KOKBILLS

Honestly...Outside of actually winning the damn game I could not have been happier with the way EJ played...He's a Rookie QB going up against one of the greatest Defensive minds in the history of the NFL in his 1st game...He got almost no support from his Pro Bowl HB...And this is a kid some thought was no more than a 3rd or 4th round pick!!!...I was very impressed overall...And the mistakes he made are certainly correctable...If he continues to get better, and the Bills can get Spiller to hit a big one every now and again, the sky is the limit for EJ...I think he's certainly got the make-up to be an elite QB in the NFL...And physically he's got everything you want...I'm very excited about where this can go...Guarded, but excited nonetheless...

He did...And he's going to play just about every down now...So...He better be good...

I certainly understand this is a physical game...But Brooks has shown almost no ability to stay healthy...And we really needed him to do so for the first 4 games... Good grief...

AJ Green is a once in a decade-type talent at WR...If there was no Megatron, who is the best WR I've ever seen (and I'm old so I've see most of them), Green would clearly be the top WR in the NFL...It is a bit sad that the Bills could not see that when comparing his potential impact to Dareus...But in their defense they were not alone...And I think with #99 we forget the kind of athlete he was coming out at 318 lbs...He was incredibly athletic, his measurables were mostly off the charts, and he came from a winning program where he was a major contributor...All signs pointed to Dareus being a very safe pick...But like I said...That was Dareus at 318 lbs...He has never been anywhere close to that light since, and it's JMO, but I think that factor alone has stunted his NFL production big time...

No question the Bills had some serious drive-killing penalties in this one...Gotta fix that crap quick... Even still, if Stevie catches that ball on 3rd down I think the Bills win that game...Which in a tough way is a decent gauge on how much better this team is than in years past...Especially on Defense...

Glenn is good and I'm hoping he's only going to get better under Marrone...I think we forget sometime what an athletic freak Cordy is for his size...But his teammates talk about it often...With Marrone's background, in time, Cordy could be a Pro Bowl caliber LT... I've been mostly unimpressed with Dareus for a while now...That much is well chronicled...Sunday did little to change that...His reported weight is about 20 lbs heavier than he was at the Combine...But he still looks bigger than that to me...I just don't see the explosion in his game much anymore...Not sure what they're asking him to do though...I see a lot of standing up immediately and hand fighting...He did look a little better this game than he did in most of them last season...But still, by no means is he a difference maker like the Bills hoped he would be when he was drafted #3 overall...

I'm kind of surprised more people here did not pick upon this...But like it or not the OP is technically correct...Especially when you have a Defense that clearly was not going to let Spiller beat them... I'm uncertain whether or not I want EJ running the read option...But I know for certain if they do not plan on running EJ some the look is going to prove to be ineffective because teams understand what Spiller can do...And from here on out, until the Bills prove they can beat Defenses in other ways, Spiller is going to be the guy every Defensive Coordinator is going to look to neutralize...It's really that simple...So if you're going to show the read option look, then EJ HAS to carry the ball a bit...If not, scrap it...

Would have liked to have seen Stevie catch that 3rd Down pass...Who knows what would have been had they converted there... Nonetheless they gave the Pats all they could handle then some, even though they were VERY sloppy at times, and the penalties were killers...They've got some fine tuning to do for sure...But this looks like a team with a lot of promise...

We need CJ to break one...He's clearly overdue...

That 3rd down stop was pretty key!!! Kiko coming in and hitting like a madman...

He got absolutely owned on that run by Vereen...

It's just ridiculous...Terrible 1st half...Just giving them the game...And this is the Pats...The fact that they are only going to be down a max of 10 at the half is really amazing...

Brutal...

Hope the early game jitters are over...

EJ is going to have to beat the Pats...They are going to sell out to stop Spiller...I think that much is pretty obvious...

Well...If true, I agree 100%...And that may explain very well why we are where we are with Byrd... I'd also say, again if this is true, that it's an awfully tough sell for Parker to convince anyone that Byrd should be the top paid Safety in the NFL if the best any team is willing to give up for him is a 4th round pick...Personally I think the Bills would settle for a 2nd Round pick...But you can't go lower than that...

Thanks for responding GG...

I'm confused...Explain what you mean by miscatagorized? And I'm not trying to be a dick, just trying to understand... Did you mean that the tweet said $9.1 mil was top Safety pay, but Golston only got $8.25 mil annually?

Maybe...Goldson is awfully good too...

I've pretty much been on the side of not making Byrd the top paid Safety in the league...But I basically agree with this take...I have little doubt Jairus would fit in pretty well in any scheme...He's a very good, well rounded, Free Safety...I just don't think he's the best, most well rounded, Safety...

I think that's the whole point...He doesn't...If he did...This thing would already be in the rearview mirror... And I'm not saying Byrd should want to take less than what he believes he is worth...I am saying (and I'm pretty sure I'm close) that by not doing so Byrd is effectively walking away from a 5-6 year deal that would have paid him close to $8 million annually...And over $20 million of that in guaranteed cash...It certainly is his prerogative to walk away from that deal if he believes he deserves more...But it takes a special kind of motivation to walk away from that kind of deal...His motivation to get out of Buffalo must be sky high...

Meh...Tell that to Stevie's agent...Look at Stevie's deal in comparison to Dwayne Bowe's...Then look at their production the last 3 years... It's an agent's job to represent his clients to the best of his ability based on what his client is looking to achieve financially...If a client is obsessed with being the best paid at his position, and has that kind of ability, then...yes...it's his agents job to get that kind of a deal for him...If the client is more than happy to make $7.5 mil a year and get $20 million dollars guaranteed because he wants to stay in Buffalo and play with his buddies then...well...That's an entirely different story... Ultimately it's up to the client whether or not they want to allow their agent to push the envelope...Not to mention in this case how debatable it is that a FS with PF in one foot is worth $9 million annually... Don't get me wrong...I understand the Bills are trying to get a home-town deal for Byrd...But I get the feeling there is no flexibility on the other side of the table...That makes me believe Byrd simply does not want to be back bad enough...

Agreed...I don't believe that garbage for a minute...I do think the Bills want a home-town deal with Byrd...But I'm certain they wanted to get a long-term deal done, and I'm also certain they offered Byrd a fair deal...The problem is a fair deal is still close to $1.5 mil less annually than the top Safety contract in the NFL...And no way Parker is going to accept that...

No offense, but there is a crystal clear reason why Byrd was not re-signed this off season...To break it down in the simplest of terms Byrd's agent is unwilling to give the Bills a hometown discount, and the Bills refuse to make Byrd the top paid (or very close to the top paid) Safety in the league...Byrd and his agent are not like Woody, or Stevie...They are not going to take a penny less than what they have set Jairus' market value at... The Bills reportedly (unconfirmed) offered Byrd a longterm deal with an annual salary about a half a million more than the franchise tag ($7.4 annually)...The going rate for top Safeties as far as guaranteed cash is concerned seems to be a little more than $20 mil...I can't imagine the Bills offered much less than that... So...It's actually quite simple...Byrd want to be paid closer to the top paid, or maybe even be THE top paid Safety (see Adam Benigni's tweet) in the NFL...The Bills want to pay Byrd like the 4th or 5th highest Safety in the NFL...Byrd, unlike Stevie and Woody, does not want to give a hometown deal because quite obviously he does not put any value in playing for the Buffalo Bills...My guess is he would rather be on the west coast, or playing for a big time contender...Unless of course a team is willing to make him the top paid Safety...Then he'll play anywhere... So anyway...There certainly are reasons Byrd did not sign this off season...IMHO the #1 reason is named Eugene...But maybe that's just me...

Oh good grief another injury? To the freaking Kicker?