The Big Cat

Well, I guess one is not allowed to be critical of Stevie's antics and knack for blowing it when it counts most and make the argument you made above. My position on Stevie was firm. His contributions were nice but not great, and he was too much of a liability. There's really nothing left to say on the matter. As far as Spiller goes, I'm fully confident and optimistic he'll put up monster numbers in our run heavy offense. I want him to. Of course I do. But he has a lot left to prove. He's had more bad years than good, and he had a pretty lousy one last year. Now he's headed into his fifth year. I don't know why fans get so upset with my patience for him wearing thin. And that's completely due to his ability to bust one at any time, which is why I love the fact that he's a Bill. You know as well as anyone that 4.6 was not his average carry. He could have busted a bunch of other runs last year, IF he had the vision and patience of Fred Jackson.

It's worth noting, however, that he was listed as the "starter" for only 31 one of those 64, too. Now, may be that has to do with it being "Fred's turn," okay. But the guy drafted as a regime's first overall pick was undoubtedly expected to separate himself from a running back "controversy." He simply never did (or has). Since week 2 2013, I've been on a crusade to eliminate this "play calling" argument. Why stop now? For CJ's sake: what playcalling would you have preferred? The spread? Do you recall what happened when we tried to run screens?

I keep hearing this "get him in space." I suppose you mean the way Gailey did. So, we run a spread (boy that was popular/did us a lot of good) or we run screens (I guess you missed all the complete cluster !@#$s each time we tried to get our OL out to move?). The "Hackett didn't get him in space" argument (and, believe me, you're not the only one making it) ignores the fact that CJ did a lousy job executing the plays that were called (my argument) and it fails to acknowledge that any attempts to "create" space last year were abject failures. So explain again how it was Hackett's fault.

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO Seriously, go back and read the all-22's Again, I'm happy to concede the ankle/OL did him no favors. Fine. But--just as he did ALL through 2010 and through the first 3/4 of 2011, CJ missed holes up the middle and got gobbled up trying to bounce wide.

Looks like I'll be spending the next four months grinding this false theory to a nub: http://forums.twobillsdrive.com/topic/167791-report-bills-attempted-to-trade-up-for-carlos-hyde/page__st__20#entry3133693 ...again

I'll concede that the OL failed to open gaping holes, but I maintain the fact he missed the ones that WERE there.

Irrational? The all-22's speak for themselves. Given what we've seen from Spiller, to know what he's capable of, we know he had a down year last year. To say it was all the coaches' fault is to ignore the down years he had in 2010 and 2011 too. One could argue 2012 was the aberration. I don't believe that's true. But it wouldn't be IRRATIONAL to suggest so. The All-22's speak for themselves. As do his whopping 2 TDs, his bouncing out of bounds when they were running to kill clock to end the half, his 1.4 ypc drop that YOU cited. Sorry, but there's a reason why 933 yards isn't a league bench mark. He had a down year, and the tape CLEARLY showed he WAS put in positions to succeed and simply failed to do so. Believe it or not, fans can be critical of players without cheering them for them to fail.

I'll gladly point you to ANY of the all 22 analyses that clearly stated Spiller missed the read on those plays EVERY time. Not play calls, execution.

His ankle didn't cause him to frequently (and mostly fail to) bounce it wide when the hole was up the gut.

Why? A new OC won't give Spiller the vision he's NEVER had.

Spiller, not Hackett, was responsible for his regression. Sorry, but you're flat out wrong.

Well, the good news is CJ has no choice but to have a career year if he wishes to stay a Bill.

Except Watkins isn't the risk. Manuel is.

That nobody was questioning his dynamic playmaking ability. That he was a game changer, THE playmaker of the 2010 draft. I seem to recall those statements being similar between the two.

For history's sake: did pundits say the same thing about Spiller?

It's funny how Johnson supporters (love that pun) pick one of many incidents, then treat it as if it were singular in order to build a strawman against those who were weary of Johnson's numerous mistakes.

Yeah, I wonder what a Bills offense would look like if our TE led the team in catches...

It wasn't his ankle that caused him to miss the vast majority of inside creases.

We'll forget all about next year's pick the moment we see Sammy Watkins violently snatch a ball 12 feet out of the air then fall backward into the endzone.

Biscuit, I swear to god, you post this like once every four months.

Lest we forget the ****-canning of last year's wide receivers coach. Freddy stayed about the same, but Spiller regressed tremendously. And if the all-22 analyses of 2013 are to be believed, it's nobody's fault but his.

Two things: If one of us is reading about it because ESPN wrote about it, then it's something our scouting department is aware of. How many more skilled players can our offense accommodate? Between Spiller, Jackson, Brown, Dixon, Summers, Watkins, Woods, Williams, Goodwin, Chandler and Moleaki, we're already three or four footballs short. Where exactly do the TE piners demand he fit into the offense??

per batim lol

I don't care to drudge up this argument, but I was shocked at how many here just completely dismissed Workoutgate (yeah, that's right). The substance and the tone of that statement were alarming to me--coming from a professional athlete, coming from one who thought he was a leader. Meanwhile, Earl Thomas is giving his team mates grief for not beginning their offseason workout regimens the week after the Super Bowl. With some people it's death by a million paper cuts. Sure, may be Stevie never had one severe behind-the-scenes meltdown, but that doesn't mean he wasn't consistently a pain in someone's ass. Speculation, of course. But speculation based on the murmurs of insiders and what we've observed/interpreted here many, many times.

Upset about public urination? It's a male rite of passage.