hondo in seattle

I have ambivalent thought about how smart we are. On the one hand, none of us here is as smart about football as professional coaches and personnel guys. As much as I respect some of you, and I do, we're just not. Imagine if you worked 50, 60, 70 hours a week for an NFL club. You spend all your time talking to players, coaches, and personnel guys, getting their insights. You study reams of tape. You're at very practice. You attend seminars, read books & articles, call up the brightest brains you know and pick them. As smart as you may be right now as a poster, in that environment you'd be so much smarter. So I pay close attention when NFL coaches and personnel guys talk. On the other hand, I was reading the ESPN article by Jeremy Fowler where he has execs rate players. One exec rated Allen as the best QB in the league. Some others didn't list him in the top five. And I found myself not really caring because I'm confident in my own evaluation. I've watched Josh's every throw. Some execs in the NFC may have only watched a couple of complete games and some highlights. Now if Bill Belichick got on TV to talk about Josh, I'd hang on every word because he knows football 1,000 better than I do. And he's studied Josh at a level I probably can't even imagine and knows Josh better too. But if one of the execs Fowler talked to was Justin Chabot, for example - the 49ers Assistant Director of College Scouting - why should I value his opinion about Josh? While I'm sure Mr. Chabot knows football far better than I do, I bet I know Josh Allen better than him. All of us do. Does anyone care about these rankings?

We're all so bored and football-deprived that we're counting down the days to camp while considering our Mount Rushmore of the 4 most hated non-Bills and relive the 1988 Pumpkin Game. This really is a terrible time of year.

According to AI, swallowing your own tongue isn't possible. Apparently it was an urban myth. But I was terrified by the concept when Mini Max supposedly swallowed his tongue. I wasn't sure I wanted to play football anymore.

Here's what some NFL execs think of Allen, according to an article by ESPN's Jeremy Fowler... Exec A "One of the more overrated players in the NFL. Immense talent but he makes a lot of mistakes. He's underdeveloped at winning at the line of scrimmage, tends to lock on to targets, more of a thrower than precision passer, forces throws into traffic." Exec B: "He leaves you wanting more a little bit. But if you're picking who you want to have to lead your team, he's going to be second or third for most people. The ceiling is still really high. And I don't really feel he was the reason the Bills haven't been able to finish." "High Ranking" NFL Official: "I saw a quarterback who is consistently a high performer who elevates his team at every chance." ww.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/nfl-executive-rips-bills-josh-allen-as-overrated/ar-BB1q1deH?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=865503d98d874b368202391db2a30f9d&ei=24

I don't normally hate people and don't hate any football players. The ones I've actively disliked were: Bryan Cox - for obvious reasons. Roethlisberger - because I think he probably got away with rape. That's about it. I can't name four.

Imagine an alternate universe where you're a GM and every football player who's ever suited up still lives and performs at their very peak. The franchise owner promises you that she won't meddle in the roster except for one stipulation: she wants you to sign the greatest dual-threat QB ever. In that scenario, I pick Josh. There have been better runners. There have been better throwers. But none who have combined those two skills the way Josh has.

I agree that its a low probability for all the reasons you stated. And it's not a move I'd necessarily like. But cutting Mitch was, in my mind, the highest probability of the possibilities that would qualify as a surprise. Cutting Von, Knox, Elam or Edwards would be surprises too, for example, but even a lower probability than cutting Mitch. Cutting Hamlin, for example, is more probable than cutting Mitch but wouldn't count as a surprise. There's a lot of flux and uncertainty this year. It'll be interesting to see what roster decisions McD makes and what the WR depth chart ends up looking like.

I don't know how you found those two replays but... wow... reminds me how brutal football used to be. Also reminds me to have respect for the QBs (and RBs and WRs) of the past who were taking those hits.

As a 65-year old guy, I don't care what some 28-year old kid thinks of my hometown - or any other city. Even if he was an All Pro, there is no reason why I should care. Except that I want good football players to like Buffalo because I want our stars to stay in Buffalo and FAs from other teams to put Buffalo on the top of their wish list. This exception doesn't apply to Smith.

That was a multitalented, potent offense. Though the Flip Johnson TD was pure luck and the kind of play that seems to go against us more often than for us. As I watched the replay, I couldn't help but think how scary Kelly would have been if he had Josh's scrambling and running ability.

The Vikes for $600m in 2005 seems like a bargain compared to some of the other deals. I really hope my cousin can finish that flux capacitor he's been working on - we'll travel back to the 1920s and 1930s and buy every NFL team we can.

I was deployed to Korea in '88, missed this telecast, and never heard of "The Pumpkin Game." I didn't watch all 60 minutes but I did watch some of it. Fun to see the Bills on the cusp of near-greatness.

Although the article is about quarterbacks, it provides an interesting - if not original - view of McD. Over the past 5 years, the Bills have the best point differential in the league. Yes, of course Josh contributes to that. But, still, it's impressive and suggests some good coaching is going on. But in the playoffs, McD can't beat Reid and Mahomes. I'm not big on what-if, alternate reality speculations. But when I read the article, I couldn't help but think how recent Bills history - and McD's reputation - would have been different if the Reid-Mahomes marriage never happened.

I hear you. I've been a fan since 1969. My earliest Bills memory is Mini Max Anderson getting popped and needing medical attention. The announcer said he might have swallowed his tongue. That terrified me because I was just starting to play football and didn't want to swallow my own tongue. From what I've found online, Anderson may or may not have swallowed his tongue, but he did break his jaw. His NFL dream lasted a mere two years. Inauspicious beginning to 55 years of fandom and I'm still waiting for my Lombardi. It'll be emotional when Josh makes it happen.

You're right, of course, Doc. But if we win a Super Bowl after decades of shattered dreams, I'm going to savor the moment. I won't be thinking about how many Lombardis we should have had by now or why we may not repeat. I'm just going to be good Zen Buddhist, live in the now, and cry with joy. For months.

I saw an article on 365 Scores that I thought was interesting. According to the author, Scott Kacsmar, the Bills lead the league in scoring differential since 2019: · Buffalo Bills +684 (no Super Bowls) · Baltimore Ravens +647 (no Super Bowls) · San Francisco 49ers +583 (0-2 in Super Bowl vs. Chiefs) · Kansas City Chiefs +574 (3-1 in Super Bowls) KC is 4th in regular season point differential but 6-0 in the playoffs against the top three teams. "That number for Buffalo (+684) is historic as it is the highest point differential in any 5-year span in the salary cap era (since 1994) for a team that made zero Super Bowl appearances out of it." The article is actually a QB ranking. Kacsmar was a nice write-up on Josh who he ranks #2. Some excerpts... While it took him some extra time to break out, Josh Allen has been the second-best quarterback in the NFL since 2020. People are going to point to Lamar Jackson and Aaron Rodgers winning multiple MVP awards since Allen’s been in the league, but neither of those players has been as valuable, durable, or as consistent as Allen in the last four years. ... Since 2020, Allen has averaged 4,385 passing yards, 34.3 touchdown passes, 617 rushing yards, and 9 rushing touchdowns per season. Those are insane numbers. Steve Young for the 1998 49ers is one of the only quarterback seasons that comes close to hitting those averages as a dual threat... The Bills rely so much on Allen, who has responded with four straight division titles and advanced to at least the divisional round every year since 2020. But it’s past time that Sean McDermott’s defense has his back in one of these January matchups with the Chiefs... It's a good article. Worth a read. www.365scores.com/news/2024-nfl-quarterback-rankings-mahomes-tier

Maybe I'm just a homer but I agree. If a defense plays zone, he seems to have a good football IQ and will find the seams. If a team is in man and he doesn't get much separation (as Logic and others warn), he'll still be a viable target. He's a bigger guy with a good catch radius running routes for a QB who doesn't mind tight windows. It's probably worth mentioning that both Diggs and Davis were below the league average in separation last year. Coleman will be fine.

I agree with all of this. To clarify, I meant 'relevant' in terms of championship conversations. The Browns haven't been a championship contender much since the 1950s, and never again a champion. But if I had to pick the GOAT, it wouldn't be Brady. It would be between Jim Brown and OJ. Both were RBs back when offenses revolved around the RB and the best athletes became backs. And they were both heads and shoulders better than their peers. If I took off my Bills cap, the pick would be Brown. Brady was a great QB. But how much was he better than his peers: Brees, Manning, Rodgers, Farve, Roethlisberger, Warner, Luck, Stafford, Rivers, and so on? At the end of any regular season, you could make a strong argument that Brady wasn't the best QB that given year. Brown was the best RB every year he suited up and everyone knew it and there was no rational debate about it. Brady led the league in passing yards 4 times in his 23-year career. Impressive. Brown led the league in rushing yards 8 times in his 9-year career. The one year he didn't, he was hurt. Brown was relevant. The Browns were not (at least not how I use the term). That makes sense. Though if I was calculating win percentage for a QB, I'd only count games started. In any case, Lamonica was a winner - and it would have been better if he had won all those games for us. The problem, of course, is that we didn't have the supporting cast.

Here's the top three from Wikipedia... Something is wrong with StatMuse. It says Lamonica played 137 games. Pro Football Referense says he started only 88 games. Maybe StatMuse is counting the losses with the Bills where the Snake sat helplessly on the bench?

Neither did I until I looked up the list. What sucks about the list is that two of the winningest QBs in history are guys who have haunted the Bills: Brady and Mahomes. The Bills mafia would be a much happier place if those two had been in the NFC. And we had one of the winningest QBs in history on our roster but hardly played him before we traded him a way for Art Powell and a bag of peanuts.

I think Alpha's probably right and the biggest surprises have already happened. But if I had to guess, I'd say Mitch Trubisky. Somewhere in the NFL, a decent QB will be a surprise cut and we'll sign the guy to be Josh's backup.

I'm old but not old enough to remember him playing. But when I was a Browns fan, I read up on Browns history. With Otto Graham as their on-field captain, the Browns dominated the old All-American Football Conference (AAFC) in the late 1940s and won the championship all four years of the AAFC's tenure. Cleveland's run included the 1948 championship game when the Browns destroyed an earlier version of the Buffalo Bills by a score of 49-7. Their critics complained that the Browns were the best team in an inferior league and would crumble against NFL competition. Well, about that... the Browns joined the NFL in 1950, won the championship that year, and Graham was named the league's MVP. The Browns earned the right to play in the NFL Championship game 6 consecutive years after joining the NFL, winning 3 of them. They've had a bit of success in the 1960's with Jim Brown, in the 70's with the Kardiac Kids, in the 80's with Bernie... but have mostly been irrelevant since Otto's days.

Weirdly, Sipe has attained something Josh hasn't: an MVP award. Sipe was fun to watch during the short-lived Kardiac Kids era. With Sipe and their playmakers, the Browns were never out of a game. Eleven 4th quarter (or OT) game-winning drives in two years.

The best has to be Otto Graham, no? If I'm not mistaken, he's the only Browns QB in the HOF. Winningest QBs in NFL history: Graham... .814 Lamonica... .801 Mahomes... .771 Brady... .754 Jackson... .753 The Browns are kind of like the Bills - a bunch of great RBs but not many great QBs. But Bernie had his moments.

I was both a Browns and Bernie fan back in the day. Hated Belichick for cutting him. Wish Kosar the best.