Rapid Reaction - 10 Observations About Tonight’s Game

[Wayne Cubed]

It appears you're having a hard time with the fact you called them "lousy" yet when the proper comparison was made to the first team starter, their performance was not far off. Do I think they, as in that group, would be just as good as McCoy? No I don't and never said that.

 

I have no problem with the fact that I called them lousy. Again, you brought up McCoy, implying that these 3 RBs wouldn't be that far off from his production. Why did you bring him up if you don't think they would be just as good as McCoy? That's the basis for your entire argument, a running back by committee.

 

 

You didn't say, of course not, you implied it.

Edited August 21, 2015 by Wayne Cubed

[starrymessenger]

So funny (or painful maybe?) how the board morphs everything into a black and white, THIS guy or THAT guy thing...LOL. There is never any in-between.

Truth is, TT looked very impressive and EJ did a LOT working with very little, and clearly has improved. We should all be happy about BOTH occurrences, but for some reason we aren't.

I mostly agree with this. I thought Taylor continued to show that he is capable of moving the team downfield. One thing I did not like was the sack because it showed a total lack of awareness on his part since it was obvious from the alignment where the pressure was coming from (right side of the Brown's line) and he had plenty of room to extend the play by continuing to move naturally to his right. In fact it looked like had he done that the linebacker would have been between a rock and a hard place. What I don't know is whether he stopped because he thought he saw a play developing with a receiver coming open. Even then he has to remember to give himself enuf time to get rid of the ball if he needs to. His pass to Thompson in the endzone was under thrown and could have been picked off by a starting calibre DB (Brown's were thin there because of injury). On the other hand it could have been caught for a TD. I cut Taylor some slack tho because he let it go with the snap, Thompson is a burner and I would imagine they still need to work on timing. Having said that I still would like to see long ball accuracy from Taylor (he has the arm strength). Not saying he can't do it, just need to better see it. He did make an outstanding throw on a line (and catch) to Thompson on an out pattern. He was fine connecting on the short stuff. People keep saying he needs to throw from the pocket. Yes but only if we understand that the pocket for him is not the same place as it is for someone like Brady or Peyton. He's not six foot five. He needs to move to one side or the other to better see the throwing lanes when he has to make reads. Russell Wilson is a pass first guy who can run if he needs to but who makes a lot of his passes outside the pocket narrowly defined. With Roman I think Tyrod will always run more since there will be a number of designed plays for him, but sometimes the pocket will have to move when he is passing.

Overall EJ did well IMO. The two endzone tosses to Davis, the PI and the very next one hauled in for a TD were without question both big time starting calibre QB throws. He looked good working the pocket at times and the short stuff, something he's had problems with, was generally on target (except for one throw that wound up in the dirt again in front of an open receiver, a RB I believe). I believe Rex when he says he is going to go with three QBs on the 53. Makes perfect sense to me that he would keep all of his options given that the all important position is somewhat unsettled, regardless of who starts in game one. No question IMO that if he could find some consistency and if the game could slow down for him a bit more EJ would be the starter, but I don't know if he can do that. I've been skeptical of him given the nature of his apparent problems but he's been better, a lot better, on occasion in this preseason than I have seen before. So maybe he's improving.

I really like Thompson and Davis. The Bills coaches certainly know better than me, and there are many aspects to playing the WR position at this level that we as fans cannot properly evaluate but I'd almost be in favour of switching Thompson and Davis for the often injured Goodwin and Hogan (who is game to be sure but limited talentwise). I might expect Thompson and Davis to both make the team although with one on the PS. I don't think they are going to move on from Goodwin yet because Roman probably has some good ideas on how to get the most out of him (assuming he can stay healthy). I don't know that Hogan makes it. The young ones are just too talented to be denied IMO.

Edited August 21, 2015 by starrymessenger

[Buffaloed in Pa]

I mostly agree with this. I thought Taylor continued to show that he is capable of moving the team downfield. One thing I did not like was the sack because it showed a total lack of awareness on his part since it was obvious from the alignment where the pressure was coming from (right side of the Brown's line) and he had plenty of room to extend the play by continuing to move naturally to his right. In fact it looked like had he done that the linebacker would have been between a rock and a hard place. What I don't know is whether he stopped because he thought he saw a play developing with a receiver coming open. Even then he has to remember to give himself enuf time to get rid of the ball if he needs to. His pass to Thompson in the endzone was under thrown and could have been picked off by a starting calibre DB (Brown's were thin there because of injury). On the other hand it could have been caught for a TD. I cut Taylor some slack tho because he let it go with the snap, Thompson is a burner and I would imagine they still need to work on timing. Having said that I still would like to see long ball accuracy from Taylor (he has the arm strength). Not saying he can't do it, just need to better see it. He did make an outstanding throw on a line (and catch) to Thompson on an out pattern. He was fine connecting on the short stuff. People keep saying he needs to throw from the pocket. Yes but only if we understand that the pocket for him is not the same place as it is for someone like Brady or Peyton. He's not six foot five. He needs to move to one side or the other to better see the throwing lanes when he has to make reads. Russell Wilson is a pass first guy who can run if he needs to but who makes a lot of his passes outside the pocket narrowly defined. With Roman I think Tyrod will always run more since there will be a number of designed plays for him, but sometimes the pocket will have to move when he is passing.

Overall EJ did well IMO. The endzone toss to Thompson and the very next one hauled in by Davis were without question both big time starting calibre QB throws. He looked good working the pocket at times and the short stuff, something he's had problems with, was generally on target (except for one throw that wound up in the dirt again in front of an open receiver, a RB I believe). I believe Rex when he says he is going to go with three QBs on the 53. Makes perfect sense to me that he would keep all of his options given that the all important position is somewhat unsettled, regardless of who starts in game one. No question IMO that if he could find some consistency and if the game could slow down for him a bit more EJ would be the starter, but I don't know if he can do that. I've been skeptical of him given the nature of his apparent problems but he's been better, a lot better, on occasion in this preseason than I have seen before. So maybe he's improving.

I really like Thompson and Davis. The Bills coaches certainly know better than me, and there are many aspects to playing the WR position at this level that we as fans cannot properly evaluate but I'd almost be in favour of switching Thompson and Davis for the often injured Goodwin and Hogan (who is game to be sure but limited talentwise). I might expect Thompson and Davis to both make the team although with one on the PS. I don't think they are going to move on from Goodwin yet because Roman probably has some good ideas on how to get the most out of him (assuming he can stay healthy). I don't know that Hogan makes it. The young ones are just too talented to be denied IMO.

Great job. Read my mind.

[dulles]

Was it me, or did Rex look flummoxed when EJ was driving late and making plays? Now he's got a decision to make in game three. I think he was hoping EJ made it for him. I thought TT looked good, still scared he's going to put himself in harms way too often. EJ looked like a QB last night. Props to him for stepping up into the tire fire that was his pocket last night. Both guys made their reads. Encouraging play from both.

It certainly looked like EJ was aware of what had happened. Can you imagine the response on TSW if the WR didn't catch the TD or if EJ didn't recover the bad snap on the 2 point conversion? Total Meltdown! The truth is, EJ was just running for his life all night. The RB's didn't do a bad job with blitz pickups but the guards were terrible. All the blown assignments appeared to be the RG (Kuppart?) and one was definitely Richardson. EJ looked relieved and relaxed once the proper pickups were happening along the line.

 

It also appeared that Roman bailed on the running game and trusted EJ to navigate the last drive with a strong dependence on his arm. All three throws to the endzone were on target. For instance, Gruden said the throw on the post was "behind" the receiver. If that throw was "accurate" we may have witnessed an interception (a la Seahawks/Pats**). The safety was stepping in for the pick. I thought the pass was botched by the receiver. I liked it that Manuel came right back to the same throw/route/receiver. The fade/back shoulder throws were good. I thought EJ looked exceptional on the last drive.

 

I can only imagine what would have happened to Cassel with that Oline debacle! Tyrod might have joined our starting RBs and WRs at the trainers' table. I thought EJ made good out of a messy situation. I hope to see EJ in with the first team this week. I think they need to know what he can do, even if they go with Cassel or TT. Those two are so injury prone, EJ is likely to see starters minutes along the way. Pittsburgh won't be afraid to bring some heat, so it would be good to see him perform in a more realistic situation. Thank goodness those guards aren't our starters! It reminded me of last year all over again!

[ChevyVanMiller]

You can't use that word. Gruden has a it trademarked. It is the only adjective he used all night to describe the Bills' D-Line. I think he used formidable once for each of our star lineman. I usually like Gruden, but I'm a bit of a stickler when it comes to wearing out adjectives in the same piece of work.

 

I can't agree with you more about Darby. I didn't even think that PI was all that bad. it definitely was no worse than the no call in the endzone on our failed scoring drive. Like you, I wasn't too concerned about what happened last week. That pretty much happens to every young, promising corner.

Formidable post.

[BuffaloHokie13]

It certainly looked like EJ was aware of what had happened. Can you imagine the response on TSW if the WR didn't catch the TD or if EJ didn't recover the bad snap on the 2 point conversion? Total Meltdown! The truth is, EJ was just running for his life all night. The RB's didn't do a bad job with blitz pickups but the guards were terrible. All the blown assignments appeared to be the RG (Kuppart?) and one was definitely Richardson. EJ looked relieved and relaxed once the proper pickups were happening along the line.

 

It also appeared that Roman bailed on the running game and trusted EJ to navigate the last drive with a strong dependence on his arm. All three throws to the endzone were on target. For instance, Gruden said the throw on the post was "behind" the receiver. If that throw was "accurate" we may have witnessed an interception (a la Seahawks/Pats**). The safety was stepping in for the pick. I thought the pass was botched by the receiver. I liked it that Manuel came right back to the same throw/route/receiver. The fade/back shoulder throws were good. I thought EJ looked exceptional on the last drive.

 

I can only imagine what would have happened to Cassel with that Oline debacle! Tyrod might have joined our starting RBs and WRs at the trainers' table. I thought EJ made good out of a messy situation. I hope to see EJ in with the first team this week. I think they need to know what he can do, even if they go with Cassel or TT. Those two are so injury prone, EJ is likely to see starters minutes along the way. Pittsburgh won't be afraid to bring some heat, so it would be good to see him perform in a more realistic situation. Thank goodness those guards aren't our starters! It reminded me of last year all over again!

So Tyrod, who's never started a game or been injured is automatically injury prone because he's 6'1" 215lbs?

[dulles]

EJ looked better than Tears of the Clown did for the Browns. If we cut EJ another team will sign him to back up. Probably the Pats.

 

If the season started todat I would start TT until he gets hurt. Then I would play EJ until he gets hurt. Then hopefully Cassel going .500 will be enough to make the playoffs.

 

That being said I think EJ deserves the start next week just as a confirmation that he will be no more than a decent backup this year.

I think you are right about TT. He definitely gives the Bills the best immediate payoff. I just can't imagine him surviving a season. He's gotten up slowly several times in the two preseason games. Scares me. Cassel will get dinged too. Three QBs are a must. I'm comfortable with any of them.

Formidable post.

Darby certainly makes it easier to see us let McKelvin walk after this contract if money gets tight. I'd love to see them lock up Marcel before the season starts. Doesn't look promising.

[BuffaninATL]

Taylor is a one-trick pony. EJ is a real NFL QB that can both pass from the pocket and run. Even if someone isn't sold on EJ, they should realize Taylor is not the answer.

can't understand how you can still say this. He showed presence in the pocket, stepped up to make throws, got out for positive yardage when he should have been sacked, and ran a read option to perfection for a big gainer (20+ yards).

 

So please tell us how my description is indicative of TT being a one-trick pony. You're rehashing a moniker he looks to be growing out of.

[ChevyVanMiller]

 

Chevy, you're trying hard—almost as hard as EJ is—but with plays (statements) like this. you are losing all credibility. Obviously this is based on what you want to happen, not what you saw last evening. Anyhow, nice pre-season efforts, but you're odds of making Game Summary starting line-up when the real bullets fly took a big hit tonight. . . . Bill , warm up the keyboard, you're still the starter here on TBD.

No need to get snarky. I've been writing this column for a few years for the FB site. I don't post it here during the regular season because I respect it as Bill's domain on TSW. Just thought I would fill the preseason void.

Edited August 21, 2015 by ChevyVanMiller

[Lurker]

No need to get snarky.

Jut put him on ignore...

[BuffaninATL]

 

 

 

 

 

Yea that 22 yard pass, through the air, to Deonte Thompson where TT stepped up in the pocket and put it on the money. Or the two deep passes that Thompson should have caught. Passed 10 times, completed 7. Ran 4 times with 1 of them being a read option play. Was 4 for 6 on 3rd downs.

 

Your takes are hilarious

 

I agree with your take overall, but isn't a 22 yard pass inherently through the air...)) J/K, you could have easily meant a 5 yd pass and 17 yd RAC

[GG]

A lot of this "analysis" totally ignores the other side of the ball, as if Roman's play designs and the QB execution and play are the only things that matter in the outcome.

 

As was brought up in the game day thread, right now EJ is much easier to game plan against than TT because there's far more film on him. TT also brings the speed difference to his game where teams are still hesitant to bring as much pressure on him. There were a few plays in the third quarter where Pettine brought the house against EJ and got a sack when EJ ran into pursuit. TT is a bit more aware of open lanes in the pocket and there was a clear running lane to the left that he'd very likely gone for a huge gain. EJ ran to his right into a sack.

 

I think EJ did a fine job avoiding the initial pressure, but couldn't do much when Pettine had an all out attack on him. I don't think it's a coincidence that EJ got things going when the pressure was dialed down. I don't know if it was Roman's adjustments, or Pettine wanted to see his D in a different formation. I have to watch the game again.

 

But right now, TT benefits from little body of work for defenses to analyze, and his natural elusiveness. I'm guessing that's what Ryan also sees in practice and has a better view of how both QBs stack up against a similar defensive formation.

[bigK14094]

You mean, except for the two touchdown drives last week, when he actually had a running back and not a shambling corpse?

 

And oh, he's on the roster through 2017, and dirt cheap: http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/buffalo-bills/tyrod-taylor/

I stand corrected! Changes my view...going with TT makes more sense now.....

[WhitewalkerInPhilly]

On the running game, the group picked up off the street were reasonably effective behind the starting oline. Strengthens my conviction in running back by committee and saving the money for investing in the oline

40 yards in one game by the running backs is "reasonably effective"?

[NoSaint]

I'd call it lousy too. Looking at the play by play for the first half, and Goodwin's end run that was stuffed for negative 9 yards did not help.

 

Hill off RT for 3 yards

Seale off RG for 6 yards

Seale off LT for -4 yards

Seale off RG for 3 yards

Seale of RG for 2 yards

Hill off RG for 2 yards

Hill off RT for 2 yards

7 run plays for 14 yards =2.0 ypc avg

 

Hill off RT for 4 yards

Goodwin left end for -9 yards

2 run plays for -5 yards

 

Hill off RG for 10 yards

Hill off LG for -1 yards

Seale off RT for 2 yards

3 runs for 11 yards= 3.6 ypc avg,

 

Seale off RG for one yard

 

unless my math is off somewhere

 

13 run plays for 21 yards in the first half. = 1.6 ypc avg

 

The QB Taylor rushing made the rushing stats look better then they were.

if it makes you feel any better, the wr seemed to make them look worse too.

[Maddog69]

I saw EJ make the best of a difficult assignment. I don't believe Cassel (and perhaps TT) would have done as well. Actually, Cassel may have been killed.

I believe that is a major reason Cassel did not play last night. I think Rex knew he would be a sitting duck back there with that porous OL (after the first team exited) and inexperienced backs and receivers.

I'd be fine with TT and EJ as QB1 and QB2 with Cassel getting cut. Save the $4m and pass it along to Marcel.

[nucci]

EJ looked better than Tears of the Clown did for the Browns. If we cut EJ another team will sign him to back up. Probably the Pats.

 

If the season started todat I would start TT until he gets hurt. Then I would play EJ until he gets hurt. Then hopefully Cassel going .500 will be enough to make the playoffs.

 

That being said I think EJ deserves the start next week just as a confirmation that he will be no more than a decent backup this year.

Why does everyone say the Pats* will pick up every player we cut?

[Maddog69]

Why does everyone say the Pats* will pick up every player we cut?

In fairness, the Pats have picked up players we let go quite a bit recently. Chandler, Spikes and Branch off the top of my head.

I could actually see EJ going to the Jets and having a shot to start fairly quickly.

[BillsFan-4-Ever]

Why does everyone say the Pats* will pick up every player we cut?

because they have already done so a number of times.

[Rockinon]

There is a lot that can be said for making plays late in a game when your team is behind. EJ has come from behind to take the lead in 2 consecutive games. That is the very definition of clutch. I like TT, but I have some doubts as I do for each of these QBs. I don't see TT as the clear winner like many here do. EJ still has some work to do, but there is no denying that has been trending up. In fact many here act as if that is not even the case and as if they all ready know what we have in EJ.

 

I get the TT love. Seeing him avoid a sack and take off like a jet is a thing of beauty. What many are missing is an absolute improvement with EJs consistency delivering passes. He is keeping his composure under duress and nailing some beautiful passes. He is also scoring TDs.