Happy

I don't see any way around having a spy dedicated to Jackson, whether just Edmunds or also a nickel DB. One thing Lamar does very well is sell the fake to Ingram, halts a second, and keeps it. SF has been struggling with the fake handoff thus far.

That's silly. Lamar isn't quite that good a passer.

They're good, but not good enough to completely take away our running or passing game.

Ravens D is good, but not insurmountable.

Take a big lead over the Ravens, which will be done by taking away their run game and neutralizing Lamar's rushing. Easier said than done.

I think the lack of prime time games is because nobody in general really cares about Buffalo. We've been bad to mediocre for 20 years, with most of that time having a coach with no future in the NFL (Rex had past recognition and was a blow hard), as well as a QB with no real future in the NFL. Things are starting to change now and i think next year we get multiple prime time games.

Look at the past three weeks games against Miami, Denver, and Dallas. Compare those to the Cleveland, Philly, and Cincy games; night and day difference in his approach both on offense and defense. The Jauron-esque comment was largely directed toward the defense, though also on offense with his approach to JA being a game manager (don't make mistakes) to allowing Josh to be a more attacking type QB (which he naturally is.) Jauron also ran a very vanilla d-line scheme with not much stunting or blitzing; McD largely followed suit that past two years. McD has adopted a more aggressive defense the past few weeks, something he was reluctant to do in the past, where he tended to rely largely on coverage (which is what Jauron did.) So, I think that is a significant change in philosophy. This should be noticeable. I do hope McD stops with his prevent D when he gets a 10-14 point lead, as well as his run, run, run, punt go-in-a-shell offensive tendency; this only invites the opponent back in the game. I don't think Jauron and McD are the same person, just that they have a tendency to be very conservative/cautious. I do think McD is a much better coach and prepares his team in a manner Jauron did not do. Maybe McD is still learning how to be a successful NFL coach and working through growing pains like a rookie player would.

I doubt it is fixed or influenced by certain teams or owners, as much as we like to pile on about Bob Kraft's checks clearing. This topic was mentioned a while back, where a poster(s) commented that the calls NE and Brady gets is similar to what the Bulls and Michael Jordan got back in the day. Jordan would travel and it would never get called. I just suspect that the NFL thinks that the Patriots and Tom Brady are good for the game, so they get favorable calls. It would also help if the game wasn't so technical, where every play could have a foul called. Let these guys play football more and officiate less. Games should not be decided by officials. Do away with that and many of the conspiracy theories go away.

I think beating the Pats and/or Ravens will change the narrative for the more rational talking heads. The ones for whom it doesn't, well they probably have some odd vendetta against the Bills or they think this is still the 2009 Bills team.

Why is the prevent D smart? I honestly cannot see how that is. You also eluded to taking your foot off the gas on offense (run, run, run, punt). If you play a conservative offense halfway through the 4th, as well as a prevent D, you're inviting the opponent back in the game. Super Bowl winning coaches tend not to do that.

I agree that HC's go through rookie learning curves and that is what we've seen from McD the past two years. Hopefully he's coming around. The late TD by Dallas may have been of no consequence, but do you see Belichick, Carroll, Payton, or Harbaugh doing the same? Not usually, and they're not afraid to blow out another team. This is the type of mindset that I would like to see McD acquire.

The Bills have to win out and the Pats have to drop an additional game besides losing to us. Not a likely scenario.

This is probably the biggest, and best change. McD has largely ditched the Jauron-esque play not to lose method of coaching. He still has to get rid of the prevent defense tendencies, but one step at a time I suppose.

You don't want, or need, these diva-headcases at WR1 (or their counterpart at CB); they are a waste of roster spot, money, and rip apart any semblances of team cohesion that may exist. I wouldn't guarantee that the Bills would be in the same spot had that freak joined our team. Glad he's doing nothing right now and looks like the lunatic that he is.

I'll bet you both respect the hell out of the Bills.

I'm interested in the Ravens game coming up in 10 days. That can be a huge follow up statement.

It was an angry run because he fumbled the snap and wasn't about to surrender a loss on the play

McD and Frazier changed something about the D-line after the loss to Cleveland. McD changed the attitude of pretty much the whole team and coaches after that loss.

Entertaining. Stephen is drunk

Win our games, including beating NE. We're starting to peak at the right time which is encouraging.

I can't believe all the effective blitzes and am still shaking...

Believe it or not, Jerruh still isn't as bad as Dan Snyder

So now you're talking the Bills up, Bill Cowher

Absolutely. The past two weeks have been awesome - coaching and execution.

Should scrap it, anyway. Just prevents you from winning.