WhitewalkerInPhilly

Rosen was honestly my choice over Allen for the pick at 7. Since then, I can happily admit that I was wrong about Allen, and I'm even starting to drink the Kool-Aid about him being a franchise QB. That said, a lot of the complaints that I heard about Rosen seemed unfair. That his Judaism was going to get in the way in a heavily Christian locker room. That his family being well off meant that he didn't "need football" and would be less driven to succeed. To me, it's now more telling that the Phins won't replace Fitz for him, but it's hard to deny that the Dolphins look incredibly dysfunctional right now. They are very clearly and purposefully shedding talent for the future, and while they aren't alone, they are doing it hardcore and looking dreadful in the process. Now, every player with the talent to be valuable elsewhere is desperately looking to leave. I doubt that Aaron Rodgers or Mahomes would look halfway decent in that situation.

It's way, way, way too early to make a decision on that yet. However, it's really telling that certainly media personalities have narratives they are sticking too. Mike Tanier at Bleache Report (I know, I know), had a comment along the lines of "Allen can provide one rushing and one passing TD highlight per game, and then miss his receivers by 10 yards for the rest of the game". In their mind, Allen is "inaccurate", despite the fact that he within half a percentage point of Carson Wentz and has a higher completion % than Goff, Aaron Rodgers, Mayfield, Winston, Mayfield, Trubinsky and their new favorite "baller" Kyler Murray. And yet not a peep. If Allen was putting up numbers like what Mayfield has so far, we would be hearing about what a phenomenal bust and waste of a pick he was.

No, I was thinking of the Poyer. While I am not a Greggo, headhunting advocate, I like that other teams have on film that if their QB has to throw late and behind, that their receivers are going to get hit hard in the middle of the field. Poyer wasn't going for a helmet to helmet, and it looked as if he was going for a clean, if hard hit. I would rather that he decks a guy aiming for a clean hit than he whiffs and the guy brushes it off and waltzes into the end zone.

Wow. My buddy who is a Ravens fan is going to be thrilled. But in regards to us, it's early, but looking around, we have a nice start on the wild card race as a backup if we can't take the division from the Pats.

Of course, the flip side to the youthful inexperience is that I can easily pull out the names of half a dozen impact starters or key contributors in years 1-3 on their contracts (Allen, Singletary, Dawkins, Oliver, Milano, Edmunds, White, Wallace, Neal) and the fact that we still have $25 million in cap space also speaks very well for the potential longevity of the team as a contender as well! Dang, optimism is fun.

And again I'll say that I like the matchup and think that we should take care of business. My only caveat is that because so many of our most talented players are young, and that we are still forging our identity, that we can't take any team for granted. Even one we should gouge. I am incredibly optimistic about this team, and I think that this might be the closest we've been to legitimately challenging the Pats for the division in close to two decades, but I am strapped in for some bumps and bruises along the way.

To be fair, so am I. I am heartily encouraged by what I have seen so far, and the Bills should take care if business at home without too much issue. However, they are still young, and still going through growing pains so I don't think that the team, or the fans, should take anyone lightly. (Thankfully McDermott seems to be doing just that). I love the young talent we have picked up in the past few drafts and our O-line, but it's going to take time before they fully gel this season. (Hopefully down the stretch in time for December and January) I like the way we match up, but I have been overconfident before. Let's get that win and and go for 3-0!

If he gets fined, I think we need to start up a collection because that hit was worth every penny.

Yeah, I had the sound off and I didn't realize it until I went through the play by play today. I have no idea how that was intentional grounding. He was clearly out of the pocket, and in the process of being hit. Brady gets 15 yards and a personal apology from the player for hitting him and the refs for letting him get hit.

That was my takeaway. I mean, I wasn't beating my chest for a flag there, but you better believe that I lost my shizz when Allen got driven to the ground and Ford was the one with the penalty, when Knox got called for unnecessary roughness when he tensed up before someone collided with him and they picked up the flag in the 4th.

I'm glad you included the Y/A at the start, because I think that needs to be included in every conversation when it comes to QB accuracy. Darnold hit 68% last week, throwing slightly more passes than Josh, and yet was a full 70 something yards under Allen's total. There is also a purpose to deep throws, even if they are near misses. A deep pass shows that you can stretch the field, and forces the safety to play a bit deeper, preventing the defense from swarming the middle of the field and opening up those 10-15 yard passes that Allen consistently made in the first half.

Honestly when I saw the flag I thought "oh good, were getting the drive extended". Then I saw the hand pointed to the Bill's side and went "oh, were going to get offsetting penalties" I have no idea how dragging Allen for a few seconds after he released, grabbing his pads and shoving him to the ground isn't a penalty if lightly shoving someone after the play is. Especially when...I think it was Dawkins got shoved after the play in the second half.

And that's why we need a wall! To stop exploited people being smuggled here from *reads article*..."all from Western New York"? I guess that Wall better be between the city limits and the suburbs.?

Am I crazy, or has there been almost nothing in national media about this game? The only thing I saw was a brief blurb in the Good Morning Football crew, and that was mostly them riding the Jets.

Mmm, based on that my biggest worry is that our gameplan from last week it too much like what we should try to do this week and they now have tape on it. Bluntly, I think our secondary matches up very well with their receivers, and I would think that shutting down the rush is of primary importance. On the other side of the ball, take advantage of a bad secondary and pass a lot. Maybe more rushing, as I don't think their Run D is as good as the Jets.

I don't want to be a homer either, but I am there with you. I can't imagine anyone who is markedly better than their Bills counterpart. I mean, I would love to upgrade from Star, and maybe get another edge rusher but I do think that our D is just flat our better.

I saw him against the Eagles a bit last year, and he definitely could hit the hole. Maybe not cleanly, but he seemed to be able to keep going and adjust after glancing contact and then bust it big. Thanks a ton

Any summary for those who can't listen at work?

Nice. Yards per play might be one of the best judges of how talented a defense is now that I think about it. Per game depends on how much the offence is out on the field, so of course a defense that has to be out for more plays will potentially give up more yards.

I try to never cheer injuries, but it would be a relief if we don't have to cover him. Dude is legit.

Fair enough. I hadn't heard, and didn't see any signings when I did a quick search for offseason moves so I assumed. You definitely still have to play the games, but my gameplan hasn't changed. With a pretty threadbare WR group further reduced with Shepard's concussion, I am trusting Levi, Tre and Neil in single coverage and focusing on containing Barkley. Overall, after containing Bell, and seeing the pressure that was put on a more mobile QB I still don't imagine that the Giants are going to be putting up gangbuster numbers against us. But like you said, that's why they play the games.

I don't want to underestimate an opponent, but I honestly don't agree with your assessment. The Giants have been very weak on the O-line last year, and they really have not much to fix it. Golden Tate is still suspended, so they have very little in terms of an outside threat. I have more faith in White and Wallace to hold in single coverage than I am with Milano and Edmunds stopping the run. If the Bills can get the penetration up the middle that they did last week, I think Eli is in for a bad day.

This is a game that I absolutely think that the Bills should win. That's the thing though: in years past, this is the kind of game that they lose. If I had to pick a plan right now...sadly, it sounds exactly like what has been used against us recently: go single coverage on WRs, load the box and force Eli to hit on tight throws. If I am the Giants, I am going 3 WR 1 TE 1 RB and 4 WR 1 RB as much as possible to spread the Bills defense and try to open up more roles for Barkley. He is a legitimate generational talent, so containing him is the top priority,

Look, he obviously has flaws and critiques deserve to be made, but inaccurate is am unfair knock. 64% is not bad, and that's with all the bad plays you are dragging up. Plus, accuracy is absolutely effected by playcalling and doesn't reflect situational football. Darnold dinked and dunked his way to 68%, but less than 4 yards per attempt. I am far from Allen's biggest supporter and you clearly have an agenda.

I stopped watching. I went to check on my wife after we went down 16-0 and the next thing I know it's 16-3. I watched the rest from the updates on my wife's phone.