nonprophet

He'll be fine as a Patriot; the only thing those players can't get away with is murder.

Didn't a Panthers DLineman get an interception during the Superbowl because he had dropped into coverage?

Are you sure you're talking about the right guy? Considering that most actors earn a living as waiters, William Hurt has had a great career. Check out his IMDB page, the guy's been in at least one movie released every year since "Body Heat" except for '84, '89 and '03.

Next to nothing; Rex's D already features mostly the same elements. The biggest difference is the players. I didn't see Thurman employing the Wide 9 strategy in a 3-man front in the Bills' first match with the Pats* but, in his defense, Dion Lewis was in that game and the regular Wide 9 in a 4-man front wasn't working anyway.

Unfortunately, being one of the best against most of the teams in the NFL isn't good enough to reach the playoffs in the AFC East; the Bills defense has to be one of the best against the Patriots* in order to make that happen. How did Schwartz's Wide 9 fare against Brady at QB? Just rushing four isn't good enough against him nor, arguably, against the remaining elite QBs in the NFL; you'll get eaten alive, 5-10 yards at a time. To beat those guys you have to confuse them enough to slow their release so that your rushers have a chance to hit them.

...or the Bills could start the second half down by 28.

It's okay; the vaunted Bills defense will score 2 points and get the ball back. Safety + TD + 2-point conversion = 10.

No thanks; he'd probably fare as well as Belichick's past coordinators did with their head coaching gigs. Belichick is like a Sith Lord: there is only one master, the rest are apprentices. The only way that McDaniels can succeed as a head coach is to kill Bill and take his place.

Yeah, the guy's judgement is questionable at best. The Bills should have cut him earlier this season...oh, wait...

It won't take as long as you think because Rex's scheme doesn't rely on upon premier talent; the Jets always fielded a respectable defense despite Idzik's mismanagement. Rex's downfall was his inability to obtain a sufficiently good quarterback and responsibility for that probably rests on Idzik's shoulders as well. Was it a mistake to change the defensive scheme this year? Absolutely, but only if their plan was to possibly win now and blow it up next year due to salary cap issues. That would have been a very risky plan with the available quarterbacks and a new offensive coordinator because last year's Bills are proof that having a great defensive unit isn't enough. Maybe the Pegulas are more interested in fielding a perennial contender and they needed this year to see how the existing talent would fit into the long term schemes so that they'd know who to cut, how to plan for the draft and which free agents to go after.

You're right. The defensive scheme change has exposed the linebackers for what they really are; the Schwartz' Wide 9 masked their deficiencies. The Williams will likely be cut and the savings sunk into better linebackers and a true nose tackle.

There's a time to go for a deep pass on 3rd and 4 but it's not in the fourth quarter when you're tied or trailing. If Roman had dialed up a high-percentage play on those downs instead the Bills might have had a chance at winning it.

And they're not even using him as a halfback when Karlos is injured, promoting a PS guy instead. Is he a fumble machine?

"It's so crazy it just might work!"

He was available when the Bills hired Gregg Williams. Imagine if they had hired Fox instead. Rob Ryan was actually the right guy because his scheme has the potential to maximize production from inferior talent, provided they're smart enough to execute it. The Saints defense did initially improve after he was brought on board but that unit was neglected before he got there and suffered from continuing neglect to the point where Rob couldn't get much out of it. Don't expect his replacement to fare much better.

No they're not; they got fired up for NE but they're not going to prepare as well for the Bills, especially since their confidence has skyrocketed after beating "the best team in the league". The Bills are going to beat them, not least because Shady will be out to prove that they shouldn't have traded him. He's going to get around 150 yards on the ground, just watch.

And how about this: the starting QB is a rookie, backed up by a practice squad pickup and another rookie and he opts not to hire a dedicated QB coach.

Every game involving the Patriots isn't clean.

I agree, TT is still young enough to improve with experience. The Bills need a better backup QB than EJ but one can be drafted in the later rounds, signed off of another teams' practice squad or wooed away from the CFL.

Pettine probably dumbed down the defensive scheme that he coordinated in New York, erring on the side of stopping the pass because of New England. Chan's prior defenses were so abysmal that he had nothing to lose; even though the run defense was less than stellar during his tenure, the sheer improvement that he realized propelled him into a head coaching gig. Rex probably assumed that the players would remember the pass defense aspects from Pettine's season and, in harmony with the ball control strategy that he hired Greg Roman to implement, he erred on the side of stopping the run. The problem is that the players can't or won't play the pass like they did under Pettine.

That's it, time to trot out the Wildcat for the rest of the game.

He can.

Maybe Schmidt? He's got a strong leg and as long as he can keep it in bounds it's good. According to http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/9480872/san-francisco-49ers-sign-colton-schmidt-3-year-deal:

Is it against the rules to install a periscope in his helmet?

Tyrod play-action pass to Mulligan (right), gain of 5 yards. 23 first downs.