2003Contenders

No denying the Pats are good. Even when they struggled the last few years, their defense was still pretty good, and we typically were 1-1 against them. Now they have found their QB and have a very solid coach, who will typically have them prepared game-in and game-out. Still, if the Bills had not played like trash against them, that would have been a Bills victory, which would have put the remainder of this season in a completely different light. Funny, all the talk heading into that game about how the Bills had not lost the turnover battle in like 2 years -- and then went on to do it in 3 of the next 5 games, all of which were losses. I guess a regression to the mean? Sadly, we've seen a lot of "regression to the mean" this year.

Well, in Pegula's defense, the Rex hire was at the urging of Russ Brandon, who was more interested in marketing than building a quality team.

The irony of all of this is that the theme behind McD's defensive scheme has always been to bend-but-don't break. That is, concede the underneath stuff -- and if a team is going to beat you, force them to be patient and methodically march the length of the field. The concept -- and in many ways it is a correct concept -- is that if an offense requires more plays to hit paydirt, then it is more prone to make a mistake somewhere along the line. So what kind of offense has McD instituted? The exact offense he wants his defense to force opponents to run! What's even worse is that he doesn't have a noodle-arm QB that he is trying to protect with such an offensive scheme, he has a generational talent at QB, blessed with one of the strongest arms ever. I get that the run game is important -- and the 12 (and even 13) personnel formations they have been running can be quite successful. But any offense needs to be truly multi-dimensional (which it CAN be in these heavy formations when utilized properly) in order to succeed. If nothing else, the offense has to be able to compete in a shootout, which it has shown on multiple occasions already this year it cannot do -- with the exception of the Week 1 game against Baltimore, which honestly may have been more of an indictment against Baltimore than anything else.

The 3rd down conversion play to Samuel was classic Josh with the Superman cape. He bought an extra 10 seconds literally running all over the field before Samuel finally broke open. You could tell after that play he was gassed -- but still doing his best to persevere. It is pretty clear that the receiving corps he has to work with sucks- and he knows it. But he just wants to win so bad. Contrast that with the "I don't care" body language that Coleman exhibits.

Not so sure about Beane. His roster management -- player acquisition and cap management -- have been really bad. Also, the meltdown on radio after the draft was embarrassing -- especially since he was clearly so WRONG. One thing no owner (including Terry) likes is being embarrassed.

It's funny... at halftime I was angry at Beane for having not been willing to cough up the 2026 1st rounder up for Waddle. Now -- especially with mounting inhuries on both sides of the ball -- it is pretty clear that this team is more than 1 WR away from making it to the Super Bowl.

The full Josh Allen experience. 😞

For as horrifically as the Bills have played, the are very fortunate to only be down by 16. Need to make proper halftime adjustments!

Bills defense looks like they are running in quicksand

Gutless effort

Someone forgot to tell Miami that their season was over. Our receivers still suck. Stop throwing the ball to Coleman! Where are Shakir and Kincaid?

No pressure whatoever on Tua

Holding!?!

The problem is that it would take a deal like the one you described as not being within reason to acquire Olave IF the Saints could be persuaded to trade him, which it sounds like they aren't.

Up: Josh: he got his mojo back! Defensive Line Rotation: Here is where everybody ate (Bosa, Epenesa, Hoecht, Groot, Walker). Such a shame about Hoecht's Achilles. Spencer Brown: Remember before the bye, he was either out or compromised in each of the 2 losses. The bye week came at a good time for him, and I think the presence of a healthy Spencer Brown makes a HUGE difference. Down: Bernard: His instincts seemed woefully off yesterday, and it seemed like every time something bad happened, he was seen on the screen! Taron Johnson: He has struggled quite a bit at times this season, and I think his absence yesterday revealed that the team just might be better off with Lewis out there. Trade prospects: It's about 24 hours now until the trading deadline. The "everyone eats" mantra was in full force yesterday with 10 different players recording a reception. Palmer should be returning soon, and Gabe Davis may be making an appearance soon too. Personally, I still love the idea of trying to make a trade for a bona fide deep threat, but is Beane going to feel the same way? Likewise, will the spectacular play of youngsters in the secondary yesterday (Hairston and Bishop, in particular) preclude them from adding reinforcements there as well?