hondo in seattle

Good QBs are hard to find. There are maybe 10 or so in the entire world. Our problem is that we haven't found one yet. You could argue that in the entire 50+ year history of the Buffalo Bills, we've only had one truly good QB. Beane's only had a year so far to find one. Maybe we should give him more time. And the photo, while amusing, proposes a false choice. McD isn't choosing Peterman over a competent QB. So far, he's been choosing Allen (not yet a competent QB) over Peterman. In the army we have an expression: "developing the situation." Instead of following a rigid plan, when the realities are fluid, a leader is expected to 'develop the situation' as circumstances change. Peterman is proving that his good showing in preseason wasn't predictive. Allen is looking like a raw rookie. Similarly, there's been some disappointments at other positions - but some good news too on defense. With $80 mil or so in cap money next year, let's see if Beane and McD can effectively develop the situation.

If strategy is the problem, you go to the sky box where you can see the game better. When execution is the problem, you get on the sideline where you can coach and impact your players. I agree that Daboll made the wrong call. This offense needs a leader, and you can't be a leader of men when you're not even with your men.

How do you know what Daboll expects? We can only judge his actions, not his intentions. He might be giving Allen a lot of chances to throw the ball - with minimal expectations of immediate success - to develop his skills for next year. I agree with you that the run designs aren't creative. However, I will add that poorly skilled players can make any OC or DC look bad. Mistakes stand out more when plays are unsuccessful. When skilled players make good plays out of nothing, the coordinator doesn't get blamed for the initial nothing.

Hopefully not - and it wasn't my intent at all. Instead we need to understand the consequences of child beatings and molestation. Some - certainly not all - of the kids getting abused will grow up to be violent. I think the idea is to highlight the problem so we understand how important it is to solve. Hernandez deserved to be convicted and jailed. The question is how to avoid future cases like this.

On a thread somewhere, a fellow Bills fan said that CTE doesn't explain why Hernandez did what he did. Lots of NFL players get concussions. Most don't commit murder. Now we're starting to get the rest of the story. Hernandez didn't just suffer from CTE. He was beaten and abused as a child. It doesn't excuse his crimes. But it does help us understand them. https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/15/us/aaron-hernandez-spotlight/index.html

I'm usually one to encourage people to follow their dreams. But Nate has a career passer rating of 29.9. I'm hoping his degree is in something useful.

An unpolished QB who can’t make presnap reads... a porous OL... a WR corps that struggles to gain separation and make catches... It all adds up to a horrendous passing attack and some of the blame is Allen’s. We can all guess if Allen will get better but no one knows. He has a NFL arm but we don’t know if he will learn the other stuff which is sometimes learnable. All we can do is cross our fingers and pray to the gridiron gods.

Unsubstantiated claims... old, rehashed ideas... why is this a thread?

Nate reminds me of George Plimpton - a regular guy masquerading as a NFL QB.

Because 2018 is 2019's preseason. If we hope to be a good team in the years to come, our young players - especially Josh Allen - need to progress.

I've gotten the impression from his interviews that Beane wants to draft his star players - and believe he can. He seems to think that the very best FAs are over-priced and he'll shy away from them. Instead he'll use most of his cap money to bring in solid starters who'll buy into the process. But whatever his intentions, we don't know if he has the will-power to resist paying big for a FA he truly covets.

This line summarizes their view of the Bills O: "Listen, we hated this draft pick for the Bills with the fire of a million suns, especially once you factor in trading up for him, but this offense is doing him no favors at all. "

BBF is partly right and partly wrong. One the right side: Eli hasn't looked good this year and Allen needs more time. On the wrong side: his concern with what others are saying. I don't know if others are saying what he thinks they're saying and even if they are, who cares? For example, I don't know how many people are giving Eli a pass. I don't see that at all. And the few people who think Allen should sit say so usually because they worry about the Bills ruining his confidence playing before he's ready - playing behind a bad line with no one to throw to. I think everyone who matters realize Allen is a rookie and a works-in-progress.

I get the OP's question but according to some in the NFL, every college QB is a project. That's why the success rate of even 1st rounders is so disappointing. They all have stuff to learn & improve and it's hard to predict which ones will get better in the NFL and which won't.

If you think this year matters. I think Beane cares more about future years.

Little surprise the Bills emphasize his role as a "Mentor to Many."

I'm starting to get the feeling that the original proposition has been discredited. Maybe it needs to be modified & restated?

On the one hand, Shady is our only legit offensive weapon. We can't give him up. On the other hand, this season is meaningless. Let's go get a draft pick we can use when this team is pushing for the playoffs in the future. On the other hand, for reasons already given, we wouldn't get much for Shady. The gain wouldn't be worth the loss. On the other hand, I think I'm out of hands so I'll just end with.... NO.

I haven't been to a Bills game in Buffalo in 40+ years. But I have little doubt - having watched enough TV and youtube highlights - that your son is right. I really need to find an excuse to take the family to Buffalo in the fall so we can experience it first-hand.

2 hours after the game ended, CBS sports still has the article up saying the Bills lost. Very funny.

Amen to this. I watch this season's games like I would a preseason game. I'm not worried about the W but I do want to see the young guys play well. I've already decided this is a lost season and I'm come to terms with that. But I want reason to believe 2019 will be better. But if the OPs right - a 3 game winning streak with this weak roster would be a lot of fun!

We don't.

I do think Whaley is a good pro scout. I also think having him at One Bills Drive would be a mistake. We've moved on. He's part of an unpleasant past we'd rather all forget.

You're right that we don't have a lot of extra draft picks. But we do have some draft picks that - hopefully - Beane will utilize well. But you're comment about cap space - while literally true - is misleading. According to over-the-cap, we currently have the 4th most available cap space in 2019 and the #1 most available cap space in 2020. We have far more money to spend on FAs going forward than the average NFL franchise. Next year, we have $85 million in cap space - the average team has $39 million. That's a significant, meaningful difference. And the Bills advantage in 2020 is even greater. Between our picks and our available cap space, a good GM has the resources to build a good roster by 2020 (if not sooner). It's not an accident that the cap future is bright for the Bills. Beane's talked about it and his intentions are clear. The only question is will he effectively use his picks and cap money? That's not clear. Beane's never been a GM before and we don't know if he has the skill to build a good roster. Btw, my suspicion is that Beane will try to draft a #1 WR. Talented WRs too expensive as FAs. He'll mostly try to get solid starters - but not overpriced superstars - with the cap dollars. https://overthecap.com/salary-cap-space/

With the cap space and draft picks available to us in upcoming years... If Beane's great, the Bills will be competitive next year. If Beane's good, the Bills will be competitive in 2020. If Beane sucks, the Bills will begin the Drought Redux. McD is trying to win every Sunday. That's his job. But Beane is planning for the future. He'll have the draft picks and cap space to build a good roster in 2019 and a better one in 2020. Allen is indeed a big draft project. But he'll be ready by then - if he's ever going to be ready.