hondo in seattle

I'm just hoping that a whole bunch of Bills players all decided to have their worst game of the year on the same day. Now that that's all over, let's go slaughter the Chiefs!

I think it was huge for the Titans. They hadn't played in two weeks. Hadn't practiced much. There was a lot of talk, drama and concern about Covid rather than their next opponent. And then they start the game with a bang. I think the turnover and subsequent TD really energized them. The Josh Allen narrative was the only narrative that changed. We'll never know but I think the game would have unfolded much differently without that pick.

I didn't need to suggest that Beane needed to go out and find a Bruce Smith - an impossible task. Instead I was imagining how much fun it would be to have Bruce - in his prime - on this team. Our CBs look a lot better if opposing QBs were hurrying the ball. And it would be so much fun to see Bruce drop a QB on a critical play, crushing the hopes and morale of our enemy.

I don't disagree. Talley was a fiery over-achiever. But if I was going to get somebody from that team, it would be Bruce. We need someone to frighten and brutalize QBs the way he did. At least, as much as the rules these days allow.

He keeps saying how tough it is. And I bet it can feel that way - being alienated from the rest of the team the way he is. But I also think a little perspective is in order. Having a loved one die due to COVID is tough. Being a small restaurant/business owner and losing everything you've built because of COVID is tough. Being out of work because of COVID is tough. Working 12/14 hour shifts in a dangerous environment because of COVID is tough. Being a COVID quarterback - where your main responsibility is to not get sick - on a $3.7 million contract isn't really tough. I think Jake needs to count his blessings.

I can't blame Jim for voicing his opinion. He's a HOF QB and a legend in WNY. As Buffalo716 pointed out previously, of course people are going to ask him questions. Saying that he's less than 100% confident doesn't bother me. While I don't blame him, I take what Jim says with a grain of salt. On the one hand, he knows the position of quarterback better than anyone here. But on the other hand, despite his occasional attempt at humility, the man obviously has some ego. I think his ego, combined with his love for the team, can make him a cautious skeptic. I think Josh would have to achieve back-to-back 6,000 yards seasons and a Super Bowl ring for Jim to concede that Allen just might possibly be as good as him.

The goal of any team is to win the Super Bowl. It's the only goal that matters. Mahomes led the Chiefs to the SB, where he won MVP. If I'm a Chiefs fan, I gotta love any trade that got Mahomes to KC.

More Jim on Josh (from the L.A. Times): “This is the first time I’ve ever really, really been excited about a quarterback on our team. We’ve had some, and it was always, ‘We’ll see. We’ll see. … Yeah, he’s got the potential, but we’ll see.’ With Josh, I think he’s proven to everybody he can play. Now he just has to stay healthy. Number two, being in the same system a number of years is going to help. And three, it’s getting the players around him.”

The observation that the Bills always unravel after a hot start has some basis in fact. For me personally, I never truly believed in those hot starts. When the hot starts were underway, I knew we couldn't keep winning at that pace. So I'd be thinking: If the Bills can just win half their games from here on, we'll go to the playoffs. Please, oh Gods of the Gridiron, I'm on my knees before you in supplication. Just half! This year, I worry about Covid, I worry about injuries, and I worry about the slow start of the defense. But for the first time in a long, long time, I think the Bills are a legitimately good team. Not only are we 4-0, we deserve to be 4-0. In each game, the better team won.

He says something to the effect that playing with "these guys" and coach McDermott has reignited his love for the game. Cool stuff. As CorkScrewHill noted, speaks highly of the culture McD has created. Loved the Josh on Josh love fest.

I'm with Logic. It would be a lot easier to make an informed pick with some information. Who's going to play Tuesday night and who's night? Is the game even happening on Tuesday? If the Titans have a dozen guys on IR/Covid, the Bills will win easily. If the Titans are healthy and Tre is out, it could be a different story. My best guess: Bills 27, Titans 20.

Yeah, sometimes we forget what McD had to work with when looking at his win-loss record as the Bills HC. Two years ago, we had the lowest active cap spending in the NFL and arguably the worst roster. McD did a fine job of coaching just to get to six wins. Every one of those wins was against a team with a pricier group of players. Coaches shouldn't be judged solely on wins and losses. They should be judged on wins and losses versus the talent on the roster. There's no way to prove this, but I believe McD has earned more wins from his Bills squads than an average NFL coach would have with the same rosters.

I didn't get caught up in the diva hype. When we traded for Diggs, I googled him and found a lot of good comments about the guy from his ex-teammates and ex-coaches. There were a couple themes: nobody works harder than Stefon and nobody wants to win more. Nearly all the negative diva, crybaby crap was coming from the media, not his teammates or the other people who knew him best. BillsFanChick does a beautiful job here refuting all the talking heads who didn't like the trade and didn't like the man. There's inherently a lot of good in Diggs but I also agree that the team and culture and McD has built probably brings out the very best in Diggs, too.

Great recap, stevewin. He sounds like a great dude. I've traveled to four continents and have spicy Korean Silkworm Pupae (Beondegi) in my cupboard. But I've never done a polar plunge nor returned a punt in the NFL. So I'm going to tell my wife that none of my screws are loose after all. I ran a 4.8 in football gear in September... of 1977.

Thanks for the kind words. Most Bills fans are good people. Like every fan base, we have a few idiots. Sorry about those. The other day I commented that I actually feel sorry for Jets fans. I know the suffering of a true fan when their team sucks. We Bills fans have experienced enough of that ourselves. I wouldn't wish it on anyone. But I can't find it in myself to wish you guys well. For the sake of Jets fans everywhere, I do hope you Darnold improves and Gase gets replaced. But I hope you raise to the level of mediocrity, never good enough to compete with the new-look Bills. I'd be cool with the Bills winning the AFCE and you guys getting into the playoffs as a one-and-done wild card some day. But no more than that. The team you have now is painful to watch.

I hate forfeits. But this is just stupid. They violated clear NFL instructions (sometimes called "cheating") and put player safety at risk all at the same time. Not a surprise that two more Titans tested positive today. Whether it's a forfeit or a million dollar fine, the NFL needs to slap them hard.

One of the things I think is interesting about Beane is that he doesn't seem to have a preferred method of talent acquisition. For example, the backfield was rebuilt through the draft. But the WR corps was rebuilt through free agency and an expensive trade. At first, I thought Beane was drafting for difference makers and signing solid, affordable - if unspectacular - players in free agency. But our starting wideouts disprove that theory.

Little Jon... an old breakfast spot in Bellevue, Washington. No? I'm an old graybeard from the era of cool, groovy and far out.

Logic, I liked your last article about Josh but this one is better. It tells a good story. I'm not sure what 'crunk' means but I'm hoping you're right about Josh Norman and see a lot more of it.

Sadly, I've only seen the Bills in person 3 or 4 times. This was the first. RIP.

I was happy when we signed Klein. Now, I'm not sure why.

I agree with the OP - the problem with the defense is real and concerning. The D hasn't cost a game yet but it will if McD and Frazier don't figure something out. The decline is hard to understand but I see at least of four things at play. * Some of the players we lost (e.g. Lawson) were more valuable than we/I might have given them credit for. * We remained pretty healthy last year. This season, our opponents have been targeting the backups who are pressed into duty. * The productivity of our offense forces our opponents to play more aggressively when they're on offense. * Our D was great the last couple seasons not so much because we had athletically elite playmakers. Instead, we played extremely well as a team. Our players were smart, well-coached and rarely missed their assignments. This year - without preseason or a normal offseason - our D just isn't executing as well.

The article is written from the Jets perspective and how the Jets screwed up the Darnold pick. I have to say that as a long-suffering Bills fan, I feel sorry for the Jets. Too many times over the years I've read articles about how and why the Bills screwed the pooch on the draft. Or a GM or coaching hire. Having been through all that - even though I'm glad the Bills are taking advantage of the woes of their opponents - it's hard for me to glory in the failure of other teams. I'll admit that at one point I wanted Josh Rosen that year. I don't watch hardly any college ball but had read how pro ready Rosen was and that he was a safe pick. By the time of the draft, though, I was both excited and nervous about the Allen pick. Maybe the highest upside, said some of the QB draft gurus, but also a big risk. I heard a scout once say that QB is the hardest position to draft. According to him, there are no QBs in college that possess the full skill set needed to succeed in the NFL. They all have to learn and get better. So the scout has to predict which ones will do that and which won't. Allen has progressed where he needed to. For whatever reason(s), it doesn't seen Darnold has.

NHK12, I get what you're saying. Allen made some great plays that made victory possible several times last year. Yet he didn't have a lot of great games. That's why I don't think Barnwell is entirely wrong when he says, "In 2018, Allen was a hindrance to the Bills' chances of winning. In 2019, he was good enough to stay out of the way. In 2020, he is driving Buffalo's success." Yeah, it's a simplification. But if you had to sum up Allen's career thus far in three short sentences, this isn't a bad way of doing it. In the end, I don't care what Barnwell or any other talking head says anyway. I'm just enjoying Allen's progress and the victories.