Florida Bills Fanatic

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.

Practices are a more controlled environment and the probability of a hit that takes the QB to the ground in practice is significantly less than in a preseason game. This debate over sitting guys vs. playing them will always exist. IMHO limiting preseason game exposure is more important than the benefit of live game experience. I don't want Allen being taken out by some d-tackle that's on the bubble trying to get noticed by his coach. Let's face it; preseason games don't contain the real defensive schemes and full offensive game plans that the players will see in the regular season. In the end, it's a matter of the risk vs. the reward. Teams will make that choice and decide on the best course of action for them. I bet Rivera would make a different decision today.

I agree with you completely on this. The Jests are a dumpster fire. Injuries, suspensions and lack of talent on the o-line don't bode well for them. I think the Jests and Miami are in a race to the bottom of the AFCE. I don't personally care which one finishes at the bottom as long as both lose a lot of games on that journey.

I picked Knox because we have seen so little of his play after his injury. Actually, I want to see all of the new guys play. This is a great situation for the team. It's been a while since the team has had this many new guys with potential to start filling the roster with quality depth. This is the result of Beane's approach to team building. As for me, I'm just going to sit back and enjoy the journey of this franchise to become consistently competitive.

You are absolutely right. This guy and his agent are out in left field. He has two years left on his agreement and he is butting heads with the owner of the team. It's not like he is negotiating with a GM in fear for his job. Zeke would do well to recall the Jerry Jones /DeMarco Murray saga. Jerry let a league rushing champ walk away without batting an eye. In this case he has Zeke under contract for two years plus the franchise tag. That sounds like a lot of leverage to me. It also doesn't hurt Jerry that the rookie Pollard has looked pretty good in preseason. You can tell that Jerry is feeling it when talking about the new contract they signed with Smith. His quote about there being less of the pie today than there was yesterday was a priceless shot at Zeke.

Unfortunately not, but you may have had some nightmares over them.

I think she has his Hammer pants too!

I appreciate the amount of time you put in to create your predictions. I agree with a lot of what you have written. IMHO, I think you are seriously wrong about the Saints, Carolina, Jets, Bears and Colts. KC won't win 19 but they will be the number 1 seed in the AFC. After that, Reid will find a way to flush another great team before getting to the Super Bowl.

I don't know why anyone wastes their time listening to this moron. The posters on this forum routinely express more actual knowledge of the game and the team than you will ever hear from Schopp or the Bulldog. They're just pathetic.

It was a great trade for the Bills. Got a few good years out of Shady and Philly sent Kiko packing.