SuperKillerRobots

Dude, if I could work during my 20s and make 5 figures (spending it all) and then retire at 30 and have $3.5 million in my bank account I certainly would. I'm not saying this is the best way to go, or the way I'd go if I were a football player, but being a football watcher, I would do that in a second. I always thought it would be cool to be a kicker or punter and get paid more than most to kick a ball. I know they practice, but come on.

Your absolutely right. That's why, as I did last week, I'm betting the Bills will not cover the spread (but still win )

That's right NPH!

This couldn't be farther from the truth. Since Jauron got here, this has become a ball-control team. Fans may want to see them score points (and they damn well better if they plan on winning), but this team would probably value long, clock eating drives to short, feast or famine drives. Jauron wants to run the ball, play defense, play special teams, and go long once or twice to break their backs.

Gotta say, from just watching the games and doing no statistical analysis of my own, I think the two biggest areas where we improved were run defense and 3rd down defense. You can see that teams cannot consistently get yardage on us. Every once in a while we do give up a run, but it's not three or four plays in a row like last year. Same thing with the 3rd down defense. It's probably that these two statistics are related in that stopping the run on first and second keeps the offense in 3rd and long, which allows us to tee-off on the QB and let him make the underneath throw and force the punt. I don't know that we have seen defense like this since Big Pat was here. Even 5 years ago when we had a "good" defense we struggled to dominate opponents when they took it right to the teeth of the defense. Now we may not dominate anyone (as of yet), but we certainly are able to make plays when it counts against decent teams (i.e. dictating the game).

I could have sworn I read something (couldn't find a link nor remember where I read it unfortunately) yesterday or Monday saying that Peters actually got hurt in the game early on and that's why he had to leave the game - to get taped up. I thought that was why Jauron had so much good to say about him afterward. Did anyone else read/hear anything like that?

And people say that pot doesn't make you a better athlete.... Look at Randy Moss too! NFL steroid problem, move over...

I think people get too caught up int hat $50mm number. The guy was about 30 when he signed the deal, with the majority of the guaranteed money in the first three or four years, and would be what, 37 at the end?! No way he plays out the deal. There's no point in trading or releasing a player who made the majority of his money in bonuses anyway and at this point would cost us more to get rid of than keep. Let's say the guy we drafted, but can't crack the active line up can play this year or next. At that point Schobel becomes one of the best situational pass-rushers in the game (not to mention I have heard people say that this would be his ideal role). In the end, I cannot see the Bills doing anything with Schobel for the next three, maybe four years. He fits into the plans somewhere and unless the money is absolutely needed for something else, why bother trying to replace him. If the Bills thought they couldn't sign Evans or Peters or whomever because they gave this deal to Schobel, I would have to believe they would have gone in a different direction or started to find replacements for the other guys we would have to lose to keep him (i.e. Evans, Peters, etc), which they didn't.

I think they were surprised when Jacksonville traded up for Harvey at 8?. If they were both there I bet they would have taken Harvey over McKelvin.

I think that's int he interest of keeping the positions interchangeable as they say they want to. Whitner can definitely play FS. I think they wanted a more traditional guy to come in and sort of play a three-man rotation depending on down and distance. Sort of like a rich man's Bryan Scott.

This is the only thing I can think of. Maybe they anticipate teams paying too much attention to McGee, but not really fearing Jackson. So this might be a ploy, so that later in the season they can sneak McKelvin on the field instead of Jackson, so when the opposition thinks they are kicking away from McGee they are actually kicking to McKelvin (or vice versa). I agree too that it is probably setting soemthing up for later on in the season.

Zing!

I think people get too caught up in assigning these guys a number and then forcing them into the corresponding role. Traditionally, the #2 receiver lines up on the outside of the formation, opposite the #1 guy. You can call that the #2 position, the X position, it doesn't matter. You could then call the guy in slot the #3 guy. Now here is the football riddle: if the guy in the slot catches more balls over the year than the traditional #2 guy, is the guy in the slot the #2 receiver? Just cause you play on the outside as a receiver, does not mean that you have to be worse than the guy at #1 and better than the guy at #3. So in effect, if you call Hardy the #2 guy, he plays more (i.e. starts), and gets less catches than Reed, is that a problem? It might mean they have different roles in the offense. If you look at NE and Welker, he is really their #3 guy positionally because he plays in the slot most of the time with two other receivers on the field - or even one other receiver on the field. He is obviously not the third best receiver on the roster though.

I thought that when we traded for him it was said (not sure where or by whom) that he had 3 years and roughly $18mm left on his contract and the Bills converted it all into guarantees. It looks like you have about $10mm in that quote. I wonder if he had roster bonuses or something like that that made the deal worth more. I find it hard to believe that he is OK with only making $3mm this year, even if it is guaranteed. All the better is we are though...

I noticed them playing a lot of nickle as well during the game and was thinking the same thing. I don't think he was playing strong-side lb - they just played nickle coverage most of the game.

I doubt Jauron believed he had the personnel on offense or defense to open up the offense last season. He's smart enough to realize that you can potentially score 25 to 30 points a game, but the risk of losing, i.e. 42 to 24, becomes greater if you don't have a defense that is built to handle the time on the field. With all the injuries, he probably figured that they would get blown out due to offensive turnovers and a weak d. I'm not saying the play-calling had nothing to do with it - cause it did, but the personnel is just as big of a part and if the coach doesn't think it's there, why run through the motions and fail. DJ gave the team the best chance to win last season with the players that were healthy and I think he's doing the same thing this season.

Good response Jabari!

Corto should wind up being the next Coy Wire, he at least played his position, albeit in a limited role his last year, in a slightly competent way. Stamer never saw the field and when he did, it was after Mario Haggan (who was a decent 5th or 6th lb), which should be telling. It is the progression of the NFL Team: When teams get good, they no longer need a Josh Stamer. The Bills got good (hopefully) and no longer need a guy who can't even play against preseason talent at his position.

I do find him annoying, but for me the fact that he probably murdered some one is his redeeming quality. I think if we had a guy on the Bills that probably murdered some one, I'd feel a lot better about the team. I like the character thing, but we need some guys who put the fear into people, like Lewis. I mean he's a fearsome hitter and tackler on the field, but the players gotta be thinking in the back of their heads that he might come to their house int he middle of night with a posse and some crow-bars. Now imagine if the Bills had a guy like that. I mean even the Sabres have their share of ganbangers: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/hockey/2005-02-11-sweden-assault_x.htm We need more players who look dangerous.

There you go...

Absolutely (the best 100th post ever)

I agree with your point about they being two completely different cases, but one thing that might be missed is that Peters played college ball and was moved all over the place - OL, TE, DL. He was in a strength program aimed at football strength and he played positions that emphasized a need for that strength. I think Bell played basketball first and then went on to play a few years of football. It is very possible that the difference between him and Peters at this point in his career is their training background and football experience. By the way, anyone know what Bell got on the Wonderlic? He seems like a semi-bright kid who went through a lot. Not sure how this stacks up with Peters' back story, but you know where I'm going....

That is one hot Russian wannabe-wife in the avatar, man.

That's absolutely unsurprising given that the game was called by three of the biggest idiots in sports.

I wonder how much of Peters' ability to make plays on ST and the OL was due to his freakish athletic ability, rather than his mental uptake capacity.