Utah John

Oh, come on. A year or two years ago, when the D was playing lights out, the concern was that Frazier was the coordinator we'd lose. Suddenly that talk has gone away. This year the offense is playing lights out. Daboll is the same guy, creative and smart, but now he has the weapons to succeed. A year or two years ago, most of the people here were trashing him and asking for him to be replaced. Personally, I hope we keep both coordinators around for a few more years at least. Frazier should be able to figure out how to fix the D -- he'll get a lot smarter when he gets Star back to clog the middle, and when the NFL goes back to enforcing holding penalties on the O line. Daboll is a good guy and I hope he gets his chance to move up, in a few years. Put him in as HC with a crummy team and he'll be lost in the churn, struggling to overcome the poor personnel at the new place, having a miserable time, getting fired after three years, and never getting another job as good as he has now. There are too many examples of this to count. It would be much better for him to replace a retiring, successful coach with a team with good offensive talent and a strong D coordinator already in place, even if that takes a couple of years to pan out. Of course, I have my own perspective. I built my own career (now retired) by NEVER jumping at a promotion just because it was available. I always asked myself, do I really want to do the duties of that other job? Is the work interesting, rewarding, and important? If not, screw the extra money. The right job always came along. I hope Daboll does it this way.

The trade is looking great, for both teams actually, since the Vikes drafted their replacement for Diggs too. But things are different now than 30 years ago. Players don't settle for mere millions of dollars when they can get tens of millions of dollars somewhere else. We kept Bennett around for several years, until his age started affecting his play. That's what used to happen all the time. Now players have the right to leave more easily, and they do that when they have a chance to cash in. It will be tough to keep the skill positions on this offense together, once Allen goes onto his second contract. Diggs is the best of that crew and will probably get an offer we can't match, once his current contract is up.

I don't know how KC will keep that team together when they start making payments on Mahomes' HALF A BILLION dollar contract. Allen will get a big raise when his rookie deal runs out, or maybe before, but the Bills seem determined not to let a few crazy contracts disrupt the entire team.

I don't feel sorry for the Jets. That organization deserves to suffer for its incredible ineptitude. Their approach seems to be to take the lazy way out, bringing in high-cost older players as if a few of those guys can make the whole team better, while a cast of JAGs is there to fill out the ranks. The Bills do the opposite -- our FO researches players carefully, understands their character, and brings in good to very good players (but not the best in the league at any position, which would distort the salary cap) to build a strong roster top to bottom. Putting injured players into a game, as the Jets did with Becton and Darnold, is outrageous, and Gase will lose the locker room if he hasn't already. It's clear why Jamal Adams wanted OUT of there ASAP. The guy I feel sorry for is Rosen. Apparently, a good NFL prospect. Goes to the Cardinals with a truly lousy offensive line, and the team is terrible his rookie year. Then before his second year, a new coach comes in who wants Kyler, and Rosen is dumped to the Dolphins, who also had a poor team. He doesn't fit there, and the Dolphins then draft Tua. Rosen's confidence has to be shot. If he's up to it, he could try for a Fitzpatrick career, signing up as a backup somewhere, then hexing the starter so he can come in and look like the solution. Whether Rosen's game is as adaptable as Fitz's is, I have no idea.

The Jets should fire their GM and coach every year, just before the draft. Consistency is the key to excellence.

We have good (or better) starters across the board. We're a little thin regarding depth at some positions. If we get a string of injuries at the same position, or if Allen gets hurt, I don't think it's possible we make the playoffs. Of course that's true for almost all the teams. My point is, anything can happen.

Ask me again in three weeks. The Rams were the first of four tough games. When I saw the schedule I was hoping for a 2-2 split of those four. That's still a realistic goal. Also, we were THIS CLOSE to being 1-2, if it weren't for late heroics by the offense, after the defense let Miami and LAR take the lead away. Both of those games could easily have been a loss. Unless the D starts playing better, 9-7 is only slightly pessimistic.

As long as agents get paid a percentage of the player's salary, there will be pressure on the player to squeeze every dime out of the team. And who can really fault either the player or the agent for that? But, if the team's best players as a group talk to each other and say they want to keep the team together because they love having each other as teammates, maybe they all can agree to forego enough money to keep the core around. The Bills are in a great spot now, but all those smart draft picks are going to be looking for more money in a big wave. White is just the leading edge. Allen is going to deserve a huge raise (I hope he is still playing great into the future), and Edmunds and Oliver could play themselves into a highly leveraged spot. I don't know how long Diggs has on his current contract but he will probably get a big raise too. If those guys are willing to take team-friendly contracts, that will help the Bills carry on with their approach of having very good players across the board, but not very many top guys who can demand top money.

What they saw was, he wasn't very good, at least not when he was drafted. Just like a horse breeder or trainer can look at a colt and size it up as a future racer, the Bills' FO put in the time to get to know him, and see how he responded to coaching and what his desire to improve was. The Bills didn't intend for Allen to play much or at all in his rookie year, so we got to see the raw JA on full display. What we're seeing now is a great player emerging.

Sometimes it seems the officials are there to carry out a script, like a movie or a play. The Bills were winning too easily, and the glamour LA team was embarrassed, so it was time to make the game a little more interesting.

Maybe put his name up twice, then make a big deal out of removing one.

LAR has two top notch players on defense, and no one else whose name I can even remember. The Bills' approach has been to get very good players across the board, with a few nearly at the top of the league for their position, and to win with teamwork and a cohesive plan. We're going to have to break that rule in a few years in order to pay Allen, Edmunds (see what I did there, shoe customers?), Diggs, and maybe Oliver. For now, though, having no really weak players out there is better than having a couple of great players and nine JAGs.

Who's this Josh Allen? At the halftime of the Chiefs-Ravens game, Chris Berman called him Jared Allen.

The Bills once again had a bad 15 minutes, but this time it started late in the 3rd quarter and extended to the middle or so of the 4th. The incorrect interception call definitely changed the momentum, but that sort of thing is gonna happen, and the Bills need to be able not to let things spiral away when it does. This time they were able to grab victory from the jaws of defeat (how many times have we seen other Bills teams do the opposite?), but they were fortunate to have built such a huge lead before the defense went catatonic for a while. I hope the coaches and the player leaders get the picture, and figure out a way to halt the slide a lot quicker than yesterday.

The Bills front office seems to be on a roll, getting good players in the later rounds and UDFAs, as well as hitting on pretty much all the top picks.

And then he gets wide open and catches a pass. No one's laughing. We're cheering.

And the good thing is, with all those other young WRs out there, no other team is likely to swoop in and grab Hodgins. Well, maybe Green Bay.

I don't know if Hyde is the problem or some other player, or the defensive calls, or the scheme that Frazier puts place -- but SOMETHING is wrong with the defense. Two weeks in a row, and we had to have a dramatic comeback when trailing after having a big lead. Maybe the entire league is struggling on defense. There were 13 starting QBs with QBR at 99.9 or above. That can't last. Maybe the offenses have taken some big steps and the DCs need a little time to figure out how to stop them. Whatever. 3-0. I'll take it. Go Bills!

Does anyone know what those stats convert to as a passer rating?

The problem wasn't that the offense was flat in the third quarter. The problem was that the defense was flat in the third quarter, and couldn't get off the field. The offense missed a couple of easy 3rd downs or it would have done much better. The defense got hurt over and over.

Tens of millions of fans saw Russell Wilson. Millions of fans saw Dak Prescott. Dozens and dozens of fans saw Josh Allen.

Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes are talking about having a little contest to see who can throw farther. Maybe Allen and Cam Newton can have a little contest about who's the tougher runner.

So our magic number is 14. It's good to have a magic number.

What I like best is that he's playing so well, but still has room to improve. This guy's ceiling is the Sistine Chapel.

It's tough for our players to get recognition around the country when no one ever sees them make plays or even hears their names. The Bills are all "team first" which is great, but they're only human after all. They want their parents and friends to see them praised.