Utah John

The coaches are using Edmunds the way they think best. They aren't looking for splash plays from him. They want him to eat space and force action to places where they want it to go to. This defense is not 11 guys running around. It's one unit with 11 parts, and if it's working well the MLB has a lot to do with its success. Edmunds on another team might be given very different duties and perhaps would become a dominant force by himself. On this team, he's the glue that keeps everything working together.

I think McD did that to let his players realize they're good enough to pull that off. It's one thing to practice things, but to be in live situation like that with no margin for error, running several plays all working perfectly, lets the players look around at each other and say, damn, we really are good. There's no price tag for that kind of reinforcement.

Neither the Chiefs nor the Titans are playing as well this year as they did last year. But you could have said the same thing about the Bills a week or so ago. The NFL is a very tough league, obviously. HCs and coordinators are paid to figure out how to attack the other team, and no team is so completely stacked that there aren't opportunities for another good team to exploit. The current jumble is a sign that league policies are working to make a complete product attractive and interesting. Not like MLB where some teams in small cities need a miracle to be competitive. Baltimore has a good solid team but they don't seem to have the inner strength of character to show up every day. A team that can beat the Chiefs has no business being in a position where they need an obvious mistake by the officials to beat the weak Lions on a record-setting FG. (For those who don't know, just prior to the long FG, the Ravens had the play clock go to zero a full second or more before the snap. That FG would not have been good from 71 yards, which is where it should have been kicked from.)

Edmunds is a key part of the Bills' team defense. He is not not supposed to be making highlight plays on a regular basis. He's supposed to be taking a large portion of the field away from use by the offense, and he does that. Remember the old BASF commercials? We don't make (fill in the blank), we make (fill in the blank) better. Edmunds job is to do what he's doing which makes all the other players more effective. The Bills entire team is set up to work as complete units. We got used to Diggs making lots of catches last year but the offense is actually more lethal when more players are catching balls. The same principle applies with the defense. Some teams have MLBs that make a ton of tackles, but their overall defense doesn't work that well. I will take what I see from the Bills all day every day.

If the Bills are up 31-17 late in the fourth quarter, I hope Allen is planted firmly on the bench, and Trubisky is getting some snaps. Covering a spread like that is no reason to leave Allen exposed. Not that Houston has anyone who's a threat to Allen's well-being...but still.

The money from the sale of PSLs should be counted toward the percentage paid by the people (taxpayers, ticket buyers) and not the owners.

Thanks. I enjoyed the guy's POV. The Dolphins used to have a great LT, Laremy Tunsil. They fleeced the Texans, trading Tunsil for a lot of draft picks, but those draft picks are a benefit only if the players they use them on, pan out. Jackson is waste of a first rounder. Right now it's looking like the pathetic Texans and the pathetic Dolphins both lost in that trade.

This isn't right. A friend of a friend of Harding's thought he'd do something smart and have Kerrigan attacked. Harding had nothing to do with it and was not aware of the plan. And it really worked out badly for Harding. Kerrigan went to the Olympics, and Harding got permanently banned from figure skating.

So who's going to turn out better, Epenesa or Rousseau? Both look great so far. With Ed Oliver finally having figured things out, the D line looks the best it has in years. Last year's weak spot has become a position of strength.

Well I hope this is the correct view. It could be the wrong view, unfortunately, and we won't know until we see how Allen's performance changes through time. You can't look at two days of stock market changes and declare that the losses we just saw are a blip. What are the fundamental reasons for the drop? Looking closely at the fundamentals gives a much clearer picture of what's going on. For this the opposite of the zoomed out view is needed. Allen won't suddenly get over what ails him just by assuming he will. He more than anyone needs to look very closely at what's happening, and work hard to correct whatever flaws he finds. Based on past performance, that's exactly what will happen. But you know what they say about past performance. As I said, I hope your view is right.

It will be useful to track Allen's performance vs the strength of the opponent's pass rush. Pittsburgh obviously has a great D line, Miami doesn't, and Washington does. Let's see how this unfolds on Sunday. If the Bills passing game struggles against teams with great pass rushers, they need to find other ways to win. Daboll seems reluctant to switch up the Bill's offense, and who can blame him for not wanting to give up what could be its greatest strength, the passing game. But when other teams take away the route progressions the Bills use, it's necessary to go to alternatives. Something will be open and it's up to Allen and Daboll to find it.

Larry Felser had a lot of clout among the pro football writers. It was Felser's campaigning that got Billy Shaw into the HOF (that, and the fact that Shaw was a great great player). None of the current or recent writers had that same amount of clout, and no one has taken on the challenge of getting Sestak the recognition he deserved.

The Bills have a very deep and talented receiver corps. Davis is a burgeoning star and he's better than the people who will replace him if he can't go, but those replacements are very, very good.

I watched an analysis of last year's performances by Singletary and Moss in pass protection. Moss was far and away better than Singletary in that aspect of their games. Singletary is probably a slightly better rusher, but Moss's superiority in pass pro means he should be starting whenever the Bills play a team with a strong pass rush.

I wore the lucky sweatshirt I wore all last year starting after the Hail Murray loss. It had a great winning streak but is 0-2 in its last two games. Out it goes.

This is how the Bills are built, pretty much across the board. One guy who's outstanding or even elite, and the rest that are all very good to excellent. Teams can afford this under the cap. When teams start getting two or more really topnotch guys at a position, they end up with holes in other places in the roster.

Very nice job. I have a question about terminology. Dont Stop and lots of other writers say that points are unanswered when in fact they ARE answered. The Bills scored 23 straight points, and the Steelers answered the Bills points with a TD of their own. OK, that aside, I think the only way Rousseau doesn't get headline billing after this weekend is if Roethlisberger does nothing but three step drops and release, whether the receiver is open or not. If Ben tries to stand in the pocket, he'll be dropped in the pocket. The Bills weakness last year -- lack of a pass rush -- couldn't ask for a better chance to get healthy. Most likely the Bills will try not to blitz much out of respect for Harris, but with the good front four the Bills have, blitzing won't be necessary. If the pass rush gets there, they'll need to keep Harris in to block, a big win for the Bills. And if the Bills get up on the scoreboard, that's another way Harris becomes less important.

It's hard to believe it was only a year and a half ago when the Bills played the Texans in the playoffs. How quickly they fell.

What I'd like to see is predictions based on simulations where each team loses five starters throughout the year to injuries or other multi-game absences. It would have to be a lot of simulations because there are so many scenarios. What if a team loses three O line starters? Two CBs? The starting QB? Factor all THAT in and I think the Bills are in better shape than anyone else. They have the deepest roster with players that all range from good (only a few) to very good to excellent to outstanding to elite. The Bills' distribution of talent level across their roster is more balanced than any other team I can think of. Most really good teams have a few more stars than the Bills but a lot more ugly ducklings the GMs are hoping turn out to be swans. If those ugly ducklings have to play a lot, their team will be laying an egg or two.

Great idea, letting people know. Besides getting in very early lets you see a lot of the pre-game activities.

Could happen. Trubisky is on a one-year contract and hopes to parlay his Bills' experience into a starting job somewhere. I thought Jake Fromm might be the eventual replacement but I don't think he has the arm for the job, and Davis Webb looks way too inconsistent. So the Bills will likely be in the market for a veteran backup next offseason. He wasn't successful but that was against a great Jags defense that almost carried THEM to the SB.

I was born in the mid-50s and that's my favorite opener too.

As time went on, Manning went downhill like almost everyone does. Brady hasn't yet, which is remarkable. Your observation that Brady was better than Manning after a certain point is accurate, but take into account that Manning is older and reached his peak before that time. That's a good point about winning regular season games vs playoff games, and which guy would be better in each situation. Most QBs struggle in the playoffs compared to their regular season performances (ref: Allen, Josh so far) and Manning was not an exception. Again, here's a point where Brady is clearly better than anyone else I can think of. Brady is just as effective in the playoffs as in the regular season.

I agree completely. Good analysis. And it does put the Brady v Manning comparison into focus. Manning peak five years or so were amazing. Brady continuing to win also amazing.

Memories are short. When Montana retired, John Madden was all over anointing Montana as the best ever, and at that point (about 1999 if memory serves) maybe he was. Then there was a stretch where Peyton Manning was better than anyone ever. Brady was playing great at the time but Manning was better. Then Manning got hurt and got old, and some younger fans think the Manning of the last couple of years was all that the guy had ever been -- and at the same time Brady kept on going. You can make a good argument for any of those three as the GOAT. My opinion is that Montana and Brady both excelled in offenses designed to maximize their good points and avoid things they didn't do so well. Manning OTOH just went out and balled. IMHO Manning is the best ever.