3rdnlng

Both Milano and Poyer provided a sense of calm and expected superior defensive play when they were scheduled to start. They, and others were/are exactly the type of veteran players that provide the defense with the versatility that allows the Bills to disguise what they are going to do.

Seems like the LB's who get all the attention are the ones that get the sacks. #58 has cover responsibilities along with blitzing and stopping the run. He's complete.

No, no he wasn't. To be "available" to anyone you as a player must be willing to go there.

Some misconceptions that need to be addressed: Beasley played in the playoffs 2 years ago with a broken leg. Last year Beasley battled injuries and even though his catches for the season were the same as the previous year (82) his yards per catch were way down. My speculation on the reduced yards is that in order to protect himself from further injury he didn't try to gain extra yardage after reaching "the line to gain". His efforts were focused on doing what was right for the team. Beasley, as a slot receiver needed to be in complete sync with Allen. Although Cole occasionally would be targeted with deeper passes they most likely were to exploit an obvious weakness in the defense or just intended to loosen up that defense. Anyway, the point here is that Beasley was used as the primary target to pick up that 3rd and seven. Contrary to what some people believe here #11 was rarely an outlet but the primary option when the Bills needed that short to medium reception to keep the chains moving. Those 7 yard passes require perfect timing between the QB and slot receiver. Not to get too deep as to what happened earlier this year in Tampa but Cole was only on their Practice Squad and got called up twice to play in games. I can only imagine that he and Brady got very little time to work on timing in practice. Tom embarrassed Beasley during a game by shouting at him and making gestures as if Beasley screwed up on a missed pass read. I doubt that at this time of the season that Cole would have accepted being signed by any team other than the Bills. He is well aware of the sheer volume of work and practice that a QB and his slot receiver need to get on the same page.

Like your Mets avatar on a football board?

Promoting Coordinators to Head Coach positions based on their success on one side of the ball is the likely definition of The Peter Principle. The Head Coach is an executive. Coordinators lean more towards being technocrats and have not generally proven that they have the leadership and executive skills to be a Head Coach.

Better than the Mets 7+ years of not making the World Series.

Then why argue against those periphery issues and not mention what you think are the legitimate issues?

For some odd reason you are taking the periphery issues that were mentioned earlier and placing them firmly next to you on the molehills you are choosing to die on. The Bills went through plenty of legitimate adversity with injuries to key players and scheduling issues along with the on field issue of a player temporarily dying in a game. Using the gesture that the Steeler's did when delivering toys to Hamlin's daycare center is just another example of you going to the most ridiculous example to make a point. Tomlin knows Hamlin and your example means nothing in this discussion.

McDermott would be singled out for guiding his team through many instances of adversity, not just the one you are cherry picking here. You are shortcutting your argument to the extent that you are causing that argument to be less than what it could be.

Buffalo is part of the Mid-Atlantic geographically. The Bills had the #1 seed which included homefield advantage and a bye under their complete control prior to the Bengals game. They now need help from the Raiders in order to obtain that. Once the horrible on field injury occurred to Hamlin there was no solution to playoff seeding that would be totally fair to Cincinnati, KC and Buffalo. If any team has cause to B word about the unfairness of the NFL's solution it would be the Bills but it simply is what it is and time for the crybabies to STFU.

McDermott is not getting props for someone having a stroke, snowstorms, a racist shooting or a player being brought back to life on the playing field. Any credit that he gets will be for guiding his team through trying times which include not only the aforementioned but other challenges.

The Head Coach's job is not a necessary prerequisite to be the ultimate X's and O's guy. It's to be a leader so the players and coaches under him can have faith and confidence in the kinds of decisions as the Tua concussions and on field decisions McDermott and Taylor needed to force on last Monday. Of course other attributes are important for a HC to have but being a great coordinator means nothing without great leadership qualities.

WTF are you talking about?

You need help. Seriously, you need help.

So Beasley once injured, struggled to put up the same type of numbers that he had when he was injury free? Thank you for confirming my premise regarding Cole. In most reasonable people's minds a player with an injury or multiple injuries is not going to have stats as good as when he was not injured. You've chosen a strange hill to die on You have stated a lot of facts but they do nothing to support any conclusions other than once Beasley was injured last year his production dropped. If a player is injured he is not automatically washed up or suffering from some kind of permanent decline in his abilities. Following your logic I could make the case that Tre White and Von Miller are so ineffective that their production dropped to "0" once they were injured. My facts say that they are not doing a damn thing but I think a little context would shed a better light on the subject. Facts are a good basis for supporting a position but if those facts are not pertinent to the subject then they do nothing but confuse the issue. You ended your last post that I quoted here as stating that your response was all facts, not opinions and not at all political. So, you have no opinions about your facts that lack context and your insinuation that I am making your non existent opinions political is somewhat pertinent to this discussion?

82 catches is a great amount for the whole year. He didn't all of a sudden have a big drop off mid season but he did struggle with injuries and his yards per catch was down from previous years. My guess is that he went down before getting hit to avoid further injury. Regardless, knock off the comments like pay attention as if I'm your 4th grade student. Furthermore, when you can't make your case without twisting your comments into a pretzel then you make other people think that your opinions regarding Beasley are based on something other than his play on the field.

I'm not trying to pick a fight either but you stated above that "Now he hasn’t been doing football activity all year but is healthy". I believe that when the Bills decided to pick up WR's late in the year and put them on the practice squad that familiarity with the system & terminology was important for them. Being in top football shape wasn't needed as Brown & Beasley aren't going to be on the field the whole game. He still had 82 catches last year.

He spent time on the Bucs practice squad and was activated for two games. He left them because he felt he wasn't getting enough practice time with Brady to get on the same page with routes.

Pulling statements out of nowhere that aren't substantiated or at least explained is time wasted. The idea is to discuss a point here rather than do the least work via of a drive-by comment.

Yes he has. My guess is that the offensive game plan due to the weather in the last two games didn't provide a lot of opportunities to use them.

I pretty much agree with you but don't think Beasley was getting a fair chance with the Bucs, so he left them. As I understand it, Brady gave him some crap on the field during a game because they weren't on the same page concerning a route. I'd bet that Cole as a practice player didn't get much time to work with Brady. Anyway, Bill's fans know that he can work very well with a good QB.

Cooper's twin. Do you have a justification or some kind of link for the above statement?

The fact remains that the play calling terminology hasn't really changed under Dorsey. It's the same playbook with a few more wrinkles. Where it differs the most is the importance that is placed on different play types. Beasley had 82 catches for the Bills last year but his average per catch was down. He played through injuries and even played the previous year in the playoffs with a broken leg. He hasn't been out of the league for a year since he had time with the Bucs and now time with the Bills. It's been obvious this year that our offense has been missing Beasley's sure hands and on field awareness of the first down marker. This reply isn't really directed at you but at the few people here who would seem to take pleasure in the chance that Cole performs poorly when called upon. It's sad when people who purport to be Bill's fans seem to want to be right rather than wish for their team's success. From what I saw in the thread here before Beasley was signed it seemed like the majority of the objections to Cole centered more on the media induced "locker room cancer" talk regarding the jab than his ability on the field.

You spelled proposition wrong. -)