2017) Tannehill

Interesting. Here's a head-to-head based on total offense produced between 2015-2017: Dalton - 45 games 11201 total yds (10776 pass/435 rush) 75 TDs (68 pass/7 rush) 27 INT (1.9%) 18 Fumbles 248.9 yds/gm 1.6 TDs/gm .6 INT/gm .4 FMB/gm 100 sacks, -637 yards Net yards/pass att - 6.56 Taylor - 44 games 10432 total yds (8857 pass/1575 rush) 65 TDs (51 pass/14 rush) 16 INT (1.3%) 17 Fumbles 237.0 yds/gm 1.4 TDs/gm .3 INT/gm .3 FM/gm 124 sacks, -660 yards Net yards/pass att - 6.03 Dalton throws a TD on 4.7% of his pass attempts and Taylor is 4.1% Dalton throws an INT on 1.9% of pass attempts and Taylor is 1.3% No real purpose for this, just a look at the numbers.

Yep. Totally unacceptable.

1. Ok, show me the clutch throws that Taylor has made in any situation like that. The point is that Dalton CAN do it. Our current QB either can't or won't. 2. Thompson was as wide open as any WR could possibly be on that 44 yard toss. Great play, absolutely. But let's not pretend it was the "Immaculate Reception" or anything. 3. Absolutely correct. Despite not having a legitimate starting QB on the roster, the Bills were able to keep themselves in a position where a great throw on 4th down from an actual starting QB in a an entirely different game punched their ticket to Wild Card Weekend. The Bills and Tyrod did the work to benefit from some help, and deserve all of the recognition that comes with it. 4. You know, watching that last throw in the Panthers game again -- maybe it was just poor execution from both QB & WR. See, the problem is that Taylor doesn't exactly have a reputation for making accurate throws, so I tend more towards him misfiring and that forced Jones to adjust awkwardly. But it's possible that Jones ran his route to the wrong place, but still, Tyrod has to be able to put that ball right on his wide-open receiver. 5. This is a factual and correct statement, yes.

You know he put "Hotrod" into the playoffs with a throw that Taylor could only dream about. I'd also take 2 more playoff years in a row while our rookie learns on the bench.

Sure, why not? Only thing I would want is a QB in the draft, too. I can't imagine CIN would trade their QB for an OL, though.