Hapless Bills Fan

https://buffalonews.com/news/local/state-and-regional/state-lawmakers-on-bills-request-for-100-public-financing-for-stadium-a-non-starter/article_9c0de7a4-f465-11eb-854a-bf4c9530615c.html (Not sure if it's paywalled or not)

Yeah, I just started a thread.

It's going on, should be some news soon

https://www.buffalobills.com/video/hyde-diving-int-2021-camp-highlights Damn, what a play by Hyde.

https://bufbills.com/player-bios/bills_media_guide.pdf Just noticed that this has all kind of stuff some of us may find interesting - for example 2020 snap counts by game and overall % for each returning player. @HappyDays if you're looking for this again

He needs to get past the “know what I’m saying?” so frequently to be a talking head

LOL

Your Kink is OK(tm)

yes I’m serious. If that’s your idea of a bad drop that should have been a TD, your observations aren’t credible to me. Sorry. Calling it like I see it. Better luck with other folks, plenty of people willing to believe all kind of schtuff about, sure you can find some

So what does your groomsman have to say about him?

I give you full credit that you saw what you saw about catching the ball in the sun. After watching a video clip of the "horrible drop", you're in a "falling credibility" zone there. That "perfect throw" required McKenzie to jump at least a foot off the ground and extend fully to get his hands on it. Drops usually defined as a ball that could hit the WR hands without the receiver making any extraordinary effort, such as leaving his feet to jump or dive. Hits the WR hands between his jersey numbers and he doesn't hang on, that's a "horrible drop" If McKenzie made that, it would have been a circus catch; it falls into the category of "possible, but high degree of difficulty throw and catch". Some would also call it a "hospital ball" because Taron Johnson was closing fast as McKenzie made his leap and in a game, would have hit him full speed as he came down with it, and McKenzie very likely would have gone to the ground as he tucked it a way. Catch on the 5 yard line, Yes. "prob for TD that he just dropped", Nopenope, srry. Josh needs to throw that a bit lower, or target a taller receiver. I think it would still have been over his head at full extension, though if he'd been able to track it and just jump straight up he might have manged the catch. It was a scramble drill, and it's possible Josh needed/expected him to be at a different spot and they'll discuss it and fix. I believe McKenzie was expecting the ball to go to Diggs and sat down on his route to keep the guy covering him, Taron Johnson, from joining the party around Diggs. Allen saw Hyde leave the center of the field and cheat over behind Diggs and that's when he threw to McKenzie. That was a definite "arrogant arm" throw since QB are taught not to throw from their R back to the middle of the field, high probability of INT that way.

https://buffalonews.com/sports/bills/training-camp-observations-bills-d-makes-splash-plays-before-18-000/article_0ba1e92a-f7b9-11eb-8911-83793897d838.html I have to think it's going to help the offense adjust to have the defense making plays like that. More info on the starters:

If you google "USA Women's Volleyball Team" it'll come up. Add "Coach Kiraly" even faster. I dunno what "everyone thinks". Nothing against beach volleyball, I enjoy watching it, but other than the ball and the net, it's an entirely different game. There's way more strategy and teamwork in the original 6 person game, so I don't agree with you.

Er, Josh Allen isn't exactly "under the radar" here. Neither is Epenesa, being called out by Addison "he's ready"

Agreed. I think the Bills may want to see where this next season takes Edmunds, but I don't see why they would make him play out his 5th year option. This is his 4th season. Either he steps up, or they need to be looking for someone else.

Clearly, or they wouldn't have just offered the contract Allen just signed. But the question to which I was responding was whether the Ravens and Browns fans would "trade their left and right nut" for Josh Allen. I think a lot of their fans still believe in their guys and see Allen as a "1 Hit Wonder". Do you disagree?

I don't know what to think of this.

Part of me is hoping that if successful, Daboll would pull a Patricia/McDaniels and stay with the Bills I think before he gets a HC job, Daboll needs to show other teams he can be on the sidelines and keep his composure, and also that he can craft an effective run game. There seem to be mixed reports on that last.

Yeah, not only that, but as we've learned there can be many reasons for a pick - the WR not running the right route, not running it the right way. They have a new coach and a new offense to go with their rookie QB, give them some slack. If the team can show what this article alleges, I think they may be able to cancel his ticket for that free ride and put it down as NFI. The player gets team directions for off-season treatment of injuries and rehab. The player has an absolute right to choose their own medical professional for a second opinion, as they should. Most vets have salaries that are guaranteed for injury. But I don't think salaries are guaranteed for ignoring team medical directions AND delaying to get treatment per 2nd opinion. At the very least, it's a murky gray area.

Wait wait. Hear Me Out Congrats to the USA Women's Volleyball Team for winning Gold at the 2020 Olympics. Three Silver, two Bronze, but never a Gold, until Now. So where's the football relevance you ask? In 2012, Team and Beach volleyball great Karch Kiraly took over as coach. The US Ladies had just won a Silver medal in London, powered in large part by Destinee Hooker, considered by many the best opposite hitter in the world at the time. "Best Spiker" at the London Olympics, multiple MVP awards. 43 inch vertical jump. She was deadly. That was the last time Hooker played for Team USA. Within a year, she was off the team. Kiraly is tight lipped about it. Hooker made it clear she would come back if asked, but Team USA doesn't want her. Kiraly will just say "she wasn't a fit". There were a lot of stories making the rounds, that Hooker broke a team rule. What was clear was she was sometimes not the best teammate in the ultimate team sport. Example: there's a video of her stepping on her setter's hand then turning her back and walking away (the Setter is like the QB, the engine that chooses the play and distributes the ball. Minimal volleyball team etiquette is help her up and ask "are you OK?") The US Women won Bronze in Rio and probably a coach of lesser VB pedigree would have faced harsh criticism for his decision to omit Hooker. So here's what I see as the football relevance. What Kiraly has said is "I'm not trying to just put the best players on the team - I'm trying to build the best team". What happened in Tokyo? The US looked fatally flawed to me in their first matches. They were missing that essential Setter- Middle connection. They were vulnerable to the Change of Pace. They just didn't look "best in the world" to me. And over the tournament, they adjusted and improved and pulled it together. Growth Mindset to the max. Then they lost their Opposite, Jordan Thompson, during their loss to ROC. Bad. They lost their starting Setter, Jordyn Poulter, while playing Italy. Worse. The Setter in volleyball is a bit like the QB in football. You lose your setter, you're in trouble. But Kiraly's mantra "I'm not trying to just put the best players on the team. I'm trying to build the best team" shone through. The rest of the players stepped up. Hancock took over as setter without a glitch, and Larson and Bartch-Hackley picked up the scoring pace. There's a lot of love and trust on that team. They didn't win because they had the biggest stars on the team. They won because they had the best team. Don't get me wrong - the team still has some of the best players in the world! but they don't have anyone who thinks they're above the team as a star, or more important than their teammates, or beyond coaching. And they seem set up for long term success now - Poulter is 23, Thompson is 24. I think that's a lot like what McDermott and Beane are trying to build with the Bills. Here's hoping it leads to the same success.

I was hoping that someone would comment on this. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/olympics/team-usa-dominates-brazil-clinch-first-women-s-volleyball-gold-n1276288 Watching a couple of their first matches I thought they were fatally flawed - missing the setter-MH connection (Poulter just could not set Akinradewo) and vulnerable to the change of pace (tip). Then losing the Jordans to injury (Jordan Thompson, then Jordyn Poulter) ..................losing your starting Setter is like losing your starting QB. I thought they had no chance after that. But Hancock came in and they didn't flinch. That Gold medal is a testament to the depth and strength of the program Karch Kiraly built, and a lesson there for the Bills. The scary thing for the world is how young some of them are. Poulter is 23, Thompson is 24.

I'm thinking right about....Now. https://www.twobillsdrive.com/community/guidelines/ "Be conscious that posts in a quiet week in March may be inappropriate during training camp."

You Pastafarian You!

Didn't see this linked https://www.thedailynewsonline.com/sports/allen-bills-offense-have-big-day-in-front-of-18-000-fans-at-return-of/article_eed922a4-041e-577f-9bb9-e8a0f26209e3.html I'm not going to paste them all in here, but this author has a LOT of good Video clips in his Twitter feed, and some of them give a good feeling of what was meant by the comment about the DL being in the backfield all the time. Here's the grab McKenzie didn't make, so anyone can judge the degree of difficulty: And here's the Hyde interception Matekevich interception:

TL;DR the Bills are in the bottom quarter of the league for cap to spend. Either 26th or 28th in available cap (different sources) The problem is, the cap estimates available publicly are just that - estimates, and they differ from person to site to site. After Allen's signing, Spotrac reports that the Bills have $4.8M in available cap. OvertheCap reports $7.2M in available cap At one point I was curious and dove into the differences between the sites. They differ in details like whether they consider the signing bonuses of players below the top-51 (Spotrac does, Overthecap doesn't), and whether they account for every penny of dead cap (Spotrac) or just the dead cap hits over $100k (Overthecap). That latter is approximately $1.5M of the difference. The former is about $0.73M of the difference ($50k here, $50k there, sooner or later you're talking real money) I have no idea which way the NFL does it, so I have no idea which cap figure is closer to correct. I can't find reporting on what the Bills cap space was before Allen's contract was signed, but since he seems to have added $3.3M to his current year, they likely had between $8.1M and $10.5M. Best I can do. Diggs restructure in June created $7.8M in cap space. Before that I think the Bills were pretty tight. As a ballpark estimate, it's pretty durn good. It basically splits the difference between the two major public "Capology" sites.