thurst44

Agreed, this was a statement game for Allen and the defense.

Big point: Tremaine Edmunds straight up balled to the buzzer today. 11 solo tackles, 1 int, 1 sack

This, however, I judge a bit. One of the things I love about Bills fans is as negative as we can be, and as many times as we say "I'm done with them," we stick by our team -- to a level most fanbases don't.

I don't think this can truly be quantified. We all have our own loads in life. As for game attendance, living in the NYC area, if I get a chance to go I do, but there was a period of about 15 years between graduating from UB and a few years ago when a Bills-fan friend organized a trip to Met Life to watch opening day (we lost 48-28 but it was fun). While it coincided with the drought, that was not the reason -- I simply didn't think to go. However, my fandom grew more fanatical during that time, as this site was one of the few I'd visit every morning before starting my work day. Sundays during NFL season were set aside for Bills games. I'd go to an uncle's to listen, then the Bills bars on 42nd, then Direct TV. I'm already exchanging Fanspeak mocks with a friend. Everywhere I've worked, people have known me as the Bills fan. However, I also have very little Bills gear. I cried when they lost their first SB and when they made the playoffs last year. Does any of this make me more or less of a fan than anyone else. Who cares! It's something that brings me joy even when it's heartbreaking. Our level of fandom is our own business :).

He's also 4-5 as a rookie with a team that has been favored in 2 out of 14 games, is 4-4 in games he completed, and with a team that is 1-5 when any other QB has played a significant time. There's nothing definitive yet, but it's a pretty promising start to a career. I find it hard not to be excited about the upcoming prospects of a team who overachieved its (admittedly negligible) expectations with an exciting, dynamic young QB, a top defense with most if not all likely returning next year, an abundance of salary cap room and draft picks.

Oooh, two games down the block from me next year :).

I won't a few months later if we draft an Edmunds or White level player. About the only way I might wish we pick higher is if it's below top ten -- and that's for the silly reason that ten is often the cutoff for mini-mock drafts on TV and it can be admittedly satisfying to hear the Bills debated on national TV.

Ha, yeah, but they're not that meaningless (or at least I kinda love these moves). There's a definite pattern. Mike Love, Dean Marlowe, and Keith Ford are all intriguing under-the-radar players who showed flashes in camp and pre-season. We've already possibly struck gold with Foster and Wallace. I'd love to see if any of these players could provide depth. As Yolo pointed out, Ford was a major recruit at one point, and if he shows similar progression as Foster, maybe he can be part of our post-Shady running plans (whenever that turns out to be).

Considering 3-1 is probably more likely than 0-4 with final games being mostly at home against other sub-.500 teams (miami will be that by then ), we may be too low, but that being said, I would love this pick. That's potentially two elite young cornerbacks with Taron Johnson and Levi Wallace (who have both flashed starter ability) coming in in packages. In a passing league, I'd love that.

I'd be stunned if Lorax was not back next year. This is just year 3 of his ultra-late bloom and I'd imagine he'd want to keep it rolling as long as he can play anything near the level he did in 2016 and has again since late in 2017. Kyle feels slightly different as over 10 years as a starter has to take a toll, but given he has not fallen off much, I have to think he'll want to stick it out a couple more years in hopes of seeing this incarnation bear fruit. And have a hard time seeing the Bills not taking them back, since they have no shortage of cap space and the two are about as archetypal McD "Process" guys as you can get.

I'd suggest it might be much lower than that as he's still playing at an exceptionally high level, seems to bought into McD's whole process thingy, and might very likely want to stick around another year or two to see where this all leads, so unless the team wants to move on or there's an Eric Wood situation, I really don't see how he would not come back.

I get it, but 7-7 means that they are already on a good path and still have a ton of money and draft picks and won't be losing any significant free agents -- and if it's because of QB play, it would mean genuine hope we found the guy to build the offense around. 3-11 would mean we lost to a lot of bad teams, mostly at home. I'd rather have the hope and a mid-to-late draft pick (particularly given their seeming recent success with getting top ten talent later in the round) than a complete mess and a high pick in a meh draft.

My favorite example of this was the duo on the 1996 Jags (although still angry they beat us in the playoffs that year). Keenan McCardell and Jimmy Smith were both fifth year receivers with zero 1000 yard seasons between them (in fact, only McCardell had a season with more than 300 yards while Smith had barely made it to the field), who would go on to notch 14 1k yard seasons.

Ha, when I was writing for UB's paper, one of the editors had just come from the airport where she had shared a cab with a mother and son. At one point, she claimed, the woman had leaned over to her, conspiratorially, as if trying to set up her son. "He's famous...he's John Wayne Bobbitt." This would have been shortly after his "incident" making him the center of news, yet I had zero idea he had any connection to Buffalo.

After I came back to NYC after going to college at UB, I was struggling to find a job and wound up working a couple weeks of retail in the Greenwich Village Tower Records jazz dept. -- an area that covered a lot of other mini-sections, including soundtracks. This stringy-haired, 30-something guy comes in with a beautiful girl hanging off him -- I recognize him instantly. He coyly asks me "do you have this soundtrack...it's really sweet, the director wrote all this interstitial music, etc...Buffalo 66." Thankfully, the soundtrack had come in earlier in the day and since I loved the movie, I had displayed it prominently on an endcap. Halfway to the display, I decided to gently bust his ruse, but with a compliment: "I loved your film, Mr. Gallo." He then launched into the classic "did you know this guy and that girl?" but he is over a decade older than me, so I mostly did not; however, in contrast to his reputation, Vincent Gallo was an exceptionally nice person, at least for the span of that conversation.

Not really true in gauging whether it's a truly great defense as if we have the worst drive start point (as i believe we do), that impacts ppg. For example, if the opponent picks the ball off at the 20, the D pushes them back to the 27 in a 3 & out, we give up 3 pts, but that's not really the defense's fault. I'm not saying that ypg are more indicative.

We're tied for 8th in takeaways and 12th in sacks. I'd agree mostly...needs to improve on red zone and 3rd down conversions to be elite, but considering how many giveaways the offense has had its our own territory and the fact they've had to be on the field for so much of the game and how the defense has so rarely wilted in the second half, I'd argue they are above solid. And when you consider the youth of many of the key players and that the only significant players who are free agents are players who are nearing retirement but not really slipping and who if they don't retire would probably lean towards staying in Buffalo, the elite defense potential for next few years is quite high.

I suspect Hyde will make it a second year as he had been building a buzz before and hasn't significantly fallen off, White's reputation seems to be growing so would be surprised if he does not make it, Hughes and Poyer deserve it based on overall play but might not have rep yet. Kyle Williams might come closer than most think based on longtime rep. Edmunds is a very long shot. If I were to guess: Hyde/White outright and that might be it (although it could be one of those things where six or seven altogether make it due to others bowing out, although Bills overall early abysmal rep may outshadow D's building rep)

Also, the last two seasons we got potentially elite players at 16 and 27. I'd rather we end the season on a roll with Allen on the verge of hitting a groove. It would really bode well what with all the cap space and a decent slate of draft picks.

Yeah, I generally agree. Jags are nosediving and are clearly not the team everybody expected them to be. However, it would just figure if Marrone got it together in two weeks and beat us handily. Who knows, but I could definitely see a 5-1 finish if the offensive line continues to improve and QB play is adequate. I picked a Jags-Vikings Super Bowl, so it would feel crazy if we beat both those teams.

I'm not sure why everyone just presumes starting Allen means losing more games. Yes, he's raw, but he was 2-2 in complete games against teams that might ALL make the playoffs, and left another game with a good chance to win. We've been an erratic team and might remain erratic, or we're coming together after 9 games with not one easy game (even the Colts on the road is a tough draw) and could get on a roll against teams that have been as much of a mess as we have been.

So, isn't it valuable to DEFEND against this passing? Ah, two steps (or posts) ahead!

Drafting "needs" with a Top 5 pick would also not be ideal. You take BPA. And you do have to play two cornerbacks, so it's not even close to a waste. If you believe this guy will be a shutdown cornerback, you now potentially have pro bowl level players at all secondary positions and an elite middle linebacker. It's not my first choice, but the aversion to picking cornerbacks in a passing league here is over-the-top.

Well, we have a much better defense for one thing ;), Honestly, though, I don't think they are the same, but that doesn't mean I don't think we might be on the right track. We have a ton of cap space and draft picks, a promising young LT a young smart QB with strong leadership qualities and a high ceiling from whom I've seen things that give me hope but who may never pull it all together. I'd feel better if he were healthy and getting experience, but what can you do. I'm curious to see what they do this off-season.

While I'm definitely on the bleeding heart side of the spectrum, I'll never get this logic. I'm sorry to characterize it like this, but it feels kind of a self-loathing fan mentality. You want your player to fight to win with your team, and fortunes can change fast. As a captain, there's a good chance Shady has bought into this rebuild and could feel like this team will be a contender sooner than you do, believes he is slowing down a lot more gradually than you probably do, and wants to be a part of what McDermott is building. We don't know, he might have told them he didn't particularly want to leave a team that stood by him throughout adversity.