WideNine

There seems to be a lot of "when Morse gets back all will be well" comments Gunner. I am usually more the rose-colored-glasses guy, but I have my doubts Morse will be able to stay healthy for the full season once he does get back. I know he is going to give it another go, and I really, really want him to be able to play and avoid another concussion because I think he loves the game and is a very tough competitor, but playing on the line is like being in a car crash over and over. Talk about your helmet to helmet hits, they happen on every play if you play in the trenches. I just don't see a long term situation where Morse does not have a recurrence of another concussion this season. Feliciano may end up being our starter for most of the season - just setting expectations. No one wants to see a player damaged for life.

I think Brown and Beasley are pretty sure bets so I guess you could use the word "lock", after that I think coaches balance what they have seen in camp and scrimmages with an eye to role depth. Brown - speed to stretch the defense you have Foster or Roberts who could fill in a pinch. Beasley - quick slot receiver and for that role you have Mckenzie or Ray Ray In scenarios above you have the real possibility of losing Foster over Roberts with his dual-role - Foster seems to find himself in the dog house often as well last year and this year and I am not sure what that is about, and we may never know but it is a factor. Ray Ray made a push in camp, but I think McKenzie has shown more in real game scenarios. It is that last role: The taller receiver with some strength who can beat the jam, catch and protect contested passes, and high-point the ball that is the area where it gets interesting with Zay, and Duke primarily having the right build. Out of the two I would not say that Zay has it locked down as Williams has shown plenty of compete and he has played in a league (albeit not the NFL), so it is safe to say he is not some wide-eyed rookie with just a bit a good camp film. They could keep both and Zay has some trade value if the inconsistencies keep cropping up. I also like what I have seen from Nick Easley and Cam has flashed some in camp. Some hard decisions coming up around this crop of WRs and it is a good problem for the Bills to have. As to the TE's I think Sweeney and Knox are locks, and probably Croom sticks as he is familiar with the offense then I am not sure. They still could put Kroft on the reserve PUP list as some insurance down the road and give that gimpy foot more time to heal correctly and he wont count against the roster. Then one more for the active roster. Anyone else would have to clear waivers if they want to stash him on the PS if eligible or they would have to cut him if he is an NFL vet.

Found more details. Looks like a young lady with him died too. Police think he was going too fast and could not stop in time when a mini van pulled out in front of him - sad as they probably just did not see him coming. No hit and run scenario, they stuck around and waited for police and such. Sad.

It is preseason and we have not seen barely any blitz/zone blitz. Greggo and other D-coordinators are going to definitely test Allen, his protections, and hot read tendencies. IMO there are a couple of things Daboll should do based on what we have seen through practices and scrimmage games to date. Allen's early "jitters" - I have seen this term used and I believe it is entirely misplaced. Those rushed throws and early timing issues are not jitters. Jitters happen to guys that are scared. Allen is a competitor through and through so what you are seeing is the pent up adrenaline of a competitor. Design some early roll outs perhaps with Beasley on a z-drag/dig route. It wont net much, but getting Allen's feet moving right out of the gate should level out his early performance and throws as well as remind defenses that he has wheels. At the same time it moves the pocket where d-coordinators will be focusing the rush early to set the tone as an unsafe place to be. Cadence - change it up more: Have Josh use all the clock sometimes with some hard counts to help diagnose protections and coverage, go quick count a few times or direct snap to McCoy, whatever it takes to mix it up. Not sure why, but last year the cadence they had Allen use did not vary much so d-linemen were jumping the count and creating havoc. Was this because our o-line had so many false starts they were trying to simplify the count? ... if so, if would be a sad testament to how bush league that o-line performance really was. Similar to cadence, but maybe use the 2 minute drill early to keep substitutions and elaborate blitz packages to a minimum and do not be afraid to run the ball to slow that pass rush down. Speaking of adrenaline, man I cannot wait for this season to begin.

I have never felt that officiating was very objective when it came to certain teams and I have my theories in regards to that - after all the NFL is first and foremost an entertainment business. That being said, there is some truth to the fact that teams with poor personnel commit more noticeable penalties. Last year our offensive line was atrocious. You had Dawkins with his every-game brain-fart false starts, you had other linemen clearly over-matched and out of position holding defenders. It was quite often a train wreck on that side of the ball. The influx of veteran talent on the o-line will go a long way to negating a bulk of our penalties. Savvy vets know how to play the game in a way that minimizes those noticeable penalties. Also, I think the coaching of the o-line has improved and Josh's command of the huddle - we should see this pay off this year.

Years of conditioning and the "how will this team ***** defeat from the jaws of victory" have been pretty much ingrained. Too many Billsy moments to count...I will never forget friggin Lonnie running free at Green Bay and failing to account for the 11th man on the GB squad - a safety. Pointing at himself on the jumbo tron and jogging to what he thought was a sure score only to see a blur of green and yellow on the jumbo tron he was staring at and getting destroyed and fumbling the ball. Moments like those over and over again and the constant churn of coaches and staff made the Bills less of a contender and more of a joke in the league. Even fans of other teams and TV personalities would openly assume this organization would find a way to lose. Steady ownership, team leadership, and strategic personnel moves and I believe that the culture and tone out of OBD has changed. Gradually, those outside the organization are starting to take note of the change and are not sure what to make of it. We have talking heads on sports programs saying things like, " I will go out on a limb" and saying positive things about this team - it is different. If the glass-half-full crowd are honest they all want to hope, but cannot bear having that hope crushed - they are probably the hardest core fans of all of us. But this squad looks really good with the pieces that McBeane has assembled. Objectively, Allen is growing in this 2nd year in this offense and does not look as lost as to where the ball should go, and is getting it there more often than not. The offensive line is holding up better and will be even better still if Morse can come back healthy. And our defense (which was already good) may even be better this year. Baby steps - nothing wrong with saying this team has to earn back some of that hope and trust to ease some of the most die-hard fans back from the edge.

OK the linky did the trick - don't like the waiver gamble. Seems the grey areas is what happens if they promote him to active squad then later demote him to PS.

OK - not being a legal expert, it sounds like Wade could be retained if on the active roster. Or he can be retained on the PS, but in a way that prevents him from being activated during this season. What about next season? Also, I would assume he would be protected while on the PS from being acquired by another team (one would think that kind of move would be blocked or it would turn into a meaningless paper shuffle as teams could not promote him to active roster).

Some would be surprised at how meaningful the little things are when someone in a leadership role does not have to but tries to make work more "fun", even when guys are pulling down NFL salaries. Can make the slight difference between a place where a player just puts in their time, to a place a player enjoys putting in their time. For a team it is meaningful, and it is not going to be easy for this staff to cut down this roster. They intentionally brought in guys who they felt would create competition and many of the players on the bubble have worked their tails off to do just that. On a more positive side, most who have shown enough will be PS bound, some will be nabbed by other teams thin at the position, and for the others that have shown some juice during camps and preseason, Beane has demonstrated that he keeps those guys on some kind of speed dial if a position opens up and they are free.

I hope I raised him better than that.

Sorry. Could not help myself

Parcells back in his day was very superstitious and a firm believer in the tempo and how a game flowed or felt. I definitely am a believer that there are times that teams should switch to their 2-minute drill to shake themselves out of a funk and try to get your offense into some kind of rhythm. That, and defenses have less time to consider substitutions and often are forced to burn a timeout.

Never forget Fitz totally rocking the bearded 70's retro look. Hilarious, and my son in college has it as an avatar and uses words like "glorious" to describe the beard.

When he does they will get to Allen a few times, but he is going to hit some home runs deep over the top on them if they go man on the outside. Dabes will roll the tape on past Greggo defenses and Allen will be as ready as can be expected. I get a bit nervous for the kid, but have to remember he is a big boy and that last year it was a jail break for over half the snaps he took. I don't see Allen "pooping the bed" because Greggo schemes some guys free to try to take a shot at him. That and the fact that Allen really could take off on them if they go man and he gets past that initial wave of blitzers (and the guy Greggo thinks can spy Allen and bring him down) - we are talking a good 30-40 yard chunk for Allen if he sees daylight.

Like a lot of things in life you have to practice something to get better at it. Pretty much has been bombs-away up to this point for Allen and now in his second year with Daboll he is taking the right steps. I get the sense that Allen has taken the short-yardage move the sticks challenge seriously and is working on things like his drop, foot placement and how he opens his hips, and the throwing motion that works best for him to more consistently take the heat off of certain shorter throws and improve the timing and accuracy. Not that Allen has been terrible on all throws beneath the sticks. I think his timing on short option routes that need to get to a certain spot in a hurry were not that shabby and are improving as he and Beasley are developing the right rapport. He certainly has had a few passes get away from him on screens, wheel routes, and such. Those routes work best if you lead the receiver so they do not have to adjust on the run - Allen is the competitive type and by all accounts "coachable". Coaches enjoy working with players that are driven to improve on weak areas of their game.

Probably thinking of Allen shanking golf balls at charity events and talking children out of their Dolphin jerseys. Allen has a refreshing wide-eyed youthful and genuine approach to engagement with fans off the field. It will not last forever, professional sports is a business and like any other it can become a bit of a grind on players, but there is no reason not to enjoy it and share in his enthusiasm while it lasts.

Not to get political, but I think that whole kneeling thing probably started out as a contained gesture in Kaepernick's mind to show some solidarity to a cause he believed in and grew hair and teeth via news and social media. It became a symbol and a contest of wills between the NFL as a business and an individual player (employee). It is unfortunate, but the NFL is a business and as a business controversy invites scrutiny, scrutiny means oversight and agencies looking into your operations. Right or wrong, most companies will opt to remove employees who are controversial and taking that contained fallout over keeping them around and inviting the head ache and potential financial consequences of unplanned operational scrutiny. Purely on football skills alone, I think Kaepernick can still play - certainly at the level of a capable NFL backup and on skills alone it is a no-brainer, you take the guy who has the experience, the one who can take the wheel for a while till your starter can go again. But it isn't going to happen if the owners have locked arms in solidarity around not letting it happen - they would cut a deal through arbitration first to keep a player out of the league. I also doubt NFL owners and their legal teams would ever agree to any deal with the NFLPA that would paint them into a corner where they had no discretionary means of removing a player.

For some reason tonight's preseason lineup reminded me of those pain scales at the doctor's office.

I honestly was trying to understand what made the Panthers so relevant, and being a fan of said team? It would help my argument if I did not feel like McBeane pays homage to that org. That being said, they have had some success against NE where others have not so perhaps there is a blue print that McDermott and Beane feel they can follow that will finally give us the edge we need to get over those AFC East #### blockers. It was petty commentary, and probably just butt sore that more Bills fans turned out than wanna-be Panther fans.

I am tired of listening to this clown, please let me crush this guy.

This guy is a hoot - I wonder if he gets discounts as a social media "influencer".... Nathan Peterman was among the best men I've ever covered. (nice guy by most accounts)I think he'll land on his feet. (it is his arm that teams are concerned with) I hope he does because Bills' fans have endured more turnovers than any fans should have to. (fixed - Bills fans are all about sharing their Peterman experience with fans from other teams) Even if his play many times warranted the heaviest of criticism. (Thad channeling Dickens? "It was the best of times; It was the worst of times")

Truth. Hated those unis - looked like something that would be spawned if a Titan player knocked up our flag.

More geared to those who were saying it was definitely a late pass - it could have just been a poorly designed play, poorly executed play by the receivers, or a good read by the safety. Folks see what they want to see, but I do agree with you that I do not think that Allen had a lot of time to change that play or throw it anywhere else. Also, if thrown a quasi-second earlier perhaps it would of doinked off the back of Zay's helmet and imagine how folks would howl about Allen's timing if that happened

Only a guess and certainly could be wrong, but the play action was likely in place to freeze a linebacker in coverage. As to the safety deep, usually in those red zone situations you have a receiver coming across that can rub him or draw him away. For us arm-chair QBs there is a lot that could have gone wrong with that play's execution that has nothing to do with Allen; Perhaps Zay was supposed to hesitate somewhere along his route to give time for someone else to clear the safety, perhaps the safety just did a great job reading Allen's eyes, or perhaps it was just a poorly designed play that left Zay out to dry. Coming to any conclusion without really knowing how the play was designed and intended to be executed is just poor conjecture.

Seemed to me to be a seam pass that could only be placed where it was. Zay was going to take a hit and alligator-armed it. IMO, I don't really blame a receiver for taking the safer route during preseason and prepping for a hit vs laying out for a pass so the affair was a bit of a noth'n burger. Now if he does not have the stones during an actual game and drops a sure TD because he does not want to pay a price for the score, or just shows the drive-killing inconsistencies and fighting the ball that have plagued his game to date, that is another story we will all gleefully beat to death.