Hapless Bills Fan

I agree Flores is in a tough spot with the media, but I think the right move there is to "cowboy up". Stand tall, smile, look them in the eye, call the reporters by name. Say something like "I am the head coach. I'm here to answer your questions about our next football game in Buffalo this Sunday. I can have no comment on player personnel matters. We're playing the Bills in Buffalo in 2 days, I'll be happy to take questions about that." and then just broken-record variants of the last sentence. It's really his demeanor, more than anything, which doesn't play well - the defensive posture clutching the edges of the podium, the hat shading his eyes, his eyes looking off to the side, his shoulders slumping.

We need an oline if we want our QB like your mom's swimsuit - in one piece

That would explain why that interview clip gave several of us Whaley "Privy" interview flashbacks. Fair that Armando is highly respected and experienced and has sources, but if he's at "outs" with Flores, is he a good source there?

Pffffft. I doubt we see that. Well, hey! A point of agreement!

Do we know that Brown suffered a back injury in training as this link says? Because he struggled a lot against the Titans - seems entirely possible he got injured there and it just hasn't healed enough yet I don't think that was the question, more whether they think Boettger can play RG? I expect McDermott didn't want to give the Dolphins certainty

"Senior NFL Writer for Outkick"? Help me understand why he's "da man" for you on Dolphins coverage.

That's what I think. Judging by the Bills past history with practice squad elevations, it would not surprise me if we see an OLman and a TE (probably Warring but who knows?) elevated from the PS but then become a gameday inactive. The reason to elevate the players at those positions being to provide "next man up" in case the starter at that position becomes ill or has an injury in warmups or something. In his presser Allen mentioned Sweeney, Davis, and Kumerow as players who could step up for Knox. Of course, that could hypothetically all be a smokescreen.

I expect Miami to make adjustments and play the Bills hard. On the other hand, I expect the Bills to be pissed off, especially their defense, and to go hard. Dolphins last two opponents were the Jaguars and Falcons, #32 and #29 in the league in take-aways, #23 and #25 D on points. Tua has been playing better, but he's going to be facing a different level of challenge (unless, of course, the Bills players lay an egg and expect to get a stop just by walking on the field) The "wild card" so to speak is how the Dolphins locker room and Tua will respond to the Watson trade rumors swirling about. Last season in Week 17 it seemed pretty clear Flores lost the team and they were heading for the bus. Flores pressers do not come across to me like a quietly confident coach that is going to be able to lead his team to focus and go hard despite any and all distractions. But who knows. It could be inspirational, "let's win one for the Tua-man" or the equivalent of when the Titans found inspiration in the whole Covid mess.

How does the press know that Flores has the biggest say in football decisions, when it's rumored that Flores wanted Herbert over Tua and wanted to stay with Fitz instead of pulling him to start tua? Personally I think Flores needs to channel a bit more Belicheck there. "I already addressed that question - I won't discuss rumors. Any questions about Buffalo?" and then just keep reiterating "I'm here to discuss Sunday's game. Any questions about Sunday's game?"

Exactly. What we have to believe is that Watson was enthused enough about the Texans ownership and leadership on Sept 5, 2020 that he signed a long term extension, and only decided there were deal-breaking problems in January. 🤷‍♂️ Yes, they vary widely from state to state

Not that I disbelieve you a bit, but source? A problem is that teams usually slant (see what I did?) towards CB who excel at man, or who excel at zone. Rather than go away from their base, this time against KC the Bills seem to have done a deep dive into how KC tried to exploit their zone coverage and how to adjust safeties and LBs to fill the gaps.

So there's this https://www.buffalorumblings.com/2021/10/21/22737668/should-derrick-henrys-touchdown-have-been-called-back-analysis-penalty-holding-bills-titans

Matt Parrino has Entered the Chat:

??

I think he might have felt that way initially then had a talk with his coach and had the Breida/McKenzie angle pointed out to him, which is why he deleted said tweet very quickly. He was greeting McKenzie every time he came off the field. You don't know that the guy was "totally healthy" any more than you "know the coaches make certain decisions for the sake of helping a player's growth/humility even if it doesn't give them the best tactical advantage for a regular season game. Right, because McKenzie finished out the game, therefore Breida wasn't needed. Also, every game since, the run game has been a larger part of the game plan than 15 running back carries. Other factor, because when he got his carries in a real game, Breida didn't make good. 🤦‍♂️ Imma leave you to the enjoyment of the beautiful mental locale you inhabit, where coaches who are playing for the highest seeding they can get, bench players to motivate them "for the sake of helping a player's growth/humility even if it doesn't give them the best tactical advantage for a regular season game." (exact quote of what you said) You're obviously not going to be persuaded by any factual evidence, quotes, absence of quotes supporting your viewpoint, common sense, etc. If I felt McDermott believed that, it would explain a couple of wrenching losses we've had. But I think this is just more stuff you're making up. McDermott is the guy who says that if you start taking another team lightly you're gonna get your ass whipped, and there's every reason to believe that's his genuine belief. If you're correct about McDermott and correct about benching players who offer a superior tactical advantage to "help their growth/humility" or motivate them, then we're gonna lose a bunch more games we should win. That Is All.

I'm with This Guy

Yeah. Basically, he's the #4 WR and the #5 receiving option on the team, that's not gonna change behind Robert Wood and Cooper Kupp, and he's Salty about that.

Dolphins are Mammals Never Trust a Mammal, Folks Play 60 Minutes

"Gimme another" is plainly part of what he's saying, but I'm pretty sure there was something he didn't like about the placement of the first pass, and liked about the 2nd. He seems to take two large steps back and land a bit off balance from the first and only 1 step back and still balanced for the 2nd, so good observation, but would like to understand why

All indications are that Knox will likely be back before week 11. But we'll know Saturday. If they feel he needs 4 weeks to recover (3 games) and won't return until Week 11 (ie 3 games) it will make sense to put him on IR and activate someone else. It's my understanding they have until Saturday at 4 pm to make such moves. A DL for OL swap would make some sense.

In this video clip, Diggs is evidently unhappy with the first pass, even though he makes a clean 1 handed catch. He does a lot of "hand talk" to Allen. The second pass, which is also a 1 hand catch, is evidently just to his liking as he "thumbs up" and they move on. What's the difference?

Reminder to any who forget that was 2nd and 5 with 15 seconds left - probably not time for Murray to scramble if he doesn't get out of bounds or score, but time to run another play if he quickly throws the ball away. I think this factors in a fair bit. Our guy came into the league with the "inaccurate" label and acquired the "sugar high" label which gets re-hashed every time he has an unsuccessful play, in a way we don't see with other QBs. For example, vs KC Collinsworth going on a long diatribe about how Allen has to eliminate trying to extend the play and getting sacked from his game, but no comments when he (or Mahomes) extends then makes a big play, and no similar comments when Murray takes a 10 yard sack for 2nd and 16. "Confirmation bias" is a known psychological thing, so Bills fans are probably onto something real and not just imagining things when we feel there's a double standard from commentators evaluating our guy at times.

I thought this too, just goes to show "any given Sunday". The Packers D was ready for this. And the Packers can run - "who knew?"

Correct. Then a week later McD brought up "concerns about his health" prior to the game. IMO, McKenzie's shoulder injury and wanting Brieda active as a "back up plan" at KR/PR, while never stated, was very likely to be a factor - as we saw when McKenzie went to the locker room and was announced as "questionable to return" (he did). I think that's what McDermott meant when he originally said it was numbers - if needing a slot for Brieda (numbers) weren't a factor, they likely would have had Moss active and perhaps limited or on a "pitch count". Another factor was likely the very pass-heavy game plan vs. Pittsburgh, where we ran 43% 4 or 5 WR sets. We had 15 rush attempts by RBs and 51 pass attempts. On a professional football team with professional football players, benching a player to "teach them a lesson" or "motivate them" seems likely to take a far back seat vs. matchup concerns that week; need to activate another player due to roster concerns at another position, and also need to let the player heal a bit more. It's nuts to think an NFL team would sit a player who would actually give them a better chance to win for some kind of "player development" "send a message" "motivate them" reason. The team will activate the players it feels will give them the best chance to win that week. That's not to say motivation isn't part of the equation, but not directly. For example, let's say Epenesa has been letting his weight drop and has been overpursuing against the run in previous games or in practice. The team benches him and has Obada active because they see Obada as a better matchup against Henry and Tenn. Epenesa obviously wants to know why he's being benched, and "you need to be better at this and that (hopefully with specific examples), and you need to get your weight up" will be part of the conversation. But the primary reason he's being benched is because at this point in time, Obada is honestly believed by the coaches to offer them the better matchup and better chance at victory.