All_Pro_Bills

I can relate to your dad's text. I watched the game with family and didn't say it out loud but before the Bass kick off I thought to myself "how are they going to blow this one"? A lifetime of inconceivable last minute losses will do that to you. Hell, the week before I was nervous about only having a 23 point lead going into the 4th quarter. I don't think I can take another one of these. I'll need grief counseling or some kind of anxiety treatments. They need to win it all next year. That's just all there is to it.

The Bills will also be faced with a lot of decisions too. The Bills have about $2.6M of cap space so its likely Beane is going to have to restructure some contracts and make a few tough decisions in order to free up enough cap space to get any high end pass rushing free agent we all want. Maybe he uses some draft capital to move up into the mid-teens of the draft if somebody drops in the 1st round of the draft? Or does he go corner in round 1 or get help on the offensive line? Lots of questions. And probably too early to expect any answers. How much is the team going to allocate to the defensive line and is the 8/9 player rotation going to continue? Do you bring back Beasley at a cap it of $7.57M or release him for a dead cap hit of $1.5M and attempt to re-sign McKenzie or is Stevenson capable of stepping into the slot role next year at a bargain price of $868K? Is it worth bringing back Morse at Center at $11.25M or take the dead cap hit of $3.75M then look to fill the spot early in the draft? The contracts of other prominent players like AJ Klien, Jon Feliciano, Cody Ford, and Daryl Williams could be looked at too. Can next years starting offensive line look like Doyle, Brown, Dawkins, Bates, and a 2022 pick at center? I don't know anything about the college centers entering the draft yet. Can or does Beane want to sign Edmunds to a market rate extension which could lower his cap hit for 2022? Are there any trades out there that can be pulled off? How many draft choices can be expected to make the team? WIll Beane trade up and draft 3 or 4 potential starters in a quality over quantity strategy? Some things to think about but way too early to expect any answers.

Sad news for U.S. establishment war hawks from discussions held yesterday in France. Progress on what could lead to a peaceful and mutually beneficial solution. Notable is without the U.S. or NATO at the table. You need to pay close attention to the details here because its what you might call a "non-binary situation" as there multiple parties with multiple interests and multiple objectives at play. Not the simpleton good vs. bad world view. "Officials from Russia and Ukraine met in Paris on Wednesday and held what Moscow described as "tough" talks. Despite whatever difficulties there were, the two sides agreed that the ceasefire in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region must be upheld. German and French officials were also present for the meeting, which lasted eight hours. The four countries started holding talks together after the Donbas war started in 2014 in a forum known as the Normandy format."

When I saw you posted my first thought was how are you going to spin this to make it about Trump. And here it is. You're as predictable as the Sun rising and setting each day my friend. But you really need to let go of this Trump obsession. Accepting the fact he's gone is the first step.

So the MSM story on CBC is "Canadian insurrectionists planning attack on Parliament in Ottawa. PM Trudeau calls it the biggest threat to Canada since Gretzky was traded to the Kings"

The Bills coaches were already positioning the safeties (2) so far back off the LOS in order to avoid the big over the top play and adding a spy(1) plus 4 down linemen (4) leaves 4 defenders to cover 5 potential receivers. So its a pick your poison dilemma for the DC. The fundamental problem and truth is that even after the 2021 off season additions and changes the Bills defense still does not match up well with the Chiefs offense. But then neither does almost every other team in league. Its a work in progress and at the end of the day still plays too passive. What's crazy to me is the Bills passive defense is almost a mirror image opposite of the aggressive philosophy and approach of the Bills offense. Like the angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other.

I can't put all the blame on Frazier because after seeing it not work on the first play McDermott could have overruled his DC and change up something on the second play. But all he did was call a time out prior to the snap and line up the defense in the same formation. I'm resigned to the idea we're probably never going to get a legitimate explanation from anyone exactly what the thought process was with the coaching staff on that 13 second series. Other than an excuse it was an "execution" issue which implies they either believe the strategy was sound or they just aren't going to admit they got it wrong. That's what bothers me more than anything. Not that they got it wrong but they won't say they got it wrong. Even though everyone knows they got it wrong. Its accountability. Coaches and management demand accountability from players. And they should expect nothing less from themselves. Just admit the set up was wrong, you got it wrong, you'll fix it, and let's move forward. Otherwise, what was the plan? To let them get into FG range in two quick plays and hope their otherwise dependable FG kicker was going to miss for the 2nd time in the game?

You're right. If you watch a lot of football on a weekly basis either via the Sunday Ticket or some other means you'll see coaches and their teams blow games with incorrect and poor decisions or bad play on the field at critical times. The trick is to be right more often than you are wrong. The agonizing problem with the Bills is this screw up happened on the big stage. In a situation were 99.6% of the game was over. Where the odds of losing and messing up were close to zero. Where you maybe gifted the opposition offense the only possible defensive alignment and strategy that could allow them to set up themselves to get the game even. Where you had to do something almost every observer of the game assessed was wrong in real-time not just on one play but three plays, including the kick off. And spend two time outs while changing nothing on either play. And then state it was "execution"! I'd argue the players did exactly what they should have provided a flawed strategy that destined them to fail. Can you learn from this and what's the lesson? I'm dead set against firing McDermott because he brings a lot of positive qualities and leadership to the position. I think the answer is bring in another DC to implement his system or if he doesn't have it already, allow Frazier more autonomy to make the calls. And maybe if this was some random regular season game it would be discussed for a couple days and forgotten.

What if all this imminent Russian "invasion" of Ukraine hysteria is another manufactured narrative? After all, the Democrats and their friends in the media along with embedded assets in the Washington bureaucracy are experts at inventing all kinds of narratives and fake talking points. Most of which interestingly enough seem to revolve around Russia and Ukraine. This staged threat situation all designed and executed to make Joe Biden look like a tough guy, an effective President. The U.S. President, a real leader, the one person that got international thug and killer Vlad Putin to back down. With the hope a "win" reverses the trend of falling performance approval numbers of his administration. With DNC pollsters and leadership rightfully concerned about a rout in both houses of Congress the entire charade targeted at changing the perception of the voting public with an eye towards the November 2022 mid-term elections. I draw my conclusion based on my assessment that Putin has no interest in invading Ukraine unless his interests are directly threatened by NATO membership or the hosting of NATO forces. Both options that are currently off the table. And the wide rift between the rhetoric and actions out of the White House and the media vs. the actions and comments of European governments. Governments that are breaking from the aggressive US stance. Governments, like Germany, France, Sweden, and Croatia that have made statements indicating they're at a minimum not on board with the American position and won't unconditionally commit forces or assistance. Even Zelensky has made statements that circumstances are "under control" and that there's "no reason to panic". Earlier he even criticized the US State Departments bulletin advising US citizens to evacuate Ukraine as unnecessary saying they're safer in Kiev than they might be in a place like Los Angeles. To me that doesn't sound like a President worried that at any moment its possible his country is going to be invaded. In summary, there's a big rift between the story were getting and the action on the ground.

This is a good attitude to have and one that fosters competition and improvement. But there's another side to it. And that's you might only get a couple chances at the limelight, maybe just one. You can't know for sure. Because while you're out there fixing your shortcomings and deficiencies everybody else is out there doing the same thing. And maybe they do a better job of it than you do or they just get lucky and they pass you. And now the competition you've got to fight and pass over and overcome and defeat is a little harder and a little deeper. This year the Bills won the division and slotted into the 3rd seed. They should have won and its hard to believe they didn't. Probability-wise its probably a once in a lifetime thing most of us might never see again. But how many once in a lifetime type losses have Bills fans endured? The Bills went 5-1 in the division. Maybe next year the three other teams chasing us close the gap. And then again maybe not. Maybe Beane and McDermott fix some things a lot of us have complained about and they go 17-0? Or 16-1? Or get the 1st seed? Or maybe just make the playoffs again? I've got to admit. I haven't said a word to my family yet but even with 13 seconds left there was a little voice in the back of my mind asking "how are they going to blow this one?" That's what 45 years of following the Bills and suffering through a lot of heartache can do to you. If you don't wrestle with the football curse demons I do or if you got over it I envy you. Still I was hoping for the Super Bowl this year. I remember when the Cubs finally won the World Series and I saw a sign a fan had up. "Now I can die in peace." If you're an older Bills fan that might resonate with you too. Let's go Bills in 2022!

The following has statement has been released by the State Attorney General in Albany. "A replacement order shall supercede the mask mandate, and therefore make null and void the state supreme court's ruling, which will require all citizens to demonstrate the ability to hold their breath for a minimum of 20 minutes in order to qualify for the privilege of exiting their home and going out into a public setting. As such agents equipped with timers and stopwatches will be setting up testing stations throughout the state to certify qualified individuals. Compliance is mandatory and punishment for non-compliance will require offending citizens to watch all public speeches given by the Governor during her term to date. While some may argue this violates the U.S. Federal Constitutional definition of "cruel and unusual punishment" the State shall fight any objections in court and then ignore the law when the court once again rules against us. The message is we can do this all day if you'd like to because that's what we do all day. Make your lives more difficult. But please believe us when we say, we're the government and we're here to help. Thank you for your forced and coerced voluntary cooperation to help make us all safe."

We can only hope General Milley will call and tip-off his counterpart at the Kremlin if the U.S. or allied forces decide to take any military action regarding Ukraine.

What's ironic is her words perfectly describe the behaviors of the administration and couple hundred far-left fanatics in power. "There is a loud and vocal minority" - the far left. "empowered through social media and media platforms" - government/corporate control and censorship of media platforms and networks by liberal democrats "that proliferate disinformation" - like the safe and effective mantra while refusing disclose any data or metrics on the studies (the FDA says they'll give us the data in 75 more years) used support those conclusions, or allow credentialed experts to openly, and freely discuss their concerns without attempts to silence and intimidate them. "and politicians that espouse conspiracy theories" - like the mother-of-all crackpot conspiracies the Russia collusion hoax Jen? "and fundraise against the public health" - like politicians from both sides of the isle that take hundreds of millions from big pharma to protect their interests while causing great harm to patients and physician practices.

Every season starts at 0-0 but the Bills offense is the real deal and with Allen running the offense for the foreseeable future they are in good shape. While I worry about losing Daboll I also expect his work here developing Allen and defining an offense for him to run is finished. Still a couple upgrades in the OL and a bruising power back to supplement Singletary is needed. From a play calling standpoint really dialing back the designed QB runs will keep Allen healthy. And he needs to start protecting himself going forward. The defense is an illusion against play off caliber teams. If we lost Frazier to a HC opportunity I would certainly wish him well but also welcome his exit. And while some might disagree I think a good deal of their success is related to the high-powered nature of the offense. Upgrades are needed at all three levels and I hope all the "old guys" on the defensive line are let go this off season. We need play makers. We need some cap space to do that but the good news is success will attract free agents that would have in the past just brushed off the idea of signing with the Bills. What to do with Edmunds, a hot topic on the board, is a big question going into the off season.

Your preparation assessment is an excellent insight. Maybe I'm drilling down to far here but it made me think of another disadvantage the Bills might have when it comes to playing the Chiefs. I'm not suggesting any Jedi mind tricks or stuff like that but I wonder if another problem is that through their past association that Andy Reid knows how Sean McDermott thinks better than anyone else. For another example, look no further than how some former Patriot assistants like fired Dolphins HC Brian Flores seem to have good success against Belichik. Is it because they know very well how the NE HC thinks? So rather than suggesting Sean become more aggressive maybe he needs to become more unpredictable? Because I'll bet that Andy knew in crunch time at the end of the game just exactly what Sean was going to do.

Jerry's just repeating what most of us here already concluded. The kick-off through the end zone and the defensive alignment in the last 13 seconds were completely incorrect decisions and pretty much the exact opposite of what you should do in that situation. If they would have somehow survived these bad decisions we wouldn't be talking about it here. But results matter and failure requires an examination. The fact that every loss for this team with the exception of one game during the season was a one-score affair might lead us to conclude we need to carefully examine the decision process of the coaching staff that might have reversed the outcome if they would have done one or two little things a bit different. Its wild speculation on my part but outside of the Colts game with a little tweak here and there or a little different play call or coaching decision this team might have been 16-1. Of course that requires that everything went right all the time which doesn't happen that often. And I'm not suggesting we need perfection when it comes to our coaches. Everybody makes mistakes. The issue is how big they are. I wouldn't call it choke more than I'd say it was simply the incorrect strategy and decisions given the situation. What I believe McDermott and Frazier failed to account for most in their decision was the fact the Chiefs had their 3 time outs. If they would have had zero or one time out left then it might have made more sense. That to me is the failure. Failure to factor in the time outs into the decision, failure to account for the fact the sidelines meant nothing to the Chiefs in how they'd play the final 13 seconds of the game. Just bad judgment and thinking based on the situation they faced. And they had plenty of time to run through the thought process between the Bills score and the kick off over a long commercial break in the game. So not enough time to think it through can't be an excuse. As what's done is done I'm over it but I can't forget it. The critical question that everybody needs to ask is are you concerned they'll do it again in a different situation under different circumstances in the future when the game or the playoffs or perhaps even the Super Bowl is on the line? And if you think they will and you want to avoid that critical error then what do you do about it now to prevent it from screwing the team and the fans?

I love the Hitler/Trump analogies because Trump killed how many millions of people and took away exactly what freedoms and rights? And sent thousands to concentration camps like the COVID camps polls suggest Dems are okay with sending people to "voluntarily" quarantine. Oh yeah, none of that happened right? But he tried to take over the government and turn it into a dictatorship. And there's like billions of pieces of evidence to support this. Or at least that's what you believe. But let the drama continue. Lots of cute pictures and misrepresentations of facts and events. I understand that communists/socialists like Stalin and Mao are upset that Hitler gets all kinds of recognition. They are upset because they want everyone to know they killed many more people than he did. And want some recognition for their nefarious acts too. On a side note, I saw a great quote about socialism. "You can vote your way into socialism but you'll have to shoot your way out". That sums it up quite nicely.

For me a better comparison is crossing over to a different sport but staying in the same city and that's the Sabres of the Hasek era vs. the Bills of the Allen era.

HCQ is not banned and it is not deadly. A little over 20% of monthly prescriptions written and filled for the U.S. inflammation market are for HCQ. So are doctors writing 10's of thousands of scripts per month that are killing lots of people? The science and stats say no.

Good point. The problem the Chiefs face is they need to get into FG range to extend the game. There are 13 seconds left in regulation and they have all three time outs. To do this they need about 45 yards. So they need to execute 2 plays of 20+ yards and still leave time for the FG attempt. They might have 3 plays to do this if they are short quick passes. An unsuccessful first play will likely end their chances or at best require the offense to take even greater risks. They will be using their timeouts to stop the clock if the pass is complete. So how can you determine that playing 20 yards off the LOS and protecting the side lines, which they have absolutely no need to use to stop the clock, that presents an almost perfect defensive set up that will allow them the best chance of successfully pulling off their only hope to tie the game is most effective way to stop them?

If you're starting a team from scratch which QB do you want? Both are great. Both are in the superstar class. But I wouldn't trade Allen for Mahomes straight up. Let's not overlook the fact that Reid and the Chiefs had a very good team before Mahomes arrived with Alex Smith at QB. 11-5 in 2015, 12-4 in 2016 and 10-6 in 2017. The improvement Mahomes provided was marginal but the margin they needed to get them over the hump and into the Super Bowl and a win there. What did the Bills do before Allen? No playoff since 1999 that's what. What would they have done without him this year? Something like 7-10. If he's not the MVP, the one player most important to his teams success then nobody is. Josh elevates the performance of the players around him at a very high level. Mahomes also does this but with the Chiefs its a little different because, like the Patriots used to be with Brady, their offense presents match up problems and confusion for defenses that Mahomes exploits. What the Bills need to get over the hump here is a bruiser at RB and an offensive line upgrade on the interior and game plans that put less wear and tear on Allen going forward, and a defense that can make the big stop in the playoffs against a great team when the games on the line.

This is an excellent post. And if McDermott and his defensive coaches played out the scenarios and how the Chiefs would play it out in response to it here they obviously missed their approach to moving the ball into field goal range. This calls for a lot of thinking on your feet along anticipating the need for certain adjustments in-game and maybe this isn't in the wheelhouse of our current staff. My game theory for prepping the defense for the Chiefs started after last weeks win against NE. When Belichik went to the Bills locker room to offer congratulations they shouldn't have let him leave until he devised a defensive strategy the Bills could use against the Chiefs the following week. Or maybe McDermott went to his mentor, Andy Reid, and asked him "Andy, do you think this defensive game plan will work against your team"? And Andy said, "absolutely Sean, it will work great".

The general consensus here is nobody would be sad to see Frazier go and he gets the majority of the blame for last nights 13 second brain freeze but I also believe this defense is still McDermott's basic philosophy and Leslie is just calling the game within the parameters of that system and not running "his" system. I'd welcome an outside view coming in with a different and more aggressive approach, when the situation calls for it, but unless the head coach is willing to entertain the idea that his defense isn't going to get the team over the hump against teams like the Chiefs that execute extremely well and can't be depended on to make the big mistake at some critical point in the game, and the HC is on boards with some fresh thinking we're dead in the water right out of the gate with a new DC. Otherwise this defense is just lacking star power. Look at their number one rating but a snub when it comes to pro bowl selections. Maybe the voters are right about that assessment? If you're putting together a defense outside of Tre White and Matt Milano who are you going to want? All that cap space committed to the defensive line rotation to keep players fresh through the game. How'd that work out for us last night? What they need is a couple impact players that eat up some cap space and not 8 or 9 guys that are about average NFL defensive lineman. The older veterans here need to go and somebody the offense has to worry about needs to be signed. The younger guys I'd give some time. Also some bulk against the run in the middle has got to be a priority. I've got mixed feelings about Edmunds. He just doesn't have the instincts and hasn't developed the ability to read and anticipate the play but I also fear he'd go elsewhere and the light would come on under different scheme and coaching. In the 13 second disaster I would think they'd line him up at the LOS against Kelce with explicit instructions to not allow him a free release and put Mahomes in a position to not even consider throwing him the ball. Either the coaches don't trust him or he's just not up to it but that's got to be why he's here. To make a play in just this kind of situation. I'm not seeing how they can commit big money to him at this point. The secondary just needs another good corner opposite Tre but the safeties are getting older and some draft capital needs to be spent there to plan for the future. So for me its a re-load with some fresh thinking.

We'll likely never know exactly what Frazier and McDermott were really thinking here. 13 second left starting at the 25 with 3 timeouts. They strategized it for a situation where the offense had 1 or 0 time outs left where getting to the boundaries to stop the clock was something the offense needed to do. Just modifying the defensive alignment to play off 10 yards and not focus on the sidelines and instead focus on doubling specifically Kelce and Hill would have almost certainly resulted in a stop. They had time for 2 plays of 25 yards but not enough time for 4 plays of 10 yards regardless of the timeout situation. What's most disturbing after digesting the outcome for about an hour is not the loss but how completely obvious and clear this should have been to the coaches. But the defense they called just set up the 11 players out there for failure. And added another heartbreaking loss to the list when we all should be getting psyched up for next weeks AFC championship at the stadium instead of not even caring about it.

You should be able to stop Joe Montana and Jerry Rice with Walter Payton and Randy Moss with a hall of fame offensive line with only 13 seconds left in the game with a drive start at the 25 with just an average NFL defense and a part-time high school coach.