dave mcbride
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Posts posted by dave mcbride
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This post is arguing the exact wrong premise. The whole idea behind "We're just a few players away!" is that we can, in fact, add a few "elite" players to the roster and have a good team. The great teams in the league have a solid foundation in addition to their stars, and I think you'd be on much more solid ground arguing that the Bills have neglected that foundation and have instead tried for the elite players.
the elite guys are understandably the hardest ones to get, however, and at this point the bills should have a few. the bills do actually have some serviceable foundation players: mcgee, kelsay, troy vincent, fletcher, even josh reed as a 3rd receiver, and gandy as a role playing lineman (the jury is still out on jason peters). it's the lack of the studs that's hurting them, in my opinion.
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they had some great players on defense -- milloy was great that year, as was law, mcginest in the latter portions of the season, bruschi, and vrabel. brady was only ok that year too. but the pats that year are really the exception. they were not nearly as talented as the rams, but the coaching was unparalleled. even donohoe said that it was the best coaching job he had ever seen.
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i do actually think he's pretty good, but he's got to stay on the field more (i realize that this isn't his decision). more importantly, though, he simply doesn't make the last man miss. the great backs usually can, unless they're absolute bears like bettis or riggins. i think mcgahee has the potential to be an eddie george type, which is pretty darn good, but again, i'd like to seem him force his coaches play him on third down. since i don't think mularkey is an idiot, i suspect there's a good reason why shaud williams is out there.
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i disagree with a lot of your rankings, but that's been covered. But just one example - the difference between SD in 2003 and 2004, when they went from 4-12 to 12-4, the only players on your list that they added were gates and McCardell, not that McCardell is elite.
That's why we believe the Bills are only a gates away, as is every team in this league.
that's fine if you disagree, but with regard to sd, i'd say that while they didn't "add" gates or jamal williams last year, it was last year when they took off. also, brees obviously became a much better player last year. with regard to the bills, there is definitely the possiblit for certain players to move up into elite status -- evans, possibly losman (although he has a long way to go), possibly mcgahee. i think schoebel is as good as he's ever going to be, although clements certainly has the capability to bounce back to being an elite player next year.
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Sure the time is now. I just think however terrible this team is and is playing, it's even more terrible to have to listen to everyone complain bitterly in every post. It perfectly well to complain, and to be bitter, and there is a lot to complain and be bitter about. But the way most people sound these days, every player is the worst in the league, Mularkey is the worst coach in the history of football, and the second stupidist behind Satan. Except wonderboy Eric Moulds, of course.
... but i kind of like mularkey, and have defended him in numerous posts! i also expect him to be the coach next year.
if he is, though -- and returning to my original point -- the bills need a serious talent upgrade. they've got some potential excellent players (evans, possibly losman [i wouldn't bet the farm on him, though]). there are ways to think about it constructively too -- there will be some good offensive linemen on the free agent market, and every year some DT stud like shawn rogers talks or eats his way off a team. so there is hope.
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well, i have to admit that i've grown tired of all the posts about how we're just a few players away and how we've wasted all of this great talent. the bills are like the emperor's new clothes, in my opinion. in any event, any bitterness i have is not directed toward the individual players or coaches (i like mularkey, who is unfortunately having a rough season) but management. that should all change quite soon.
i think i write very, very few diatribes, by the way. however, if there was ever a time to write diatribes, don't ya think now is the time?
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One of my many pet peeves in life are fans who comment on the precision of WR routes.
1. How in the name of God do you know what the WR was supposed to do on any given play?
2. Even if you DID know the answer to #1 - could you tell me where you bought your special TV that displays the whole field on every play? Mine tends to follow the ball and thus I miss 95% of what every WR does during the game.
i'll take your point, but i have watched numerous pats games the last few years and he always seems to be where the ball ends up. there are never those "miscommunication" arguments between qb and receiver that one sees at the end of plays. guys like weis and belichick have said this about branch too, so it's not as if i'm making it up out of whole cloth. granted, that's hardly scientific, but what i have seen plus what i've read leads me to believe that yes, he's an elite player.
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You have gotta be kidding me... Have you just down graded what 'elite' means??
Elite players from your list:
Brady, Seymour, LT2, Bruschi, Faneca, Manning, James, Harrison, Freeney, Gates.
The rest are definately a step behind those guys... And I'd definately rate some Bills in a similar category to some of those other guys.... Moorman is an elite punter for example...
Yeah the Bills aint loaded with Talent - but our guys at least have some potential... Willis, JP (errr), Evans (?), Peters (?)
i'll trust my own eyes. hampton and farrior are elite guys. jeff saturday is too.
i didn't include punters or kickers. finding good ones seems to be more of a stroke of luck than anything else.
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This year. Drops: 6
Is it fun for you to not like anything about the Bills? Under your definition, when the Pats first won the Super Bowl, they had no elite players, unless you count the future Brady.
http://snap.stats.com/stats/nflinfo/player...=5951&Submit=Go
i haven't seen the drops, but in any case, i think he's a great player.
and no, frankly, there is really not much to like about this team, from management on down. they absolutely stink. they're poorly run and have bad talent. and believe me, it's no fun. i will admit, though, whereas i used to be genuinely disgusted, i've passed that point and am now just amused.
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the reason he doesn't rack up huge numbers is because he plays on a team with a qb that can spread the wealth like no other. you seem to be forgetting 3 stellar playoff appearances last year, by the way ....
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they have finally moved up to first place in rushing yards given up per game (they give up 144.3). they were second in that particular form of futility until this week.
in other news, they're 29th overall in defense and 30th in offense. regarding the offense ranking, houston is only 2.6 ypg behind them, and the bills have a couple of road games coming up. so 31st is definitely within the realm of possibility. no one will catch the niners, though -- they're simply too far ahead of everyone.
to move up on defense, it'll be tough. st. louis is 6.6 ypg worse than the bills. the bills do face cincy next week, so that should help them, but facing brooks bollinger and the anemic jets the next week presents a real problem. i'm keeping hope alive though: the 30/30 club is within reach!!
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come on, fezmid. when's the last time you saw branch either drop a pass or run a bad route? i'm sure you haven't, because he never does. and he's always open. watch ne next time closely and you'll see what i mean.
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how many elite players are currently on the bills?
qb - none
ot - none
og - none
c - none
rb - none (mcgahee is definitely not an elite back)
wr - none. evans may be, but he's not yet. once he gets a 50 catch season talk to me.
te - are you kidding me?
dt - none
de - one borderline player: shoebel. if pressed, though, i couldn't argue that he's elite
lb - without spikes, none (fletcher is pretty good at best)
safety - none
cb - clements has the potential for elite status, but not this year (he was elite last year). otherwise, none
let's now look at the elite players on some good afc teams.
ne: brady, dillon (now that he's healthy), branch (one of the most underrated players in the league), ben watson, seymour, vrabel, mcginest, and bruschi. samuel is borderline.
pitt: ward, faneca, hartings, farrior, polamalu, hampton, roethlisberger.
indy: manning, james, harrison, wayne, clark, corey simon, saturday, tarik glenn, freeney.
jax: rashean mathis, mike peterson, henderson, stroud, jimmy smith (still, believe it or not)
sd: LT, gates, jamal williams, merriman, their RT (forgot his name), mccardell, brees
the bills are so far away it's a joke.
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champ bailey is a helluva player.
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Number one picks overall are pretty much set up for failure. They are "supposed" to be the franchise because they are number one in the draft. We better hope the Bills don't pick number one. It is a set-up for failure most of the time. Even if the player is good he gets labelled a bust. The majority of times they are very poor value for the pick. Cost way too much for what they give you.
you mean like carson palmer, orlando pace, and payton manning?
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Don't kid yourself. Dante Scarnecchia is THE best O-line coach in the NFL. When the O-line was having problems in the middle of the season, Brady looked like crap because he was constantly getting harrassed. Against the Bills and Bucs yesterday, he was barely touched.
It's the O-line. Always was and always will be.
like i said, they have a scheme that minimizes their weaknesses. scheme=coaching ...
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no. his second year there (i.e., the year after they went 13-3 with stewart at qb and had a top tier offense), they had a top 5 offense with tommy freaking maddox at qb and went 10-5-1.
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watch the patriots. their linemen are true journeymen at best, but they're surrounded by excellent skill players and a great scheme that minimizes their weaknesses.
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With all the talk about how desperately we need to upgrade the o-line and we better not take skill position players I'd offer this hypothetical. . .
Would our current team be better if we had Indy's entire o-line rather than our o-line and our current skill position players. . .
OR
would our current team be better with Peyton Manning at QB, Edge at RB, Harrison & Wayne at WR behind our CURRENT O-line?
I have a feeling our O-line would look a heck of a lot better with those skilled people. Our team would clearly be better with Indy's skilled guys vs. Indy's O-Line.
So, while we all howl for major upgrades on the O-line, let's not forget that our skill positions could stand an upgrade (especially when Moulds leaves) too!
the pats offense is pretty much unstoppable with truly mediocre offensive line talent (half their line is injured too).
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Oh yeah, he is "average." He is the fastest Bufalo Bill RB to reach 2,000 yards in his career (faster than OJ, Thurman, Joe Cribbs et al). He also is playing behind one of the worst lines in Buffalo Bills history. He also has done it without getting that many carries.
Go ahead. Keep on saying he is average. If you say it enough times, you may even begin to believe it yourself.
peter, this is wrong, because, you're leaving out the 2003 season (he was drafted in 2003). he may not have played, but he cost the bills a first round pick as well as over a million dollars in salary cap space that year and therefore was a player of high value who didn't produce. i'm not blaming him, of course, but one can't simply exclude the 2003 season from the equation. thurman reached 2000 yards in his second season, as did joe cribbs. antowain smith just about reached it (1964 yards) too, so the stat in and of itself is pretty meaningless unless one or both of those seasons were elite seasons.
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I was watching the game with a friend (non-Bills fan) and he was baffled by this. He was wondering what possible benefit there is to fooling the other team on a pooch punt. Either it's a good punt and you can pin the other team deep, or it's a touchback. Why not have your punter do it? It is his job. Basically Mularkey selected the worst possible option out of the many possibilities.
excellent point.
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promo - gimme a break. no way does moulds make that first down if he simply falls forward. he's at least a half yard and more like a yard short.
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What time does Ask the GM hit the site?
in The Stadium Wall Archives
Posted
it was posted at 5:52 pm last monday (12/12).