dave mcbride

I think that's fair. My admittedly odd opinion - I don't think the Bills are a particularly good rushing team. I think they tend to get stoned at a disproportionately high level on obvious running downs, and neither RB has breakaway ability. The numbers admittedly look alright, and it's not as if they're terrible. I think the larger issue is they simply haven't been able to build two score leads, and that's partly a function of dreadful third quarter performances. They tend to find themselves in a lot of see saw battles where they have to pass late, even against bad teams. The Washington game was an exception, and the running numbers were big in that one. They were behind for most of the game vs Cleveland, NE, the Jets, and Philly, and the even the Dolphins and Cincy had late leads. They threw it more than they ran it vs. TN (36 passes to 27 runs, with 10 by Allen), but Singletary was out in that game and the game was tied in the 4th quarter. Just about all of their good running plays came on the final possession; prior to that they had rushed 18 times for 60 yards against a stout TN d-line.

It's also much easier to march down the field at the end of games because you have four downs and defenses tend to be tired. It's why the ends of NFL games are so exciting.

Most of his runs in that game were designed runs - the two TD runs, for instance, and a couple of others. I think two were scrambles. Mackenzie ran one too.

Yes, Gordon looked good. He's basically uncoverable on those throws.

It was way beyond his reach, but more importantly I can't believe people are fishing for excuses on his deep throws. NFL QBs complete deep throws nearly every game -- it's a basic part of the skill set. He never does, and they're never even close -- regardless of the receiver. Foster is a bona fide good deep threat, and he's been missing him by a mile all season. John Brown has been catching deep balls his whole career until he came to Buffalo.

This is a misleading stat, and also the Bills ran it 20 times. In the Bills two half-ending drives when they were trying to move down the field quickly, they threw it 17 out of 18 plays. On the drive in which they took the lead and which began with more than 9 minutes to go, they ran it 5 out of 8 plays.

It's supposed to be an outside shoulder throw, which is why he was looking that way. Allen threw it inside and about 8 yards farther than he should have. Usain Bolt wouldn't have gotten to that one. After 16 failed attempts to deliver a catchable deep ball to the receiver, the last place I'd look to assign blame is the receiver.

I do think that Cleveland is talented, but I don't think they're well coached and I think they're terribly undisciplined. That's often the determining factor in a league that features so many close games. They still have to face the Steelers twice, the Ravens, and the Cardinals on the road (AZ is not an easy out at all). They have the Bengals twice and the Dolphins at home, but I'd be careful about Cincy - they do not want to go 0-16, that's for sure.

Excellent point, but to succeed as an NFL QB, you simply have to be able to complete long balls more than once every 16 games or so.

Cleveland was 2-6 going into the game.

A lot of this past game is on Allen himself, as this thread shows.

Agreed. It's because he loses prime time and playoff games to Belichick -- as opposed to the Bills, who lose to BB in untelevised 1 pm games every year around September 25 and December 15.

Clowney was given up for a song. That was a terrible trade by Houston and a great one by Seattle. He's one of the most dominating players in the league and incredibly underrated because of the focus on raw sack numbers.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000001027521/article/seahawks-agree-to-trade-frank-clark-to-chiefs-for-draft-picks Clark had been tagged by the Seahawks.

Pro Bowls are a joke. He was good for the Bills. Just ask Bill Belichick, who is at root a DB coach. I would bet a lot of money that he would have commanded a first.

I have to agree with MajBobby here. Knowing what we know now -- that NE snapped him up and paid a fortune for him -- it's pretty clear that the NFL saw Gilmore as elite even if TBD posters had their doubts. CB is the most valued position on the defense now, and a young one who has proven that he is good is definitely worth a first.

Tre White is a flat-out elite player who is a top five CB in the NFL--and CB is the most premier position on a defense these days (even more premier than RDE).

SF was totally screwed by the refs on the terrible ball spot that led to the failed FG. The RB clearly got the first down.

Thanks. I didn't know that. Given that, they'd basically on the hook for about $1 million-$1.1 million (his base is $2.4 million).

very, very fair. Yes, but he's like a tiger in the tall grasses of the savannah at this point given all of the uniform changes.

If you pick him up via waivers, aren't you on the hook for the fifth-year commitment because you're basically picking up the contract? I'm not sure, but there is a contractual obligation to pay him that $9+ million, right? If so, he's not going to be picked via waivers by anyone. Do you know the answer to that?

I just did some research on him. People covering the Bucs say he's been absolutely terrible this season, and he only played one game last year. The year before he missed half the season. The only full season he had was his rookie season in 2016. Basically: numerous injuries + poor play + bad attitude (the lack of hustle issue isn't the first time he's had problems) = getting the axe. Them picking up his fifth year option is just bad management, which is explained I guess by the fact that they're a very bad organization.

SF was completely jobbed in that game. On that third and short play in OT, the RB *clearly* got the first down. It was a terrible spot.

Not putting too much stock in this, but he appears to be having a pretty bad season. Here's Wallace: https://www.pff.com/nfl/players/levi-wallace/25445. And here's Hargreaves: https://www.pff.com/nfl/players/vernon-hargreaves/10645

I think the bigger question driving the conversation is whether he's a good matchup zone player. If he is, than I suspect McDermott will take him seriously. The fall-off in Wallace's play has to be concerning for him.