hondo in seattle

Typically what you want to do with a rookie QB is run. Typically what you want to do against a Pettine D is run. I really expected our backs to get more carries but Josh was slinging the ball all over the place. It made me wonder if, as I joked in another thread, Daboll is looking at 2018 as the preseason for 2019. His play-calling might be more about getting a hard look at Allen and giving him lots of opportunities than about winning this year.

The Bills have the lowest paid roster in the league. And they play like it. Our coaches would have to be miracle workers to get this team to be competitive. They're not miracle workers. Next year, with a bunch of draft picks and roughly $80 mil in cap space, Beane might give McD a good roster to work with. But nobody truly knows how talented Beane is at drafting college kids or signing quality FAs. The sample size of his previous efforts is too small to say anything definitive. I'm really hoping the young players - especially Allen and Edmunds - play like budding superstars by the end of the season not like the raw rookies they are now. 2018 is the 2019 preseason and I'm hoping we find some gems.

In his all-too-short prime, Moulds played like a HOFer. I agree with Skycap - I'd love to see Allen have a guy like Moulds on the other end of his passes.

Well, this deserves its own thread.

Draw to Shady for 3 yards.

I'd believe him more if he said he's been crashing tables.

I get everything your saying and share some of the same concerns. So why run? Well, if I was an OC with a mediocre-QB but a good RB and OL, I would use the weapons I had. While offenses continue to emphasize the pass, defenses have been evolving more and more to stop the passing game. These days LBs are smaller and faster than they used to be. Nickel is now the base NFL defense. Many of today's DEs are guys who can rush the QB but are soft against the run. Etc. There could be an opportunity to take advantage of the trend in defenses by developing a strong power running game. Sun Tzu said, "To unfailingly take what you attack, attack where is no defense." Run D is the weaker D. Attack it and win.

Clearly he’s not as quick and elusive as TT. But I think hemma said it correctly: he seems to be just effective. I would like a bigger sample size but so far I’m encouraged by both his arm and his legs.

I love info graphics. Cool stuff. But entirely speculative. After all, the Vikes were told the Bills game was an easy win.

I've made one official sports bet in my life. The Bills line in one game years ago - forget the game - was so whacked that I had to place $100 on the Bills to cover a ridiculous spread. I lost - and never bet since - not counting bets that required me to buy someone lunch or wear an opposing team's jersey. BR, I wish you the best and hope you've learned betting is a game for fools and never do it again.

My first Bills home game was in 1974 - the Raiders Monday night game. Every time OJ got the ball, the fans were on their feet. There was an expectation that he was going to do something magical. Instead he got hurt. The Bills won anyway on a late TD pass from Fergie to Ahmad Rashad. That was also sadly the last home game I've been to - though I have been able to attend some away games over the years including a playoff victory in Miami. Have fun, Bill! Hope your dream scenario becomes reality!

People only looking at stat lines and highlights won't realize what a good game he had. Daboll crawled into a shell in the second half. In the first half, Allen did everything asked of him and did it very well. Then again, I only looked at a few highlights of his competitors and then voted for Allen. I'm a homer.

The Bills are - right now - a team that's hard to predict. The defense played at the college level for 6 quarters then played lights out for the next 6. Our moribund offense actually looked capable in the first half this past Sunday. And it's hard to know what we really have with Allen. The kid is certainly energetic and has a live arm. While I am projecting a generally positive trend line this season, I would hesitate to predict his performance in any particular game. His progress might be more like 2 steps forward, 1 step back. After the surprising beat down of the Vikes, I thought to ask, "Will the real Buffalo Bills please stand up?" No outcome - good or bad - in the Packs game would surprise me.

The played better. They didn't play "well." RBs didn't see a lot of holes.

QBs are remembered for their great passes. But one run of Kelly's I recall clearly is that one that defeated Miami. It seemed to be an omen of good things to come. I'm hoping Allen's run will prove to be similarly memorable, inspirational, and an omen of good things to come.

Patton once said that once in a while he got close enough to the German to be fired at - but not close enough that he'd likely be hurt - just to inspire his soldiers. I think it was great that Allen hurdled the LB for the first down. He demonstrated his commitment to winning and willingness to put his body on the line for his team. I think he'll need to do something like that again once in a while to inspire the 'troops.' But I do hope he doesn't get in the habit of recklessly throwing his body around like that. He's more use to us on the field than on the bench wrapped in medical gauze.

When Allen hurdled that defender, it reminded of a couple plays from the Bills past. The first memory that popped up was Kelly's dive for the winning TD against Miami in 1989. The net result of Allen's leap wasn't nearly as momentous but it galvanized the team in a similar way. I loved hearing Allen's teammates talk excitedly about the play after the game. In an antithetical way, Allen's leap also brought up memories of Orton's hook slide short of the first down. Allen is no Orton.

The Bills need a speedster to stretch the D and take advantage of Allen’s arm. Foster is not the guy.

I know we're not going to the playoffs this year, letting alone winning a SB. So I want to see good things from our youngsters - particular Allen and Edmunds. I want to believe there's a nucleus of good young players that we can build around in 2019 and 2010. If we lose but Allen throws for 300, Zay gets 100 yards in receiving, Edmunds has 15 tackles all near or behind the LOS, and so on - it would be a very good day.

I don't follow this story closely but nothing I've read about her suggests she's a high integrity lady with great credibility. But that doesn't mean Shady wasn't involved. She might be like the boy who called wolf and is actually truthful this one time. And - given her history of integrity issues - you have to wonder why Shady would live with her. Generally speaking, like attracts like - high character people tend to spend time with other high character people. Beyond the allegations, his choice of companions make me worry about the guy. But right now there's no real evidence of wrong-doing on Shady's part so the Bills are doing the right thing by going forward with the presumption of innocence.

You have it backwards: We have no good players because we're in cap trouble. According to Over-the-Cap, we still have about $8 million in available cap space. We also have $54 million in dead money. So we're spending $62 million less on our current roster than the cap allows. In fact, this year's Bills are the lowest paid team in the NFL. It's hard to win that way. Beane has been offloading bloated salaries and acquiring draft picks. So we'll have about $90 million in cap space next year (4th highest in the league) and 10 draft picks. And as things stand right now, we're looking at the most - by far - cap space in the NFL in 2020. Beane's going to have enough money and picks to build a great roster over the next couple years. Let's see if he can do it. https://overthecap.com/salary-cap-space/ https://www.buffalorumblings.com/2018/9/2/17810772/buffalo-bills-have-10-draft-picks-in-2019-aj-mccarron-ej-manuel-josh-allen-nathan-peterman

I watched that vid and had no clue what was happening or why people were excited. The AFL is an unsolved mystery to me.

I'm not sure I agree 100% but this is a valid point.

I read what Daboll said but I'm still negative on this line. Sure, Allen hangs on to the ball too long. That's not debatable. And sometimes he does get a nice pocket. But there have been too many pass-pro breakdowns on the line as well. And they're not opening holes for runners. Overall, I think "disaster" isn't a terribly inaccurate work for the performance of our OL.

I get the impression that Beane is mostly a build-thru-the-draft kind of guy. I expect he'll overpay for one or two FAs - like most GMs do. When you want something bad enough, you have to be the high bidder. But I think he's going to focus on undervalued players and "B" players who can be signed affordably and not "A" players who will demand record-setting contracts. $80,000,000 just doesn't go as far as it used to.