A Few Thoughts About The Game, in no particular order.....

[GG]

Were you there?

 

Yup, upper deck. The wind made Orchard Park proud, from mid third quarter simultaneous east-west gusts were crazy.

[stony]

Good stuff here Bill. My thoughts:

 

1) We have our Russell Wilson.

 

2) Linebacker play and depth is still a huge issue for this team - Lawson simply cannot run anymore.

 

3) Colton Schmidt should've caught that snap - but he is an all-pro punter. Wasn't his best game but I really trust him back there.

 

4) The o-line had a pretty terrible first half and a pretty solid second half. It bugs me that they seem unable to convert on short, important third downs. Miller in particular needs to get stronger.

 

5) Darby is not just rookie of the year at this point - he is one of the top cornerbacks in the NFL and, in my opinion, is a better player than Gilmore already. Sick draft pick. His natural skills are off the charts good, but you can tell that he also puts in a ton of work in the film room - he's running the WRs routes for them most of the time. Gilmore may be expendable next year if they decide to address other priorities, like Glenn and some FA linebackers.

 

6) Dareus was a beast last night.

 

7) Why were the Jets throwing it short of the sticks on 4th down? It happened what, twice? They have big, tall receivers so I guess that's the thinking? But it was very, very stupid.

 

8) How does the NFL screw up clock stoppages in multiple primetime games? The forward progress explanation is total B.S. - Clay ran out of bounds! Is it me or has the NFL's officiating hit an all-time low? The replacement refs were better than this.

 

9) I love Sammy but he needs to re-focus himself a bit, he had a really bad game with the exception of that key first down catch. He mis-timed his jump on the opening drive and then dropped what would've been a huge gain (and I think a TD). He spent way too much time jawing with Revis yesterday and not enough time making plays when it mattered. Dude needs to become more consistent.

 

10) Speaking of consistency, Robert Woods has been consistently bad. He runs his routes too short (he's the new Hogan, constantly 1 yard shy of the first down marker) and generally does not gain enough separation. I'm not sure what his issue is, but his play seems to have declined from last season. WR is a big priority for this team this offseason.

 

Great article in the BN explaining how Gilmore has helped mentor Darby. They watch a lot of film together, something Gilmore explains no other vets did with him while he was a rookie. As for letting Gilmore walk, I don't think Rex is going to let the Revis/Cromartie departure fiasco happen all over again. Plus he's really freaking good.

[NOVABillsFan]

A good effort by the whole team.

The Defense helped the Offense out in this game. Something I don't recall seeing happen (or so it has appeared that way to me).

It was also good to see the 2 fumble recoveries and 2 INT's!

what was lacking -

Third Down Efficiency 5/16 - 31%
Times Sacked (Number-Yards) 4 - 26

Did Mario have the flu? I heard one mention of him being in the locker rom and that was it.

I heard the announcers on TV saying he was feeling ill. I too thought of the flu.

[Bill from NYC]

17/27, 158 yards, 1 TD, 4 sacks

 

missing big strike to Watkins on opening play

You are blaming Tyrod for things that were not his fault.

 

Sammy played a clutch game but he clearly left his feet too soon on the opening play.

 

4 sacks? Not bad with an average OL, and playing against a monster DL, this on the road.

 

The bottom line with Tyrod is that the kid is good. Is there room to improve? Sure, and there is no reason to think that he will not get better with time.

 

I'm liking it.

Edited November 13, 2015 by Bill from NYC

[BillsFan-4-Ever]

You are blaming Tyrod for things that were not his fault.

 

4 sacks? Not bad with an average OL, and playing against a monster DL, this on the road.

 

I need to ask. Did you ever criticize EJ for taking these types of sacks? I believe a bunch of the EJ sucks crowd has which drips with irony

4 sacks a game is unacceptable. period.

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

You are blaming Tyrod for things that were not his fault.

 

Sammy played a clutch game but he clearly left his feet too soon on the opening play.

 

4 sacks? Not bad with an average OL, and playing against a monster DL, this on the road.

 

The bottom line with Tyrod is that the kid is good. Is there room to improve? Sure, and there is no reason to think that he will not get better with time.

 

I'm liking it.

 

Ah, Bills fans. Hope springs ever eternal.

[Maury Ballstein]

I need to ask. Did you ever criticize EJ for taking these types of sacks? I believe a bunch of the EJ sucks crowd has which drips with irony4 sacks a game is unacceptable. period.

Will you ever give this a rest ? Ej's in the past. You and Metz both are insanely repetitive on the Ej stuff. No one cares.

[Bad Things]

One last thing... I can't stand it when the broadcast shifts to (ex NFL referee) Mike Carey, for his "expert" opinions when penalties are called.

Just get on with the friggin' game!

[NickelCity]

I need to ask. Did you ever criticize EJ for taking these types of sacks? I believe a bunch of the EJ sucks crowd has which drips with irony

4 sacks a game is unacceptable. period.

 

I've never really jumped into the EJ fracas on here in earnest, but I don't think this is a great comparison. Tyrod has negative plays like Barry Sanders had negative plays - they're balanced out by the possibility of positive running plays a la the Titans game (note: I'm not equating Tyrod to Sanders as a player). EJ was a disappointment on the scrambling front (and as a passer, of course), so it was harder to endure his negative sacks/plays.

Edited November 13, 2015 by NickelCity

[DrDawkinstein]

One last thing... I can't stand it when the broadcast shifts to (ex NFL referee) Mike Carey, for his "expert" opinions when penalties are called.

Just get on with the friggin' game!

 

Except that even HE agreed the refs blew the spot on our first challenged call. There was no way a challenge would get that type of play overturned, but typically Carey falls in line with whatever the refs call. Not last night. They were so bad, they werent worth risking whatever cred he has built up over his career.

[NickelCity]

 

Except that even HE agreed the refs blew the spot on our first challenged call. There was no way a challenge would get that type of play overturned, but typically Carey falls in line with whatever the refs call. Not last night. They were so bad, they werent worth risking whatever cred he has built up over his career.

 

They had a handful of horrible ball spots. It pissed me off for sure. I thought the first one (that was challenged) was so egregious that it was a good challenge. I guess I was wrong.

[BillsFan-4-Ever]

Will you ever give this a rest ? Ej's in the past. You and Metz both are insanely repetitive on the Ej stuff. No one cares.

I have tried just read my posts over the past 2 weeks. Today it seems EJ is a hot topic so I invoked his name.

 

Do you agree or disagree that 4 sacks per game is bad?

Do you agree or disagree that punting shinola on 4 sacks being acceptable because he uses his feet well as a valid excuse?

 

Poll Please Yolo

 

Do you agree or disagree that 4 sacks per game is bad?

Edited November 13, 2015 by BillsFan-4-Ever

[DrDawkinstein]

 

They had a handful of horrible ball spots. It pissed me off for sure. I thought the first one (that was challenged) was so egregious that it was a good challenge. I guess I was wrong.

 

Oh, I agree it should have been challenged, if for no other reason than to let the refs know that **** wont fly. It's just very difficult to get those types of spots moved since it was midfield, the runner was standing up, and there were no good reference points.