dave mcbride

Watt has historically destroyed the Bills. He basically won the 2014 game single-handedly (9 QB hits - 9! -, one of which caused a game ending INT, and a pick-six), completely dominated in the 2012 game, and was unblockable in the game last season. He also played well in the game the Bills won in 2015, with a bunch of tackles and a TFL.

Agreed. I expect Watt to be a force in this game. He was playing really well early in the season (21 qb hits in just 8 games), and my understanding is that the tear wasn't a major one. I expect he'll be fine.

Yeah, he's terrible. He's also wildly inconsistent, which is almost worse than the poor ypp average. I swear to god it seems like his ypp in the final five minutes of games is 20 ypp.

DePodesta deserves this. He is really, really smart, and if he had had more clout previously, the Browns would be in a lot better shape.

Speaking of ST, Hauschka made 14 of his last 15 FG attempts this season, which was a very nice bounceback from a rough first half.

They were not a good offense in 2012: 21st in points, 19th in yards, 20th in offensive DVOA, and 28th in offensive turnovers. That's not the worst in the world, but it's basically where the Bills' offense was this season albeit with worse turnover numbers.

Perhaps. I will say this: Gailey has been 50-50 with Fitz: good in 2011 and 2015, basement-level in 2010 and 2016, and a little below average in 2012. The scrambles can accurately be described as passing plays that broke down, but the designed runs are genuine rushing plays.

I of course know that some OCs are better than others. That goes without saying. But saying that the Bills are 30th in scoring since he arrived and failing to mention that the Bills fielded arguably the worst offensive talent in franchise history last season is sophistic arguing. Bill Walsh would have had the same results as Daboll last season. I'm also not saying that Daboll is Gailey's equal, but I do want to see him run an offense with good overall talent. Hopefully, the Bills will have that next season. True, but they did finish 24th in pass attempts and 6th in rushing attempts. Context is important - most teams pass more than they run now.

That is, without question, the funniest tweet of the year. Everyone in this thread: do yourself a favor and watch this.

The Bills' offensive rankings were poor in his other two seasons in Buffalo, however. As for 2011, they did have a great start, averaging 30 points and 380 yards over the first seven games. I'd also argue that Fred Jackson was playing like a first-team all-pro that season (and far better than the RB combo we have now). The offense really pretty much cratered after he went down. Also note that the Bills' offense had a ton of turnovers in 2011 - 30 (25th worst in the league). They ended up 11th this season and would have finished higher if not for Barkley's trifecta of turnovers on Sunday. They had 16 going into week 17. As I've said elsewhere, it's really about the players. Gailey has overseen some good offenses and some very bad offenses (the Jets finished 26th in points, 30th in yards, and 31st in offensive turnovers his final season in NY). There's a pretty strong correlation between the players he had and the offensive performance. I like Gailey; don't get me wrong. I think he's a good schemer. But it's a simple fact that Daboll has been plagued by poor talent in all of his stops in the NFL.

That is an INSANE story. Wow. Sullivan is in no way comparable to Mehta.

I think the top four options are all roughly equal contributors to the decline.

Good thread idea. I fully agree. The Jets were a lot better in the second half of the season, and Darnold, while still mistake-prone, is supremely talented - good arm and fantastic accuracy when he gets set. The Dolphins are well-coached and well-positioned to dramatically improve their roster. Who knows with Fitz, but he's played well enough to be considered a credible starter in five of his last six seasons. He was phenomenal in the second half of this season.

Maybe because his QBs were Brady Quinn, Derek Anderson, Colt McCoy and an 85-year old Jake Delhomme??

Bill O'Brien has done pretty well, and Flores looks like the real deal. Some people in the league actually feel Flores should be in the running for coach of the year given what he did with that woeful roster.

If you read the thread, you'd realize how ironic your moniker is given that I explicitly say that Orton was a guy who could make all of the throws! The Bills have been spinning their wheels with guys like Peterman and Barkley who CAN'T make all of the throws. As I also said, all backup qbs are gonna be flawed in some respects, but I do think basic arm strength is a necessity. Just look at a guy like Brissett, who went into the season as a backup. He can actually play, but the guy who subbed for him when he went down was Hoyer, who at this point of his career cannot play. He is terrible and simply can't make the throws. He cost them two games they would have in all likelihood won with Brissett (Pitt and Miami; they were leading and driving when Brissett went down against Pitt). It was the difference between 7-9 and 9-7/10-6 (I'm assuming Indy approaches the final game vs Jax a lot differently if they went in 9-6 as opposed to 7-8 and out of it).

He’s not an athlete. Read my original post. It is the only good game he has had in his career. And I like the guy.

Did you watch his throws outside the hashes? He can’t make them; he looked like Peterman without the height. (I say this as a person who likes Barkley.) I realize that by definition backup qbs are gonna be flawed, but lest we forget, Kyle Orton was a backup who could play and certainly make all of the throws.

He was bad vs NE too. He fumbled twice (one was bizarrely reversed) and the Jets dropped another pick. He cannot make the throws. Yeah, backups played too, but he himself looked like the opposite of an athlete out there.

Nah, I don't think he can get us to 2-2.

This is an issue for the off-season, but as I watched Barkley yesterday, I concluded that this is not a guy that can you to 2-2 over a four-game stretch when the starter goes down. That means he shouldn't be the backup QB, because that ability to get you to 2-2 over that stretch is the baseline requirement of the backup QB. I will admit to being snookered by his once-in-a-lifetime performance against the Jets last season, but man was he godawful yesterday. He had 3 turnovers and should have had 5 (one of which was reversed by a truly terrible officiating decision). He simply can't make all the throws, and he's the sort of player who is going to throw a couple of picks every game in which the score is remotely close because the floating duck is a core part of his repertoire. Plus his multiple slip-ups and staggers led to something like three free TFLs for the Jets. I'd prefer not to spend a draft pick on a backup prospect. Who is going to be available on the open market next season? The seemingly obvious choices - Dalton, Eli, Rivers, Mariota - are not going to want to be backups in Buffalo (all would of course be major upgrades). Brissett strikes me as an ideal backup, but he's not available. Anyone have any idea of viable candidates who will be on the market in the spring? (Before anyone gets any ideas, Fitz is under contract next season.) I mean, I could see staying with Barkley because he knows the offense and seems like a decent guy, but there's gotta be an upgrade out there, right?

And Kirk Ferentz and Jim Schwartz too.

I would have said that 3-4 weeks ago, but the offense has become so pop-gun level that I just don't see it now. They haven't scored 20 points since November.

The thing about the excuses, though, is that sometimes they're valid. I remember a LOT of fans metaphorically high-fiving each other when Rex ran Roman out of town, and there was veritable dancing in the streets when Ralph forced Marv to fire Henning (which Marv refused to do - he retired instead). The very next season, Parcells hired Henning to call plays (while serving as QB coach), and lo and behold: Henning goes to a talented team, and they end up 5th in points, 4th in yards, and Vinny T has by far and away the best season of his career. The Jets go 12-4 and have a 10-0 lead in the AFC championship game before falling apart to a great Denver team. Bills fans LOVE to blame the coordinators, but it's almost always a lack of talent/execution that is the reason for the lack of production. The one big exception was Rex, who really did make a talented defensive unit underachieve. If Allen is even a moderately accurate deep thrower this season rather than being one of the very worst in the league, the yardage and point numbers would have looked a lot different. Overall, the Bills fielded a low-talent offense with a sub-average offensive line. That line was a lot better than last year's, to be sure, but that's only because last year's line was such a joke. Daboll, for better or worse, has been cursed with low-talent offenses in every place he's OC'd at.