WideNine

Some of that is based on a long history of NE getting odd or favorable calls. Younger guys may not remember "just give it to them", or the PI on a Patriot Hail Mary, Wade walking the Bills team off the field before the game was over, or Oakland forcing a Brady fumble to seal a playoff win only to have it turn into an incomplete forward pass which turned into a bizarre tuck-rule as the NFL tried to manage the fallout. There is plenty of history of rules being bent or broken in favor of NE. Regardless of opponent, the Bills for years had a particularly bad relationship with the NFL's officiating org...particularly after Ralph lead the key votes to implementing instant replay which the NFL Officiating body was opposed to. I think it has been less so over the past few years, although we still have plenty of head-scratchers where they just need to let the teams play. If anything, I would think the NFL would want to generate some buzz and excitement for the Rams in LA, so I don't think they would be on board for any kind of conspiracy although there were a few calls they did not get right.

Gotta love this TE class. I wish Nauta was a bit taller to better high point the ball, but he catches with his hands and is a competitive gamer that steps up in big games. Decent blocker too.

Throw in concentration lapses and dropped balls and the profile is pretty complete. Is a couple buckets of Popeye chicken from his listed 170, was listed at 158 a year ago I think. Is fast, but goes down if someone sneezes on him. Disappeared in bowl games and the Sooner QB's leaned more on Lamb as their go-to guy. Not sold on his speed to separate or break away, but N'Keal Harry seems to catch contested passes...reminds me of Boldin when he first came into the league. Metcalf would be next...unless red flagged for the neck injury. Tough sell this year as I don't see any WRs that really separate themselves from the pack. Could also be a product of poor schemes and weak QB class. A team could just as easily spend their early draft coin on the better TE's in this draft, value-wise. That is why I see the Bills going defense, unless they trade down to the lower picks in the 1st...then it is anyone's guess.

To be fair to the old and bitter folks...more than a few posters here sound like they live in mom's basement playing Minecraft, do you see me complaining? It's the off-season, may as well talk about how officiating in the NFL blows.

Belichick also has a pretty good record against QB's that don't see his team often or are rookies. The other day I saw some article going on an on about the genius of Belichick playing man against KC with Hill in the slot when everyone in the AFC East knows he always prefers man to zone coverage. It has always been a Belichick philosophy that you create smaller windows and more pressure for opposing QB's using man coverage and it allows him more flexibility dialing up blitzes. Teams have to do a bit more to fix what isn't working during games with NE. Wade did a nice job of bottling up their "O", but did not get a whole lot of help.

Surgeries on both hips one offseason...did not miss any snaps. Broken fibula when his own QB rolled up on it. So there is some damaged goods element. There are a few serviceable FA's where I don't think they break the bank, and then grab a prospect like Biadasz next year to coach up for the long haul. I think the Jags Shatley would be a decent upgrade....that team is a mess and that line dominated our D-Line. The guy is just coming into his own I think, they led the league in rushing and gave up a franchise low 24 sacks with Bortles at the helm. The Jags have had a lot of screw-ups on their team, but this guy seems to be just doing his job.

I was wrong on the decade long disparity on penalties assessed. Looked it up and although the Bills often are near the top in penalties assessed NE is usually around the middle. There are a few years where we had less, did not translate into a winning seasons for us. We did not get assessed a lot of penalties in 2017 and I think that was a factor in our first sniff of the post season in a while. Last year was pretty horrible, probably more to do with all the rookies that were forced into the line-up. They need to get better, and I would like to see just less penalties called during NFL games period. Apparently good teams overcome this, bad or struggling teams don't. For the record one of the worst penalty differentials i saw was NE sitting at -328 yards in 2014. The only team with more was Seattle with -396. They both went on to the SB that year with the Patriots winning so go figure.

Hardly, I hate NE but pretty much expect the Bills to get the majority of the flags at any given game regardless of opponent. Patriot players simply do not hold, they don't interfere with receivers, or use pick plays to free Edelman, they don't throw late hits, or lead with their helmets. The point is that they do all of these things, but with the exception of one year they have led the league in fewest penalties assessed. I think they could use some more officiating "love". When NE was actually assessed a pick during their game with KC, I almost choked on my drink...it is that rare. The thing that annoys me most, is that you are partially right...most years they would easily beat the Bills without the help of phantom calls or blatant non-calls. It is an extra kick to the sprinkler my Bills do not need. My favorite games to watch are those where I did not notice the refs, with minimal calls either way. Swallow the whistles and let them play. Regarding my Sabres - they need a freaking kick in the pants. Out there skating figure 8's in the neutral zone, waiting for that breakout play vs backchecking and forechecking. Wondering if Housley is just too nice.

The question should be "why call that penalty, at that time of the game on an interior lineman"? Why do nfl officials inject themselves into the game that way on what will almost always be a marginal call unless a QB is running around or a team is setting up a screen? I guess it is easier to just continue to ball-wash NE and their o-line that never holds. I certainly don't want to start not following my team, but the over-officiating is making the game harder to watch, and I am on the fence in regards to making holds reviewable... the game would move at a glacial pace. There is some holding on every play, it is the selective application of penalizing it that irritates me (see Jerry Hughes), and officials could just choose to flag the individuals or teams they want to call out. Reviews would take time and make those selective calls stand. I am thinking less is more. Perhaps if the NFL created a hard cap to reduce the number of non-reviewable flags (sans dangerous or unsportsmanlike plays) that can be thrown per game they would make the game more enjoyable for all by having less overall officiating. Similar concept to limiting challenge calls by coaches.

"Hall of Shame" maybe... he's a dirty player and I don't care if someone de-cleats him at the knees next season.

Not sure who Belicheck is, but Belichick is certainly a really good coach. These similar threads that have cropped up crack me up because they assume success can only stem from one individual. So it was always person A or person B not a combined effort. That, and people change over time. The book on Belichick from every coach that ever coached with him in his early years was that he was a sponge, so you have to ask yourself what did he take away from his time with Parcells too that has helped him be the successful coach he is today. I don't think it was spying on other team play calls, and deflating footballs, or paying off refs, but I am sure he took some legit skills away from those relationships. The propensity to twist the rules was always there for ol' Bill as I believe he was the first coach to have his players fall to the ground and feign injury to make substitutions during our Superbowl with the Giants. I have determined there is not too much he wont do to win, and that is on top of the fact that he is not too shabby at coming up with a good game plan regardless.

You never know, but they have been spanking the rest of the league pretty well too. If it comes up for a vote, the NFL has my vote to move them to the NFC West, we will take Arizona straight up.

So folks tuned out because there was not enough scoring? And here I thought it was because most everyone outside of Boston is sick of seeing NE in the post season and the Rams shafted what fan base they had by moving to LA? Go figure.

Dunno - I did not think it was going to be an offensive show down. Brady with his noodle arm, and how heavily Belichick had been running the ball towards the season's end. That, and the respect I have for Wade's defensive planning, had me thinking this was going to be a low-scoring defensive game - enough so, that I convinced myself not to watch it. I can get into a good defensive game, but not one where there is a 50% chance (or better) that NE hoists the Lombardi trophy at the end. I honestly did not think the Rams would only put 3 on the board, but I did think that Belichick would find a way to slow the game down a lot and make life miserable for Goff. I said it after the Chief's game and I will say it again to all those NFL fans that roast the Bills and Buffalo, "welcome to our world" noobs. And we get to go up against that coach twice a year.

I was making this argument a while back in regards to our post season drought...a good part of the organizational churn that has plagued AFC East teams has been the somewhat desperate and futile efforts to knock off NE. Owners are desperate and so are fans. It is what gets me so ticked off when NE does get the beneficial calls - they don't need the help as you have to play a solid game down to the wire to beat them. Mission #1 for the Bills is to beat NE... it is really that simple. Just having great players is not going to get it done either...McDermott and Daboll are going to have to step it up in the coaching and game planning dept.

Over the years I have come to the conclusion that it helps to have 2 game plans that you practice and keep on the back-burner for playing Belichick. If you go with the things that your team has used in the past he will have schemed a way to stop it. The 2nd game plan is the one you use after the half when he has figured out how to stop the first one. I did not watch this SB, but it sounds like Wade's D held the line pretty well till that one scoring drive and that the Rams threw a pick from the NE 4. Why is a team with Gurley on the roster having a shakey QB throwing the ball on the opponents 4 yard line...maybe i read the report wrong. There are times a team just has to line up and win the 1 on 1 matches.

I want the Bills to beat NE so badly that I can taste it, but I think success for us will come with balance across the board with our offensive weapons. Last year I did not feel that our RBs or TE's really contributed enough to this concept - some of that was the skill, some of that was the o-line. I think if we fix the o-line, and fix the TE position our offense will have more balance. I would like to see a nice outside receiving threat as well to compliment Foster, but I do not see any that I am sold on as day one guys. Funny clip from a great coach that always has that hung over look (I love his delusional line) :

I know that hindsight is 20/20, but in 2010 we picked C J Spiller in the 1st and Torrel Troup in the 2nd. NE picked Gronkowski in the 2nd. Would Gronk had made a better value in the 1st for the Bills? I am with you on the RB ranking, because I think good o-lines make average RB's look great. I am also against taking any of this year's WRs or TEs at the 9th pick, but if the Bills trade down I am fine with a lower 1st or early 2nd if the TE they target is the BPA. People seem ok with drafting from an average crop of WR's in the 1st yet struggle with the idea of grabbing from an above average crop of TE's. Probably has more to do with the fact that we have pressing o-line needs too that are weighing on draft value. I think there are plenty of solid RT's and a few Guards that will be available from the later 2nd through the 5th. Center I would like to see them fill with a vet if they do not break the bank on one - would have been sold on taking Biadasz early if he declared - he didn't, so have set my hopes on FA.

I began to think more about TE's in this draft when struggling to rank the WR's that were available. I don't think I am that alone this year - Bleacher Report which usually has some strong draft opinions only has N'Keal Harry going before TE's in the 1st... so we are not alone. They have Buffalo taking Bama's Jonah Williams which OBD may talk themselves into - not sure if he is a #9 talent, but could be splitting hairs as most reviews that do not focus on his height (a mere 6' 5") and arm length, cannot deny he has been productive. Not that every TE is going to be San Fran's Kittle, but at 1377 yards, he was just shy of Tyreek Hill's league leading yards. He also came out of that same Iowa program as Fant and Hockenson and is only in his 2nd year. If we could get close to that level of production out of a TE with some blocking too, that would be a pick well spent. Kittle went in the 5th round. He was ranked the fifth best tight end prospect in the draft by NFL analyst Mike Mayock, sixth best by NFL analyst Gil Brandt, and was ranked the eighth best tight end by NFLDraftScout.com. Last year he set NFL records so, that tells you a bit about how expert the experts are. Honestly, it is pretty tough this year to gauge 1st round talent. There are a few really outstanding players, they show up in big games and against good competition. Then you hit a log jam of prospects that all have potential upside. If the Bills stay at their 9th pick I see them taking one of the top defensive talents. If they trade down and pick up an extra 2nd, they could go in any direction with a later 1st round selection: great defensive prospect that fell, offensive lineman, WR, or standout TE (but as others have noted, TE's usually are not taken in the 1st). I pulled the 1st round TE notable list looks like it was since 2002 from NFL.com (below). I would add Ebron (2014) to the list because apparently Detroit does not know how to use a TE and Indy does as he had a pro-bowl year in his new system and O. J. Howard has been productive for Tampa. Gronk was a second rounder with 1st round value... if Hock gets through the first, he would be worth the second round look. Kittle's success has teams looking more closely at TE's coming out of that Iowa program so Fant and Hock will both go this year - just a matter of where. The Patriots dipped into the 1st twice and the 2nd round once for TE's this past decade, Iowa's program is run by a former Patriot's TE coach, so it is not inconceivable that they will do so again with their 1st or 2nd pick. One way to extend the noodle arm of Brady is to have someone like Hockenson as an outlet receiver. That being said, it has been a while since a notable TE has been taken in the 1st. As you look through draft sites now as opposed to a month ago most have a 1-2 round grade on Hockenson. If we miss on him I also like the kid from San Diego too Josh Oliver. He is a very fluid runner and has great balance, the book on him is that he has great hands and is a former basketball standout. Came from Allen's neck of the woods in California so perhaps they would get along on and off the field. Would have to work on his blocking, but I like his upside as a later round option. * O. J. Howard, Tampa Bay 1. Vernon Davis, 49ers (No. 6, 2006)2. Dallas Clark, Colts (No. 24, 2003)3. Heath Miller, Steelers (No. 30, 2005)4. Kellen Winslow, Browns (No. 6. 2004)5. Brandon Pettigrew, Lions (No. 20, 2009)6. Jeremy Shockey, Giants (No. 14, 2002)7. Dustin Keller, Jets (No. 30, 2008)8. Marcedes Lewis, Jaguars (No. 28, 2006)9. Jermaine Gresham, Bengals (No. 21, 2010)10. Daniel Graham, Patriots (No. 21, 2002)11. Greg Olsen, Bears (No. 31, 2007)12. Ben Watson, Patriots (No. 32, 2004)13. Jerramy Stevens, (No. 28, 2002)

I agree they need an upgrade at TE and Croom is not that guy, but I do think he can be coached up to fill that larger WR option they wanted from KB. If his combine numbers are accurate he has really good size and speed, comparable to KB's except faster. I thought he was making progress last year getting open and catching passes, he needs to get more polished with his route running, but there is no reason not to give it time if he is showing progress. If the Bills dig into this deep draft and pick up a bona fide TE, I am sure Croom will see less reps so it will sort itself out in regards to how much he can contribute.

Fair enough assessment, but as others noted they did get to a Superbowl, and were in the post season hunt in 2017 too. Others have noted too, that it is a bit of a small sample size. Just as much as I do not trust coaches that try to stand in the sun of phenomenal athletes and take most of the credit for their development, I also am skeptical of a coach being measured by the lack of progress of a single player. Players have physical ceilings, they also have processes they are capable of picking up and things they are not. I still like the hire and hope the he and Josh develop a great synergy. It is way to early to walk out on the ledge on any of these position coaching moves.

...and then you went there Weo. Croom does not fit our true TE needs, but could still be a useful part of the Bills offense, and I don't think his personal life, although awkward, is weighing on coaching decisions to play him or not. His measurables are almost identical to KB's, but he is faster and has better hands. He was the goat last year for trying to do too much on a play, but his heart was in the right place. His blocking is anywhere from horrifying to work-in-progress, but he can certainly line up as that big TE-sized WR hybrid that KB was supposed to be for the Bills. I felt like he was coming on as more of a receiving option for Allen towards the end of the year.

This is true for most businesses, and folks in hiring positions. Truth. I was simply saying it is an evident trend that the McBeane leans towards those they had worked with in Carolina, not passing judgment. Not a huge problem unless they are dismissing candidates with superior talent for others they simply know better. I don't think we have seen that yet. I honestly feel they are trying to build a good staff, rather than the Niagra Chapter of Club Carolina. As I mentioned before McDermott has not exactly been shy about flushing former colleagues when he feels they are not getting it done and looking elsewhere I like this hire.

Probably more to do with how well they are used in those offenses, but a good one can be something an offense can build around. Granted the 49ers have a lot of holes...man did that defense take a dive over the past few years, but you can bet that defenses will have to game plan around Kittle (if he stays healthy) for years to come.

Why yes it does. They have fired some of their Carolina connection hires too, so I don't think they get a pass in their new roles with the Bills.