hondo in seattle

I was surprised when the Bills made the playoffs McD's first year when you consider how untalented that roster was. Luck? I suppose luck was part of it. Luck is certainly a part of football. But I attribute our success to McD's good coaching. He had guys playing hard even when things looked dire. And he had them playing together. They often looked outclassed, talent-wise, but they didn't look unprepared. Of course, we didn't go far in the playoffs. The talent differential was too much. I never expected to win any playoff games; I was just happy that Kyle Williams got to play in one. I evaluate a HC like this: Given the strength and health of the roster, is he winning more or less games than I'd expect. I think McD's first year may have been his best because he got more out of that squad than anyone had a right to expect.

I saw a playoff game in Miami during the Kelly years. I think any advice I'd have would be outdated. But I'll say this: it was a lot of fun. Miami fans jeered Bills fans everywhere we went. People gave us the finger on the highways. They chanted obscene things in the stadium when it became clear they were going to lose. The nightly newscasters mocked Buffalo's dreary winter skyline. I wore a Bills jersey into a restaurant and the server told me she couldn't take my order. I thought she was joking. She wasn't. But we Bills fans were like locusts. Undeterred by the relentless negativity of our suffering Fin hosts, we swarmed over the city in the tens of thousands.

I think McD is a good coach. I don't think he's often "outcoached" either in the regular season or the playoffs. I think he's had bad luck going into the playoffs with injuries to key players. I don't believe the D is as physically talented as some others may think. I think McD deserves a lot of credit for our high defensive ranking in years past. I think his defenses are examples of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. You don't see a lot of mental mistakes. You do see a lot of effort and teamwork. But I think the good-not-great level of individual talent hurts us in the playoffs where we lose one-on-one battles. McD is not a warm, loveable guy like, say, Andy Reid. And he's not by any accounts a true genius with scheme. But I do think he's a solid coach overall who prepares his team well and has built a good culture. But as a defensive-minded head coach, his biggest need is finding a good OC. He's struggled there. Dennison and Dorsey didn't work out. Daboll left for a bigger opportunity though some say he wanted out and would have been happy with a lateral move. This is an age-old problem for the Bills. During the drought, our offensive HCs could never find a good DC, and our defensive HCs could never find a good OC. If Brady works out, the Bills will be dangerous. And that's the one big thing I want from McD: find a great OC. Hopefully, with Brady, he already has. We'll see.

Beane and McD are smart, capable people who know football far better than I do. I'm guessing McD gave Brady the OC job and Beane acquiesced. So, should I trust their judgment? Hmm. Let's consider McD's track record with OCs. He first hired Rick Dennison who he quickly fired. Then he hired Daboll who left for a bigger opportunity. Then he promoted Dorsey only to fire him. I'll call Daboll a win and the other two losses. McD is batting .333. That record doesn't exactly inspire confidence. Neither does Brady's performance as the Bills OC so far. He put together one good rushing game and spread the ball around more than Dorsey. But he struggled to scheme guys open and Josh's stats under Brady took a nosedive. So maybe with different weapons and a full offseason to prepare, Brady will perform better this year. I certainly hope so. But my cup isn't overflowing with confidence. There's a lot of buzz about Diggs' departure and who's going to replace him. But the man I will watch most closely this year is Joe Brady. I think the season hinges on him.

I don't necessarily agree but really hope this is true!

So many variables... New receivers. A new-ish OC. The pessimist in me worries about Diggs' departure. But even more, I worry about Brady. Josh wasn't very productive under Brady at the end of last season. Rushing yards went up but passing yards went down. The optimist buried within hopes, given a full offseason to prepare, Brady puts together a good offense. And I hope some of the new receivers surprise their critics. I'm also hoping Josh benefits from the best passpro of his career. Also, Allen's passing efficiency last year was better when not throwing to someone with a surname that begins with "D." There are no D-surname wideouts this season. When I voted, I decided to listen to my hopes rather than my fears but I'm going into this football season with a lot of questions and curiosity.

Much cheaper while a bit faster. Cheaper is the key. Goodell has Beane on a budget.

Molly, it's great that you coordinate a high school offense. Thanks for serving the kids. I read a report on Coleman written by a former NFL scout who projected Coleman will become an All Pro. No offense, but I'm taking his evaluation over yours. Beyond the matter of comparative expertise, I just like his opinion better. Though I have to acknowledge that another former NFL scout pessimistically predicted Coleman's NFL career will be a "slow fade." Beane's obviously more inclined to agree with the former scout and we have to hope he's right. But as you say, it's okay for us fans to be wrong. When even professional scouts can't agree on Coleman (or many other draft picks, for that matter), I personally don't get too attached to my own opinions.

I can't prove it but I believe that if Andy Reid was our OC instead of Joe Brady, we'd have enough offensive weapons right now to put together a potent aerial attack. We pretty much know the 2024 roster. We can only hope that Brady can do something with it.

It's hard to think Hyde still isn't better than the otherwise worst guy to make the final 53. And it would seem his leadership, enthusiasm, and understanding of McD's system would be a huge asset to the safety room. I hope we see him play in a Bills uni again.

In another thread, I named the six wideouts who I thought would make the final 53. Beane mentioned 5 of the 6. The one he didn't mention was Claypool. I also thought that was telling. About Brady... People with the team tell a pretty consistent story. Brady is a good communicator. And some say it's not just one-way. He solicits feedback from other coaches and players. Reading between the lines, I guess Dorsey didn't do that.

Interesting trying to read between the lines about why Bean and McD liked Brady as OC over Dorsey.

The use of colloquialisms is hardly nonsensical. Everyone on this side of the pond understands the sense. Now, calling a cookie a biscuit is nonsensical. I can't imagine the Bills fans of yore yelling out, "Lookie, Lookie, Here Comes Biscuit!" when Carlton Chester "Cookie" Gilchrist rumbled down the field with the ball. (Instead of Cornelius Bennett).

If you had said T-Rex, we would have understood you. T-rex arms had anatomically short arms as everyone knows. Alligator arms are the appendages of cowardly receivers who don't want to fully extend for fear of being hit. Shakir may have T-rex arms but he doesn't have alligator arms.

Alligators have short arms and it's okay to describe a short-armed receiver as having "alligator arms." But when I grew up playing football, "alligator arms" was a colloquial expression for when a receiver didn't fully extend to catch a ball because he was afraid of being hit. Sometimes, saying a receiver had "alligator arms" was akin to saying he was a coward. Shakir is not a cowardly receiver.

I saw that, too. Some other curious 2025 numbers... Fins are $11,000,000 over the cap. Jets are $58,000,000 under. Pats are $113,000,000 under!

I really hope so because we need the help.

Point taken. Aldi would be better than Dollar General. But cutting Diggs does help us get into Aldi next year. There were better ways to deal with Diggs' cap cost which makes me think there's more to the story. Was Diggs becoming a locker room cancer? Was his relationship with Allen declining? Did the Bills think his skill or commitment were beginning to fade? I'm sure there was something else behind the decision, but I think the cap was part of it and I'm glad Diggs won't count against us next season. I tend to believe this: A QB, once off his rookie contract, is obviously going to be a huge expense. I think that leaves room for just one pricey, big-splash FA. We had two: Miller and Diggs. I think Beane overextended himself in a way that made it challenging to build out the rest of the roster. He had to course-correct. Interestingly, he cut the big splash guy who was actually earning his paycheck (mostly) with his play on the field rather than the guy with a limp. I think to be a top-tier GM, Beane needs to get better at drafting our star players while filling out the rest of the roster with solid - but affordable - FAs.

I have ambivalent feelings about this. On one hand, there's a subset of athletes who are all about money, status, ego, sex, and fast cars. Butker is interested in things bigger than that. He's taking his Catholic faith seriously and applying it to the wider world. On the other hand, Butker's vision would move America backwards. Muppy is right when she says, "love is the answer." Butker's speech seemed to be more about judgment, condemnation, and dogma than love.

I'm not sure we're all that far apart. This is how I saw it a few days ago and how I still see it today. Beane got the Bills into cap trouble and he had to get us out. That meant Diggs had to go. And the departures of Diggs and Davis left the cupboard pretty bare without a lot of money to shop with. When you don't have a lot of money, you shop at the Dollar Store. But Beane's tried to go out and get guys with potential upside. Claypool, for example, was once a productive wideout. MVS has speed and has put together a couple of okay years. While it's Beane's fault that we're in this situation I'm not complaining about his efforts to now manage it the best he can without mortgaging the future. If you don't agree, that's fine. I'm not sure what value you add when you make remarks about me liking to get kicked in the nuts and drink piss. It's not an intelligent argument nor is it a kind or respectful thing to say. Luck and circumstance have sh*t on us Bills fans enough. It puzzles me that we'd want to add to that by sh*tting on each other.

You are correct, sir. I recalled events as simple housecleaning with Davis and Diggs departing followed by a slow, steady, humble rebuild. I was wrong. But my general idea still holds. At one point our WR room consisted of something like Shakir, Samuel, Shorter and Hollins. I'm happy that MVS, and some others, were added to the group, considering where we started.

Not as bleak as people think... but not as sunny as we'd hope. I remember when Kelly's targets included three guys destined for the Hall of Fame: Loften, Reed, Thomas. The guys we have now don't even qualify for Little House on the Prairie. But I keep hoping that (1) Brady shows us that he knows how to scheme guys open, and (2) a couple of these guys step up and surprise their critics. I do think there's some potential.

I was referring to after we jettisoned Diggs and Davis.

Randy Moss might disagree. NFL Comeback Player of the Year (2007) 4× First-team All-Pro (1998, 2000, 2003, 2007) 6× Pro Bowl (1998–2000, 2002, 2003, 2007) 5× NFL receiving touchdowns leader (1998, 2000, 2003, 2007, 2009) NFL 2000s All-Decade Team NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team New England Patriots All-2000s Team New England Patriots All-Dynasty Team

A starving man is happy to get a bowl of rice. At the beginning of the offseason, the WR receiver room was pretty much empty: one quasi-legit starter and not much else. Signing a guy who once had 690 yards is pretty exciting for some of us, even if his hands were carved from stone.