WhitewalkerInPhilly

I mean I know it's just a snippet but it's extremely heartening to see

FUUUUUUUUU Ok. Deep breaths. Davis was a given and Rapp was expected. Benford hurts. Dane Jackson is good, but that leaves us extremely thin. Spector and Benford are just such surprised because they were supposed to be day to day pain management issues. I am really hoping Bernard is back AAHHHHHHH get him out there!

Let's be honest: Josh moved up in the draft on that front.

Unfortunately yes. I know I was at that point midseason. Now...now I look back at a defensive coach who had his top assistant walk away after it was too late to backfill. Who had an OC who was next man up and never developed the feel for situation playcalling that he had in 2020 and 2021. No matter how it ends, I want to see a year with whoever they run with as OC given a full offseason to install. I want the D to get an assistant at get healthy after a truly impressive spate of injuries. And then if we fall short again, then we have that talk.

I wasn't until the last injury report. Hearing the rumors from HappyDays is seemed like Dodson and Spector should be good to go, with Spector likely with a pain management issue. But Dodson is limited and Spector still hasn't practiced. TJ should come back. He didn't seem that broken up in game, and he almost immediately was available for practice and in team drills. But you never know until the final call comes. It is (in theory) in the hands of independent neurologists.

Any more hot leads from your source?

It seems convenient that all of those use the same metric of winning the AFC championship. Curious that.

Were these the people who were rejoicing when Pacheco was out against the Bills the first time? When we say this is the least talented cast Mahomes has had to work with. In 2020, Sammy Watkins was their 3rd receiver behind Tyreek Hill and with a fresh Clyde Edwards Helare just drafted. 2021 had Hill, Hardman and Pringle. 2022 swapped the cast for Juju, Toney and MVS (which people considered a downgrade). Then they lost Juju. Rasheed Rice has come along, but MVS has had a pattern of clutch drops and Toney was notorious for boneheaded plays (like the Offside) which is why the Giants dealt him on the cheap. I would take facing this Chiefs receiving corps over 2020 and 2021 10/10 and 11 on Sunday. EDIT: I forgot having Jeremy Maclin early in his career. It's not that Rice, MVS and Toney are benchwarmers. It's that compared to 2 HOF players they don't shine in comparison

I don't think it's possible to underestimate how good the team that's bounced you from the playoffs twice.

oh no we accidentally threw Chris Collingsworth into the pit, buried him in two tons of gravel, paved it over and then had a dance party

Point stands though. One day, no problem. Two days? Uh oh. Three days? Not going to happen

Spector and Bernard are the ones I am now most worried about. Initial reports sounded like pain management issues. If they can't even walkthrough...

OK...NOW panic! AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Looks like a lot of networks "made history" But that said, think about the matchups and the respective media market sizes: (taken from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_television_stations_in_North_America_by_media_market) Houston and Cleveland: #6 and #19 Philly and Tamps: #4 and #12 KC and Miami: #18 and #34 Dallas and Green Bay: #5 and #69 LA and Detroit: #2 and #14 Buffalo and Pittsburgh: #28 and #54 In spite of of the the lowesr populations, the Bills punched *way* above their weight class for a 4:30 Monday game

Agreed. The idea that McDermott being canned after getting to the playoffs 6 out of 7 seasons and to the divisional round or better four straight years seems unlikely, especially with all the reports that he was unlikely to go when the team was 6-6. I do agree that McDermott needs a DC (one he is aligned with) to take a load off. I think the only reason he didn't this year was Frazier stepping away in May as opposed to February. The OC (likely Brady IMHO) will have a full season to install an offense. The Bills really can't do anything too crazy with roster composition. We are $40 M over the cap atm and our top 3 cap hits only increase that number if we move on from them. There will be cuts and renegotiations, but I expect that apart from our draft picks the 2024 Bills will look a lot like the 2023 Buffalo Bills. And bluntly, if you are getting to the Divisional Round (or better) four years in a row how badly do you want to mix it up?

I was jittery and nervous at the start, but I am settling in. I feel good. I will probably lay some money down. The talking heads are talking about the past. But this is brand new. The Chiefs offense hasn't been magic BS as in years past. Their D is good (not underestimating them) but the data shows that they do so well when they use the crowd noise in Arrowhead combined with aggressive blitzes from Spags. Now, the crowd noise is on the other side with Mahomes using lesser receivers and Brady has dusted off a bunch of blitz beaters to counter what everyone started throwing after the Chiefs game. It's not easy. My heart will be hammering all game. But this time, the Bills are the more talented team playing in their house. And Mahommes has never tasted Bills Mafia on the road in his career. I think this is the year we do it.

Cthulu goes "awww sheisse, I ain't eating anything rotten"

I would not hate that. Bills Mafia, and I say this lovingly as part of them, is F******* weird man. I love us for that. Black magic cthonian ritual for a Super Bowl? Sign me up! It says "Come to our house. We call it the Pit. Imagine what you'll call it. We are going to drag you through mud and wind and snow and then lay you on a table for our fans to smash"

I thoroughly expect Beane to take a WR in Round 1 or 2 and be willing to burn some resources to move up. No other position of need we have will cost as much money to fill in free agency. What else needs filling that can't be done after the the FA flurry subsides? Safety to replace Hyde and/or Poyer? They were journeymen when they signed here, we can probably do something similar as a stopgap. Center to replace Morse if we think Bates isn't good enough? We are locked into the money on Von and Groot is set at DE. Oliver is killing it as 1 tech, and you can get gap plugger 3 tech at reasonable rates (Ford, Phillips, I expect to get DaQauan back coming off injury). Bernard has been killing it at LB and he and Milano are looking like a stud combo. WR2 is where stupid money gets spent/

Yes. MVS and Rice can be problems, but you know Kelce is a problem

I had not heard of The Pit until Monday night and now I am ready to start a cult about it. Also, the memes are perfect Ok now I get to feel OOOOOLLLD. I remember when ebaumsworld was edgy and Anonymous was out to get you. Now they are just Qtards

I think part of that is that neither of those players have been reliably good this year. That's to be expected to an expect from Sherfield, but Davis has clearly been in a down year. The Bills have been doing a lot of option routes in their scheme, which means that instead of relying on split second timing the WR and QB are expected to read defenses. For whatever reason, Josh and Gabe have just not been on the same page this year. We've seen that trust level repeatedly with Diggs, and building with Kincaid and Shakir but it seems to have regressed with Gabe and he hasn't had the time with Sherfield and I think that's hurting some of the passing game. Bills need a new WR 2 this offseason.

Whooo! This is great news for the NFC East

I know I made a joke a little ways up, but I do think that the Bills should take a look at axed outgoing staff. Brady was a Rhule scapegoat after all and we do need to get assistants into the pipeline. I wouldn't turn up any solid QB coach or DCs. I think McDermott has done a decent job calling the defense but I think he could use an assistant to delegate to.

Beane asleep at the wheel! /s