hondo in seattle

12th man. Too many not buying into the coach or GM. Too much divisive partisanship. Not enough: we're one team... one family... a band of brothers - and sisters.

There's a thing in psychology called the "Pygmalion Effect." Often if you treat people like winners, they become winners. If you treat people like losers, they become losers. One thing I've read about Webb is he acts like a coach. And here it seems like he's doing what coaches sometimes have to do: build a guy up mentally. I don't know who was interviewing Webb when he made those comments, but I think the real intended audience was Jones - and maybe Jones' teammates to build up their confidence in their QB. I don't think Webb was spouting out his deeply held convictions. He was talking for effect.

With the Bills running 41% of the time, I do think RB is still a valuable position. And just imagine how much a good RB would help Josh. First, there's the matter of health. I'd rather see a RB tote the ball than Josh. I want Josh to have a long, healthy career in Buffalo. Having a quality RB to hand off would help. Second, there's the matter of defensive scheme. What's an opposing DC going to do if the Bills have a viable running attack? Last year, Josh saw a lot of nickel and dime defenses. We've seen games where throwing deep was out of the question because of high zones. Put Freddy or Marshawn in the backfield and the defense can't sell out to stop the intermediate/long passing game anymore. They'll need defenders closer to the LOS. That'll mean more intermediate/deep opportunities for Josh, more TDs for Diggs.

This is a good question to entertain us when not much is going on. Narrowing it down to three is hard. Gilmore. It's a passing league and we have one premier - but hurt - CB. Giving him a partner would make this defense incredibly stout. Schobel. It would be a shame to take away snaps from the youngsters but I'm not yet confident any of them will be a good bookend for Miller. Jackson. Freddy could block, catch and run. It kills me not to include Kyle. I'm in the camp that thought Ruben Brown was overrated but I'd love to have him now. I'd love Jason Peters even more. Eric Moulds would thrive - if he stayed healthy - in this offense. Beast Mode would be interesting because it would put defenses in a quandary: how do you stop a team that can throw it anywhere on the field but also has a power running game? I'm not sure about the LBs mentioned because we now play a 4-2 Nickel that's designed to stop the pass.

This is a zero-risk, kick-the-tires signing of a guy once had some talent and a bit of speed. I doubt if Austin will amount to much but I like that Beane is still out in the lake fishing.

I've never seen a QB accomplish so much with so little natural talent. Such a funny, likeable guy. One of my favorite all-time Bills QBs.

When I saw Groot's college highlights, the talent was evident but I didn't believe he had the strength to play successfully at the NFL level. To a degree, I felt the same way last season. The extra muscle is very good news.

No excuse if they don't win the Super Bowl? You're right, the Bills have a good team and should win the AFCE. But there's enough parity in the league that you can't assume the 'best' team will win it all. In my mind, it's all about probability. There are 32 NFL teams. If they were all equally talented, each would have a roughly 3% chance of winning the Super Bowl. But they are not equally talented. The best teams have maybe a 10% or so chance of winning the SB while the worst teams have a probability of 1% or less. I'll cry tears of joy if the Bills hoist the Lombardi. But I won't blame McD or anyone else if the Bills make a good run only to fall short.

I'm old but not that ancient. I once saw an artist's very cool cutaway rendition of it and wished some civic-minded Buffalo millionaire would rebuild it at the original location. This isn't the artist's recreation I remember but this short video of the Larkin building is good: www.vrexplorer.net/HTC-Vive/Larkin-building-by-Frank-Lloyd-Wright So, yeah, there's more to Buffalo than just wings. For example, the Smithsonian Associates do a 4-day Frank Lloyd Wright Buffalo tour for $1300+. smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/fl-wrights-buffalo

After traveling around the U.S. a little, I returned to Buffalo once and was surprised at how small my hometown was compared to the bigger American metropolises. But driving around Buffalo on another return, I was amazed at how much beautiful architecture Buffalo has. And saddened how much of it was in decay (or already lost). For example, two Frank Lloyd Wright houses still exist but his Larkin building has been torn down. Weirdly, I go to Parkside Candy nearly every time I visit Buffalo. Beside enjoying their chocolate and sponge candy, I feel like I'm visiting a Buffalo in a microcosm. Such a beautiful but decrepit old store that deserves much better care.

When facing adversity, Josh uses the FISH method: F**K IT, SH*T HAPPENS.

Romo's comment is correct most of the time. But every QB has different circumstance (coach, supporting cast, etc) and different learning curves. Drew Brews, for example, didn't truly blossom until his 6th year. Alex Smith was pretty unimpressive in his 8 years in SF but then became pretty good in Kansas City. Tua has only played 2 seasons so far. I'm not sure he's reached his ceiling yet. Even by the Romo Rule - this is the 3rd year and the year that Tua should show he has it.

Yes and No. There is no doubt that Kaep is better than Peterman. None at all. And, btw, even though I'm a veteran who will stand for the flag every time, I respect Kaepernick's right to free speech and his effort to bring attention to an important issue. But if you had a franchise QB - Josh Allen for example - how badly would you want Kaep as the backup? Consider how much Allen's backups have played. What kind of backup do you want? Yeah, you want someone who can play if need be. But you also want someone that's going to be a good advisor to Allen and a good teammate all around. If I was a GM or HC, part of me would want to sign Kaep because he does have talent. But I'd have concerns, too. Allen puts his team first. Kaep puts his social causes first. That makes him a good human being but it doesn't make him a guy you want on the roster. If I was a GM or HC with a crappy starter, I'd probably sign Kaep and let him compete. But if I had a franchise guy like Allen or Mahomes, I'd stay away from Kaep.

House is great. Don't like the yard. My dream house would be in the mountains and forest. Or on a tropical beach surrounded by palms.

Who knows? Maybe Tua will take a big step forward this season. But I remember hearing good training camp reports about Rob Johnson, Trent Edwards and Nathan Peterman. At this time of year, you take this stuff with a grain of salt.

Einstein, thanks for posting. I've been worried about Tre since the injury happened. I never accepted that it was a given that he'd return to form, though I was unaware of these studies. Fingers crossed, Tre will be a statistical outlier and return better than ever.

Just-A-Guy To simplify, most teams are some kind of combination of valuable stars and ordinary players that can easily be replaced: jags.

I hate the play the role of old cynic but... over the years, we've drafted a lot of young men with excellent characters, attitudes and work ethic in the mid & later rounds. But without NFL level talent, they didn't pan out. I really hope Shakir is different.

Preaching to the choir actually. I love the trenches. And I don't think any GM isn't thinking about the totality of the team. But I do think QB first - and then the rest of the quadruplet - is the priority. Let's say you're a GM and inherited a team with jags at every position. Which positions would you try to upgrade first?

Sure. Offense and defense have always been equally important. But I think GMs decades ago just collected defensive talent wherever they could find it. I think the salary cap has forced GMs to start prioritizing positions more than they used to. And I think contemporary GMs, well versed in today's game, might content themselves with jags at other positions but will be hot to get a capable quadruplet.

In the 90s, there was a lot of talk about "Triplets." Obviously, a team wants strength at every position. But given the reality of the salary cap, that isn't possible. So, in the 90s, GMs seemed to focus on these three positions: QB, RB, and WR. If you were strong there, you'd score a lot of points and win a lot of games. All the great teams from the 90s had strong triplets: Bills: Kelly/Thomas/Reed Cowboys: Aikman/Smith/Irvin 49ers: Young/Waters/Rice Rams: Warner/Faulk/Bruce Broncos: Elway/Davis/Smith All five of these legendary triplets got to the Super Bowl. Four of five hoisted the Lombardi. Sadly, we all know which one didn't. But football has evolved since then. Passing is seen as the key and the importance of the running game has diminished. So now you want your stars at positions that impact the passing game: QB and WR on the offensive side and DE (Edge) and CB on the defensive side. Call it quadruplets or double-twins or whatever you want, but clearly a lot of GMs clearly see the need to do better than JAGs at those four key positions. And with the acquisition of Von Miller, the Bills have stars at all four. It's not coincidental the Quadruplets are our four highest paid players. And maybe with the fourth Quadruplet now on the roster, it's time for the Bills to earned what they missed in the 90s.

I don't know how many folks have said our OLine sucks. But lots of people, myself included, have concerns about our OL. And why shouldn't we? There were games last year where Singletary had no holes to run through. And, more importantly, there were many times where Josh was under instant siege and scrambling to make something out of nothing. His worse statistical games came when the OL played poorly. I'm glad the Movin the Chains guys are predicting improvement this year. They're legit football guys and may be right - I hope they are. But as an old fan, I've heard experts make optimistic predictions about the Bills too many times to count. And too often they've been wrong. While hope springs eternal, I won't truly believe the OL is better until I see it with my own eyes. That doesn't mean I have a low football IQ. It just means I temper my optimism with caution.

Hyde on McD: "He's the perfect Head Coach for us."

It's hard to understand how a guy so negative can win so much. Edelman uses the word "demoralize" more than once. Demoralizing your players is usually not a path to victory.

I couldn't agree more. I keep hearing how talented this roster is. And I gotta admit, I'm in awe of some of the plays Josh makes. It's a wonderful thing to have your best player at the most important position. There's no doubt this makes McD's job a little easier. But I also believe McDermott and his staff have made this roster look better than what it actually is. We don't have a lot of star players. But the level of teamwork, camaraderie, esprit de corps and shared commitment that McDermott has generated is awesome. Guys like Poyer and Hyde come here and thrive because McD and his staff truly have a talent for getting guys to become 'the best version of themselves.' That comes from McD's culture and his Phil Jackson-like approach to coaching.