hondo in seattle

With pot becoming legal in more and more states, I'm not surprised. But let me be the scorned minority and say I'm not a fan of the NFL's new tolerance. While marijuana is good for pain management, it comes with a lot of health concerns. I don't think athletes should use it though I grant they're adults and can make their own informed choices. My concern is more about the kids they influence. I wouldn't mind the NFL getting tougher on off-the-field behavior rather than softer. Playing in the NFL is a privilege, not a right. Because of the influence celebrity athletes have on kids, I think the NFL should have a demanding code of conduct that they enforce.

For everyone applauding the promotion, let me ask: why? Certainly the D has played well under McD & Frazier. But how much of that can we attribute to McD and how much to Frazier? As far as that goes, how much do we attribute to Beane for getting the right players? I'm not knocking Frazier. I actually tend to think highly of the guy. I just don't honestly know how much he contributes when the HC is a defensive guy.

Josh's background at Wyoming wasn't typical so why expect him to have typical progression? Anyway, each QB is unique and progress in their own individual way. Jim Plunkett, for example, was a mediocre NFL starter until he went to Oakland and led them to the Super Bowl where he was named the MVP. I'm not sure how good Josh will become I'm more hopeful than afraid about next season.

Weird how many Bills fans are/were Browns fans.

My mom was from the Paris area - the suburb of Drancy to be precise. She met my dad at the conclusion of WWII and moved to Buffalo. And while she adopted a lot of local customs, I could never convince her to become a Bills fan. She thought American football was barbaric and only grudgingly let me play. The Bills Mafia is a great reason to be a fan!

Similar history... Although I grew up in Cheektowaga, my family were not BIlls fans when I was a kid. The first NFL game I ever watched on TV was the Cleveland Browns versus the Dallas Cowboys - back when the Browns were in the old Century Division. The Browns, led by Bill Nelson (QB), Leroy Kelly (RB) and Paul Warfield (WR), were losing badly so of course, being 10, I started rooting for them. When they came back to win, I was hooked. I was a bigger Browns fan than Bills fan in my childhood though OJ became my favorite player. It was only when I went out of state for college that the Bills surpassed the Browns in my heart because they were the hometown team and a way of connecting with my friends and family back in Buffalo. When the Browns moved to Baltimore, my Brownie fandom ended forever.

GMs have a bunch of talented scouts who talk to coaches, interview players and watch hundreds of hours of game tape. Some GMs use private investigators. As Thurman#1 points out, they get doctors involved as well. Even a good ex-GM like Gil Brandt can't come close to the analytical work of a real GM - he just doesn't have the massive resources at his disposal that they do. NFL teams literally spend millions of dollars on talent evaluation. While all that cash doesn't buy any team a crystal ball, it's largely money well spent. When the media talks about a guy rising or falling on draft day, what they're really saying is that they under- or over-valued a player. The amateur/media evaluation of the player didn't match how the professionals evaluated him. I'm interested though in how well GMs mock each other. Guessing who other teams will pick is an integral part of the draft process. While GMs are much better at evaluating college talent than the media, I wonder how much better they are - if at all - at mocking other teams. I'm not sure how they do this.

I was only a little kid when James Harris played. But I still remember him getting brutalized one game. One play stands out: it's either 3rd or 4th down, Harris was getting slammed but somehow he still got the ball out for a first down completion. I decided right then that he was a warrior and I was a fan.

You try composing a poem extemporaneously on an old fashioned typewriter and see how many spelling mistakes and typos you have! Wite-Out was my best friend in college. Not just a weirdo street poet. He's a soothsayer: "the super bowl a dessert... not far off."

My first thought was to skirt the rules and say Eric Moulds - given our need for a #1 WR. But I'll play nice and say Freddie. His football character is often praised but I think some fans under value his actual talent. In his prime, he could make yards out of nothing.

There's a website somewhere on the internet that uses flawed methodology to rate NFL players. Why do we care?

I suspect Beane and McD are as undecided on Ford as many fans are. Ford certainly didn't look like a quality NFL starter in his rookie season and it's hard to project how much - if at all - he'll improve this year. RT is still an unsolved problem and McD and Beane are probably hoping for the best from Ford but - at the same time - preparing for the worst. I expect them to bring in competition through the draft and/or free agency.

The Bills new Assistant DL Coach (Jacques Cesaire) is a big fan of Eric Washington... “The opportunity to work with Eric Washington, he is the best defensive line coach in the NFL. The evidence is clear. He knows his stuff. He’s very organized. He has dynamic presentations. He’s a leader of men..." https://www.telegram.com/news/20200207/football-former-gardner-high-standout-jacques-cesaire-returns-to-nfl-with-bills-coaching-staff

Boiler up! What Rome did was classless, rude. I don't encourage violence but Rome's a clown.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels this way. McD's mantra last season was "playoff caliber." While the OL was much improved, it wasn't playoff caliber.

Beane's interest in AB notwithstanding, I think Beane prefers to find his playmakers in the draft and then augment them with solid role players in free agency. FA superstars like Clowney are almost always overpriced. While I wouldn't be shocked if Beane sniffs around Clowney, I don't expect him to pony up.

Texans are the only playoff team that was out scored by their opponents. Bills win 23-20.

How can you not like a young lady who owns as much Bills gear as Jennie does?

She's a Bills fan who enthusiastically supports our team. She's AOK in my book.

I was deep in the Arabian Desert - unable you watch or listen but hoping somehow to get news of a Bills victory

That was an entertaining game. Like Corta said, it felt like a playoff game. Players on both teams were battling every play. Fans were loud. A great game - except for coming up short at the end. With minutes in the game left and the outcome still undecided, their D (barely) out dueled our O. My takeaway is the Bills are still a year away. Last year was the gut-the-team season - with the lowest payroll in the NFL, McD didn't have a chance. This is the first year of the rebuild - and we've earned a wildcard spot with a bunch of scrappy no-names. With a ton of cap space going into 2020, we'll have a great season if Beane and McD continue on the trajectory they on. I'm still hoping for a small playoff run this year but am pinning most of my hopes on 2020.

We have one of the lower payrolls in the NFL and we were going up against one of the NFL's best teams and the game wasn't decided until the very end. The game was not an unmitigated coaching disaster. It just showed we might be a year away still - which is what many believe anyway. With as much cap space as we have, next year's squad is likely to be better. If the OL blocked a little better... if Allen was a little more accurate... if the WRs got separation a little more often... if the D tackled a little better... we would have won. This was a hard fought, competitive one play game. I'm not disappointed in our coaches.

I can't sing, dance, or tell a joke. In fact, I can barely tie my own shoes. I suspect there are very few people the world over with fewer talents than what I possess. But there is one thing I used to do - many years ago - uncommonly well and that was catch a football. One handed? Diving? Contested? One-handed, diving and contested at the same time? The bigger the challenge, the more I loved it. I would catch anything and everything. But the pathetic pinnacle of my sad football career was leading a flag football league in receptions, picks and TDs (yes, we kept stats). My hands were good enough for the NFL. But my legs weren't, nor my brain, nor any other part of my body. I lacked the discipline and athleticism to be a good professional prospect. What use is a WR who can't create separation? I remember when people hailed EJ's big hands as a requirement to succeed in Buffalo's harsh weather. That's kind of what I think of the original post in this thread. It makes sense to think we need receivers who can handle Josh's rockets. But they need to block, run good routes, and get separation too. In other words, they need to be good overall WRs - not just guys with good hands. We can't get hung up - like some did with EJ - on just one trait.

I've always been impressed by the consistency in Pittsburgh. Only 3 HCs in the last 50 years and something like 30 playoff appearances. They don't make the playoffs every year but they don't experience 17 year droughts either. And they don't fire a coach in a knee-jerk fashion after a disappointing season. Players do their best when work in the same schemes under the same coaches - assuming the schemes are well-designed and the coaches are competent. This D is really good and the O has blemishes but I don't think Daboll is a bad OC. I'm with Cage and would love to see these guys stay together.

There's no doubt that Payton has been part of Brees success. Then again, that's true of any great QB. They all have mentors and coaches who help them along the way. I also think his own talents had a lot to do with Drew's 29 of 30 performance this week and all his statistical achievements over the years. Everyone defers to Brady as the GOAT but I think Brees is in the conversation. Being a Boilermaker, I've followed his career with some interest. He clearly grew his first few years and finally achieved his first 100+ passer rating only in his fourth year with the Chargers - before working with Payton btw. I'd like to believe Josh Allen will have the same kind of trajectory. Some QBs continue to learn and grow once they reach the NFL and don't reach their potential until their 3rd or 4th season. Or in Jim Plunkett's case, his 12th! I think Allen's best is yet to come. And since this is a Rivers thread, let me add Rivers is clearly a good QB who hasn't always been surrounded by the best players and coaches. He reminds me a little of Archie Manning in that respect - a talented guy who was underrated because of shortcomings in the surrounding cast.