hondo in seattle

While some of you guys choose to wallow in this melodrama, I'm just happy the Bills won the AFCE!

I've been wondering the same thing. It does seem like Beas is struggling to get open.

"The most important thing in the playoffs is to play well." He's an intelligent guy but it's remarkable how much he talks like a kindergartner. Its likes he goes out of his way to avoid substantive, interesting answers and just says the very most obvious, basic thing possible.

How do you know any of these guys can capably replace Schoen - all the things he does and all the things he excels at? My thought is that a team is only as good as it's players. That means the scouting/personnel team too. We don't want to lose any of our best players and that definitely includes Schoen. I have full confidence in McDermott but I would still worry if Allen left the Bills for another team.

Flores put together winning seasons the past two years in spite of the roster deficiencies. And, despite an awful beginning to the 2021 season, he apparently didn't lose the team as they rebounded well. So apparently Tua doesn't like him. Do you build your team around your head coach or a kid with questionable potential?

My eyes are bleary, my head is foggy, and my throat is sore, too. But, in my case, it's all due to Covid. But no freaking disease is going to stop me enjoying the second Bills AFCE Championship! The first time in the Belichick era that a team other than the Pats repeated as AFCE champs. It feels great.

True enough Gunner. But who chooses the position coaches? McD? Or does Daboll get to hire who he wants? I'm guessing Daboll gets to hire his own position coaches. If so, he has to own their work.

Good point. Play-calling is what OCs do on Sunday. They prepare their team all week. There were times yesterday when Allen and his receivers didn't seem to be on the same page. Allen's fault? Maybe. The receiver's fault? Maybe. Daboll's fault? For sure. Daboll's job is to make this offense roll like a well-oiled machine. Vince Lombardi, for example, excelled at this: EXECUTION. But GunnerBill is right. The statistical achievements of this offense are impressive. 3rd in points and 5th in yards with a weak offensive line. That's great work on Daboll's part.

I think someone did a statistical breakdown of this. The run game is more effective with Allen under center but the pass game is less effective. So the Bills mostly run when Josh is under center. Defenses have learned this tendency so it's become harder to run from this formation as the D is waiting for it.

I think this thread is hilarious. I used to be an army officer. Civilians, particularly media guys, used to suggest what we ought to do and then second-guess what we actually did. Typically, the commentary was laughably clueless. The idea that a bunch of amateurs can critique a successful professional like Daboll who's devoted 20+ years of his life to an intense understanding of football is insane. Of course, I'll do it anyway. My thinking has to do with the offensive line. Clearly this unit has struggled. Some games, when the OL was particularly porous, I wanted to see Daboll call more quick-hitting passes so Josh wouldn't get killed. And some folks who are far smarter than I am on blocking schemes have noted we've been more successful with gap than zone blocking. Our lineman aren't, typically, big road-grading linemen who are going to push people back. But some of them do have some mobility. Our run game needs to play to the strength of our OL, not ask them to overcome their weaknesses.

What coach said that the NFL stands for "Not For Long"? The lack of patience by some owners is amazing. I don't know that Flores will be a good HC someday but his W-L record ought to be evaluated against the players he has. His rosters haven't been overflowing with talent.

Being #1 in point differential and #1 in yardage differential is super impressive. But great teams are consistently great. We're not. That's the part that scares me. We beat the Pats convincingly in New England and the Chiefs in Arrowhead, but lost to the hapless Jags. We're often super-great but, sometimes, we're just plain bad. I guess the good news is this: we're capable of beating any other playoff team. I think we have a 50-50 chance - or better - against anyone.

About 99% of my enjoyment of the game comes from the game itself. The other 1% comes from the broadcast crew. But I'll add my two cents anyway... Yep, there are some youtubers who have gotten pretty smart about Xs and Os. But the color commentator is far more than an X and O guy. As ex-players, they know the game from an insider's perspective. Sometimes they'll talk Xs and Os. Sometimes it's inside-the-huddle or inside-the-locker-room stuff. Sometimes it's about game planning, or teamwork, or mindset. Being a part of the fraternity, sometimes they have access to players and coaches and can provide us insight into what someone is thinking and doing. Former football players and coaches know the game in a way that the X and O youtubers don't.

I remember when RBs had trade value. When we traded away a used-up Simpson in 1978, we got: 1978 2nd round draft pick (DE Scott Hutchinson) 1978 3rd round pick (WR Danny Fulton) 1979 1st round pick (LB Tom Cousineau) 1979 4th round pick (DE Ken Johnson) (aka Pinto Ron) 1980 2nd round pick (RB Joe Cribbs) What a great trade for the Bills! Joe Cribbs was a really talented multipurpose back for us. And, of course, Cousineau turned into Jim Kelly. Obviously, there's a durability issue but it's amazing you could potentially get someone of McCaffrey's talent for a 2nd rounder. Though I wouldn't want his contract.

For me, it was the victory in KC for a couple of reasons: First, because it was the first Bills game I watched in person in many years. Second, because I thought it represented a changing of the guard.

Interesting article but I think it's wrong to assert the Bills' chances in the playoffs are long because they underperformed all season. First of all, let me paraphrase the article's main thesis: 'For as talented as the Bills are, they underperformed by only earning 10 wins when you consider the strength (weakness) of their opponents.' Maybe another team earning 10 wins is overachieving. But for the Bills, it's underperforming. Because the Bills have talent. Let's not get hung up on the underperforming part. Let's talk about the premise of the argument: the Bills have talent. Clearly, a talented team has a good chance of doing well in the playoffs. Onto another point. After decades of watching football, I'm convinced that one score games are decided by some combination of skill and luck. It's not all about skill. Like Nextmanup, I don't completely buy the adage that 'some teams just know to win close games.' So imagine a team wins 10 games one season, going 5-0 in one score games. Without big roster or coaching changes, I would predict that same team to win maybe 8 games the following season. Or to say it another way, if the Bills got to play this season over again, I'd expect about 12 wins instead of 10 right now. When predicting the playoffs, I think you have to look at the Bills as a 12-win team. Then look at yardage totals. The team with the most yardage has a good probability of winning. The Bills do well in offensive and defensive yardage stats. While we have lost to teams that haven't performed as well statistically, those losses are anomalies. They aren't predictive. The Bills have as good a chance in the playoffs as any other AFC team.

The rule book is 95 pages long - about 65,000 words. Does anybody know how long the rule books are for soccer? Baseball? Basketball? Sometimes I think the NFL rulebook is unnecessarily complicated.

I've been wrong pretty much every time so far. So this time I'm going with a safer bet: Motor. Seem like the weather forecast once again favors the running game.

That's exactly true. Which is why I'm hopeful despite my concerns about the OL and the general inconsistency of the team. I don't know if we're the best team in the AFC but I do think we have just as good a chance as anyone. We're reasonably healthy and might just go on a roll.

We are ALL armchair idiots. We all make wrong personnel evaluations. I once thought Trent Edwards would be a good QB. What an idiot I was! But I based that opinion on hearing Bill Walsh saying TE would be good. What an idiot Bill was! Talent evaluation is hard. Professionals put lots and lots of time and study into it and still get it wrong sometimes. Amateurs like us will be wrong far more often. It's just part of being a fan. We have opinions. Our opinions aren't based on a lot of professional expertise or an in-depth knowledge of the player. So sometimes we're wrong. There were reasons to doubt both Phillips and Oliver. And let's be honest, neither is now dominant - though both are playing appreciably better.

Informative video. Thanks for sharing.

These are great!

Why just a hat? I'll get a hat, shirt, pants, underwear... everything!

Smith is a loving guy.

Ice Bowl ~ you seem like a good man and I wish you well. But your QB is growing tiresome. I'm not sure what NFC team I want to see in the Super Bowl but it's not Green Bay. Then again, if it's Brady versus Rodgers in the NFC Championship game, I'm buying a cheesehead and rooting hard for you guys!