Mango

Just playing around with the NYT, this one is an uphill climb. Watson and Burrow being out are super helpful. CJ Strouds ascension sucks. But going through the ESPN machine it looks like with a win against the Eagles we would officially have a wild card spot. At least for the week.

I 100% agree here. It feels like we sleep walk through games when we’re hyped. Even when we win. Sometimes it feels like we struggle to flip the switch come the playoffs. Sort of reminds me of the 2007 Sabres who won the Presidents Trophy. This season I was sorta hoping for us to play quality balanced football, maybe come in as the 3-4 seed, but come in as we start to get hot. Similar to Eli’s Giants or Brady’s Bucs. That said, I didn’t want it to look like this.

So I actually thought different. I’ve seen this play before in the A22 and we just haven’t thrown the ball the the wheel route much. This wasn’t a new addition. It was just taking the throw that was there. I don’t mean to take away from Brady. Getting players to execute is part of the job. But this isn’t a new wrinkle.

I wouldn’t say I’m rooting for injury. And definitely not a dirty play. But if these two teams kick the shirt out of each other tonight it wouldn’t be the worst thing for the Bills.

Also, it was more or less universally accepted that the Jets game was a bad day at the office for the QB. He was toasted in almost every A22 review and Dorsey was given a lot of credit for calling a very good game. I think Saleh was pretty insightful yesterday, they were basically waiting for Josh to self destruct. He didn’t, he had a great game. That said, getting Josh to do that is also part of the job of OC. So credit to Brady for sure. But like you, I am slow to call this “a new offense”. EDIT: Hoping for Joe Brady to be the truth. We need it down the stretch.

He also lead the team in targets. Diggs wasn’t invisible. He had opportunities and made nothing of them. He had a bad day at the office. It happens.

I agree with you to an extent. He had a really lazy route in the 3rd, I got pretty frustrated by it. But at the same time he was the most targeted receiver on the roster. One thing to note for Diggs, he had Surtain and Sauce back to back. That’s not a get out of jail free card. He actually disappeared against top flight coverage. That’s a fairly new occurrence for him. I am a big spread the ball around guy who thinks 10-12 targets per game is enough. Not that it’s a pitch count. But the more you spread the ball out the more I think Diggs will actually feast long term.

I tend to agree here. A lot of people going off on Saleh for his hero ball comment. I get it. Wasn’t great wording. I think they came in with the same exact game plan and waited for this offense to self destruct. To Joe Brady’s credit it didn’t happen. Part of a coaches job is getting players to execute as much as it is a players job to actually get it done as well. But I vividly remember how rock hard I was after the Dolphins and Raiders games too. Good game this week. I won’t spend much time complaining about what coulda been bad. I’ll take this one. I don’t disagree. He has had one good game here. But if this board wants a young OC to take over there is a path for it in house. But you would have to give him at least one full year as OC first.

It starts with “has McD lost the locker room”. If the answer is no, he is probably still here one more year. If the answer is yes, he has to go. There isn’t another choice. I do think the responsible way to move on from McD is to hold on to him one more year maybe two. We have a million UFA’s next year, and no cap. Load up on offense in the draft. Cut some aging contracts for 2024. This team won’t be great next season. Set the next guy up for success with a clean slate rather than come in year one with the team taking a step back. At that point, if Brady is the truth like some people think, barring somebody like McVay getting fired, you hand the reigns over and maybe even make a guy like Babich the DC. To me this is the kind of move that keeps the train on the tracks at full speed.

I know I sound crazy, but I don’t get the Eagles hype. Let me rephrase that, the Eagles are a very good team, I don’t get the Jalen Hurts hype. I think his roster and his max squat carry that team.

A lot better flow to tonight’s game. I think more than any actual X’s and O’s, that’s something we’ve struggled with the last 4-6 weeks. Hopefully he can keep it up.

I think Dawkins legit thought he drew an unsportsmanlike with his flop and then ran a victory lap. I was curious in real time if Dawkins did draw the penalty and then when he took that victory lap the refs were like …. Actually, eat a *****.

I would give that crown to Jordan Philips. He’s always chirping. He also seems to always be knocking somebody down after the whistle. I think the refs made a point to tell Dawkins to STFU tonight after that flop and and dumb celebration like he drew a call. He was called for holding just a play or two later.

Not including tonight Shakir has gotten 40+ the last three weeks and 25+ the two weeks before. He should be starting in the slot.

For whatever reason people have started to use WR3 as the starter in the slot and the backup outside interchangeably. But like I said above, if believe that if we use our slot guys (Kincaid, Shakir, Cook) effectively Gabe Davis is an OK guy on the outside to stretch the field and run a lot of deep routes. I think there is talent in the group. That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t try to upgrade him. I would. I’d most definitely take somebody high in the draft.

A big part of Shakir’s upside has always been his versatility to play inside and out. Shakir should have always been in the slot, even going back to last year. He gives us a lot of wiggle room to move Diggs around as well. I think part of the problem is we keep (kept?) trying to replace Beasley with McKenzie and Harty. When we need a guy who was crisp with good hands. The more teams respect some of our slot guys like Shakir, Cook, and Kincade, the bigger games Diggs and to an extent Davis will have. When teams key in on Kincaid/Shakir underneath is when we should expect a big game from Davis. Which honestly, is perfect for him and us.

People are looking at the final catches and yards, but relative to all of our pass catchers he was the most targeted one on the team tonight. He just didn’t do much with it. It happens. I was happy with the production from the offense today. Sure you’d like some more splash from Diggs/Davis. But games like this where all sorts of guys are catching TD passes will make it easier for those guys if we can commit to throwing to anybody and everybody who is open. Diggs will ball, I’m not concerned. Great game from the offense today.

So I agree. I guess I might be being a bit pedantic. To me that falls more into the offense having a better flow to. Which I totally agree with. Where as I interpreted the OP as saying “see we ran Josh. We never run Josh”. When in reality we gave home 1-2 designed runs, which is fairly normal for us on a weekly basis.

Oh totally. You can’t have your best night every night. More of a game note and not a “Diggs sucks/is washed” comment.

Josh had a great game. Brady was able to get this team flowing. Something Dorsey couldn’t do, at least as of late. Big credit to both those guys tonight. I think this move was a good decision. But the “look what happens when you let Allen run” thing doesn’t fit here. He was 5/15 tonight. His game logs the rest of the season are 6/36 3/7 3/46 4/17 4/14 2/11 7/17 7/41 8/44 4/14 I am not trying to get into a Dorsey v Brady argument but I also think it’s important to note as well.

That hit will go down next year. I’d be shocked if he didn’t sign an extension.

My issue with him tonight was that he had 3 or 4 drops. And he ran a super lazy/slipping route in the third. I would normally not mention that route, but with the drops it wasn’t a good game for him at all.

Has anybody talked about Josh Allen and his turnovers?

The NHL has a real problem with uppers. Cocaine is rampant, maybe more so than any other league in the country. The hockey calendar is absolutely brutal. A lot of guys rely on it just to get through the season. Now it’s just sort of the new “it thing” in workouts. Right up there with everybody needing “pre work out” before their spin class or whatever. The average person who hits the gym, spin class, CrossFit 3-5 days per week sees no real benefit. That said, this whole thing is a nothing burger for Allen or the NFL.

I’m in until we’re officially out of it. The drought trained me well. I actually think the Bills have needed a come to Jesus regular season and come in hot for the playoffs. It feels like we’ve done some sleepwalking through the season the last few years. And come playoffs couldn’t fully flip the switch on. That said the offensive woes paired with defensive injuries aren’t exactly what I was hoping for. Here is to a 2007-esque Giants. Go on a run at the end of the season, steal a wild card, and win one!