Florida Bills Fanatic

If you had washed it down with a shake from Anderson's, you'd be my new hero!

I thought that they got away from the running game too much. They had pretty good success with Gore off right tackle and then stopped going there. Allen also had a couple of nice gains on the right side as well. Miami brought a lot of blitzes up the middle which left the center of the field open. You'd expect the slot receiver or a tight end to make the correct read and run the hot pattern in behind the blitzing linebacker. I only saw that happen once during the game. It also appeared that Allen had a lot of time on several plays and didn't have an open receiver. Other than Brown, the receivers played poorly today. As others have already pointed out, Daboll had a really bad first half. It almost seemed that the Bills were expecting that Miami would just mail in the game. With all of that said, it's still pretty cool to be 5 and 1.

I suggest you go back and watch again, particularly the New England game. Please pay close attention to the plays when Brady was chased from the pocket and had to run out to his right and throw the ball away. There were several of these in the game. You'll notice that he was unable to step up into the pocket as he normally does because Oliver had quick penetration. I understand that fans want to see sacks and quarterbacks knocked on their backsides but forcing a throw away on third down to get the defense off the field is also a great outcome. It's also interesting to notice the lack of double teams on Hughes this year. Teams recognize that they can't slide the guard out to help on Hughes and reach block Oliver with the center. Oliver's quickness prevents this. IMHO Oliver is doing exactly what the Bills drafted him to do and I bet that they are very pleased with him.

You are exactly correct. In addition, he's an UFA next year. Why trade any assets for a guy who isn't getting the job done and will be able to walk next year ( unless franchised) ? These insane potential trade posts get ridiculous. People seem to want Beane to chase every guy that a team wants to dump. Unless there is a rash of injuries, I don't expect Beane to make any deals that involve giving up draft picks or significant amounts of cash. He is setting up to sign the best of our own and make significant draft additions. We've watched him for a couple of years now and the strategy seems to be pretty clear. Given the results to this point, I'm okay with his approach.

A law suit at this point in time would be a fool's errand. He terminated his last contract. His play had deteriorated and was no longer as effective as he had been earlier in his career. He had also gone on record about the type of payment that he would require. From the owner's perspective, he had alienated a significant percentage of the NFL's customer base and many of their sponsors. It isn't hard to understand why 32 owners felt that having him around wasn't worth the hassle. Proving a concerted effort by the owners to keep him out of the league, is not easy to prove contrary to popular belief. Lastly, getting to play in the NFL isn't a right that belongs to any individual. As far as the claim of racism toward an organization that has minorities as the majority of their employees, it would be a significant uphill fight in court. Personally, I wouldn't have been upset with him getting a shot to prove himself in a training camp. He had the right to protest to draw attention to a problem that is important to him. I don't think he anticipated that his actions during the national anthem would result in the severe push back that it received. I would have picked a different method to protest.

Most of these shows are unwatchable. They fail to focus on relevant information about the game that you are watching or the games that are in progress. Having four or five people sitting on a table and all trying to talk or goof around is useless. I used to enjoy Tom Jackson and Chris Berman on ESPN.

I don't disagree that the rule is pretty nondescript about hitting the player low. It does not delineate any exceptions. I have to admit that I have seen other hits not called where the blocker provided the impetus for the collision. Unless the rule is altered to call out exceptions, the most we can hope for is to call it consistently.

He fills several needs for the offense that many of the posts have identified. One of the more subtle things that he improves is the blocking on running plays. He is a willing blocker with a more physical presence than Zay or any of the other receivers. Although we didn't see it on Sunday, he's the kind of blocker that can make bubble screens a real weapon. I'll be very interested to see how much he is used in the future

Make their linebackers play coverage in the passing game. This will require some passing on first down and throws to the backs and tight ends. Bills should be able to take advantage of some of those match ups when they are in their base defense. Protecting the ball is an absolute necessity.

You are right on point about the deep drops. Allen also does a poor job on blitz recognition and finding the hot receiver. Hopefully, he will improve that with experience. Overall, my eye test tells me that the line has played pretty well. As fans, we have a tendency to dwell on the plays that disappoint us, especially if they cost us a scoring opportunity or result in a turnover. For those who suggest that the o- line isn't greatly improved over last season, I recommend a trip to the optometrist for your own eye test. For me, the data tells most of the story.

O-line is much improved. They are made to look bad at times by Allen's unwillingness to get the ball out on time. Inconsistent play from the receivers has impacted Allen and the o-line at times. It is a mystery to me as to why Zay Jones ever sees the field. He is pathetic. The defense is as good as we all hoped they would be. It would be good to get more sacks but overall we should be pretty pleased. Special teams still need a lot of work. Our punter is just plain bad and he should have been replaced. House Money has been anything but that also. The biggest problem right now appears to be Allen's inability or unwillingness to avoid boneheaded plays. Two weeks in a row he took big losses on third down which took the team out of field goal range. He continues to throw into tight double and triple coverage, giving up game changing interceptions. If he's too stubborn or dumb to figure out that he is hurting the team, they should bench him for a while. His bad decisions more than offset any of the great plays that he makes. That needs to change....... And then there is Frank Gore. He has been much more than I ever expected him to be. No doubt that he should be a first year hall of fame inductee when he hangs it up. I love watching the guy play.

If the Bills ever hope to become seriously competitive in the league, they need to become ruthless competitors. In this game, it means pounding Edelman in the ribs on every play from the start of the game until he goes to the bench. It also means doing what is necessary to put hits on Brady throughout the game, even if it means taking a couple of penalties. They also need to make Gilmore play running plays that are directed right at him. He is not a physical guy and not a willing tackler. It only takes effort to be physical with the other team and it may just take their skilled players off their game.

That's a great start but I would add getting consistently good performances through a couple of seasons, win in the playoffs, and be among the league leaders is several passing categories on a regular basis.

I can't see Beane spending the money, draft picks, or giving away any of the current players for Melvin Gordon. No question that he is good when he is on the field. The problem is staying healthy and on the field. I can't see anyone paying him the money that he wants.

Hard to believe that all of this happened in a really short period of time, including negotiating and writing a contract. If there was ever a smoking gun to investigate tampering, this would be the one to look at. Add this to the AB circus surrounding the sexual assault investigation and it makes me very glad that the Bills didn't end up with this guy.

Having too many promising players before the cut down, is a nice problem to have. For a number of years, we were relegated to watching the cuts from other teams in hopes of adding much needed talent. I like this circumstance much better. It's hard to find much wrong with Beane's work at this point. Right now, I'm guessing that picking up a punter from waivers is near the top of Beane's list.

What you are suggesting doesn't make sense? Do you really think any of those three guys are being brought in to be the season long backup? Personally, I don't see it but I guess time will tell.

It's the XM radio phone app for me. I'll have another game on tv (muted of course).

If the Colts were in agreement with you, Osweiler would not have been brought there.

Sometimes we look for conspiracies where the simple straight forward common sense facts are the most logical and correct explanation for the situation. The Colts were hoping to talk him out of retiring. This wasn't about a single year of season ticket sales to hose the local fans for a year. This was about trying to keep the most valuable asset of their organization. The financial impact to the Colts will occur over multiple years until they are able to obtain a player of his value. In the end, it came down to a young guy that had already made a ton of money, who had been seriously hurt a number of times, who was tired of the tedious rehab processes, and his job wasn't fun for him anymore. For any of us who have quit a job that we didn't like, this shouldn't be too hard to understand. Life in the NFL doesn't last forever, it's just that this promising NFL life ended sooner that fans wanted it too.

Mario was not worth the money he was paid. He played okay when he played but his best days were behind him. He was not the dominating guy you would expect from that level of pay. He certainly didn't help lead the team to the playoffs. I watched him very closely and I watched a number of other players walk down the road because Buffalo didn't have cap space to keep them.

Although I understand how some people are enticed by the prospect of landing a first overall draft pick with freakish athletic ability, I don't see it happening. The salary price will be extremely high and it just feels Mario Williams 2.0. He has missed a bunch of games and his productivity doesn't justify the type of contract he is looking for. It just feels like it would be the start of a journey to salary cap hell. It seems contrary to the way Beane has told us that he will construct the team. I may be wrong but I wouldn't bet on it.

Thanks for the post Virgil. I agree with the vast majority of your observations. It became clear to me early on that winning the game was very important to Detroit. Their coaching staff under delivered last season and are probably feeling the heat from poor showings in this preseason. They ran a lot of line stunts, blitzes, and combination zone coverage on defense. On offense, it appeared that they had a game plan expecting a lot of simple zone coverage from Buffalo. As I watched the Bills, it was equally apparent that they were doing a lot to focus on talent evaluation.

It will happen if the players benefit financially, the NFLPA gets more roster spots (dues paying union members), and the owners get more revenue ( increased tv contracts and stadium revenue from the two increased regular season games). Unbridled greed will drive all of the parties to make the change. The NFL is all about the money.

Enough to string together a couple of first downs but only if the o-line is getting the job done. If the line is stinking it up, get him out.