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1. I thought EJ got the short end of the stick last year and felt like we cut from him too early last year. He clearly wasn't good, but we needed to see him perform to make an final decision. You could have said that the houston game was all you needed, but his draft status and cost required a full look. Last week, i felt like i could move on from him because of his "spin his back to the line, scramble into a tackler and taking an intentional grounding near the endzone." it was a rookie move that showed no sign of progress. and what made it worse is that he got benched last year, and had a camp where he was constantly on the bubble. He knew he had to be better than that and he didn't show a single step towards being a consistent qb. Every qb on every team in the NFL can make some great plays at some point. the top 10 QBs do it with consistency.
Then this game, he fumbles for a td. That fumble was largely avoidable. he should have seen that guy coming the whole way. It wasn't a blind side hit. and frankly the term "slow eyes" was very evident before that play. you could see he was only looking in one direction and waiting for the receiver to make his break. And i think this also looks like an issue for tyrod as well. They aren't throwing to space. They are looking for open receivers then throwing. That's the difference between college and NFL. You aren't going to have a ton of plays with guys wide open. If you don't trust the play, you aren't ready to be a starter.
I was watching with a friend. At the end of the 1st half, i said, "ej needs to win this game to have a chance to ever be on the field as an NFL player after this game." And simply making it closer did him no favors. Maybe he plays in two weeks because of TT's injury, but this is his last season in the NFL. He had several butt fumble worthy moments this game.
2. The defense played well enough to win. they did not give up 14 of those points and gave up a TD when momentum was clearly sucked from them from the other two TDs. That's 21 points that largely isn't on their shoulders. They also got that goal line stuff and started turning the tide of momentum back. That being said, you can't give up an 89 yard drive to a team that you didn't give up a first down for 20 minuets. and you can't give up a long 8 minute drive to open the second half. even though they got the goal line stop, they didn't do enough to be elite. they have the pay structure to be top 5. not top 15.
3. The refs were terrible. period. But both ways. if it was reverse, and robert woods was on the opposition, i would have been angry at the TD. His foot looked mostly out of bounds. and it looked out of bounds by a mile at real time. Corey Graham's TD in reverse, i would have been angry if that TD stood with the interference on the WR who couldn't complete his route.
4. The Chris Gragg reception 4 yards out of bounds was embarassing. and it highlights how little attention to detail the team has. The snap in the wild cat that hit woods, the gragg throw, some of EJ's crazy inaccuracy, Hogan and clay had drops on catchable passes, shady's fumble at a critical point....other teams don't make so many killer mistakes so routinely. Even in the giants game, the bills did enough to win, but made too many mistakes. It's not getting better...and that is on the coaches. The players are not executing. And it's not one or two plays. It is on the coaches to figure this out and get it fixed.
5. Whaley has increased the talent level on this team over the past 3 years, but he's also gambled in a couple spots and they've all backfired on him. he went with EJ. and doubled down with Sammy to make EJ better. Those gambles will define him more so than building a roster with actual talent. I know it can be hard to say that when the team is imploding, but look back on the gaily/Jauron year. our best players were nobodies drafted late or not at all. Then our 1st rounders were garbage. So he changed that. On paper, we are competitive. But in execution, they are one of the worst teams in football. And that will define him.
I think he's on the hot seat this week. You don't lose to the jags who left for london on friday and your ownership spent to have the entire team there for a week. Personally, if whaley is a discussion of getting fired, you are best doing it now so that your new staff has this season to evaluate the current staff/players and has time to scout and assess what they want for the draft now. It's not a doom and gloom decision. it could be the right long term decision.
6. The Cowboys MNF game was the worst loss. And somehow when TD ran the TD back i thought we cowboy'd the jags. we had no business winning that game, but had the lead. Only the bills could blow it at the end.
7. This bills team isn't really likable. Some of the 2006-2011 teams were likable despite being bad. they fought all game. even the 2000 bills were fun despite the 3-13 record. The number of times they've been blown out in quarter 2-start of4 is pathetic. Pats, bengals, giants, tennesse, and jags. We've only played 7 games and 5 of them there were large gaps of nothing happening. they werent' entertaining. they didn't make plays, and they didn't get stops. I was hoping this brash rex team was going to be about taking no mercy and being a likable team and getting rid of the drought. and frankly, i don't think this team really seems worthy of being the team to stop the drought. I don't want the team that barely shows up and maybe squeaks out a few wins to only get blown out in the playoffs be the team that stops it. i want a firey team that still has a chance despite what the pundits say. This team is exactly what the pundits say. over-rated and a lot of applause without providing the show.
Then this game, he fumbles for a td. That fumble was largely avoidable. he should have seen that guy coming the whole way. It wasn't a blind side hit. and frankly the term "slow eyes" was very evident before that play. you could see he was only looking in one direction and waiting for the receiver to make his break. And i think this also looks like an issue for tyrod as well. They aren't throwing to space. They are looking for open receivers then throwing. That's the difference between college and NFL. You aren't going to have a ton of plays with guys wide open. If you don't trust the play, you aren't ready to be a starter.
I was watching with a friend. At the end of the 1st half, i said, "ej needs to win this game to have a chance to ever be on the field as an NFL player after this game." And simply making it closer did him no favors. Maybe he plays in two weeks because of TT's injury, but this is his last season in the NFL. He had several butt fumble worthy moments this game.
2. The defense played well enough to win. they did not give up 14 of those points and gave up a TD when momentum was clearly sucked from them from the other two TDs. That's 21 points that largely isn't on their shoulders. They also got that goal line stuff and started turning the tide of momentum back. That being said, you can't give up an 89 yard drive to a team that you didn't give up a first down for 20 minuets. and you can't give up a long 8 minute drive to open the second half. even though they got the goal line stop, they didn't do enough to be elite. they have the pay structure to be top 5. not top 15.
3. The refs were terrible. period. But both ways. if it was reverse, and robert woods was on the opposition, i would have been angry at the TD. His foot looked mostly out of bounds. and it looked out of bounds by a mile at real time. Corey Graham's TD in reverse, i would have been angry if that TD stood with the interference on the WR who couldn't complete his route.
4. The Chris Gragg reception 4 yards out of bounds was embarassing. and it highlights how little attention to detail the team has. The snap in the wild cat that hit woods, the gragg throw, some of EJ's crazy inaccuracy, Hogan and clay had drops on catchable passes, shady's fumble at a critical point....other teams don't make so many killer mistakes so routinely. Even in the giants game, the bills did enough to win, but made too many mistakes. It's not getting better...and that is on the coaches. The players are not executing. And it's not one or two plays. It is on the coaches to figure this out and get it fixed.
5. Whaley has increased the talent level on this team over the past 3 years, but he's also gambled in a couple spots and they've all backfired on him. he went with EJ. and doubled down with Sammy to make EJ better. Those gambles will define him more so than building a roster with actual talent. I know it can be hard to say that when the team is imploding, but look back on the gaily/Jauron year. our best players were nobodies drafted late or not at all. Then our 1st rounders were garbage. So he changed that. On paper, we are competitive. But in execution, they are one of the worst teams in football. And that will define him.
I think he's on the hot seat this week. You don't lose to the jags who left for london on friday and your ownership spent to have the entire team there for a week. Personally, if whaley is a discussion of getting fired, you are best doing it now so that your new staff has this season to evaluate the current staff/players and has time to scout and assess what they want for the draft now. It's not a doom and gloom decision. it could be the right long term decision.
6. The Cowboys MNF game was the worst loss. And somehow when TD ran the TD back i thought we cowboy'd the jags. we had no business winning that game, but had the lead. Only the bills could blow it at the end.
7. This bills team isn't really likable. Some of the 2006-2011 teams were likable despite being bad. they fought all game. even the 2000 bills were fun despite the 3-13 record. The number of times they've been blown out in quarter 2-start of4 is pathetic. Pats, bengals, giants, tennesse, and jags. We've only played 7 games and 5 of them there were large gaps of nothing happening. they werent' entertaining. they didn't make plays, and they didn't get stops. I was hoping this brash rex team was going to be about taking no mercy and being a likable team and getting rid of the drought. and frankly, i don't think this team really seems worthy of being the team to stop the drought. I don't want the team that barely shows up and maybe squeaks out a few wins to only get blown out in the playoffs be the team that stops it. i want a firey team that still has a chance despite what the pundits say. This team is exactly what the pundits say. over-rated and a lot of applause without providing the show.
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