Buffalo Bills 2018-2019

[Lanny]

The last time Gordon was a viable NFL player was 2013

[TrueBlueGED]

8 minutes ago, That Aud Smell said:

I'd say that Alex Smith benefited greatly from his role in that offence as well. Don't get me wrong: Mahomes is a terrific talent who's pretty clearly adjusting just fine to the NFL game, and looks like he's settled KC's QB situation for the next 15 years. But do I think he'd be having the same success had be been drafted by Buffalo? I do not. And I'm mostly done blaming McDermott (and Beane). They are who they are. The problems start at the top.

Smith had a career season last year with 26 TDs and 4000 yards, but his other 5 years in KC he was the same guy he's always been: good for around 20ish TDs and 3400ish yards. So sure, he may have benefited from the Chiefs offense...but Mahomes might tie Smith's passing TD total from last season in only 8 games! As a first-time starter! Would Mahomes be setting records for proficiency in his first year as a starter in Buffalo, all else equal? Almost certainly not. But given the gargantuan leap he's been over Smith in the same environment, I'm not going to sit here and downplay it too much, either. Some guys are so great they can thrive regardless of circumstances. 

After walking in the QB wilderness for two decades, the Bills traded away from a QB who is setting the league on fire in order to draft a corner and need to trade a bunch of assets next year to get a giant question mark at QB. We all love Tre White, I think, but what an apocalyptic blunder. Unless Allen turns out great, I'll never get over this. The whole thing makes me want to go full-Liger.

[TrueBlueGED]

10 minutes ago, Lanny said:

The last time Gordon was a viable NFL player was 2013

More nonsense. He's looked great every time he plays...he just gets suspended all the time.

[LGR4GM]

5 minutes ago, TrueBlueGED said:

Smith had a career season last year with 26 TDs and 4000 yards, but his other 5 years in KC he was the same guy he's always been: good for around 20ish TDs and 3400ish yards. So sure, he may have benefited from the Chiefs offense...but Mahomes might tie Smith's passing TD total from last season in only 8 games! As a first-time starter! Would Mahomes be setting records for proficiency in his first year as a starter in Buffalo, all else equal? Almost certainly not. But given the gargantuan leap he's been over Smith in the same environment, I'm not going to sit here and downplay it too much, either. Some guys are so great they can thrive regardless of circumstances. 

After walking in the QB wilderness for two decades, the Bills traded away from a QB who is setting the league on fire in order to draft a corner and need to trade a bunch of assets next year to get a giant question mark at QB. We all love Tre White, I think, but what an apocalyptic blunder. Unless Allen turns out great, I'll never get over this. The whole thing makes me want to go full-Liger.

Also I agree with that entire post so much it hurts. 

Edited October 23, 2018 by LGR4GM

[Eleven]

42 minutes ago, Lanny said:

The last time Gordon was a viable NFL player was 2013

I have a feeling he's going to have a big game on Monday.

[shrader]

2 hours ago, That Aud Smell said:

I'm not sure what's meant by "hasn't done anything yet." He's coached a bunch of NFL games. My sense is that he's had a winning record while with San Diego. That's something.

I don't watch the Chargers play very much. I just wonder what his team looks like -- what their offensive principles are and such.

This is Lynn's second season as the coach in San Diego.  Last season they finished with the same record as a Bills.  I'm comfortable calling that year a wash when comparing the two.  So really, you're down to a 5-2 season vs a 2-5 season.  I need to see how that plays out before I crown one guy over the other.  The whole grading process right now pretty much boils down to one side poorly handling a QB situation that the other side did not have to handle.

[LGR4GM]

4 minutes ago, Eleven said:

I have a feeling he's going to have a big game on Monday.

nah man, defense wins things and stuff because the weather is cold and running is good. Process over strategery

[Wyldnwoody44]

Seriously, the bills have lost me, and I wonder how long they can hold the fan base with this perpetual display of utter poop. We are a faithful, loyal bunch, but unless it's super convenient I just don't care to even try and find a television on Sundays 

[Hoss]

1 hour ago, pi2000 said:

Cooper is light years better than Gordon plus no off field issues makes a huge difference.

Cooper is a stud who was stuck in a bad situation in Oakland. 

Agreed. Maybe not “light years” but Cooper is much better. Gordon hasn’t done anything in productive in half a decade.

Edited October 23, 2018 by Hoss

[That Aud Smell]

1 hour ago, LGR4GM said:

Didn't Amari end up bottom in the league for completion percentage last year or something? The guy simply doesn't catch the ball. 

Is true.

[WildCard]

@RapSheet
#Broncos backup QB Chad Kelly was charged with first-degree criminal trespassing, the PIO of the Englewood, CO PD tells me. This happened at 1:17 am this morning. Not good.

[inkman]

3 minutes ago, WildCard said:

@RapSheet
#Broncos backup QB Chad Kelly was charged with first-degree criminal trespassing, the PIO of the Englewood, CO PD tells me. This happened at 1:17 am this morning. Not good.

Not surprising given his history. 

[That Aud Smell]

7 minutes ago, WildCard said:

@RapSheet
#Broncos backup QB Chad Kelly was charged with first-degree criminal trespassing, the PIO of the Englewood, CO PD tells me. This happened at 1:17 am this morning. Not good.

[inkman]

3 minutes ago, That Aud Smell said:

Chad is the scorpion and the Broncos are th frog:

 

A scorpion asks a frog to carry it across a river. The frog hesitates, afraid of being stung, but the scorpion argues that if it did so, they would both drown. Considering this, the frog agrees, but midway across the river the scorpion does indeed sting the frog, dooming them both. When the frog asks the scorpion why, the scorpion replies that it was in its nature to do so.

[MattPie]

1 hour ago, That Aud Smell said:

The rest of the quote from McDermott, btw:

 

That said, as the game has evolved over the years, it's become a pass driven league. You need to be able to throw the ball from a dropback standpoint when you have to throw the ball. Whether it's two minute or third downs or the red zone, those are big parts of game."

Does that change anyone’s view of the matter?

I still think it reflects an antiquated view of offensive foobaw. 

Not much, due to the bold part. Most modern coaches would be talking about a balanced attack to keep the defense off-balance. This quote is "it's a pass driven league, but I'm still only passing when forced".

[WildCard]

Eli Apple traded to the Saints

 

[TrueBlueGED]

25 minutes ago, WildCard said:

@RapSheet
#Broncos backup QB Chad Kelly was charged with first-degree criminal trespassing, the PIO of the Englewood, CO PD tells me. This happened at 1:17 am this morning. Not good.

This is less surprising than Derek Anderson throwing footballs to the wrong team.

[pi2000]

12 minutes ago, inkman said:

Chad is the scorpion and the Broncos are th frog:

 

A scorpion asks a frog to carry it across a river. The frog hesitates, afraid of being stung, but the scorpion argues that if it did so, they would both drown. Considering this, the frog agrees, but midway across the river the scorpion does indeed sting the frog, dooming them both. When the frog asks the scorpion why, the scorpion replies that it was in its nature to do so.

Two mice fell into a bucket of cream.   After analyzing the situation and realizing it was hopeless, one mouse simply gave up and drown.    The other mouse swam so hard for so long that he churned that cream into butter and climbed out of the bucket.    Which mouse are you?

[Eleven]

1 hour ago, Wyldnwoody44 said:

Seriously, the bills have lost me, and I wonder how long they can hold the fan base with this perpetual display of utter poop. We are a faithful, loyal bunch, but unless it's super convenient I just don't care to even try and find a television on Sundays 

I'm not, when it comes to this team, and I'm not ashamed to admit it.  I typically won't watch past week 6 if they're not .500 or better.  (I likely will watch a couple of games once Allen comes back, just to see how he's progressing.)  There's too much other stuff to do on Sundays.

[JohnRobertEichel]

In my opinion, you can still win big in this league with a traditional formula that would make Lou Saban and Chuck Knox blush with pride: that is, a great defense and a run-oriented ball control offense with an efficient, opportunistic passing game.

Where McDermott and Beane have failed so far is that:

1. They have yet to build an elite defense. 4th overall in yards/game is very good, but they range from mediocre to poor in most other metrics, including 22nd overall in passer rating allowed and 26th overall in 3rd down %. This is not exactly the 85 Bears or 00 Ravens or 02 Bucs or 13 Seahawks here.

2. They have yet to build a strong running game on offense. The Bills are currently among the bottom quarter of rushing offenses in terms of yards/carry (3.9).

3. They clearly have yet to put together an efficient passing game. The median team passer rating in the NFL is 94.6, a number which was once the domain of the truly elite passing offenses in the 20th century. So the definition of "efficient passing game" is now skewed to somewhere in the 90's. Where are the Bills currently at? 48.8. I kid you not. Forty-eight point eight. Next closest is the vaunted Arizona aerial assault with 64.7.

Their excuses for the aforementioned include: dead cap space, unexpected Wood/Incognito retirement, necessary rookie QB growing pains, etc... I was sort of willing to accept these reasons, but only to a point. Getting blown out in what will be 5 of 8 games this season does not make me "trust" whatever "process" is being espoused.

Not-so-fun fact: the Buffalo Bills last won a Monday night football game in 1999. They have been 0-6 since.

[LGR4GM]

4 minutes ago, FuhrUrsinne said:

In my opinion, you can still win big in this league with a traditional formula that would make Lou Saban and Chuck Knox blush with pride: that is, a great defense and a run-oriented ball control offense with an efficient, opportunistic passing game.

Where McDermott and Beane have failed so far is that:

1. They have yet to build an elite defense. 4th overall in yards/game is very good, but they range from mediocre to poor in most other metrics, including 22nd overall in passer rating allowed and 26th overall in 3rd down %. This is not exactly the 85 Bears or 00 Ravens or 02 Bucs or 13 Seahawks here.

2. They have yet to build a strong running game on offense. The Bills are currently among the bottom quarter of rushing offenses in terms of yards/carry (3.9).

3. They clearly have yet to put together an efficient passing game. The median team passer rating in the NFL is 94.6, a number which was once the domain of the truly elite passing offenses in the 20th century. So the definition of "efficient passing game" is now skewed to somewhere in the 90's. Where are the Bills currently at? 48.8. I kid you not. Forty-eight point eight. Next closest is the vaunted Arizona aerial assault with 64.7.

Their excuses for the aforementioned include: dead cap space, unexpected Wood/Incognito retirement, necessary rookie QB growing pains, etc... I was sort of willing to accept these reasons, but only to a point. Getting blown out in what will be 5 of 8 games this season does not make me "trust" whatever "process" is being espoused.

Not-so-fun fact: the Buffalo Bills last won a Monday night football game in 1999. They have been 0-6 since.

You aren't winning anything in this league when you are playing teams with decent lines, 3 deep at WR, with a pass catching RB and a good QB. Mahomes put up 28 points in a half of football the other day. Ball control is great but when it takes the other team 4minutes to score and you 8, you are on the wrong side of the math. 

A modern NFL defense should be designed to get tournovers or slow down an offense. Any good offense will score points and the fact we have destroyed our offense to the point where getting 14points by the opposing team means the games over is insane. I literally called the Colts game over when they got 14. I watched 2 more offensive possessions and that was that. There isn't a defense in the NFL that can limit a good passing team to less than 14 points except on the best of days. You have to score, long gone are the days of 17-10 wins. You are winning 38-27 these days. 

Edited October 23, 2018 by LGR4GM

[pi2000]

It's going to flip back to run and stop the run.     Passing is at it's peak.    Defenses are currently very light up front and drafting lean lanky LBs that can cover.

Some team is going to come along that just pounds the ball with a big physical OL and RB, and they won't be stopped, then the rest of the league will need to adjust. 

[sabills]

7 minutes ago, pi2000 said:

It's going to flip back to run and stop the run.     Passing is at it's peak.    Defenses are currently very light up front and drafting lean lanky LBs that can cover.

Some team is going to come along that just pounds the ball with a big physical OL and RB, and they won't be stopped, then the rest of the league will need to adjust. 

The Bills have been trying this for years.

[JohnRobertEichel]

2 minutes ago, pi2000 said:

It's going to flip back to run and stop the run.     Passing is at it's peak.    Defenses are currently very light up front and drafting lean lanky LBs that can cover.

Some team is going to come along that just pounds the ball with a big physical OL and RB, and they won't be stopped, then the rest of the league will need to adjust. 

 

Exactly. NFL history shows that teams adapt to trends all the time. Defenses will adjust to the KC offense in time. Right now, many defenses aren't built to contain them. The Bengals were one of those teams on Sunday. Any team that is deep at CB, has fast LB's, and can dial up creative blitz packages should be able to slow Mahomes down this year.

Also, it should be noted that having an identity of a "ball-control offense" does not necessarily mean that the offense is incapable of scoring quickly when circumstances warrant it. Every offense, for example, runs 2-minute drills and has specialized players on the roster needed to execute these plays.

And of course I don't subscribe to the idea that scoring in 4 minutes is inherently superior to scoring in 8 minutes. Time of possession is often a very important factor in deciding games.

[LGR4GM]

14 minutes ago, pi2000 said:

It's going to flip back to run and stop the run.     Passing is at it's peak.    Defenses are currently very light up front and drafting lean lanky LBs that can cover.

Some team is going to come along that just pounds the ball with a big physical OL and RB, and they won't be stopped, then the rest of the league will need to adjust. 

Todd Gurley is that big physical runner. The thing is when he gets shut down, or they put 8 in the box, Goff just throws it to 1 of 3 wideouts. Linebackers are never going to be so small that they can't tackle a runner. They have to be big enough to fight through offensive lineman. It's finding a balance of athletic enough to drop into coverage but big enough to plug the hole on the run. The league isn't going back to running all the time, ever. The reason is simple, the rules are designed to throw the ball. QB's and WR's are protected in every way possible making it easier than ever to get them the ball.