hondo in seattle

That’s an interesting - and refreshing - stat.

My original point was that there is a clear correlation between spending and wins - albeit an imperfect one. This year our active roster spending is $17 million below the #31 team. We're spending roughly $40m less than the average NFL club. There's a vocal minority calling for McD's head and I'm not sure why. The guy's outgunned every Sunday and never had a fighting chance to return this team to the playoffs this season. We have the draft capital (10 picks) and financial resources ($85 mil) to do a lot of catching up next year. There are indeed a lot of holes to fill. But with so much to work with, we ought to see a dramatically improved squad... If Beane's any good at his job. Beane's already had both hits and misses in his short career as a GM. The pessimists will emphasize the misses and the optimists the hits. The cautious realists are still in a wait-and-see mode because the sample size on Beane personnel decisions is still small. Maybe I lean to the optimistic side because I think 2019 will be a much better year. And, peering further ahead, as things stand right now the Bills have - by a wide margin - the most available cap space in the NFL in 2020!

Had a hundred yard receiving game just a couple months ago.

The Bills have - by far - the lowest paid roster in the NFL this year which would suggest the Bills have the least talented roster. Not surprisingly, our W-L record is poor. But what about next year? With the third most available cap space in the NFL in 2019, will the Bills return to the playoffs? Here's what the numbers show. Over the past 3 years (2015-2018), the teams in the top five of active cap spending finished a combined 146-93-1. The teams in the bottom five of roster spending finished a miserable 76-164. 9 of the 15 teams in the top five in spending went to the playoffs. In contrast, only 1 team in the bottom five in spending made it to the playoffs - the 2017 Buffalo Bills. In sum, money matters. Teams tend to spend their money wisely and given enough money a GM can usually build a playoff team. GMs without money to spend understandably fail. But there are clearly no guarantees.

Teams that are blindly loyal to their head coaches are doomed to perpetual failure. Just look at the Steelers.

Fran was 190 - but your statement that he couldn't survive in today's game may be true. But Allen isn't Tark. He weighs 55 lbs more! In any case, I'm not so sure you can't make the comparison. In Fran's time, LBs were human sledge-hammers with names like Jack Lambert and Dick Butkus. In today's game, LBs are chosen as much for their coverage skills as their tackling skills. The Butkus-type thumper is a thing of the past. While Tark survived in a league where most - if not all - of the LBs outweighed him. On the Bills, Edmunds might be the only LB who outweighs Allen. Allen is bigger than pretty much all DBs and many LBs.

Is this really true? When I think of scrambling QBs, the first person I think of is Fran Tarkenton who lasted 18 years in the NFL. "The Mad Scrambler," as Tarkenton was known, was the NFL passing yards leader in his 15th season and the NFL TD leader in his 18th season. In other words, his effectiveness as a QB had a long life. And Josh has a couple advantages over Tarkenton. Josh weighs 245 lbs versus Tark's 190. And today's rules protect QBs - even ones on the run. This is a great point. Not all running QBs are cut from the same mold. Sometimes their style of running might make the probability of sustaining an injury far more likely.

Has anyone done a study on running QBs? Do they really get hurt more or have shorter careers? I'd rather see Josh Allen running than an immobile pocket QB getting pancaked behind a porous OL. Allen's best attributes are his big arm and his running ability. I think Daboll should build next year's offense around those two things. And find a backup QB who can do the same kinds of things - just in case.

Agreed. I only care a little about wins and losses at this point. What I really want to see is our young players - especially Josh - get better. 2018 is training camp for 2019.

I have no desire to defend Hunt for what he did. But I want to ask: How much does context matter. One site says Abigail Ottinger kept calling Hunt the "N" word. For example, she was quoted by a witness yelling, "F**k you N******! You ain't sh*t!" She was yelling these slurs supposedly for 30 minutes. On top of that, according to a witness, Ottinger hit one of Hunt's friends in the face prior to Hunt's altercation with her. None of this excuses Hunt for what he did. But it does make his reaction a little more understandable and maybe a little less monstrous. https://blacksportsonline.com/home/2018/02/kareem-hunt-met-a-girl-while-bar-hopping-she-called-him-a-*****-now-is-saying-he-assaulted-her/ https://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2018/02/woman_says_kansas_city_chiefs.html

Completely different situations. In Shady's fight with the off duty cops, some of the witnesses said the cops instigated the fight. They certainly didn't shy away from it. The allegations of Shady hitting women never came from credible sources. The police never pressed charges because there was no clear evidence Shady did anything wrong. Here we have video of Hunt instigating the violence and later escalating it by knocking the woman to the floor and kicking her. Hunt's wrong-doing is both disgusting and indisputable.

This story was already posted on the Robert Foster thread - I know, I posted it! But it's a great story and I'm glad to see it getting its own thread. I may have started tearing up a little when I retold the story to my wife. So many bad things grab headlines. So many good things often go under the radar. What I wrote yesterday on the other Foster thread: My early impression of Foster was that he was a useless speedster who couldn't track & catch long balls. After reading about him buying shoes for a West Seneca teen, my current impression is that he's a great young man. I'm rooting for the kid.

My early impression of Foster was that he was a useless speedster who couldn't track & catch long balls. After reading about him buying shoes for a West Seneca teen, my current impression is that he's a great young man. I'm rooting for the kid. https://www.al.com/sports/2018/11/robert-fosters-act-of-kindness-drawing-attention.html

It's good to see two youngsters on the list - bodes well for the future of football. Brees ought to be in the GOAT conversation.

This is a great metaphor. You can judge a chef when you go to his restaurant and he has lots of ingredients to work with. If he disappoints, there's a problem. But you can't judge a chef's true ability on one of these tv game shows when they're asked to cook something good with lard, gochujang and shoe leather. Let's see what Daboll can do with good ingredients.

I’m squinting and they’re still going left to right. Looks senseless to me. Maybe the part of my brain that processes vision is defective???

Both interesting and knowledgeable. My favorite football writer ever. RIP.

If "offense is King" - then don't you need a good defense to defeat the other team's kingly offense in order to win the game? Someone needs to tell the Pats that having a defensive minded coach is a big mistake.

It was brutal to watch him on tv. Watching him, I wondered if he just stopped working out after the Bills cut him.

There hasn't been a drop off with Ivory because of the state of the offense. Ivory is more of a bruiser and that's good when your OL can't produce holes. Shady needs space to utilize his talents and this OL - and/or Daboll's scheme - doesn't create space. If the OL was better, Shady would be the more productive and dangerous runner.

4 wins for you guys is a catastrophe. For us, it’s business as usual.

I know what you mean - and generally agree - but still feel a need to comment on your last few words. I think Allen has multiple rookie moments every game. He doesn't read coverages as effectively or get the ball out as quickly as a good veteran. He holds onto the ball longer than a good vet because - as a rookie - he needs more time to process.

Coughlin's roster... Marrone's offensive scheme... Marrone's preparations... Hackett's fired.

I'm happier now with Barkley and Anderson on the roster! These guys are both better backups and better mentors for Allen than Nate. Allen remains a question mark. He can make all the throws a NFL QB is supposed to make - but can he make them on a consistent basis? Can he read coverages as well as he should? Can he learn to make quicker decisions? Can he develop a better sense of when to slide in the pocket and when to tuck and run? I'm hopeful but not yet convinced.

Wasn’t Marrone the de facto OC there already?