Utah John

The Bills did McCoy a favor by cutting him. They could have tried to trade him but that would have brought Shady's big contract along, and no team was going to pay that unless they could get him for a seventh or a box of tape. And any team that got him might not have been a winning team. So Shady was able to go to KC for a lot of money (less than his Bills contract called for), keep playing, get a ring, and then move on and get ANOTHER ring. The Bills showed McCoy respect and consideration by the way they handled it. That's a message the rest of the league got loud and clear. Good for the Bills they did that. As for keeping McCoy on board, he clearly wasn't able to be the workhorse they had relied on for years. Singletary was coming in and they didn't know if he'd be very good. Keeping Gore around was a good move.

Dak doesn't have to be as good as Mahomes to get paid. Right now, really good QBs (which might or might not include Dak, your call) have the upper hand in negotiations with teams. The teams with the good ones look at what happens to all the rest, and scrape together the cash to pay up. So, the answer to the question, "based on what?" is -- supply and demand. Not all top QBs want to squeeze every nickel that they can. Brady never really got what he was worth from New England, but he was smart enough to know that the Pats needed money to have a lot of other good players, so the team could win which would make Brady look good. Plus his wife has a good job too. I am watching and waiting to see what happens with Josh Allen. He didn't come from money, and he doesn't have a rich girlfriend. The temptation for him will be to go after the kind of money that Mahomes got. If that's what happens, I won't blame him, but I'll be worried about the future of the team.

The D line was just mediocre last year. They missed Star and will get him back this year. But the bigger concern is Ed Oliver, who just doesn't seem to have the fire. If Kyle Williams or Lorenzo Alexander were still around I think they'd take Oliver by the elbow and show him what he needs to do. But Kyle and LoRax aren't around anymore. Maybe the biggest contribution JJ Watt could provide is helping Oliver elevate to the level we expected when he was drafted.

This will likely turn out very well for Indy, but they are taking a big chance on Wentz, that he can turn things around. Although the Colts did not give up much, they are now saddled with the huge contract Wentz signed. It will be expensive for the Colts to get rid of Wentz if he doesn't work out.

Miami has signed their placekicker, Jason Sanders, to a $22M extension with $10M guaranteed. This is how a team with a lot of cap space goes to a team with not much cap space, without actually getting better.

If Juszczyk had moved to Buffalo, he'd have met a lot of people who could pronounce his last name properly, first time, without hearing it said beforehand. I doubt that was true in SF.

It would be ironic if Wilson does move. The Seahawks got really good when he was on his rookie contract, but then when it was time to pay him they had to let a lot of really good players go because they couldn't pay him, and them, and still field a team. You would think that having a QB as good as Wilson would be a good problem to have, but it's not all roses. The window for a team with a great young QB to win a SB is fairly short.

The Chiefs O line which is usually quite good was terrible because it was reshuffled when Fisher got hurt against the Bills. The Chiefs with their regular O line would have been a far more formidable opponent. Mahomes isn't superman -- he needs reasonable protection to be effective. All that blitzing that TB did would have left them exposed to Mahomes' passing and Kelce's quick moves to get open, if Mahomes had just had a little more time. The question is, would the Bills, who had their entire team intact including a good O line, have been more effective against TB than the Chiefs, with their terrible O line, were today? I have to figure, yes. Also, the refs decided to penalize the Chiefs' DBs for doing to the Bucs exactly what they did to the Bills' receivers. Holding, hitting them downfield, etc. Diggs struggled to get open and that's just because the Chiefs were, essentially, cheating. I think the Bills passing game, with their good O line, would have been very effective against TB's defense, which wasn't cheating. Could the Bills D have stopped the Bucs offense? Well, no, no one can the way they're playing. But the Bills would have been facing mere mortals instead of Marvel characters like Tyreek Hill. And so the Bills D would have kept us in the game. There is NO WAY TB would blow out the Bills like they did the Chiefs.

If you want your backup QB to be the guy who helps your starter prepare, then guys like Barkley and Peterman have a role in the league. If you think your starter is likely to miss a lot of games, these aren't the backups you want.

I think this trade is a lose-lose for both teams. The Rams gave up so much that they won't be able to maintain the quality of their roster with top-notch rookies to replace veterans who are reaching the end of their rookie contracts. The Lions lose a top-notch QB and replace him with a guy who can pass well under good conditions but who doesn't handle pressure or poor weather conditions. The Lions do get high picks in return but their draft success record is terrible.

Really, now, ask yourself -- would you rather that the Bills lost to the Ravens in the divisional round? Or to the Colts in the wildcard round? Or not made the playoffs at all? Not me. I'll take the wins, and the good times. Fourteen teams made the playoffs, and only one won't finish with a loss.

I don't think Brown was even close to 100% today. He's been a non-factor this year because of Diggs' presence and because of his injuries. If he can get healthy he's worth keeping around. Should we keep four excellent-to-great WRs? That might seem excessive but consider the Bills are built around Allen. Also consider that the Bills got lucky this year, with Davis developing so quickly. We would have felt Brown's absence a lot more without Davis around. We need a real beast on the D line. Ed Oliver is a potential very good piece but he needs someone very large beside him to let Oliver do what he does best.

I've been riding the magical effects of a sweatshirt I've worn during every Bills game since the Hail Murray. It finally failed me today. It's a hoodie from the Wicked show. My wife suggests I change the W in Wicked, for all those wins, to an L. Cruel, very cruel.

Way too early to write off McD at this point. The Chiefs are a better team, and the things the Bills tried to do didn't work. C'est la vie.

Exactly. It's never a player's fault when a team drafts him too high, or gives up too much to get him. The player does what he can do. Watkins showed flashes of brilliance but could never keep himself intact enough to excel.

I wonder if he hurt his hand at the end of the Ravens game, where he was in the air after punting, and was roughed. We were happy that that meant the Bills kept the ball and the game was over, but he landed on his hand and might have hurt it then.

I'm afraid the discussion would be, I'm going to be a HC in a year's time, and you can come with me and be the OC at the new place.

Does anyone know what players are protected on the practice squads of the other three teams?

These are four excellent, well-balanced, complete teams. Each game is going to come down to execution and injuries. I can't see how any of the four HCs is better or worse than the others -- they're all doing great and have their teams playing at a high level. All four QBs are playing great. It's no wonder that the betting spreads are so small.

I hope for the best for young QBs. The best-looking options often start out with bad teams and sometimes they never overcome being on a bad team. Sam Darnold, Haskins, Josh Rosen are just a few. Their careers are over before they get started. The lucky ones get to a team that supports them. Haskins seems like a total jerk but Big en was no saint either when he was young. Maybe they'll bond, and Ben can mentor his replacement. But Ben is on a very steep slope downward. He was terrible this past year. There will be clamoring for a QB switch next year if Ben continues to struggle.

I think he was right. The Browns (the 1964 NFL champs) and the Packers were loaded with talent too, don't forget. Even if the 64 Bills had lost to the one of them, the league would have seen Cookie play at his prime. What a great runner. Imagine Cookie going up against Jim Brown. Brown was better of course -- the greatest player of all time, IMHO -- but Cookie was unknown and deserved a better stage. The biggest difference was that the Bills offense wasn't really that great, aside from Cookie. But the Bills defense could have kept them in the game.

What's holding back our running game is the O line, which is designed intentionally to be great at pass protection (which it is). Very few can do both really well, and that generally involves very high priced players, which is not how this team is put together. And I wouldn't have it any other way. It's a passing league and rushing can't get you through every challenge -- just ask the Browns and Ravens. The Browns have three O line starters as All-Pro but that didn't help them keep up with KC. The Ravens showed it's possible to take even Derrick Henry out of a game. And then the Bills showed it's possible to take the Ravens running game out of a game. If you can't pass protect, you can't pass; and if you can't pass, you can't win.

NFL = Not For Long. You can't blame players who cash in on their real contract after their 4-year rookie internship is over.

I like it. It's unique to the Bills. Other cities have a XXX Nation. (Colts Nation, Chargers Nation are two I checked actually exist, and there are more I'm sure.) Bills Mafia suggests a strong common bond. And we're EVERYWHERE. I've lived in eight states and traveled in almost all of them, and whenever I wear a Bills hat or shirt I get a "Go Bills" from someone. Even here in Alaska. We don't send Big Tony out to break legs, or demand protection money, and no one thinks we do, so I think the possible negative connotation is nothing to worry about.

I agree this one is more like the 88 Cinci game than the others. The biggest different from the glory years is that those teams were expected to be great every year, and the pressure was on them to win. This year there weren't great expectations, and in fact due to the schedule playing the AFC West and NFC West with all that travel, I figured a 9-7 season was realistic. Who knew Allen would get so good so quickly? So this year feels like we're playing with house money, nothing to lose, and if it doesn't happen we have a very bright future for the next five years or so.