All_Pro_Bills

Whatever McCoy has to say doesn't bother me and I could care less what he has to say at this point. His attitude and personality is what it is for better or worse. Rather than keep quiet he has a need to describe the situation where he was a victim and innocent of any wrong. At one time he was a very good to great player at his position. Maybe they should have traded him at the deadline in 2018? But they didn't. They released him and the Chiefs signed McCoy to a part-time role player. Frankly, he's lost a step and all season he goes to the ground on first contact In the KC action I've seen him play he never broke a tackle or evaded a defender for additional yardage. Most likely he's not on the Chief active roster for 2020 or any other team. This might be his last chance for a ring. If he gets it or not it won't make a difference to me and I hold no ill will toward the guy. My focus is on the Bills going forward.

Consistently trading your first rounders is usually not a receipe for success. Rather than chalk it up to skill and expertise at player evaluation I'd say it's more likely to be good luck or random chance. It might work 1 time out of 100.

I think Detroit surprises and goes QB with Tagovailoa on the 3rd pick. Sure they have Stafford but after 11 years and $200M they've reached the playoffs 3 times and all 3 times lost in the wild card round. They can opt out of the remaining 2 years of his deal after 2020. Patricia knows from his NE experience that he needs a long term solution at QB and Stafford isn't it. When will they find themselves drafting this high again to get a top QB prospect? if they draft this high next year the HC knows he'll be out the door after 2020. This puts the Giants in a great spot to trade back. Maybe even with Miami if other teams want to jump up to #4 as QB's go off the board fast. They could drop back a few picks and still get the guy or one of the guys they are targeting and still add another pick or two. I'd be surprised if Jeudy lasts to the Denver pick. If he does Beane might try to move up and get him. Higgins would look good in the Bills line up too and filll a definite need at WR but I wouldn't be surprised if they go Edge or OLB here either.

I expect the Bills to make what they think is a reasonable offer but not break the bank or go outside "the plan". If he signs great if not and some other team offers outrageous term and money then he'd be wise to take it and maybe the Bills get a compensatory pick and find a better value replacement through free agency or the draft.

The Bills need an elite pass rusher, a replacement for Lorax at OLB preferably with size and speed, and maybe a little more help at CB and even a more physical presence at safety in run game support. As for missed tackles there is room for improvement. Some of it is putting yourself in the right position not over-pursuing or being in the wrong gap and maybe technique. But sometimes its just a mismatch or a bad angle. You put any 190 lb corner in the open field against a guy like Derrick Henry or one of the elite TE's in the game coming at you at full speed and I'll bet 9 out of 10 times you're going to get run over or faked out regardless of the quality of your technique or tackling skills.

Better yet the officiating crew should pay the fine.

The line blocking call and execution on this play is more painful to watch than getting a root canal without anesthetic. I thought I was ready to move on from this game on Monday morning after cooling off for a couple days but I'm seeing and reading more and more about specific plays where the ref's either didn't call it consistently or just blew the call. Yesterday I watch the OBD show with Murphy and Tasker and Ross Tucker was on and he was also of the opinion the call on Ford was complete BS. I think that's the consensus of the entire world except the officiating crew here. Then they showed the 2 pt conversion play Watson ran and you see the Texans RB coming back and towards his own end zone to cut off Edmunds right before he get a hand on the QB. No call but they make the call in OT in the playoffs. Two plays before the Ford call on the Allen sweep to the right where 3 Bills missed blocks the defender launches himself into the air and hits the QB helmet to helmet but no call. Would have been Bills ball 1st and 10 on the 27. And on the 2nd half kickoff two back up officials in black jackets come sprinting out on the field? That seemed odd. Yeah that would have been a cheap 7 in that the returner has no intent to return the kick but since when does intent come into play? The rule to give yourself up in the end zone is to take a knee or go to the ground. The distinction is process. Defenders intercepting the ball in the end zone do this too. They don't end the play by tossing the ball to the official. No guessing required. Maybe on the grounding call Allen should have told the officials his intent was to escape the defenders and throw the ball to a wide open receiver down the field. "Well sure Josh, we understand, you didn't do it with intent so no intentional grounding here then". That crew just makes me sick. I hope the Pegula's quietly push for these clowns to never, ever, officiate another NFL game. And for good measure I hope the Chiefs beat them tomorrow 63-3

I'll throw a couple more out there. Left guard, I'd keep Feliciano at RG OLB with size and speed to cover and blitz. Upgrade for Poyer at safety as his run support is a little weak.

You can over-analyze the refs all you want and it won't matter. In another game with another crew that wouldn't have been called. I'm not asking the officials to be perfect just consistent from game to game and week to week. The call on Ford was weak, especially in a playoff game during overtime. Heck, on the play they ended up face-to-face and the defender was completely aware of Ford's presence on the play so where's the "blind" on blindside? I could be wrong but I suspect you can watch every play of every game from this season and watch every game next year and never see an offensive lineman get called for that again. But did that call hurt the Bills? Yes, it did. Did it cost them the game? Well maybe but to me I can't say for sure given other plays they left on the field or didn't make.

Exactly. They know how to work the system to the max. The players they lose are signed for big money contracts and with a couple exceptions don't make much of an impact on their new teams. And they sign low price/one year free agent deals or sign late round drafted or rookie free agent players, like Hogan, to offer sheets their old team likely won't match. The losses outweigh the gains. My opinion of the compensatory draft pick system is that its anti-competitive and unless I'm wrong is unique to football.

On the play Allen was tackled at around the 50 and there was 1:04 on the clock so there was no need for any type of desperation play at that point. And Knox's path to the end zone about 55 yards away was not clear as there we 3 or 4 defenders up-field closing on the play. If you watch the play over Josh fakes a lateral over initially then tosses the ball while being brought to the ground. In that situation it was a foolish and unnecessary risk. Knox's reaction to the ball bouncing on the turf was heads up thinking. That said there were a lot of takeaways for Allen in this game and it will be a learning experience going into next season. His hero ball skills can be a good thing but he needs to dial it back a bit and pick his spots. In that situation the risk was clearly higher than the reward.

Yes the clock ran out but on 3rd and 18 they should have made the stop. And again in OT they had Watson dead to rights and let him get away. The call I hated was the blindside block call on Ford with the Bills driving into FG range. That call was weak at best and calling it in playoff OT is terrible.

With the Bills in the playoffs and looking to be headed in the right direction it feels strange but good to not have any worries or concerns about all the off season coaching firing and hiring. Lots of threads about other teams in turmoil like the Giants and Browns. As Bills fans not too much to worry about. Happy New Year to all and to a victory on Saturday!

Yeah, Edelman layed on the turf motionless then all of a sudden got up when he realized the fake injury scam wasn't going to work. But regardless of their consistent behavior of pushing the limits of sportsmanship and crossing the line on the rule book I rest easy now knowing their reign of terror is coming to an end. Brady will be pushing 43 and the deterioration of his skills will accelerate sharply from here. It might be wise to consider retirement. I seriously doubt the Patriots will reach or win the Super Bowl this year as they'll likely have to beat either/and the Chiefs and the Ravens. Two teams that look very strong and are hitting their stride going into the playoffs. And in the SB a host of NFC teams like SF and NO that looks vastly superior. Plus in 2020 after another off-season of building, upgrading the roster, and filling holes the Bills will be an even greater threat. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the holidays and the Bills playoff appearance. In 2020 NE will be history.

Are the Ref's biased toward NE when they play the Bills (and almost everyone else)? It sure looks that way much of the time. My beef is they are just so inconsistent from crew to crew, week to week, and game to game. Early on they called defensive PI on Tre and I thought there was contact but nothing too blatant. And I said okay, if that's the standard definition of defensive PI in this game then they better be consistent and call it both ways. They did not. Several times Bills receivers were held up, tugged, or contacted while the ball was in the air that was far more contact then the earlier call but nothing was called.

After sleeping on it overnight and thinking it over I've got to agree. Winning this game would have made a statement and provided an emotional charge to the team and the fans but in the grand scheme of things winning this game was probably just as important as winning the first pre-season game back in August. Unless half the the Patriots team is missing I don't believe for one second that Miami has any chance of going into Foxboro next Sunday and pulling off the upset. Win or lose the most likely scenario is they're locked into the 5 spot. To make it to the Super Bowl the Bills need to beat 3 of the 4 division champs starting with Houston and New England might be one of them. The Bills played a pretty vanilla game on both sides of the ball. Was it done with any purpose? Who knows for sure but why show them anything new? Right now it looks like the Patriots are just a little bit better than the Bills. In both games the Bills had red-zone chances late to change the outcome of the game but failed. Maybe its they have a slightly better RB group, maybe its because of Brady's experience vs. Allen's experience? Maybe its something else but the Bills have closed the gap and expectations should be they move past the Patriots next season and take the division. Anything less would be a let down. The Jets game means nothing to the standings right now. I'd rest some guys. Play Allen about 1/4 and give him the rest of the day off. Rest some veterans like Lorax and Gore. Sit out other key guys that might be dinged up. The idea is to prepare for beating Houston. The way I look at it, it's been the goal since winning in Pittsburgh. I think that's the mindset of the coaching staff too. Win the wild card game and see how things fall. Let's just get these last two regular season game over with. Whatever the outcome in the wild card game the future finally looks bright. I think they've got 10 draft choices and around $90M in cap space to resign some key players and free agents that can provide upgrades at certain positions. On defense I see the need for one player at all 3 levels and the offense could use some physical receivers, a power running back, and more upgrades to the offensive line. Maybe a new punter on ST? As a team that is a up and comer I suspect Buffalo won't be a place impact free agents avoid or dismiss any longer. Happy holidays..

On HQ they've been down on the Bills from week one so its no surprise. Sometimes I watch the show because of Papi. The old guy is a riot and makes the show entertaining. As he's taking a break I haven't seen it for maybe a month. On the other end of the spectrum I was listening to WFAN in NYC on Tuesday and they were taking about Josh Allen. To summarize, they said statistically he doesn't look great but he's got that 4th qtr mentality that when the game is on the line he plays his best. He's a winner. He has the "it" factor. So Winston throws for 400 yards, some TD's, plus some INT's and his team loses almost every week. And if you look at the weekly stats teams passing for the most yards are losers most weeks. This criticism of Josh reminded me of Buddy Ryan years ago saying that Chris Carter wasn't a very good WR because all he does is score Touchdowns. All JA seems to do is win.

Sports Illustrated predicted the Bills would be 6-10 and by the way.. the Ravens would be 7-9.

For this weekend I'd like to see the league order and execute an electronic sweep of their stadium to ensure there are no "bugs" in the visitor's locker room, the coaches booth, or any intercepting of signals between the sidelines and the QB's helmet. I also want to see if Brady has his comm link turned off during the play as required by league rules. Then get to the bottom of it, confirm who is giving the orders to cheat and who knows. Then fine them and suspend them for life. In the past I heard players say they have '"fans" at the visitor's hotel pulling fire alarms to wake the team up all night long. For the Chiefs game I heard from various outlets that the ground crew in Providence "forgot" to unload all the teams uniforms and equipment and the plane had to be recalled from Newark to get the rest of the equipment before game time. Many of the players had to scramble and rush to get dressed for the game and a lot of pre-game activity was disrupted. More BS..

The Bills 3 remaining games are against defenses that love to bring pressure on the QB. JA has had trouble dealing with that and in fact it's been an approach defenses have taken against the Bills offense for as long as I can remember. What Allen needs to do is play more under control, improve his read and recognition, and make the correct throw when the defense brings pressure. Minimize the scramble drill plays, avoid taking losses, and don't put his linemen into situations where holding might be called. Like most here I've watched every snap of every Bills game this season. I think this game being on the road is an advantage. Josh seems to get too emotionally jacked up for the home games. That's okay for a lot of position players but the QB has to keep his composure. I expect the light comes on against the Steelers and he comes through big on Sunday night.

Also, the Eagles were said to have staged a 'fake' offensive walk through prior to the SB that consisted of plays and formations they were not planning on using. Their suspicion was they were being watched and this mis-information strategy would cause NE to waste time preparing for something they would see during the game. Seems to have worked.

Ravens fans shouldn't be mad. I thought their offensive line, minus the center, was lined up too far in the backfield on every passing play the entire game. In fact, their positioning pre-snap telegraphed to me almost every run/pass "guess" before the play. The plays it didn't predict could have been audibled out at the line. If the end receiver lined up that far back he'd be called for illegal formation for not being lined up on the line of scrimmage. I know teams cheat a little back for pass protection but not all four guys that far back. I'm no rules expert and maybe I got it wrong but go back and watch the tape and see what you think.

I think Brady retires after this season. He shows flashes of great play but mostly he's been inconsistent to average this year. On the broadcasts the announcers have been gracious and say it's a sub-standard receiving group but that's been the case in a lot of their seasons and he's worked with that well. Even his body language seems to say he's just not into the game anymore. Much like the undefeated champ boxer who fights one more fight too many another season would be a mistake. Nothing to prove at this point. I saw Rivers mentioned on the thread too. I think he's done based on what I've seen of him this season.

What I like about Romo's game analysis is that he provides accurate insights into what is going to happen on the next play rather than just breaking down the play before. And yesterday he provided some insights into the Patriots defense approach. Its really quite simple. Tendencies, formations, personnel, situations, down and distance. They study the hell out of the opponent. When certain players are in the game they react by calling specific defenses for that offensive personnel package. To "fool" NE's defense and gain the advantage your offense needs to be as personnel and formation neutral as possible. Your offense simply cannot be predictable. It's almost like you need to reinvent your offense for that one game. I think the Eagles did that in the Super Bowl but couldn't pull it off with Wentz yesterday. I also suspect that after seeing Roman's Baltimore offense, which to me is just a variation of what he ran with the Bills but with better personnel, NE will l be better prepared for the Ravens offense the next time around if they meet in the playoffs at some point.

I think you're spot on with the game plan but doesn't that point to a lack of "star power" with the OC and DC? And maybe the HC? If you had to build a team 5 strings deep and also choosing a head coach, offensive coordinator, and defensive coordinator 5 deep how many Bills players and coaches would you pick? Not our HC, OC, or DC. As for players? On defense Tre White for sure, maybe Poyer or Hyde but I'd be pressed to pick anyone else. But on offensive? Nobody. Week to week I find the Bills offensive game plan to be unimaginative, completely transparent, and absolutely boring to watch when compared to what other teams are doing with their offenses. I expect I could take 5 or 10 frequent contributors to the board and devise a better game plan than Daboll comes up with week to week. I like Allen a lot and he's improved but that improvement just doesn't seem to translate into more production, yards and points. So looking at coaching does Daboll show he has the creativity and ability to put together an offense that matches the specific strengths of his players? I'm not seeing it. As for defense I'm seeing regression at all three levels especially the run defense. What has Frasier done to correct or adjust anything? Nothing I'm much. They did nothing to cover up Wallace's bad showing on Sunday and just stood their while the Browns marched down the field to take the lead. I'm dreading Thanksgiving as I expect the Cowboys to physically push the Bills defense down the field and run all over them. Our only Nationally televised game no less! Add this to how the Bills rarely show up to play in a big spot and this could be an embarrassing disaster. My advice, eat your turkey dinner early because you're going to lose your appetite later. Why not throw in Beane here too. The last two drafts have been good but how many of these guys do you project as pro bowl level player potential at this point? Hopefully a few. But he gets high marks for resolving the cap issues and sticking to his financial plan. But at the trade deadline he didn't pull the trigger on any moves citing the cost which to me shows he doesn't have any conviction the team has potential to make some noise in the playoffs. On another note, after watching last nights SF/SEA game I realized how superior the rosters of the top teams in the league are compared to the Bills. The 49ers have stacked a series of top 5 picks over the years and Seattle just seems to find a way to keep their roster stocked with good players. And NE? We all know about them. We're a top 5 defense? Does anyone really still believe that?