hondo in seattle

I barely knew who Sherfield was when we signed him. So I read some articles and watched some highlights and came away impressed. Last year a healthy Sherfield might have been better than a gimpy Gabe. But this season? Unless Sherfield wins the slot position, I don't see how he starts. And even if McD and Dorsey award him the slot position, he'd still be sharing reps there with Shakir, Harty and Kincaid. It's hard to see Sherfield playing a major role this year if we stay healthy. But if someone ahead of him gets hurt, we'll be really glad we have him. Otherwise, he's going to have trouble competing for targets with folks we're more invested in. As SWR mentions, if Sherfield continues to do well, he could be a cheaper-than-Gabe WR#2 option in 2024. Though Beene and McD both seem to love Davis.

Motor had some talent, for sure. But neither his vision, elusiveness, nor power were elite. I personally think his 4.7 YPC was primarily a result of the Bills system. Defenses knew the Bills are a passing offense. OCs schemed for Josh. Opposing DE's set their sights on Josh. LBs took a backward step first, expecting pass. The D was probably aligned in a pass defense of some kind, nickel or dime. And they were only worried about one thing: stopping Allen. Not only was Josh's arm a threat, but so were his legs. In fact, Josh was the only running threat opponents took seriously when Motor was here. Motor was an afterthought. We were never going to win a game on the strength of his running, so defenses didn't prioritize him. I liked Motor for his eponymous motor. But I guess you can count me as one of the people who didn't give him enough credit. I hope Motor does well, post-Buffalo, but we'll see. Here in Buffalo, I think the backfield is better this year than last - though I'm bummed Nyheim got hurt.

I have the same concern. But I remind myself that we drafted a man-coverage CB for a zone defense. There's bound to be a learning curve.

My favorite Bills coach of all time. So far.

If you had asked me at the beginning of last season to write up my scouting report of Doyle, it would have consisted of one word: "Sucks." But the Miami game changed everything for me. Not that he played well; he didn't. But that he played at all with a torn ACL was impressive - what a teammate. Now my one-word scouting report is: "Warrior." I'm rooting for him!

As a fan, it's hard to evaluate coordinators because we often don't know how much they're running their own show and how much they're just carrying out the directives of the HC. Based on what I've read from players and coaches, I think Hacket is a smart football guy. He knows schemes and x's and o's. He failed in Buffalo partly due to a lack of roster talent, partly due to his own inexperience at that time, and partly because Marrone was running the offense, not Hacket. The idea Hacket continues to get jobs because of nepotism is silly. From what I've read, he's learned and grown since his time in Buffalo. I just can't imagine that Saleh hired Hacket as his OC because he liked Hacket's dad (did he even know dad?). Saleh is an intelligent coach who'd committed to winning and clearly thinks Hacket brings something to the table. And Saleh would know Hacket's attributes more than any of us. But I have read that Hacket is not very authoritative. This works for Rodgers who wants a say in the offense. It didn't work in Denver where the team needed a stronger hand. I was fascinated by Payton's blunt assessment. You usually don't hear coaches speak so frankly about other coaches. But it bothered me too. I believe in human courtesy and kindness - both of which were lacking in Payton's commentary. But there could be a plus side to Buffalo. Obviously, credibility is important in a coordinator. Payton, with his ring, is a respected voice around the league and the Jets players are certainly aware of his remarks. If the offense sputters, there will be some muttering, "Payton was right." Doubt and discontent often lead to disunity and poor execution.

40 interceptions ties him for 78th all-time. I wish I was top 100 all-time at something. But it's probably not good enough to ever get Butch into the Hall. Then again, Roger Wehrli, also finished his career with 40 picks and he was able to earn a spot in Canton.

I agree with you nearly 100%. But I think we have to acknowledge a lot of uncertainty. Will Josh's UCL become a recurring problem? Will Dorsey actually get better? Will McD trying to wear two hats (HC & DC) at once prove to be a mistake? Will our banged-up, aging DBs return to peak form? How much of an impact will Kincaid have in his rookie year? Can Von stay healthy? If so, at what level of productivity? How good will Shakir, Harty, and Sherfield be? The OL seems improved but can it rise all the way to the level of averageness? Will MLB end up being the exploitable Achilles heel of this defense? Who's going to get hurt? (Note: I've been a Bills fan for 40+ years so I've been trained to worry).

Weird, because last season I did NOT think we were set with Diggs, Davis, and Crowder. When you're a passing team and 2 of the 3 starting wideouts are new, you have to have some worries and I did. I was also worried about our depth at wideout. I know some, like me, didn't expect much from Cook as a receiving threat because we expected Motor to be the in backfield most of the time. This year, I'm worried again but perhaps not as much. I don't know if the starting three are any better, but I think maybe so. I think Gabe's ankle was a true issue last year and he'll be somewhat better. And I think whoever plays in the slot will probably be an upgrade over McKenzie. Where I feel best about things is the depth at WR. I think the backups this year will be much better than last year. I like Sherfield and Harty and believe Shakir will be better in his sophomore campaign. And then there's Kincaid who's not a WR but will presumably play in the slot sometimes. Whatever you call him, he's another weapon for Dorsey's passing attack. But Diggs is the only star receiver and the only ball-catcher who's truly proven himself in this offense. So, yet again, I worry. 50 years of Bills fandom have taught me that worrying is always appropriate.

Bills stuff shows up in my news feed. But mostly I get updates here. I don't need to know the minute something happens. Usually, I find out in an hour or so and that's good enough. In fact, finding out the same day is good enough for me.

What was Bill Walsh's record without Young and Montana? What was Paul Brown's record without Otto Graham or Jim Brown? Joe Gibbs won three Super Bowls during his first stint with the Redskins. He finished with a losing record in his second stint. Vince Lombardi didn't light the world on fire when he left Green Bay. Coaches are important. But they aren't genetic scientists. They can't edit genomes. A coach can get a team to perform at their best - but that still might not be good enough.

Sadly, I don't know if this is a good sign or not. She has aphasia. They can easily load her up into the car and take her to camp, aphasia or not. Maybe she's doing well physically. I don't know. But just because she's at camp doesn't mean she's doing well cognitively. Though I'm praying for the best.

As others have pointed out, some of the very best offenses have two elite receiving threats. Back in the Bills Super Bowl era, we did as well. Not now. Today, we have a solid group of wideouts but only one is a star. Dorsey has enough horsepower to make this go but, ideally, there'd be a 1B in the mix and there isn't. Unless Gabe's ankle was truly a significant problem last year and he reaches new heights this season. And since that's our only affordable hope for a 1B, that's what we gotta run with this year. My fingers are crossed. But I'm going to commit heresy here: Maybe Von Miller was a mistake. I love the man, but we dropped a lot of loose change for an aging DE. You have to consider the opportunity cost. Maybe if we hadn't signed Von, we'd have been able to sign a 1B WR and build up our offensive line.

I hope BB is out. He's an above-average coach and his replacement will likely be less adept. But I don't see Kraft firing a guy who's given him 6 Lombardis.

If you watched the interview with Gabe, he made it clear that he wasn't 100% last season. He said his ankle messed with him both physically and mentally. I think there's reason to hope & believe he'll be better this year. And if you watched the interviews with Beane and McD, their support for Gabe sounds genuine. I seriously doubt Gabe is being traded. I'm glad Harty and Sherfield have flashed in camp. The Bills are a passing offense that uses a lot of 3 WR formations. And with injuries being a fact of NFL life, the Bills team needs the depth that those two provide. It's even possible one of them starts in the slot. But neither Harty nor Sherfield has demonstrated that they can be a good #2 and that's what we need. And Isabella - with his 5'9'' stature and 33 career receptions - certainly doesn't make Davis expendable. Isabella is a small, speedy guy and we already have one of those. I think there's a role for Harty on the team. And if Harty gets hurt, maybe Isabella is someone we'll sign off someone's practice squad to replace him.

We'll only run 2TE sets if Kincaid and Knox are both healthy. We'll run 21 (except in short-yardage situations) almost exclusively if either Kincaid or Know is hurt. I expect we'll keep 3 TEs.

Are they actually d***ing him around on the contract? I personally don't know what's going on with his contract. Beane hasn't said anything publicly and I don't know how much I trust Florio's sources. But, I have to ask, why should the Bills pay Nyheim for not playing? Nobody pays me when I don't work. I'm not sure why he should get paid. Just asking.

It's kind of weird. The Bills have been a high-profile team since McD and Josh came to town. And yet Milano - despite his superior play being pointed out by announcers - hasn't seemed to have gotten the respect nationally that he deserved. Good to see that changing.

To clarify, the Bills played in the 1948 AAFL Championship game, not 1949. (Though we lost again to the Browns in the first round of the playoffs in 1949). We had a decent team in 1948. Halfback Chet Murtryn totaled 1,617 yards from scrimmage that year and tied for the league lead in scoring with 10 TDs. But the Browns overwhelmed us in the title game, holding Murtryn to 8 yards. Our QB in 1948, George Ratterman, was also pretty good. He threw for 22 TDs the previous season - establishing a rookie pro football record that lasted for more than 50 years. In 1956, Ratterman played for the Browns and became the first QB in pro history to have a radio receiver in his helmet to receive play calls from the coach.

It's all moot if we win a Lombardi. Which I think we will eventually with our HC-QB combo. And if I'm wrong... well, life goes on in a grayer, less-cheerful kind of way. In either scenario, Cowherd's words don't matter.

It's just due diligence. Beane and his staff continue to scout players by bringing them in for tryouts. The more Beane does that now, the more he knows who to sign when we have injuries later in the season. Particularly, in this case, if Harty gets hurt.

Interesting point about Reid being better than Belichick. And maybe he is. But I think about this. In their glory days, Brees, P. Manning, Rodgers, and others were producing the same statistical excellence as Brady. But how many Super Bowls did those Head Coaches win? Not as many as BB.

I take a lot of talk about the Bills' tough schedule with a grain of salt. I joined the Bills Mafia back when Jack Kemp was still the signal caller. And over the years, I've heard a lot of preseason chatter about the comparative difficulty of the schedule. And many/most preseason prognostications end up wrong because there are always some opponents that are far better than expected and others that are worse. Having said that I do think the AFCE will be tough this year. With Rodgers, how can the Jets not be better? And the Fins gave us some tough fights last year and will likely present some problems again this season. And the Pats don't have a loaded roster, but they still have Belichick. I think 3 of 4 teams finish with winning records. And the Bills get another AFCE crown in a closer race than last year's.

Similar. My mom used to take me grocery shopping sometimes. Like the Bills, we were on a tight budget, so she'd buy the cheapest meats, cereals, etc. But she'd tell me she was buying the best stuff and I believed her.

Interesting trend, Chaos, but I'm not sure what the take-away is. So if I'm a GM or HC and I take this idea of offense-wins-Lombardis to heart, then I'm going to build a really good defense to stop my opponents' offense from beating us. Paradoxically, if offenses win, then you have to build a defense to counter a team with an offense. So defenses win. No offense plays in a vacuum. It's always an Offense vs Defense struggle. Ignoring ST for a moment... If our O is better than their D, and our D is better than their O, we win. O and D are equally balanced.