Honest, it goes to show you how important coaching guys to actually use their talent is. Bills have had several high draft picks along the defense and good players throughout the past several years but like the Texans before Wade and his staff came over, they didn't live up to what we expected. I remember reading or hearing about one of the reasons Mario said he signed with them was the promise of being part of one of the league's best defensive groups but I kept thinking did Mario forget about all the "talent" that Texans similarly had during his tenure where it was a middling defense at best until the end. Adding in the turnover machine they have at QB every other game, the Bills are a train wreck. I personally, still like Mario Williams and technically, the Bills are still in the hunt for their division or a wild card spot, so I believe he will play. But, unless he turns his game up another notch or our offense lays a Green Bay style egg (or he destroys Newton/Harris confidence early), I don't see this going well for his new team. But I fully, expect some of our fans to boo Mario because it seems that we now do that to former players, and their is a thought among the fanbase that Mario is somehow competing with Watt, even though we all should know that isn't the case.
I agree that the numbers are about the same as they've always been, but it's the timing of the catches that jump out to me. It seems like he's making more plays on third downs than he ever did here. Also, in 2011, for the Texans, Andre Johnson was out for most of the year, which allowed Jacoby to be targeted more often. Right now, he's playing on the same field as Anquan Boldin and Torrey Smith. And, on top of all that, the stats don't take into account massive pass interference penalties that he's getting to help the Ravens move the ball down the field. So while I agree he's not exactly Percy Harvin out there, he is still helping the Ravens in far more aspects than he helped the Texans. And, I simply CANNOT ignore the special teams impact he is having. 33 yards a return against the Texans! Can you imagine how OUR offense would look if we weren't starting our drives on our own 15 yard line every single time?? If the Texans were starting at their own 30, I'm guessing they'd be even MORE efficient than they already are.
Haha, despite the fact that THIS season, we might sit on different sides of the fence as far as Jacoby is concerned, the parallels between him and Mario in this aspect are too funny. Both players had every excuse in the book for why they weren't performing, when in reality, they are both just consistently inconsistent.
Myself, my eyebrows hit the ceiling when I saw that Mario was switching to RDE in the offseason. That tells you a lot about the situation. 1. Mario wanted an easier road 2. The coaching staff let Mario call his own shots, even if it's not in the best interest of the team. Zero accountability over there. Wannstedt has a rep of being a "players coach" ...but in a bad way - doesn't demand results from his guys or bring a stick if they loaf. Don't forget that it was only a couple years ago that Okoye let slip that there were certain unnamed players on the team that needed "help" getting motivated to play. AJ and Bob McNair were less subtle later on regarding Mario. Now, he's the highest paid player on the Bills and has the coaching staff in his pocket. Chan Gailey's made some rather nebulous comments about the wrist that suggest he thinks it's a sham, but he seems to know that he'll be sent packing long before MW. The Bills franchise is just mired in accepted underachievement. There's no impetus for change. Ralph Wilson hasn't attended a game in two years. Is an absentee owner calling for heads? The fans are resigned to being pathetic and are so petrified of the franchise leaving town they wouldn't dare protest with their wallets. I don't see a need to boo Mario. He wanted to cash in, teams were ready to bid, and the Texans would have been hard pressed to keep him even with a paycut. As soon as Wade came on, I figured he was going to be an awkward fit. He's a "pure" 4-3 end. He did an admirable job standing up for 5 games, but that wasn't his real position and it showed. I don't compare him to Barwin or Watt. His position simply doesn't exist anymore. The Texans would have done him and themselves a disservice trying to keep him as a WOLB. The nice thing about the NFL is that it's tough to boo a single guy if they're not a QB. And I don't think there's near the venom for Mario as their was for Jacoby. That was a guy that the fans wanted to chase out of town with pitchforks and torches. At least half the fanbase clamored to find a way to keep Williams. BTW, here's one of the recent threads on Mario over in Bills Land: http://forums.twobillsdrive.com/top...he-cancer-that-is-dragging-this-defense-down/ Football Outsiders on the Bills D: http://www.footballoutsiders.com/any-given-sunday/2012/any-given-sunday-titans-over-bills (Frank Bush gets a hollar!) Football Outsiders also on Bills D, with a little more attention given to Mario http://www.footballoutsiders.com/word-muth/2012/word-muth-beaten-bills
Mario's personality just sucks. I had a decent convo with him a few years back. He's too laid back, quiet, reserved...whatever you wanna call it. AJ is like that too but he doesn't lack intensity on the field. It's telling that people playing pick-up ball or flag football play with more fire than Mario.
I disagree. I think he was really starting to 'get it' right before he got hurt last year. Look at his stats for the steelers game (last full game before pec injury). 5 tackles and 2 sacks. He took over that game. He was chasing Big Ben all over the place on every play. I'm of the opinion that he would have really flourished as an OLB in Wade's system. Even more so than at DE in a 4-3. But he was faced with a decision - either work his ass off and eventually become great as an OLB or become REALLY REALLY rich and just coast as a DE on a crap team. In the end, he made his decision.
Honestly, I think it's psychology. Either he's done well in the limited sample you've watched or anything Jacoby-related stands out because your expectations are so low. I just went and looked, and he's had a whopping three third down catches and three pass interference penalties called. All year. Those are pretty small potatoes. (And it's not as if he never had those with the Texans - arguably the biggest play of the last-minute drive in Cincinnati to clinch the division was the pass-interference call Jacoby got with 20 seconds left to set us up at the 5.) I'd also remind you that in one of Baltimore's two losses (at Philly), Jacoby's offensive pass interference negated a touchdown and forced the Ravens to settle for a field goal. They lost by one. The bottom line is that in a pass-heavy offense, his production is poor, even for a slot receiver. Brandon Stokley is 36 years old and has virtually no burst left. He has 19 catches and three touchdowns, despite playing in one fewer game than Jones. Andrew Hawkins with the Bengals has 27 catches for 346 and two touchdowns. Those are just a couple examples off the top of my head. It's debatable whether it's worse than last year, but any way you slice it, it's bad. If there's one thing the Texans have taught me, it's that the return game is largely about the scheme. The Ravens were 9th in KO return yards last year; they're up to 5th this year. A slight upgrade, but nothing enormous. Meanwhile, the Texans are consistently among the worst in the league when it comes to special teams and have been for some time. That said, I'll concede Jones is a solid special-teams player. I'm not trying to ignore it. I'm just trying to debunk the notion that he's at all a capable NFL receiver.
I always defended Mario; he was slightly underrated here and never deserved the vitriol thrown his way. But when he chose to sign with Buffalo... any and every mention of his heart, his motor, his committment - they all suddenly resonated. Said it then, I'll say it now: good for him for securing the future of several generations of his family - but that was a gutless decision, IMO.
In a lets pretend mindset...lets say Mario said its not about the money, its about the team, this city and getting a trophy, I want to stay, give me a reasonable contract, but take me out of the OLB position....could Mario have played end in a 3-4? ..Watt, Mario, and Antonio up front...Mario supposedly played the run well. Put him at NT, and alternate with Watt (with Watt playing all over like he does),.. Would we be better off?
Assuming it didn't handicap Wade's scheme in any way - yes, trading Cody for Williams would absolutely be an upgrade, all things being equal. But even with a reasonable contract, bringing Mario back almost certainly would have led to more Winston-like cuts, or non-signings (ie Foster or Myers). The team is better off without him.
I wasnt really worried, when some people were saying that the texans defense was going to be worse, because we lost mario williams. Like I said before in other threads about Mario Williams, he decided that this was the only time that he could get a big paycheck, and getting a more secure future, over having an average or below average contract with a contender team. so in a few words, he picked money over playing for a contender.
In NBA, if Mario played in the NBA, it would affect his team, but in the NFL, it is truly a team game. Remember Texans did not get Asomugha, instead we use that money on D.Manning and J.Joseph. If we signed Mario, we probaly would not have money to sign Barwin, Watts and Reed. So glad, we have JJ Watts who has worn Astros cap and just bleeds in Houston.
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