folz

AGREED! I took the dog for a walk after the game and streamed the WGR postgame to relish in the win a bit... I turned it off after about 5 minutes remembering why I never tune in to the postgame anymore. Is that Schoop and Bulldog? How are they even employed? It didn't even sound like they watched the game. Callers were talking about specific plays and they just kept saying "I don't remember that. I don't even know what you're talking about." As if the callers were crazy. I knew what plays the callers were talking about. They were big plays! And then the two of them just ranted about how our rookie QB in his third start didn't throw for 500 yards. What is the point? You could pick any two people off the streets of Buffalo and have a more informative and entertaining show. They also stated that the Bills couldn't run the ball all day and how the run game stinks. Sure, yards per carry might have been low, but the run game was pretty important to that win and against a very stout front seven for Tennessee.

I like him as a person...seems like a nice guy, works hard, has been glad to be in Buffalo...just not getting it done on the field.

I like Charles, but he has been a huge disappointment throughout his time in Buffalo. Some could argue that his lack of stats is due to bad quarterbacking, but if you are actually a great player, there is no way that the coaches don't design more plays for you and have your QB rely on you. What's the old saying, a good TE is a quarterback's best friend. Remember early in Jim Kelly's career, Pete Metzelars was his favorite target, he went to him early and often and then eventually the WRs got more involved and started getting more targets than Pete. That has been the story for many QBs. Right now, if Clay or any of the TEs were worth their salt, they should be Josh's go-to guy, until he and the wideouts start gaining more chemistry and the game starts to slow down for him. Over his first 3 seasons in Buffalo, Clay is averaging 6 targets, 3 receptions, 34 yards, and 0.1875 TDs per game. So far this year, he's averaging 3.5 targets, 2 receptions, 22 yards, and 0 TDs per game. And it's not like he is a world class blocker either. He's ok, but not why you'd keep him on the team. I agree with the OP, we need a real, all-around TE on this team...but unfortunately, we will probably have to wait until next year. Hopefully there are some good young TEs in the draft.

I agree...I don't know how they didn't fire Riveron after last season, or at least demote him from his current position. It is somewhat understandable if a ref on the field misses something, but how Riveron can make as many bad calls as he does while having slo-mo video from every angle is beyond me.

Obviously they only had a choice of Allen or Rosen and maybe they just didn't believe in Rosen for some reason. But, I do agree with you that it would've been a much better situation for Josh if he had a veteran QB as a mentor (and that is on the FO). The O-line and lack of a running game is kind of a bad break situation, I think. The unexpected loss of Wood and Incognito really hurt the team's plans. With a bad draft for O-linemen (and the focus on getting our QB) and no extra money in the coffers for some stud free agent O-linemen, the loss of those two players really set the plan back a bit. They were expecting to have a good run game originally. If Wood and Incognito had come back, you would be starting the same 5 linemen as the year before with Shady, Ivory, and Murphy in the backfield. I do think Dabol needs to be much more stubborn with the run game moving forward though. As you said, Josh shouldn't be throwing 30+ times a game. And he needs to give Allen some short, easy throws early in games to give him some confidence and to get him in a rhythm. Throw the ball to Shady early on screens or short crossing routes. Kills two birds with one stone, getting your best offensive player involved and giving your rookie QB some confidence. Things definitely could have been set up a bit better for Josh to be starting, which sucks for this year, but I still don't think it will ruin the kid. I think he has a lot of fortitude. And as Peyton Manning said about his rookie year, paraphrasing, I learned a lot of valuable lessons in some really bad games.

I think we can all agree that Josh isn't really ready yet. He has a lot to learn. And we can also agree that he is not in the best position to succeed (with the way the O-line and WRs have been performing). And we have all seen QBs flame out seemingly due to being thrown to the wolves too early on a bad team. But, Allen is smart, seems to be a tough-minded kid, knows what hard work is, hasn't been handed things to him on a silver platter, is very competitive, etc. So I really don't think he will be ruined by being put in his current position. That's not to say he will automatically become a franchise QB, he will have to prove that he has the mentality/temperament for it (reading defenses, going through his progressions, internal clock, pocket awareness, etc.). But I don't think taking a lot of sacks or throwing a lot of picks will ruin this kid (provided he doesn't get hurt). So, believing that about him, I'm kind of glad that he will get a lot of playing experience this year, so that he's ready to take a big step next year. And hopefully with each game, the game will start slowing down for him, like Frazier says is starting to happen for Edmunds. It won't look pretty at times, he will take some big hits and make some embarrassing plays, which is why I can understand Dilfer's stance (as a guy who is rooting for Josh and knows what that feels like). But again, I think the experience he will gain this year will be invaluable going forward.

IF the Rams were to keep this offensive pace for the whole season, the pro-rated numbers for their WRs would be: Brandin Cooks: 1,808 yards/4 TDs/78.8% catch percentage Cooper Kupp: 1,392 yards/16 TDs/75% catch percentage Robert Woods: 1,292 yards/12 TDs/71% catch percentage Almost 1,300 yards and 12 TDs for your 3rd wide receiver? What?

I basically agree with Bring it, but might just rephrase it as the addition of Lorenzo to the pass rush makes a huge impact (Hughes is a monster too). The same thing happened last year...as soon as they realized that they needed to use Lorenzo more as a pass rusher, the defense improved. After last week's game when Zo was asked about if they could tell if McD took over play calling duties, or what was different and he basically said something like not really, although they started using me more as a rusher. Zo needs to be used more as a pass rusher---not every down, but selectively and definitely on long distance downs. Not sure why they didn't do that right from the start this year (having learned the lesson last season). Maybe they thought they needed to keep him back to help the rookie in the middle of the defense.

Although they still lost the game, Fitz may now have enough weapons around him to overcome the INTs he'll throw with his gunslinger mentality and average arm strength. He still has to throw his whole body into the out throws, but his long ball sure looks pretty with some elite receivers to catch them. Always loved Fitz...wish him the best!

Two things: 1. I don't really think you can separate the two (McDermott and Beane). Yes, they have different roles, but they go hand-in-hand and make decisions together. McDermott is in on all of the personnel decisions. It may be Beane's group that identifies players, but I doubt many guys get brought in that McDermott hasn't agreed with. It is their relationship and how it came about (McD getting the job first and then bringing Beane in). McD has a lot of control in this organization. It's not like some other franchises where the GM makes all personnel decisions and the coach just has to coach them up. These two are a team and seems to me should be evaluated as such. 2. You can not discount how strapped we were for cash this year when looking at this year's crop of free agents. Did we bring in the best FAs out there? Obviously not. But only because we couldn't afford better (outside of Star). They had to identify players that fit the right price point. So, kind of hard to judge them solely on this year's FAs. Let's see what they do with another draft and next year's free agency when they have some cash to spend. I do agree that the lack of depth in some areas is a bit troubling, but again, I think they knew that might be the case this year according to the plan they laid out (eating all of the dead cap this year).

The plan has always been to build through the draft and manage the cap so that you can sign your own home grown players. How many years did we watch Bills players that we drafted become very good and then leave in free agency? And you're right, this FO is not going to go out and buy a dream team next year. It's not part of the process. They will, however, be able to add a few higher paid FAs at positions of need (wide receiver, pass rusher, OG, whatever). And they can also buy some depth. We just didn't have the money to do that this year. But, the reason they should be able to win next year is because they are building a nice nucleus of players (mostly through the draft) that will all have another year of experience. We already have a top corner, our Left Tackle, a replacement for Kyle, a stud middle LB, and hopefully a franchise QB all coming through the draft. (Obviously, right now, so much of our future hangs on Allen's shoulders---whether we will be good or not). Our safeties are elite and with depth too. With our 10 picks next year we should be able to add at least another 3 good players that can start right away (like they did in their first two drafts) and you then attack the glaring holes and positions that lack depth with quality FAs and not have to do as many one year rentals as these first two years. There will always be some one year rentals at the bottom of the roster of course, but I believe the one year rentals have been out of necessity (to try to continue to field a competitive team while rebuilding, rather than just tanking) not part of their mo. This could actually be a very solid team next year. And I am not giving up hope on this season yet. It's a funny thing. People get better with experience and when they work together longer. Some fans act like what we saw in the first 6 quarters of this years is the way this team will play for the next 14 games. They will both get better and face some teams that aren't as talented as these first 4 teams. We could still have some fun this year, watching this team grow and getting some wins (even if we don't make the playoffs). And speaking of playoffs, I am at a complete loss as to how some fans have already lost faith in Beane and McDermott and want them fired after just two games this year. Have you already forgotten how we all felt last New Year's Eve? I mean come on. Have a little bit of patience. I also think too many fans who are ranting about these two loses completely underestimate the loss of Wood and Incognito. The draft lacked offensive line talent and we had no money to bid for top free agent OL men. Think about this team right now if Wood was at center and Incognito was still on the ball at Guard. The defense may still have had its troubles, but the offense would have looked a lot better. They were two surprises at positions that were really hard to fill this year. And when you are basically starting an entirely new interior line, even if the players are very good, it takes time for them to come along. The offensive line is the spot in football that takes the most amount of teamwork, intuitively knowing what each other is going to do, working together. It takes time to build chemistry even for a very talented line. That was a big blow, which wasn't as easy to remedy as some think. This current line probably won't become really good all of a sudden, but they will get better as the season goes on just from working together as a unit over time. I am still 100% behind this regime, no matter what our record is this year (which I think will actually be better than most are projecting right now---I think we will be around .500, not 0-3 wins, worst team of all time!) and I do believe we will be able to start being a very good team as early as next year. It looks bad right now, but when you actually look at all of the factors and reasons involved, and the plan, and not just react emotionally to a couple of bad loses, you can see the way forward and the light at the end of the tunnel.

Maybe some of you who accept her story without question have never seen a custody battle first hand before. I've seen two very close male friends go through it. If the kid fell off his bike and got a scratch on his knee while with dad, as soon as the mother picked them up and brought them home, they'd call child protective services to accuse the dad of abuse. It happens all the time. They either want to get back at the other parent or think it will help their case in the custody battle. They will take innocent pictures off of Facebook and bring them into court to try and accuse the person of being an alcoholic or abuser, when its the furthest thing from the truth, and in one of the cases, it was the exact opposite. It can get very ugly. And I'm not saying this is just women...lots of men behave just as bad (maybe just in different ways/tactics). All I'm saying is... Of course, none of us from our perspective can know who is telling the truth in this situation, we are all just speculating based on the information that we have, but it is a very bad road we're heading down when we start to accept allegations as facts or judge someone without evidence.

After what Vontae just did, do you really think that McDermott would want to bring in Josh Gordon? No question the guy is supremely talented, but who knows if you can count on him for a game let alone a season. A perennial playoff/SuperBowl team, with a hard-nosed coach, a great QB, and tons of leadership (aka the Patriots) might be able to get something out of Josh and keep him in line long enough for him to help them. But the current Bills are still trying to find their way. They have a lot of young guys playing important roles, etc. They don't need any more distractions than what they are currently dealing with. One WR was not going to turn this team around this year...the only thing that will make this a winning season is the same thing as last year, character, leadership, not giving up, playing as a team, coaching. We don't have enough talent to just outplay other teams (at least the better teams in the league) right now and Gordon would not have put us over the top talent-wise, so why risk the headache. Especially knowing that it would most likely be just a 14-game rental as we have lots of picks and money to get WRs next year (and I just don't see Josh holding it together for two or more consecutive seasons). This wasn't a case of him doing some things to force his way out of Cleveland, all of the issues were just who he is, what he is dealing with. I wish the guy luck in his life (not necessarily with the Patriots). But it is obvious to me (and a good decision) why the Bills wouldn't be interested.

By my count, 12 players who got significant playing time for the Bills in week 1 were either rookies or 2nd year players. The mean age of the team may be average or high, but there are a lot of very young players actually on the field playing...and in some very key roles: QB, middle LB, nickle CB. The team had 9 players on the roster who had never seen a regular season game before. So, I don't think the coach was out of line or lying by saying he has a young team. It isn't about the average age of the team, it's about the lack of experience on the field and a lot of young players that need to be coached up.

The singer is very good and the video production is excellent, but it just seemed weird to choose a song about a place in New Orleans for Buffalo...didn't seem to fit. Especially trying to change the lyrics to "western N'York",,,that was a bit of a stretch. And at the beginning they make it look like the "poor boys" are visiting teams who will get beat up coming to our turf (ok), but then at the end it seems like the "poor boys" in the line "the ruin of many poor boys" is referring to the Bills themselves, which seems like the wrong message. I think they should have used a different song. I do give the organization props though...they have obviously put some money into the video department and the people in that group now are obviously pros. The Embedded series was excellent.

"Not us right? Not us...not us. Let's tank it men, let's, let's just be done with it. They don't know anything about heart. They don't know anything about work. That's who we are...This is a start, this is not a finish. This is a start." I think people are underestimating the intangibles---that which propelled us to 9 wins last season. Coaching, team chemistry, all for one attitude, leadership, etc. And, yes, a lot rides on the QB situation (Peterman), but I will take a few more interceptions for some games with more than 86 yards passing. With Dabol over Dennison, and unless Peterman throws 3 interceptions a game (which is not going to happen), I do not see how our passing game doesn't improve. Don't underestimate how Peterman's quick timing will both help the O-line and frustrate the D-line in games. And when they are using multiple formations and personnel like they did only in preseason game 1, they will look a lot better than what we saw from the first unit in the last 3 preseason games. Speaking of the preseason, I think many Bills fans and national media are reading way too much into the Cinci game. Every year we have to remind ourselves that preseason doesn't matter. We don't know what each coach and team are trying to accomplish in those games. Very few care about the final outcome. They are evaluating players and package groups, they may be testing blitzes or coverages, still trying to find what their guys do best, etc. For instance, let's say one coach wants to find out more about his players, so he puts them in a base formation just to see how they do mano-a-mano. The other coach maybe wants to test some new blitzes or feels he needs to build some team confidence, so he does a bit more game planning. Of course the second team in that scenario will look better. It is just so hard to determine anything team-wise in the preseason when we don't know how the coaches are treating it and what their plans are for each particular game. This O-line, probably the second biggest reason to worry, will finally settle into the top 5 guys and start to get solid playing time together. They may still be a weak spot on the team, but they will at least get better as the season goes on just from playing together more. So, eventually, at least, it won't be as bad as it has looked thus far. Plus, their run blocking has actually not been bad at all, it is in the pass protection that they need to significantly improve, and again, hopefully Peterman getting the ball out fast will help in that area. And we've got a lot of hungry players with something to prove: Kyle (maybe last season), Tre (for being overlooked), Zay (came into training camp on a mission), Shaq, Peterman (to overcome the 5 INT/half vs. LAC narrative), T. Murphy (was ready to take off and then got injured), M. Murphy (proving he belongs), K. Benjamin (to back up his statement's about Cam and prove he's a #1 WR), Groy (finally getting his shot at starting), etc., etc. Don't discount heart, desire, drive, work ethic, coaching, leadership, and a team-first mentality. Those things can take you a long ways. I don't know how many wins that will equate to, or if it will mean playoffs again, but I'm looking forward to another season of very competitive football with a team that I will really enjoy rooting for because of those intangibles. All I have to do is relive last New Year's Eve to know that this team is never going to quit and remember how you can get more out of less and win as a team despite the odds being against you. I do know we aren't anywhere near bottom of the league as so many are predicting! And we might start off slow, but eventually I think this will be a better team than last year. Go Bills!

No, but he did throw 5 interceptions in a single game in the NFL (against Atlanta in 2012) He also has two games with 4 interceptions and 15 games with 3 interceptions. Now of course that is over 16 seasons, not in his first half of NFL football ever, but even the best can have a very bad day. Hell, Brady threw 4 Ints in a game against the Bills and he's probably the QB with the best interception percentage ever. One bad day does not equate to a career. Nathan now has a chance to prove it was one bad day and not who he is as a QB. (of course, I'm not saying he will ever be as good as Brees or Brady...few are or may ever be).

The guy has a total of 4 starts in the league. How does everyone know he's the worst QB in the world? Sure, he will probably never live up to his draft status, but who's to say he couldn't develop into a nice backup QB in the league? And the Bills are looking at him as a possible #3. We've had many years where our #3 QB was an undrafted free agent. Are you telling me a kid that was good enough to get drafted in the first round isn't better than most UFAs or low-round QBs? I know it doesn't look good that the team that drafted him gave up on him after only 3 years, but they also lucked into Chad Kelly (Elway doing Jim a favor) to replace him. Some guys take longer to catch on, some don't get the chance to stick around long enough to catch on. It's not like playing QB in the NFL is an easy thing to pick-up. I have no problem with Beane taking shots at guys. Yes, many times we will find out that that the guy just isn't up to the challenge, but then sometimes you get a guy like Jerry Hughes, who maybe needed a change of scenery, different coaching, or just an opportunity. Why not kick the tires on some of these guys to see if that's the case?

I don't think we underappreciate him, it's just been a long off season and we haven't seen him play much since Jax--plus we've been obsessed with the QBs, so he's kind of going under the radar this training camp/preseason. I do think the national media forgets about him to an extent, but that is mostly because he has been in Buffalo and we just get less coverage and they always assume we will be bad. I have been surprised in many fantasy football preseason rankings to see Shady listed as like the 16th to 22nd best RB. When technically there are only 32 starters and many RB by committee teams, that seems pretty low. Especially because he has been a workhorse for us, a true #1, and he's so good at receiving out of the backfield (he was #4 in yards from scrimmage last year behind only Gurley, Bell, and K. Hunt). But I assume his rankings are more based on the concerns about our offensive line and who will be QB, rather than McCoy's skills themselves.

If they keep 7: Benjamin Jones Coleman Kerley Streater McCloud Holmes If they only keep 6, Holmes would be the odd man out for me (despite his special teams play) And then you hope to get Reilly back on the practice squad to call up in case of injury. With a QB who can get the ball to them, that could turn into a pretty nice receiving corps.

Safety Siran Neal had a nice game too, made a few big plays.

I don't mean to pick on you specifically OJ, but it just bugs me when people say stuff like "he blows." I'm all on board with Allen starting at this point, but Peterman does not blow. First of all, the worst guy on the worst team in the NFL is still an amazing athlete. You don't even sniff a shot at the NFL if you aren't a gifted athlete. Secondly, Peterman (since that San Diego game) has played well. He was playing well in the snow game and he has played well in both games this preseason. The kid has had a legitimate shot at one of only 32 starting QB positions in the NFL. That doesn't blow. He may or may not ever become a legit starter in the NFL, but by no means does he suck. Plus, he's a Buffalo Bill. You could prefer Allen over Peterman without having to trash Peterman. You could point out the reasons why you don't think Peterman should start or won't be a good starting QB in the league, but it's kind of ridiculous to just say he blows. I don't know, I guess I just grew up in a time where we rooted for all of our players.

With two new starters, another playing a different position, a 2nd year LT, and the center position being a competition still, it will probably take this O-line a little time to gel. If there is any place on the team that needs continuity, it is the O-line. They need to settle on their 5 and get them comfortable with each other. It is foolish to believe that this line with all of the upheaval would come out of the gate and look like world beaters. They played well in week one and not so well last night. Doesn't mean they will be terrible all year. They are going to need a little time to come into their own. Am I a little concerned with the O-line, sure. But I wouldn't take last night as a forecast for how they will play all year. A vanilla offense against a defense that was bringing the house because they wanted to have a good showing for their fans in their first game at home (and for the Hard Knocks cameras). Just as with QB, we should expect a little bit of growing pains with this line. But, hopefully they will get better with each game, the more they play together.

I was definitely in the let Josh sit and learn this year camp. I figured the defense would be better and the running game would be good, so we'd be ok with McCarron or Peterman managing the offense until Josh was ready (later this year or next year). I really expected McCarron to be our starter for game 1. Nathan #2 and for Josh to remain #3 for now. I thought McCarron's experience would make him the best start. After last preseason game, I was really impressed with Josh, and though they had similar numbers, I thought Peterman had a better game than McCarron. So, in my mind Peterman jumped McCarron and Josh showed promise, but probably still wasn't ready yet. After tonight's game, although I thought Peterman again played well, it seems clear that we might as well put Josh in and ride the roller coaster. I feel really bad for McCarron getting injured, and yes, the offensive line didn't help him tonight...but that is not an excuse really in McCarron's favor because if the O-line has trouble then you don't want someone like McCarron in there, you either want Josh (whose pocket presence is great and who can scramble) or Peterman, who gets the ball out fast. So, I do think despite the O-line and injury, McCarron played himself out of the starter competition tonight. Since Allen is the better talent overall, the only reason you don't start him is if you're worried that he will make too many rookie mistakes that would hurt the team or his development, but he hasn't shown that that will be the case with his first two preseason games. No doubt there will be some bad plays and mistakes, like the 4th down play last game, or wasting a time out or not reading the blitzing safety tonight...but his good plays have far outweighed his mistakes. I now believe he gives the team the best chance to win. And as far as the idea of ruining the kid by playing him too early, there are a couple of reasons why I'm not worried about that. 1. Josh is a level-headed, humble kid who has had to work for what he has, so I don't think it's in his personality to fold under pressure. He's coming from a bad Wyoming team, not a stacked SEC team. He knows how to handle adversity, losing, being up against it. 2. McDermott's culture and team first mentality. The team will support him through the good and bad, like they have with Peterman. I can no longer find a reason not to start Josh Allen week 1. Let the new era begin. Go Bills!

I guess it is different for everyone. I broke my collarbone sledding back when I was in high school. My friend heard it crack, but I didn't know anything was wrong. I guess my body went into shock. I climbed back to the top of the hill and started to feel a little bit queasy. My friends tried to convince me to keep sledding, but I kind of felt like something was wrong. And eventually I decided to walk home. I was about halfway home (maybe a 10-15 minute walk) when the pain kicked in. Not sure how I made it the rest of the way, but it took a good 10-15 minutes before any serious pain kicked in for me. Once it did, man it was one of the most painful things I ever went through.