Utah John

Exactly. The problem is bad drafting, not Josh's contract.

The only play I'll fault him for in this game was on the fumble where Josh dropped the ball instead of putting it in Cook's gut. The fumble spilled out toward the right sideline, where Diggs had the best shot at it. He dove so that he could have grabbed the ball with his right hand. But the Broncos defender went for the ball like he really really wanted it, and Diggs lost out. He also had one target where the pass was pretty bad and still Diggs made a great effort to catch it, but couldn't make up for the poor throw.

I was with you until you mentioned Bieniemy. That guy's a cancer.

That's right. Beane had a long-term plan to turn the Bills into a dynasty, which required very strong drafting and using draft picks as inexpensive roster players. And required NOT going out and blowing money on a FA. The reason they went out and got Miller and spent all that money on him, was the 13 seconds game, when the current pass rushers couldn't get to Mahomes. (And that loss is on McDermott.) So McDermott wanted a closer to rush the passer. So Beane broke his own rule and paid Miller. But even if Miller was still playing well, Beane's plan still fell apart because of his very spotty record drafting players. The reason the Bills' window is closing (already has closed, possibly) isn't Josh's contract. It's dozens of small, bad decisions and a few whoppers.

It's the other way around -- the coach has lost this team -- but I think that's what you meant.

Beane's, obviously. Instead of drafting one of the great young WRs, he picked Boogie Basham and Kaiir Elam. Instead of picking up a great WR as a FA, he signed Von Miller to a huge contract (which sounded great for a while, but geez he's not very good now), and spent a fortune on Dawson Knox before drafting Kincaid. It's like there's no plan, no philosophy about holding together a team and continuing to make it better.

To be fair, Wilson doesn't play like a washed up QB. He plays like a guy who doesn't have much arm left but who knows how to avoid pressure, move the chains and get wins. Wilson was the difference in this game that both teams seemed determined to lose.

What I saw was that when Cook was playing, the offense came to life. Cook took the plays where Murray got a short gain, and gashed the defense.

I'm not going to defend Davis on his receiving, which I acknowledge is his main job, but I will point out that he's really good at downfield blocking. I don't think he's ever going to get better at finding holes in zones or at route running, and his drops and his poor YAC also work against him. But the powers that be seem to like having him out there. Possibly because there's no feasible alternative.

No I'm not. I think Cook has been getting better and better, and was ready to light it up against a poor Denver D. He could have had 150 yards or more if he'd been left in.

Actually closer to 3-7. Probably deserved to lose to the Bucs and Giants.

Murray did a good job. Cook was on fire.

The only way I can explain that screwup is that the Bills were determined to lose, and so were the Broncos, and we won! Winning being losing in this case.

The main reason the Bills are struggling this year is that they've lost half their defense to injuries. Plain and simple. The Bills D was built around the unique talents of Milano, and also relied on half a dozen other excellent players, all of whom are sidelined. The problems with the offense are largely due to coaching. Other teams figured out how to slow or stop Josh, and they all copy-cat those approaches. It's up to Dorsey to figure out how to recognize and attack the opposing defenses when they try that.

Yeah, you would. As would almost all of us. The NFL's betting that the fan disgust level can keep going up forever and they still won't lose a significant number of fans. Tell the truth. If you're watching a game not involving the Bills, and the refs pull one of their magic game-altering penalties, your reaction like mine is, wow that's a bad call now let's watch the next play. It's only when the Bills are involved that we really lose it. A $60 ticket for someone scraping by on $50K is much more impactful penalty. Allen is so far from needing to worry about making the rent or the electric bill that almost any fine is just annoying. So I think you're right, that Allen cares less about the fine than many fans do.

Several year ago the Bills were playing the Broncos. It was late in the game and the Bills were clinging to a lead. Tyrod Taylor was knocked down during a play, either a sack or just contact I don't remember, and Von Miller reached down to Taylor as if to give him a hand up. Taylor reached up but Miller pulled his hand back, ha ha ha. Almost unbelievably, Miller got a 15 yard unsportsmanlike penalty. That helped the Bills keep the ball and run out the clock on the win. Afterward, Miller was a total professional. He took responsibility. He said he should have known better, as a veteran leader on his team. No criticism of the refs or the call. (I doubt the Broncos fan base was so calm about it, though.) As far as I know, Allen hasn't made any comment about the finger pointing penalty. No comment is good (any complaint would seem childish) but it would be even better if he took a page out of Miller's playbook, and said "I'm a veteran leader of this team and I should have known better." So it is, so it has been, and so it shall ever be. Particularly now that the league is in bed with the betting world.

I don't think the Bengals tried that play again. I wonder why.

Madden was all it took.

Allen used to be able to see the entire field and rarely missed seeing open receivers. Is he locking onto one guy now and ignoring the others?

I do think many of McDermott's in-game decisions are poor, but overall I think he'd be doing a lot better as coach if Beane was doing better at drafting. The main reason so many teams are now better than the Bills is that they've hit on a lot more draft picks. Epenesa has improved to meh status. Basham was traded for a bag of donuts. Elam is on "IR" to stash him in order to TRY to trade him for another bag of donuts down the road. Harrison Phillips was OK but clearly wasn't going to be the stuffer they needed. The Bills no longer have better personnel than other teams. The NFL is largely talent-driven, and the Bills as of today have only two premium players, Allen and Diggs. NONE on defense now that Milano is out. It's no wonder they aren't winning like they were. It was Wrecks who pushed Schwartz out the door. The Bills D was dominant in the last year before Wrecks arrived, and it immediately collapsed upon his arrival.

About Hines, his injury, his contract dispute, etc Is there any info about Hines' recovery from the jet ski injury? Will he ever play again? And will he play for Buffalo? I know there was a dispute between the Bills and Hines over an injury settlement. Usually (it seems to me) teams do this with players who get hurt and who won't play again, or won't play for them again. It's true though that the dropoff from Hines to whoever we're using for returns any given week, is really big. I honestly can't remember a single big punt return for the Bills this year. Not one. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Imagine how much worse it would be if Beane had given Poyer the big, multi-year contract he was after. The hole would be that much deeper.

Teams that aren't up by more than four scores do not take mercy. It's too common for a team to score quickly and put a lopsided game suddenly into play. The Bills had a relatively big lead on the Bucs and still nearly lost. Not that the Bills showed mercy or stepped off the gas -- it's more that the disorganized Bills offense could no longer move the ball, and the Bucs caught up. Part of the reason the Pats had top-10 defenses those years was also Brady, actually. Complementary football. He got the Pats into leads, and forced opponents to go one-dimensional. Complementary football is actually a thing. But, your point is still well-taken. It's silly to think the Bills offense could ever compensate for the huge holes in the defense.

We had one. His name is Zach Moss. What Moss is doing in Indy shows the talent he has if used in a scheme friendly for power backs. I have no argument with the Bills trading Moss since he was not going to sniff his potential in Buffalo. It's just that the play schemes, the blocking schemes, and the O line personnel in Buffalo are designed to emphasize the pass, of course.

USC lost because their defense sucks. It's amazing they were ever ranked highly. But Caleb Williams is a great talent and I guess the pundits figured he could carry the team. Well, no one could carry THAT defense.