Black Monday is coming.....

[Black Monday is coming.....]

1 hour ago, Royale with Cheese said:

 

He looks like a Service Manager at Midas in Sheboygan, WI.

 

 

Maybe... but he kinda looks like the mayor of Bad Axe, Michigan.  Just sayin'

[Lions fire HC Matt Patricia and GM Bob Quinn]

35 minutes ago, Beast said:

This is a long-time organizational problem.

 

The Lions have sucked my whole life and I'm 53 years old.

 

This is a Ford family issue. Not a GM or HC issue. Always has been always will be.

I lived in Michigan for several years and couldn't agree with you more.  They've had a bunch of talented players and have nothing to show for it.  Bad ownership selected a long string of very bad GM's that have kept the team in a constant state of turmoil.  This won't change until the Ford family steps away from the team.  It is a very similar situation to the Bills during Ralph's last few years of owning the team.

[Could Darnold end up backing up Allen in Buffalo?]

On 11/23/2020 at 9:05 AM, dneveu said:

 

I'd think SF would be choice number 1.  New Orleans would be in that 2nd tier with TB and Indy.  He needs to go somewhere a- that he can at least compete to start and b- that isn't terrible so he might be able to re-establish his value.  

You may very well be correct.  Unfortunately for Darnold, the Jests probably won't just release him so that he can pick his team.  A trade scenario will be a bit more complex because of his contract situation.  I don't believe anyone will give the Jests much in a trade which could only amount to a short term rental for the receiving team.  Signing him to an extension and trading him doesn't seem likely either because he really hasn't shown enough to warrant a pay day.  The only real hope for the Jests is that a couple of desperate GM's get into a bidding war and over pays in a trade and recognizes that they may have to over pay to extend his contract down the road.  That would be quite a gamble and the kind of move that will get a GM fired.  I often wonder how the Jests continue to get themselves in these kinds of situations.

[Could Darnold end up backing up Allen in Buffalo?]

In addition to some of the teams already mentioned as potential landing spots for Darnold; Jacksonville, Tampa, or Indianapolis could be desirable for Darnold because of the chance to eventually be a starter again.  I can't picture Brady and Rivers playing effectively beyond the 2021 season.  Jacksonville is such a train wreck that he could start right away.

[Who is your favorite back up Bills player of all time?]

Roland Hooks and Kenny Davis are the two that came to mind before I read all of the other responses.  It's hard not to consider Frank Reich as well.

[Question for those who witnessed the SB years?]

5 hours ago, Chandler#81 said:

The following season was just the Redskins year. Everything went right for them, then our DL coach mocked the Hogs fueling their anger. The following year the young Dallas super team was done with growing pains and shredded the League. If there was any evidence of a ‘Wide Right’ hangover, it was the following year where we came out guns blazing to Right the Wrongs in our swan song appearance. Thurman’s early 3rd Quarter fumble being returned for a TD shouldn’t have had such a deflating effect. From that point on, the Bills no longer felt they could win moreso than Dallas being propelled to come back. 

We were clearly the best the AFC offered during that time but the NFC had multiple powerhouses. So much so, we never played San Francisco in a Super Bowl but they were Perennial Super Bowl contenders, winning the 2 previous ones then returning soon for another title after our run was over.

I think you have assessed this very well.  People forget that the Bills had some deflating moments in the seasons leading up to the SB years as well.  The one that really bothered me was the infamous Ronny Harmon drop in the end zone against the Browns.  Another one was the game in Cincinnati when Charlie Romes dropped a late 4th quarter interception that hit him in the numbers.  The interception would have sealed the game.  If those two plays had been made, who knows how far they could have gone in the playoffs.  In retrospect, the team responded well in each of those next seasons and went on to the four SB appearances.  

[Is Tua hype the new Darnold hype?]

2 hours ago, whatdrought said:

Also, don’t get me wrong- I’m not saying Tua played poorly. He could be a hall of famer for all I know- too early to say. 

 

i guess my overall point is this:

 

The media has QB’s they love, regardless of how they play, and QB’s they are apathetic about, regardless of how they play. 
 

They loved Rosen pre-draft. They loved Darnold and still refuse to take the L on that. 

I agree with you.  I believe it is too early to tell on Tua.  When I compare the first two games of Justin Herbert to Tua's, there's no contest.  Herbert has displayed a stronger arm, better command of his offence, and a much better ability to run with the ball.  I do think that Tua benefited from playing with superior talent at Alabama and may be over rated as a result.  Time will tell if he ultimately develops into a QB worthy of a top 10 pick (provided he can stay healthy).

[Milano to IR]

5 hours ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

As I understand it, the IR rule is 3 games, not 3 weeks.  So the bye week doesn't count, and he can't come back until after the following game

 

Del'Shawn Phillips and Jake Kumarow activated.  The former makes sense but I did NOT see the latter coming.

Sounds like another team may have been attempting to claim Kumarow off the practice squad.  If not, the move doesn't make much sense to me.

[The much maligned deterioration of the passing game...]

We should not under estimate the impact of an injured John Brown.  Every good passing offense has at least one speed receiver that forces the pass defense to guard against the deep ball.  It was obvious that when Brown was missing or playing when unhealthy, pass defenses could sit on the short routes, put a safety in the box, and attack the line of scrimmage.  It is normal for people to jump to the conclusion that everything falls on the QB and much of it does.  In the four games in question, the receivers were not winning and were not making plays in key situations.  The drops and tipped balls were drive killers.  IMHO the absence of the long ball threat is a major contributing factor to the offensive struggles.

[Russell Wilson Once Viewed as Bills Potential Savior]

9 hours ago, MJS said:

I just don't think we had the talent, coaches, or divisional position to have done much with Wilson. We still would have had NE to deal with in the division. We still had subpar coaches, a subpar GM, etc. Still had Russ Brandon...

I agree.  Most importantly, we had subpar ownership that wasn't about to solve any of the organizational problems.  Bills were a real dumpster fire back then.

[Vic Beasley will be cut...]

18 hours ago, Hebert19 said:

Klein hasn't hit anything other than air all year. 

I seem to remember him hitting the ground a few times.  He looked poor out there.

[Trade AJ Klein for for a bag of donuts, a hot pretzel and a hot dog]

The defense performance against the run was generally horrible.  With that being said, why the heck were they in nickel coverage for almost the entire game?  The answer: no actual linebacker depth.  It's great to have some guys that excel in special teams but when you populate that group to such an extent that you don't have enough capable position players, you have gone too far.  Much of special teams is based on effort, ability to run, and desire.  Teams need to have at least four LB's that can actually play LB.  Buffalo has two and one of them probably shouldn't be playing until he is healthy.  If Beane is looking to make a trade, he should be looking to get a LB because that lack of depth is killing the defense.

[Can this team please start throwing more screens?]

4 hours ago, Steptide said:

Something that drives me nuts. We always here Allen/daboll/McDermott talk about how each week is different, and I get that. However, they rarely run screens which can destroy a defense. I believe this would open up both the pass and run game if they did this more. Singletery and moss, even beasley would be perfect to run screens. Just don't understand why they don't do it more 

I understand exactly how you feel.  They have faced a lot of zone pass coverage and that makes screen passes harder to pull off.  They did have a nice wide receiver screen to John Brown that went for 21 yards but they never tried another one after that.  I guess since NE played seven DB's for most of the game, Dabol wanted to push the running game.

[How you felt about the win]

2 hours ago, Brennan Huff said:

Tom Brady would have 100% beaten us yesterday

Maybe, but the Cheatriots would have had to rely on a poor group of receivers.  When they ran the ball on third and long on multiple occasions, that said a lot about what their coaching staff thought about the passing game,  In addition, their RPO plays made their run game effective.  With Brady in the game, RPO's are nonexistent.  Newton was under a fair amount of pressure and had to escape the pocket several times.  Brady would have been taking hits or be throwing the ball away.  I doubt that the Bills would have run such a conservative offense knowing that they had to compete with Brady.  It would have been a different game.  Frankly, it would have been a much better game to watch.

[Missed Tackles Issue Against Pats = Scheme Improvement?]

Bad tackling has been a problem in most games this year.  There are several reasons like slow reaction to the play, failure to breakdown into a good tackling position, trying to tackle with their head behind the runner, arm tackling, trying to strip the ball instead of bringing the runner down, failure to wrap up, taking a bad angle to the runner, and tackling too high.  The best defenses limit the number of missed tackles.  This week, the Bills missed tackles on various runners that would have resulted in tackles for a loss.  The one that was the worst was Burkhead on third down that resulted in a first down (Klein missed him).   They really need to clean this up.

[Bills have 3 of top 15 highest rated pass rushers]

1 minute ago, matter2003 said:

But...but...but....Hughes is old and sucks I thought??

You raise an excellent point and I like your humor.  I don't believe everything I read.  Most fans only look at sacks.  Hits, hurries, tipped passes, runs from the pocket, throw aways, some other incomplete passes, and o-line penalties are all part of it.  Even with this recognition, I would like to see more from the DE position on running plays.  As fans, we're just greedy...lol.

[Blaming the Refs]

39 minutes ago, H2o said:

Like the ghost Illegal Formation that called back the Davis TD, or where Beasley gets shoved out of bounds by the DB then they drop a flag for Illegal Touching (which was later picked up), or the awful DPI call that set them up for their TD. 

Exactly, these bad calls had a significant impact on the game.  It isn't unusual for a team to have one a game but three is really poor.  Teams don't generally go public with their officiating complaints but they do direct complaints internally to the league offices. Even so, I doubt the Bills complained due to the outcome of the game.  It just doesn't seem like McD's style.

[Is this season an answer - Who is greater Bellichick or Brady?]

4 hours ago, Putin said:

If Brady was still in New England do you think they would have the same record of 2-5 ? 
 

I don't think so but he could be on IR because the o-line has been bad.  Newton has been taking a lot of big hits.

[Good things about the 18-10 victory over the Jets]

I thought Roberts was excellent again this week.  He flipped field position a couple of times.  Sometimes his contributions are easy to overlook.

[Week 8: Patriots at Bills]

On 10/26/2020 at 9:39 AM, PaattMaann said:

 

So why is that on Daboll?

It isn't.  I was just pointing out two separate things that may impact the game this coming week.

[Gilmore on the block?]

Breer is pretty legit.  Some good teams like Seattle, Indy and 49ers could use the secondary help.  NE may even be willing to eat some of the cap hit this year, if the draft pick trade package is good enough.  I believe Gillmore will be traded to a team trying to make a SB run.

[Week 8: Patriots at Bills]

Newton's throwing motion looks like it did last season when he was playing with a right shoulder injury.  Maybe all the running in the first few weeks has him injured again.  He was routinely bouncing passes in front of open receivers.  Nothing about his performance yesterday has me worried about the upcoming game.  The only thing that bothers me right now is Dabol's play selection in the red zone. Beasley was open at the goal line repeatedly with no targets. Running Singletary into the weak side of the formation with no lead block failed repeatedly also. It was one of his worse games as a play caller.  Hopefully, he sees the need to change things up to play Bellicheat.

[Slot CB - Immediate Upgrade Required?]

As much as we spend time focused on CB, I'm more concerned about the play of Micah Hyde.  He seems to be slow to react to passes over the middle in front of him.  He's missing tackles and appears to be out of position.  Maybe he has to play deeper because of concern about the play of the corners but whatever it is, it isn't delivering good results.

[Gameday Thread PreGame Bills @ Titans]

I don't care how much rest the Titans have had.  They have had little actual practice time. Their secondary is slow and has been vulnerable.  Diggs and Brown should have big days.

[Don't look now but the Bills defense is 20th in the NFL in yards!]

I'm not as concerned as many people are.  When you look at the game flow, playing with a lead causes teams to change their strategy.  The secondary backs off, fewer d-line stunts, less blitzing, and more deep zone coverage.  It's about trading yards for time.  I do think Frazier and McD have gone to it too early in some games.  The Bills also seem to come out flat after halftime.  This falls directly on the players.  In addition, the injuries to Milano and Edmunds have had a huge impact both in run defense and pass coverage.  I also think that Oliver is playing hurt (more hurt than many believe) and it has slowed him and the pass rush down.