hondo in seattle

I know some will disagree but I believe if (1) Fred stayed healthy, and (2) played on a good team, he would have been considered for the Hall of Fame. He wasn't just a high-effort guy. He was a multi-talented back. If I recall correctly, he once led the league in yards after contact. But the OL wasn't good and he often had to fight just for a measly three-yard pick-up for a team that no one watched or cared about. What we saw in the Dallas game was a back with good vision, wiggle, and burst who ran against light boxes through nice lanes created by the OL and good scheming by the offensive coaches. It wasn't all Cook. But it wasn't no Cook either. He maximized his opportunities. Congrats!

I was thinking today about how wrong I was about this season. While I thought our regular season record might be worse than last year's because of the tougher schedule, I was confident we had a better team for a bunch of reasons... Defense * Floyd would make our pass rush better. * Poona would make our run D better. * There was no way we'd suffer as many injuries to key players as we did in 2022. * McD would be a more aggressive play-caller. * We'd miss Edmunds though teamwork and scheme would compensate for his loss. Offense * Sherfield, Harty, and Shakir would provide strong depth behind Gabe and Diggs. * Gabe's ankle was bothering him in '22; maybe he'd be better in '23. * Dorsey was a rookie OC in '22; maybe he'd learn and grow. * The OL would be better and might even transition all the way from bad to merely mediocre. * Harris would be an upgrade over Motor: bigger, stronger, faster. * If Dorsey would use him correctly, Cook could be a good safety valve for Josh. But he would never be an every-down back. * Kincaid could add a wrinkle to the offense. Clearly, I was wrong more than I was right. What do you got?

At one point during the offseason, I thought our RB situation would break down something like this. 1st down: Damien Harris (best overall back on the team). 2nd down: Harris/Cook. 3rd down: Cook (passing situations); Murray (3rd and short). I never envisioned Cook doing what he did yesterday. It's so fun to be wrong sometimes.

The Fins game was our best win this year. At the time, the Fins were the challengers, and we were the champs. They were trying to take our AFCE throne away from them and we denied them dramatically. The Dallas game was the most surprising win. Our battered D shut down their high-flying offense while our James Cook-led offense moved the ball at will.

The interview wasn't dynamic, but the highlights were cool.

An underutilized and deadly receiver. OJ in the open field made defenders crap their pants. They should have thrown to him more. He also excelled as a return man.

Kurt Warner was in the school of It-Was-the-QB's-Fault-Not-the-OC's. Kurt knows 13,487 times more about football than I do. But I think he may have been wrong on this point. So fun to see our offense evolve into something more than Allen-to-Diggs with Allen expected to perform heroics for us to win. Discovering and unleashing a running game should make life easier for Allen going forward.

This is a great response. I'll add this - which was kind of alluded to... There are probably some offensive coaches that McD would love to get to know a little better. Interviewing them gives McD a chance to spend time with some good football minds that he hasn't yet crossed paths with.

Dunne is 2-0.

No longer one dimensional, the Bills now have a running attack!

The defense, with all the injuries, is mediocre. The offense looks better under Brady. Then again, we only put up 20 against the Chiefs. The days when our punter didn't have a role to play seem to be over. Then again, you never know. The best team isn't necessarily the team that wins it all. Maybe the Gods of the Gridiron are on our side this year.

I really hope I'm right too. My favorite sweatshirt says, "Just one before I die." Here, out West, nobody knows what it means. But you know and I do worry. And, yeah, btw, I do agree that McD has underperformed this year. Last season, I didn't think the Bills were as good as their 13-3 record. This year, I don't think this roster is as bad, even with the injuries, as their 7-6 record indicates. For me, it is cause for concern but not time to jump ship. I wish we could embed ourselves with the Bills for a month. See how practices are run. Sit in on position group meetings and film breakdowns. Watch the game from the sidelines. Listen to the McD's speeches. Get a first-hand view of his leadership. Hang out with the players and hear what they truly think about their coaches. I'd feel more confident in my opinions about the coaching staff if I had an insider view of things.

History may prove you right. But I don't think 13 seconds defines McD. I don't believe it tells us a lot about him as a coach. A coach does so much more than call plays - if he even calls plays. And I'd hate my career to be defined by my worst 13 seconds! Andy Reid just lost to McD in the regular season - again. That doesn't make McD the better coach. Good coaches lose games sometimes. It happens. I judge coaches how well they do overall with (1) the rosters they're given, (2) the injuries the team suffers, and (3) the schedule they play against. Some of the results this year notwithstanding, I think McD has done well during his tenure as coach. I believe with some improvements to the roster, he can and will get us a Lombardi. But I understand your arguments and know I won't change your mind. Let's see how it all works out.

I did say fear of getting an overrated hot young offensive coach as a replacement is "one of the reasons" I didn't want McD fired. Not the only reason. I think until this year, McD got the best or near-best out of the roster each season. This is the only year I feel like he's gotten fewer wins than you'd expect based on the roster. In short, I think he's a good coach. I think he can win a SB when Beane gets him a better roster. I think there are only a few coaches who are clearly better than McD. Unfortunately, they all have jobs. But if Andy Reid wanted to come to Buffalo anyway, I'd take him. And Andy had years when he arguably underperformed as well. Cleveland fired Belichick when they moved to Baltimore. They hired Ted Marchibroda instead who went 16-31 while Belichick went on to win a gaggle of Lombardis - despite being a defensive minded HC. It seems Modell should have had a little more patience with Bill. I don't want to make that mistake. When professionals can't make smart coaching changes, I really don't have much faith in fan recommendations. I remember a long time ago when a bunch of fans wanted us to hire Leslie Frazier as our head coach and Doug Whaley to be our GM.

100 years ago, what Araiza did wouldn't have been a crime. Or a thousand years ago. Or a million years ago. History is filled with young people having sex. It also wouldn't have been a crime in most states. From what I just found on the internet, the age of consent is 16 in 32 states. It's 17 in 8 more. New morality? Sexual morality is highly variable from culture to culture. What Araiza did wouldn't be considered immoral in many places on the earth today. I have two daughters and I'm glad we have age-of-consent laws in the U.S. I just think Araiza has been punished enough.

This is one of the reasons I don't want McD fired. I don't want to see him replaced by someone, "young, smart, and innovative."

This is true. But there are degrees of wrong-doing. They were at a college party. She was drinking. He was drinking. She was willing. He was willing. How many guys who are in the NFL right now do you think would have checked her age on her ID in those circumstances back when they were in college? I'm not sure what the proper punishment is for his situation, but he lost his dream job as an NFL punter and had his name dragged through the mud. I think we forgive and move forward at this point.

There are places in the PNW (especially in the mountains) that get far more snow than Buffalo. Astoria, a nice little town near the ocean where Poyer played HS ball, gets about an inch a year. Not much - but not nothing.

Remember the days when we punted once a game? What happened?

2nd worst net average in the NFL. Punt god sure sounds tempting.

And I won't ask you to. But the problem is we had the best pass D in the NFL just a couple of years ago (2021) - ranked #1; giving up only 163 yards per game. In 2023 so far, despite a better DL pressuring the QB, we're ranked #11 giving up 208 passing yards per game. Whatever is going on, we're not as studly as we used to be.

It's a passing league and we used to defend the pass extremely well with a fantastic secondary that included 3 studs: Poyer, Hyde, and White. We have no studs left. Our secondary isn't elite anymore. And if we're dreaming about a Lombardi, that's a problem.

In 2021, we ranked #1 in the NFL in yards allowed. In 2022, with some key injuries, we still managed a solid #6 ranking. This year, we're ranked #14 which places us in the middle of the pack. The Fins are ranked #9. Neither D is special but, statistically, theirs is better.

Who do we have? Hyde? Poyer? Miller? All used to be great but aren't great anymore. Milano? Injured. White? Injured (again). DQ? Injured. We do have Ed Oliver.

The secondary (and Matt Milano) used to be the strength of the defense. Three of the five starters were studs: Poyer, Hyde, and White. It's not so strong anymore. The three studs aren't studs anymore and no new studs are emerging. I'm concerned.