hondo in seattle

I know it's not rational, but my enthusiasm died when I read an article that lumped Ifedi with another player we all know well. "The Lions also released offensive linemen Germain Ifedi and Bobby Hart. Both players have extensive experience and could land as depth for other teams at some point in the future."

So much unsourced stuff being said about Diggs it's hard to know what to believe. This is from Jason Whitlock, for what it's worth: “I said it a month or two ago, Stefon Diggs does not want to be in Buffalo. It’s cold up there, his brother plays in Dallas, he wants to be in a better city than Buffalo, and he’s painting this picture ‘OUR SUPER BOWL WINDOW IS CLOSING! JOSH ALLEN NEEDS TO DO THIS!’ He’s painting a picture for him to get out of Buffalo and to get to a city with better strip clubs. I said it a month ago and I’ll say it again—this is about strip clubs, it ain’t about championships. He doesn't care about being a pro, he doesn’t care about winning a championship, he wants to be in a better city. Go look at the teams in that division. Miami Dolphins; he would rather be in Miami. The New England Patriots; he’d rather be in Boston. The New York Jets; he’d rather be in NYC. He’s stuck up in Buffalo, it’s cold there, and I’m just telling you what I know and what I believe—with these young guys and all this discretionary income, and his brother in the NFL, he wants to be in a city where it’s easier to pop bottles, he wants to be somewhere where it’s easier to fly in the Instagram models and that’s what this is about. This has nothing to do with winning, this has nothing to do with dissatisfaction of Josh Allen. He’s going to put all the pressure on Josh Allen and the media is going to eat it up because Josh Allen doesn’t have the complexion for the connection. It’s unfair what Stefon Diggs is about to do to Josh Allen." www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/jason-whitlock-the-real-reason-stefon-diggs-wants-out-of-buffalo/ar-AA1fXszv?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=4abc7dae46d749cb83a57e4fc5e4c688&ei=31

I figure Josh will play at a high level for another 10 years. And each year we'll have a roughly 10% chance of winning it all. And that makes the chances of bringing a Lombardi to Buffalo pretty good.

That was the story of the drought.

Yep, Beane did a decent job considering he was on a budget and shopping at the Dollar Tree. I'd be happier if Shell hadn't retired. And even happier yet if we had a couple of All-Pro type maulers to bodyguard our QB and open holes for our backs.

I don't disagree except for this... With 26 starts under his belt, when some team suffers an OT injury, Quessenberry will look like a tempting acquisition. If we do PS him, I doubt he'll last the season as a Bill. Though having watched him play, I can't say I'm broken up about this prospect.

I'm an optimist... This will be a multiple Lombardi, two QB dynasty like Montana-Young!

Here's my thought about the OL: There are several new faces this year. I don't know if that means definitively that the OL will be better this season, but it does give me hope.

I'm a Beane apologist because Beane was instrumental in bringing this team out of decades of mediocrity. But I can't defend him on Boogie. It seemed an odd pick at the time: we had just picked Groot and Boogie was a DE who wasn't much a pass rusher. I was guessing two things at the time. (1) Beane was so desperate for a DE that he picked two to double our chances of finding one good one. (2) He saw something in Basham that wasn't reflected in the tape or stats. It seems, unfortunately, that whatever he saw was a mirage. So Beane took what he could get in a trade. Still, I'll give Beane some credit: We have enough depth at DE that Boogie is expendable. When Von gets healthy, we'll have a good group of DEs, thanks to Beane.

My advice. Go to the Louvre in Paris. Get close to the paintings done by the masters. Examine every brush stroke. Find the imperfections - they're there. But then step back and take in the beauty of the entire composition. Beane, like all GMs, makes mistakes. Given we've won more games in the past few years than nearly every other team in the NFL, it seems he makes fewer than most GMs. Take a step back and enjoy the big picture. We used to be losers. Now we're winners. He just needs to cap it all off with a SB title.

The question was intended for Big Turk but I'll step in with an answer... No. I think our offense would have been better last year with Daboll, particularly in the second half of the season where Dorsey seemed to become predictable and unimaginative. Plus, if Daboll would have stayed, we still would have had Dorsey. I would have preferred to keep both of them rather than just one. However, last season was Dorsey's rookie year as a OC. Many/most OCs get better with experience. Let's hope Dorsey follows that trend. Daboll is a good coach - not just at scheming passing attacks but at team- and culture-building too. But he wasn't generationally, heads-and-shoulders-above-his-peers good. For example, he was better with QBs than RBs. Despite Motor's solid YPC, Daboll didn't seem to know how to use RBs. We couldn't count on our RBs in short-yardage situations, couldn't sustain a drive on RB runs, and didn't successfully integrate the RBs into the passing game. I have no reason to believe Dorsey will be better in these areas, but I do hope anyway because I'm a fan.

Mostly true. But no homeruns? None?

Here's the thing about that. Eagles want to fly with eagles. They don't want to hang out with turkeys. Turkeys, on the other hand, like to flock together. So the good personnel guys in the NFL want to work with the best GMs. The good positions coaches want to work with the best DCs and HCs. Good DCs want to work with the best HCs. The only reason Daboll and Schoen were on the team was because McD and Beane hired them - and Daboll and Shoen wanted to work with them. I'm hoping that they continue to hire, and internally develop, good coaches and personnel guys.

I think Terry already did. Beane took a team that never made the playoffs and transformed it into a team that always makes the playoffs. Terry counted up the successes and failures and rewarded Beane with an extension. One of the things that made Basham expendable is that Beane has successfully acquired other good DEs. I do agree, though, Beane still needs to get better as a GM. He's given McD a good roster to work with, maybe a very good one, but not a great one.

We certainly have a good roster but saying we have a "Super Bowl caliber roster" is like saying we have the best roster in the AFC. At least, that's what it means to me. Is that truly what you believe?

Don't care... It used to be that 3 of our 4/5 starting DBs were studs: Hyde, Poyer, and White. The other CB and nickelback were okay. Maybe it's the same this year. But Hyde and Poyer have both had injuries and are getting up there in years. White hasn't seemed right since his ACL, though maybe he just needed more time to mend. In any case, I was hoping Elam would become a star to compensate for whatever degradation we experienced in the older veteran stars. My fingers are crossed that Hyde, Poyer, and White all return to peak form. If so, our secondary will be great. And I'm looking forward to seeing how Rapp will contribute. It's nice, of course, to have good backups but I'd rather have great starters.

Contrary to what others may insinuate, Beane is not a moron. He's made a lot of good moves and built us a pretty good team in a very competitive league. But it's not a SB team yet and misses like Elam are part of the reason why. Obviously, he knew Elam was a press corner and drafted him anyway. Maybe to give our defense more versatility. Maybe something convinced him that McD and his staff could coach Elam to be a good zone defender. Whatever the reason, it looks like Beane was wrong. It happens. Some GM, maybe Ron Wolfe, said that you want to get one or two Pro Bowlers in every draft. The NFL is filled with jags who have starting jobs; you need some Pro Bowlers to set your team apart. It doesn't matter if they come in the 1st or 7th round. If the 1st round pick is a bust and the 5th rounder is a perennial All Pro, it's all good. The problem for us is we didn't get any elite players out of that draft in any round... At least, that's how it looks now.

Mostly the lines. I thought Beane made some smart, economical signings to improve the trenches. But Poona Ford, who I thought would be a useful run stuffer hasn't shined. And I liked the Shell signing because I have little faith in Brown's health or ability. I thought Shell could fill in if Brown faltered. Now, with Shell gone, I'm really worried about OT. And McGovern's injury has me worried about OG. I also worry about the age and health of our safeties, Tre's knee, and CB#2, among other things, though these aren't new.

How good do you think this roster really is? I was pretty optimistic in the offseason, but my doubts have been growing as the preseason has progressed. I'm not confident anymore that we have one of the best two rosters in the AFC. So I'm not confident we make it to the AFC championship game, even if McD coaches well.

Hyperbole? I agree MLB is a problem. But "never been worse"? I suppose that's true if you've been a fan since 2020. Go back to the 1 and 2-win seasons, if you want to see worse. We only play 2 LBs on most downs and 1 of those guys is a stud. LB is a concern for a team with Lombardi aspirations, but not historically awful.

I was looking forward to 2023 with enthusiasm partly because I thought we'd be stronger in the trenches. I thought Art Shell's great nephew, Brandon, was a good safety net at OT. And I thought Poona would make us stouter against the run. I might have been wrong.

It's a low cost for a QB who's ceiling is unknown. This kid has started so few games in his football career since high school that it's easy to imagine that he hasn't reached his full potential yet.

I hate when Miami wins trades, especially when they are this lopsided.

Morse isn't great but I wouldn't make a weak OL even weaker by cutting one of the expected starters.

I don't think we were a 13-3 team last year. Contrary to the opinion of some others, I think McD performed well to attain that record. I think the cumulative impact of injuries and detrimental events would have resulted in fewer regular season wins if we had an average HC. But to predict the Bills falling to 9-8 is a bit much, even given our tougher schedule and roster holes.