dave mcbride

I remember that piece well. The issue is that when he got out of there (after a scant two years!), he didn't pick up his game at all. Interesting story, and it has the ring of truth. But no excuses with a contract like that.

I'm not denying his enormous talent, but the track record for very large men with questionable drive and vast bank holdings isn't especially good.

It does.

Haynesworth failed in New England and Tampa Bay. He was cut by NE in midseason and went unpursued by TB after he played half a season for them. Look at his AV in the season right before his big contract -- 18 ( https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/H/HaynAl20.htm). Dareus had a 17 AV in the year before his big contract. Haynesworth blamed the Washington coaching for his poor performance after signing the contract; Dareus has essentially done the same. He's now in a defense that is ideal for his skill set. Yet he hasn't made any plays beyond playing stout in a space-eating role. I never suggested that they release him; it's impossible anyway right now. I suspect that he will be cut after June 1 of next year, however.

Dareus has mostly himself to blame, although to be fair he probably doesn't blame himself for anything given how rich he made himself. He's immature, but not immature enough to fail to exploit his immense talent right before his one opportunity for a huge payday came about. Haynesworth is the obvious comparison - another super-talented malingerer who complained about how we used by the team that paid him a huge contract and who then went on to fail in other defenses allegedly more suited to his talents as a 4-3 guy.

Yup.

They're not all the same. We appear to have a Haynesworth on our hands. Getting rid of a guy like that isn't a terrible idea.

Part of the problem is a profoundly unathletic o-line. It's brutal to watch. The o-line is horrible, and Palmer's arm is fine.

Has he? What are you basing this on? I'm not really doubting you; it's an honest question. I haven't seen anything, and the Bills seem unable to run the ball right now (although I'm certainly not blaming him specifically for this).

I doubt it - he requires his TEs to be elite blockers. O'Leary is not a good blocker. Yes, he's terrible at blocking.

I feel like run games across the league are being shut down with regularity so far. Elliott last night had one run of 30 last night because of a missed tackle, but after that run he had 8 for 31 yards. He was being tackled in the backfield all night. Just thinking out loud, but I think what we're seeing is the result of ever-increasing athleticism on d-lines versus less athletic o-linemen who simply can't handle these dudes.

The Bills aren't 6th. They're going to be first this week. Don't pay attention to yardage; pay attention to FO. They were 2nd overall in 2014. They were 27th in 2016 and 24th in 2015.

It's made up. Don't expect a link.

Truth. Thanks for posting.

They probably won't be. These #s are through week 2.

According to the best measure by far (IMO), we were number 3 after week 2 behind Carolina and Baltimore. I expect the Bills D to be #1 after week 3 results get baked in. http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/teamdef NE is #32.

Hence my focus above on the fact that Taylor has now started two full seasons worth of games (32) now. He has a 94.2 rating and the offense has performed well overall (with the expected ups and downs). I think we have enough evidence now to declare him "pretty good" - a bit above average relative to other qbs, but certainly not great. I will add that his good qualities don't get emphasized enough - remarkable toughness, extremely even-keeled and no- BS demeanor, and a remarkable propensity to not turn the ball over (I'm including the fact that he's only lost a couple of fumbles in his time in Buffalo, which is pretty remarkable).

He has not been awful; his numbers have been awful. Big, big difference. He has no running room and is regularly hit in the backfield. It's the price the Bills are paying for lacking a quality WR threat. It's as plain as day.

Lol!! Back on subject -- Taylor has now started 32 games for Buffalo, which is exactly two seasons. At this point, when looking at top line numbers, what you see is almost what you get because the spiky details and outliers start to come out in the wash. He's a guy playing on a team that has gone 17-15 with mostly bad defenses (2015-16) and has a qb rating of 94.2. To reiterate, that is a far better rating than any other QB in franchise history. Sammy needs new wallpaper for his twitter account: https://i.pinimg.com/736x/f7/da/5a/f7da5a1e9a3667c19d656ec77175a887--fantasy-map-flat-earth.jpg

He wasn't poor his second season; he was hurt. He missed the entire season! And he was still hurt in year 3. You of all people should know the difference. C'mon, dog.

99.23 to be exact. He is 94.2 lifetime for the Bills, which is by far and away the best in franchise history -- and the number doesn't factor in the rushing yards or the remarkable lack of fumbling (2 lost fumbles in 2 and a fifth seasons).

Terrible call. Any decent coach is defending against the fake on any punt formation play that's less than 4th and 5.

Who knows how good gaines will be? He was excellent in his rookie season and excellent so far for buffalo. Let's reserve judgment before we declare players "stars" or not.

I gotta confess - Gaines has *really* impressed me. An elite cb is equally valuable as an elite wr. I was down on the trade, but i'm man enoujgh to admit it if i turn out to be wrong. Let's see how it looks after week 17. Scott, he's playing a lot better than solid.

Monstrous today.