MDH

A few things. Why chose the Bengals as an example of how to do it? Am I missing their SB wins and playoff dominance in the past 2-3 years? Why would the Bills want to immulate them? If you look at a team like Seattle the Bills have actually built their team simularly. As did San Fran before their steep drop off last year. Both of those teams have had more success than Cinci in recent years. Two, given the drafts you've shown I dont see the Bengals having concentrated on O while the Bills concentrated on D other than the 2011 draft. Both drafted high end 1st round WRs and both drafted QBs early. Both drafted multiple OL with their first few picks and the Bills even drafted 3 more WRs in the rounds you mention.. So whats the difference? The Bengals hit on their O players and he Bills havent gotten the production they hoped for. Also, stability. The Bengals have had most of their key cogs in place for years, including coaching. Thats given them a chance to grow together. Its hard to imagine the Bills having that type of chemistry 6 games into a new offensive system with a new QB.

Yeah, this is getting farcical at this point.

From what I recall Harvin had a torn labrum which required surgery the year the Seahawks won the SB. The fact that it's still bothering him two years later tells me it's a lingering problem that might require more surgery as it's obviously not getting better from just rest and PT. Between his migraines, hip and attitude I didn't want the Bills to sign the guy. Thankfully it didn't really cost them anything as they still have their WR corps in tact from last year. Thankfully they didn't make some rash move to get rid of Woods.

If the Pats rest their starters in the 2nd game then....maybe.

Go Tom Brady!!! Yay Pats!!

That was only half the scoop. The other half stated that he couldn't stay healthy.

I think most on here are willing to wait and see what happens until the team can get healthier after the bye. That is, unless they lose to the Jags this weekend, then it's going to be torches and pitchforks.

Not sure why, this is the type of game the Bills seem to win this year. Whenever people talk them up they come out flat, whenever people question how good they are they play well. I expect the D to play better than they have all season. They'll hold Jax to 10 or less. The offense is major issue with the injuries but I think they can muster more than 10 as long as they're not turning the ball over.

They compare them to rugby players. Of course, the games are different and the NFL is so much more violent than rugby. The pads contribute to this because NFL players to think they're invincible and do things rugby players would never consider doing. But it doesn't stop the English from thinking NFL players are "soft."

I love that people on an NFL message board talking about the lack of toughness of NFL players.

So the final tally of missing starters on O: QB, WR1, WR2, & RT. Did I miss anyone? Add Karlos out and Shady not able to handle a full load and this has the makings of a disaster on O. Even with Kyle and Aaron gone the D better find a way of playing a lights out game because this offense is going to struggle.

Glad you're recovering quickly and happy to have you back! I'd hold off on finding a way to watch the Bills if you value your health.

The ST play had the Bills pinned inside their 20 with bad decisions to fair catch the ball inside the 10 and negated great punts by getting penalty after penalty. The sad thing is that the offense was the best unit on the field last Sunday even with those 3 and outs.

While those stats are interesting and show that they are capable of consistently playing well there are some stats that are disturbing. They're giving up 21.3 first downs a game which ranks them 21st in the NFL and they're allowing 3rd downs to be converted at a rate of 38% which ranks them 17th in the league. Compare that to last year when they allowed 18.9 first downs per game (which ranked 5th) and allowed 3rd downs to be converted at a 33% clip - good for 1st in the league. Both the 1st downs and the 3rd down conversion rate is directly tied to negative plays (read: sacks.) If they were in better down and distance situations they wouldn't be allowing so many conversions. It doesn't help much that you're allowing fewer yards per play when you can't get off the field and teams use short yardage plays to move up and down the field.

I blame the ST more for the field position than the offense. ST penalties combined with good returns put them at midfield time and time again.

Likely because they had short fields the entire first half. You can't wrack up lots of yards when you only have to go 45 yards to score a TD.

Going to guess the Browns cut bait with Johnny with the release of the police vid where you can hear his girlfriend telling police, "he hit me a couple of times."

Yep, people who know no better expect him to be good immediately and when he's not a superstar their disappointment turns into "HE SUCKS OUT LOUD!" Those same people are incapable of seeing nuance in an argument. I haven't seen anybody who has much of a clue saying he's great or will be great. They're saying be fair to the kid and let him grow. If he fails then he fails but this non-stop bashing of a QB who isn't nearly as bad as people make him is ludicrous. He's been pretty...meh. I just don't see it as a ceiling. If he can't get his footwork down then yeah, it will be though. I also didn't see his last game as a one game audition for his entire career. It doesn't work that way, even if he had played lights out.

Didn't he take the first snap last Wed too? Then once the media left he made way for EJ.

And a big play by the D causing a turnover.

Well, he's had a pretty big impact. His impact has directly contributed to the Jets starting 4-1.

That's where we differ. TT only had the opportunity to make plays vs. the Titans because the D held them to 13 points. Without that, there was no comeback. To think he could somehow will them to score more than 31 points is a fantasy. Aaron Rogers would have had a tough time bringing his team back minus his top two WRs. TT is no Rogers.

I also don't recall Orton having 16 yard scrambles in the red zone to set up TDs. But alas, EJ runs like Orton.

Fair enough.

So does that mean TT stinks out loud too? Because we've seen loads of 3 and outs with him too. Yet he's considered the savior and EJ a bum. There appears to be a double standard here. I've seen TT throw short of the sticks on 3rd down as well. In fact, I've seen pretty much every QB in the league do it. If it's not there down field they throw short and hope their guy can break a tackle or make a play instead of risking a turnover. It's what they're supposed to do. If they didn't want QBs throwing short of the sticks to be an option the WR wouldn't run a route short of the sticks. It's a check down that's supposed to be there just in case. Now, if someone can provide proof that another option was open on that particular play then THAT is the criticism, not throwing short of the sticks. But don't let these things get in the way of a could old fashion witch hunt.