2003Contenders

Exactly right. I honestly believe the screen to Duke was the initial design, but Josh saw that the defense had sniffed it out and instead headed to his right. The Vikings were all over the screen the whole game. But up until that point in the game, Josh had NOT been struggling. In fact, he had been in a rhythm on that very drive.

Thanks for this Virgil. This is very therapeutic -- and I appreciate your not going the gloom and doom route. It really is a shame how this ended. Through 3-and-half quarters Josh played a very good game. Made some clutch plays with his arm and legs. At one point, he had like 10 straight completions. He was also careful with the ball multiple times throwing it away rather than forcing screens that the defense sniffed out. BTW, those screens need to be set up better; I think the original play-call on the ill-fated 4th down play was a screen that was also sniffed out, which led Josh to scramble to his right and force the desperation pass. Still, everyone will remember that INT (which was proceeded on the very same drive by some very clutch 3rd-and-long throws/catches), the fumble in the endzone and the INT in overtime. And none of those things had to happen. I am not sure who is to blame for so much of the questionable play-calling (especially in the 2nd half). Was it Dorsey -- or did Josh check out of plays? For all the talk about these gut wrenching plays -- the thing that I have not seen anyone talk about, which definitely was ALL on the coaching staff, was the next-to-last offensive series in regulation. Recall that after the endzone TD, the Vikings had just scored a TD -- and missed the ensuing extra point to make it a 4-point game with about 4 minutes to go. The object for the Bills' offense there should have been to go into a "4-minute offense" and try to drain the clock without ever giving the ball back to the Vikings -- or at least drain enough clock so that they get the ball back with no timeouts and minimal time left on the clock. What do the Bills do? They go into shotgun, and throw three straight passes -- two of which were low percentage plays that fell incomplete. Only about a minute came off the clock, and the play-calls and poor execution (with a drop by Diggs and a penalty mixed in) actually served to aid the Vikings!

I would be more inclined to say the issue is Dorsey + Allen. Not saying that the two do not have a GOOD relationship, but it is highly unlikely that the relationship is anything close to what Josh and Daboll had. Remember, Daboll was the OC when Josh was drafted -- and was by all accounts very hard on Josh during his formative seasons, using plenty of "tough love". The relationship with Dorsey is likely nowhere near as provocative, especially since Dorsey had Josh's seal of approval when he was hired. And Josh, now a superstar, is not in the same place he was when he came into the league with plenty of talent but also plenty of naysayers questioning his ability to develop. When Daboll would chew Josh out, the response was likely, "Yes sir". Dorsey likely does not have this same fatherly relationship with Josh.

For as sloppy as Josh was Sunday -- and, make no mistake, both interceptions were not only bad but came at the most inopportune times -- he was quite clutch on that final ill-fated drive. -- Hits Diggs on the sidelines with a laser to set up at midfield -- let down by holding call on Dawkins (which IMHO was bogus). -- Now first and 20, comes back with a 18-yard strike to make it a manageable 2nd and 2. -- Horrible non-block leads to blind-side hit and injured elbow. And a loss of 19 yards. -- On 4th down play -- and with an injured elbow -- tosses perfect 70-yard pass to Davis, which is dropped. (I also believe that Davis was interfered with on that play) With more help form teammates and less egregious officiating, the Bills likely tie the game, if not outright win with a late TD.

I hear what you are saying. But some things to consider... 1. Knox has provided value in the offense as a blocker. 2. He is playing the role that the coaches have asked -- it is not as if he has dropped numerous passes or failed to get open as the #1 option on passing routes. 3. While the numbers overall have not been eye-popping, he has come up huge with clutch catches in the two victories that went down to the wire. That would be the key long reception against Baltimore on the game winning drive -- and, of course, the TD catch against KC. 4. Right now the passing game is built around the talented WRs and dump-offs to the RBs -- and it has been quite successful. Eventually some defense (possibly the Packers on Sunday, who do actually have a strong secondary) or weather conditions, etc. are going to dictate another plan of attack. That is when I think you will see a big game from Knox.

I 100% agree with the bolded part(s). That said, it would be unwise to underestimate Rodgers. He had 6 dropped passes in that game against Washington.

Well, Oliver has clearly not been right since the Rams game. Hopefully he is now back to 100% after the bye, which should make the DL even BETTER.

The short and quick answer to the question posed by the OP: John Elway. There are very few decisions that he has made during his managerial tenure with the Broncos that have panned out.

This situation reminds me of our very own Losman/Edwards situation 13-14 years ago. Everyone with eyeballs knew that JP was never going to be "the guy", and we hoped against hope that Trent could be. Remember words like "poise" being tossed around related to Trent Edwards?

Yes -- and the Bills will be playing teams that know how good the team in Buffalo is, so they will be getting everyone's best. That will start next Sunday night against a very desperate Packers team that has their backs to the wall.

Some of this I would also attribute to the "Beasley Factor". For as sure-handed as Beasley was, he always seem to hit the ground immediately after catching the ball, which is certainly played a role in this low numbers last year versus this year.

While everyone remembers the 13-second fiasco in the playoff game, what really drove a stake into the heart of the Bills' defense was allowing Mahomes to move around in the pocket, evade rushers, scramble, and buy time for his receivers. If the front 7 can make him uncomfortable (as the Raiders did in the first half last night), I love our chances! Hopefully Von was taking notes on what Chandler Jones did in the 1st half last night.

Yes, the denials remind me of the Antonio Brown trade talks prior to the 2020 season. While that trade never materialized (thankfully), Beane and the Steelers definitely had spoken and reportedly even had agreed upon trade terms.

Not necessarily. McD loves to have fresh reinforcements along the DL -- and Ed has yet to look 100% since week 1.

Mahomes is a special player, and while he has certainly benefited from having a head coach like Andy Reid and a fine supporting cast (especially Kelce), I suspect that he would have made (almost) any team that drafted him happy. We'll never know -- and even if the Bills had not traded down, they still would not have taken Mahomes there as they reportedly were all set to draft Lattimore at #10. As it turns out, a win-win for both teams as KC wound up with an MVP and Super Bowl champ, and the Bills wound up (eventually) with both Tre and Josh Allen. Allen isn't just a pure specimen at QB, he is a larger-than-life personality that is perfect for Buffalo. Both Allen and Mahomes have the likeability factor in spades, as opposed to the "other" Josh. I know little about Rosen -- he may be the kindest dude ever -- but he just comes across as someone you want to punch in the face.

I recall many years ago Hines Ward once admitted that when he received a head injury in a game, he clutched his ankle and feigned a leg injury because he knew there was a strong likelihood that if anyone realized it was a head injury that he would be pulled from the game and maybe additional games as well. These players are warriors -- who often do not have their own physical best interests at heart. These protocols, in fact, exist to protect them from themselves. In Tua's case, in particular, he knows that Miami was wooing Brady and taking a long look at acquiring Watson -- he was also coming off a career-defining game, and desperately wanted to build off that. So, it makes sense that he would want to claim that he received an injury to his back (which may have also been the case) rather than a head injury. An independent neurologist should have observed his staggering after the shove and head bouncing off the turf -- and deemed that was evidence of potential head trauma. In that case, against whatever protests Tua may have, he should have been ruled out for the remainder of the game on Sunday for his own good. If he was able to clear concussion protocol after the game, great. But better to err on the side of caution. For their part, Miami was mortified when Teddy B. came in and looked like a fish-out-of-water against the rival Bills -- so they did not feel like asking questions when Tua claimed the injury was to his back and not his head. Someone who cares about the young man should have stepped up and insisted that he sit out. The coaches, management, training staff, and medical team for the Dolphins failed him.

Yep, with so many worries about the missing players on defense, it was Morse's absence that played the biggest role in the loss in Miami.

Vegas likes to look at team rankings. The Bills right now rank #1 in team defense and #2 in team offense. The Ravens offense is good too (#4) but their defense ranks dead last in the NFL.

If we want to blame the coaching in this game, I put it on Dorsey for 2 poor sequences: -- 2nd possession of the 1st half, from the 12-yard line run Moss on two consecutive plays for no gain, followed by the strip sack. -- Next-to-last possession in the 2nd half. 2nd and goal (about a foot to go): Allen in shotgun for 3 straight plays, beginning with RPO that loses almost 2 yards.

I remember him well. Some of his troll posts were hilarious. "Don't you guys hate how Dan Marino always kicks our ass" was one of my favorites. His claiming to have seen Thurman out in a bar smoking weed the night before a game was pretty funny too.

Given the Bills' pass rush win rate and the fact that Tua's strength is in the short-intermediate pass game, I am expecting the Dolphins' game plan to be quick passes (screens, slants, soft-zone passes to Gesicki, etc.). They will want to rely on the run game and get the ball out of Tua's hand ASAP to negate the pass rush and hope their speedy WRs can get plenty of YAC. Need a big game from Edmunds/Milano/Johnson. Also, the secondary MUST punish Hill/Waddle on those short routes and make solid tackles to minimize YAC. The DL must also be disciplined and not bite on Play Action

There was a show on a couple of years ago (around the same time as the Mini Series and the ESPN documentary) on one of the cable channels that spent a considerable amount of time investigating the popular theory that Jason Simpson committed the crime. The show more or less disproved the theory.

The Colts were locked in on Nelson. Beane had a deal in the works with both the Browns (at #4) and the Broncos -- both agreeing on the compensation (including multiple first round picks). Elway was at least up-front that he would ONLY make the deal on draft day if the player he coveted at #5 was not there. The Browns reneged on the deal (which infuriated Beane) and took the CB Denzel Ward at #4, leaving the DE (Bradley Chubb) that Elway wanted at #5. Both of those deals would have included MUCH more compensation than the two 2nd rounders that Beane gave to Tampa Bay to move up to 7. So everything really did work out for the best for the Bills.

OK, I will play along. Yes, it is true that the winning percentage of teams that turn the ball over 4 times is not very high. That said, I think it is the fact they were a bit sloppy -- and STILL managed to blow out the Rams in their own crib that has me so excited. As happy as I am about the level domination in the game -- I am even more impressed with the way they handled adversity. Let's be honest, the 1st half did not end well with the 3 turnovers and blowing a 10-point lead. In fact, beginning with the out-of-bounds kickoff, the 4th down conversion with the linemen shoving Kupp across the 1st down marker, the insane TD reception in the back of the endzone -- and ending the half with a 57 yard FG, it seemed like the Rams had acquired all of the momentum. Plus, they got the ball first in the 2nd half. McVey and his staff are good coaches, and I was worried that they would make 2nd half adjustments and that the Bills would regret all of those misfires in the 1st half that kept them from putting the game away when they had a chance. Remember, this is a team that failed to win a single close game last season. But the Bills dug deep -- and stepped up. They put what happened in the 2nq quarter behind them. They started the 2nd half on defense, forced a 3-and-out -- and then went on to score TDs on each of their next 3 possessions. That is how ELITE teams operate.

And this is why the notion that the Bills made a monumental mistake when they traded Marshawn to the Seahawks for a mere 4th round pick was revisionist. At the time of the trade he had already been in trouble for the hit-and-run, illegal possession of a firearm -- and he had a DUI hanging over his head (among hints of other off-field troubles). Plus, Fred Jackson was out-playing him at the time of the trade.