SageAgainstTheMachine

Social media became big when I was about 19. I'm very thankful it didn't when I was 15 because I'd be scouring old posts and trying to delete them. 15 year olds are pretty much awful (unless they're the types who raise a bunch of younger siblings) and anyone who goes hunting for controversy from someone's adolescence ironically hasn't matured beyond that point.

This is starting to snowball. Buffalo doesn't forget.

Doing that would be the biggest jinx in history and I don't believe in jinxes.

Maybe it's just because I'm a chatterbox but I'm usually surprised by how little talking seems to happen after most plays.

If Foxworth doesn't like Josh Allen's fans I wonder how he feels about Josh Allen's 28 black teammates who run through walls for him and one another every week.

I think it's clear that the Chiefs are the top dog in the NFL and that the Bills, Packers and Saints are very closely 2nd, 3rd and 4th in some order that we can't possibly know. Cowherd gets paid to say provocative things. I will say that the fact that he knows casual fans will be interested in the concept of the Bills at #1 being one of those provocative things is awesome for the franchise!

I think Rex has the opposite problem of the hard-ass coaches in that he pretends to have all this bluster but is insecure deep down and wants everyone to be his buddy. I got the sense that people weren't held to high standards. Different type of culture problem but a bad one nonetheless. I could be wrong.

If he's just a good QB, maybe. If he's elite the contention window will be the length of his career.

You could also argue that we were amongst the teams in worst shape with culture after the Rex years.

I can't handle the Bills reaching the Superbowl but I do want them to win it. Is that possible?

I stumbled upon this article from 2017, written between McDermott's hiring and the start of the season. https://www.espn.com/blog/buffalo-bills/post/_/id/28795/not-just-the-76ers-sean-mcdermott-has-bills-focused-on-the-process In it Mike Rodak (ew) draws comparisons to McDermott and the Philadelphia 76ers who, at the time, had just finished tanking more brazenly than any other team in the history of the 4 major sports. They also loved the word process. Rodak assumed, understandably but incorrectly, that McDermott's use of the word is pretty much the same deal - which is to say "We're going to suck for now but just wait til you see us with a 1st overall pick or two." We all know what happened a few months later, as the Bills would go on to a surprising 9-7 record and a streak-busting playoff berth courtesy of our BFFs Andy Dalton and Tyler Boyd. Turns out we didn't need the 1st overall pick because the next year McDermott and Beane had the vision to trade up and draft Josh Allen who would likely be the 1st overall pick if there was a redraft at this point. The rest is history being written as we speak. Talk about having your cake and eating it too. So what is Process as it relates to this Bills team, the coaching staff and front office? It's something that we tend to joke about a little because of how ubiquitously McDermott uses the term but I believe it's a real, tangible philosophy that has made this team great and will continue to do so down the road. I would describe the Bills Process as a philosophy that tacks on concepts like Love, Brotherhood and Respect to the traditional NFL values of Grit, Persistence and Courage. Those latter things are present too but it replaces the typical "Don't do it for yourself, do it for the team" with "Don't do it for yourself, do it for your teammates and your community." Go and watch literally any postgame interview video on buffalobills.com and notice how much the players talk about their brothers on the team and refuse to talk about themselves. Then go watch postgame interviews from a bad team and see how much they talk about themselves when they're not just spouting inane platitudes. Then go watch Brian Daboll have to choke back a tear describing the leader that Josh Allen is. This attitude of love is crucial because the NFL is a mercenary sport where 30-40% roster turnover is the norm and the vague notion of laying it all out there for The Buffalo Bills franchise is abstract. Doing it for the money is concrete but only motivational in a pragmatic way. Doing it for your brothers, your loved ones, is concrete, motivational and self-affirming in a way that improves the soul and makes you chase the carrot of dopamine and oxytocin again and again. Watch the reaction when Levi Wallace made the pick on Sunday Night. Nobody on the Bills felt like an individual had done that. They felt like they had all done it. As far as coaching in the year 2020, The Process is ahead of the curve. The bullying, yelling "I'm gonna kick your ass, *****" coach is about to be a dinosaur. Maybe you think that's a bad thing but it's a reality. Players would look at Tom Coughlin or Bill Cowher like he had two heads if he coached today and probably snigger after they left the room after one of their epic tantrums. Speaking of the Steelers, let's take a look at an anecdote that highlights the difference between McDermott and Mike Tomlin, one of the older school guys. Tomlin In week 13, second year WR Diontae Johnson drops two passes in a losing effort to Washington and Tomlin comments after the game that if his receivers don't start catching balls the team will find receivers who do. The message is clear. You are gone if this continues. In week 14, Johnson proceeds to drop two more passes. One wonders if he psyched himself out wondering if he'd need a new job. Johnson then got benched. To both men's credit Tomlin said that Johnson handled the benching well. McDermott In week 13, rookie RB Zack Moss commits a bad fumble against the 49ers that leads to an easy score. He rides the bench for most of the game and McDermott subtly confirms after the game that this was due to the fumble, expressing confidence in the young man moving forward. In week 14, McDermott trusts Moss to tote the ball 6 times in a final drive that lasted 7:11. Moss holds on with both hands and ends the game. These are nuanced differences and I'm not saying Tomlin is a bad coach. He's been and is fantastic. But I think he's slightly behind the cultural zeitgeist and McDermott is slightly ahead of it. Now here's where it gets REALLY important - the aforementioned roster turnover. Contracts and the salary cap being the way they are, there's literally nothing that HCs and GMs can do about this turnover if they wish to succeed. Players who excel get paid more and those who don't get replaced by cheaper ones. 17 players from the 2019 Bills are no longer here and many 2020 Bills won't be 2021 Bills. NFL GMs never "arrive" at a solid roster, rather they pursue it constantly. That means if you want to sustain a cogent philosophy you must constantly pursue players who fit that philosophy. And why is our Process so great for that? Because players who fit the mold, either in FA or in the draft, are already paying attention and talking to their agents and families about the Bills. Those who aren't attracted to this atmosphere are inherently ones that we probably wouldn't sign anyway. All that anxiety that we fans feel about players who don't want to travel here and deal with the snow and the small market? That's a self-solving problem now. It's a convenient filter. Anyone who doesn't want in on this? THAT's who isn't part of the process. I don't know what will happen this year. It's a crowded AFC and we could beat or lose to any of the playoff teams. What really matters is that, because of the top-down culture from owner to GM to HC to QB and further, we know we'll be back either way.

As a fan who's never seen a time when both the Bills and Dolphins were good and thus has no hate for them, I'd prefer that we win week 17 (obviously) but that the Fins sneak in. Can't stand Gruden and I'd take either the Browns or Ravens getting knocked down a peg.

This is awesome. It's also a philosophy that will lead to a competitive advantage when most of the other teams (whether they admit it or not) are under the impression that half of all people have nothing to offer front offices, coaching staff, etc.

Honestly I think you could have the best RB in the game and given the salary cap your money would still be better spent elsewhere.

Ok this is an instant classic.

Lamar back for more of his majestic trots.

I mean, down 1 point with 6 minutes and the game's best kicker.

Yeah, when you gotta go it can happen fast.

Lamar's pregame Chipotle run is going to clinch the playoffs for us.

"This is analytics" No, this is having Cody Parkey as your kicker.

That cracked me up. Peoples-Jones was like "Huh?...Ooooh"

Kareem Hunt just battered his way into the end zone. Really assaulted the defenders.

Yes.

I see Mayfield as the QB most likely to arrogantly think he could throw at Tre White.

Browns are still the little brothers of the NFC North.