hondo in seattle

Many, many years ago, I used to tell people that Bills fans were the best in the country. But people would tell me that "No, Steeler fans are." Or Pack fans. Or whoever. And, of course, I'd also hear a dismissive, "Everyone thinks their hometown fans are the best." I tried to explain things were truly different in Buffalo, but all I got in return were condescending smiles. I remember once during the Kelly era hearing a report that said there were at least 20,000 people outside Rich Stadium for a big game with another 80,000 inside. Roughly 10% of the metro population showed up for the Bills! What other team draws 10% of the population to a game (other than Green Bay)? I think it's great that the passion of Bills fans is finally being recognized. Everyone across the NFL knows the Bills Mafia. And recently, Travis Kelce had this to say: "Going up to Buffalo's not an easy thing. That stadium was rocking. That place was electric. Shout out to all the Bills Mafia that was talking all the [expletive] in the world. I love it. It's a sacred place to play a football game. I cherish every game that I get an opportunity to go up there."

Maybe you're right. But... To oversimplify a bit, the Raiders offense in the 1970s looked like this: run up the middle or throw bombs. This created a conundrum for defenses because the Raiders attacked the entire field. A good offense attacks & stretches the field both vertically and horizontally, forcing the defense to try to defend every inch. That's too much for most defenses to do successfully. And we have a strong-armed QB that can threaten teams deep. It's a shame not to use that effectively.

Thanks so much for sharing this. I'm going to guess that there's at least one struggling person on this board who's going to read this and think that maybe there's hope for them too. And there is.

It's not a coincidence that many receivers - Diggs, Moore, Samuel, etc. - were more productive before they played for Brady than they were under him. Brady isn't adept at scheming a downfield passing game. It's also true that we don't have an elite receiving corps. (But it's more talented than the stats may suggest). And it's also true that Brady and McDermott seem to prefer a low-risk, balanced attack that minimizes TOs while scoring a bunch of points. And this is true too: the Bills see a lot of 2-high shells because opponents don't want cannon-armed Josh to heave the ball down the field. As I see it, the Bills general crappiness in the downfield passing game is a multifactorial issue. However, I'm glad Big Turk posted about the misuse of our wide receivers because that's a part of it that doesn't get enough attention.

I agree. But Josh needs some of the credit even for that. How many times does Cook see a loaded box? Hardly ever. Teams typically play nickel with two-high shells against the Bills - what old-timers like me call "pass prevent." Generally speaking, opponents would rather give up a 5-yard run to Cook than a 20-yard pass from Josh.

I don't disagree with anything you're saying, but I do want to add a little context. Mahomes faced pressure on more than half his throws, but only 2 times did the pressure come before 2.5 seconds. In other words, he faced pressure because the guys in the secondary were - amazingly enough - locking up their guys. Chris Simms really liked the way the Bills mixed up their coverage calls. "They never played the same coverage in the same situation twice in a row."

I laugh as I wonder if this is a sly comment about my age because I remember enjoying watching Dan Fouts play quarterback. And, indeed, teams back then tended to defend the run first. Now teams defend the pass first and have gotten very sophisticated about it. It's hard to throw deep these days. Still, I don't count Brady as an elite pass X-and-O guy. Fouts was blessed with Don Coryell of "Air Coryell" fame as his HC (and the solid Ernie Zambese as his OC). In my lifetime, I'll probably never see a QB as talented as Josh under center for the Bills again. It would be great if he were similarly paired with a pass-game genius. "Air Brady" isn't a thing.

People do like to watch Chief games, but not necessarily because they're rooting for the Chiefs.

This is a great post, and I agree we have an excellent offense. You're clearly a glass-is-half-full kind of guy, and I respect that. But I'm a greedy mutha who doesn't want to appreciate the half glass. I want a full glass, gosh darn it! We have an MVP QB and yet we're middle of the pack in passing yards. The immense arm talent of our unicorn QB is neutered, to an extent, by a weak receiving corps and an OC who doesn't excel at scheming a downfield passing game. As well as Brady does with the run and short passing games, I daydream about what our offense would look like if we could develop a potent downfield aerial attack too.

Thanks for the update. I knew nothing about the guy except that he had a cool first name.

I was trying to think of a Bills comp but Cook is completely unlike the best Bills backs of the past: Gilchrist, OJ, Cribbs, Thurman, Beast Mode, Fred Jackson...

It's fine if you think a punt would be the correct "strategic" decision. However, Eric Wood, Steve Tasker, and other knowledgeable NFL people agree with McD's decision. So does math - depending on what probabilities you assign the variables. For example, you might logic it out something like this: ~ Prater makes FG = 75%. Win if made ≈ 98%. Win if missed ≈ 40%. ~ Expected win if we kick = 0.81×0.98 + 0.19×0.40 = 87.0%. ~ Expected win if we punt ≈ 75.0%. It's unlikely but the Chiefs could score on a long drive in the time remaining. They'd already completed some long passes. Also, it's not only FGs that go wrong, punts can go wrong too: botched snaps, blocks, shanks, returns. ~ 87% > 75%. Kicking was probably the better option. Note: In his career, Prater's made 81.1% of his 50+ attempts. And he's made more 50+ FGs than anyone in NFL history. Trusting him on this was not irrational. 4 out of 5 times, he'll ice the game.

Poyer in on 57% of the defensive snaps. I didn't realize he played that much. Maybe his presence & communication helped Cole be in the right place at the right time.

You're right. But having played receiver when young, I'm more prone to blame receivers. That ball was catchable - though Allen could have made it more catchable. I'll put half the blame on each of them.

The national media seems to be focusing on our defense this week: Bosa, Cole, etc. Kincaid and Cook are getting some love, too. Allen's not getting a lot of attention. It almost seems like they simply expect him to shine. It's other guys stepping up that's newsworthy and something to talk about. But almost lost in all this is that Allen only threw three incomplete passes. One was a drop and another a throwaway. Pretty remarkable.