2003Contenders

Lawson was great at setting the edge and solid in run support when he was here. Would not be a bad idea to bring him in.

Another team that does not get a lot of recognition is the 1991 Redskins. The great players from our 90's Super Bowl teams say that this was the one team that the Bills lost to in the Super Bowl that was simply better than them: 1. Stout defense with some great players at all levels (Mann, Green, Marshall, etc.) 2. That Hogs OL may have been the greatest of all time. I think they only gave up like 6 sacks all year long. 3. Incredible group of WRs: Monk, Sanders, Clark. 4. Mark Rypien was a journeyman QB -- but he played out of his mind that season, thanks largely to 2-3 above. 5. They finished 14-2 that year, but in the first 15 games of the season, they lost one game - a nail-biter against Dallas. They rested their starters in the final game of the season

Actually, the fact that he has been out so much the last 2 seasons (possibly from overwork in his first 2-3 seasons) could be an ironic positive. What's he played, 5 games combined in the last 2 seasons? In McCaffrey's case, I am less worried about the tread on the tires and more concerned about the nature of the injuries themselves and whether or not he has made a full recovery. Also, as a team, I would hope they would research McCaffrey's commitment to playing. He seems to be a good character guy by all accounts -- but is he the sort that will refuse to play if he is less than 100%? If he checks out medically I would be all for sniffing around to see what the price would be.

It was Aikman. When the Bills were on the clock he was openly campaigning for Rosen. I get the impression an executive got to him and told him to chill, because he eased back a little bit when then Bills took Allen over Rosen. Said he understood why the Bills did it because (in a snooty tone) "Allen was a good fit for Buffalo".

I know that it was Bill Parcells who famously said that "You are what your record says you are". That is, of course, true when it comes to seeding, etc. However, sometimes a team may be better/worse than their record would indicate. For example, the Jacksonville Jaguars were 14-2 and had the #1 overall seed in the AFC back in 1999 -- with both regular season losses coming to the Tennessee Titans, the only team with a winning record that they played all year. I suppose that is where strength of schedule does come into play! For the record, the Jags lost to the Titans in the playoffs as well -- in the subsequent game to the MCM. Uggg! I think our Bills are in the opposite situation. The W/L record does suggest that the team has under-performed. The Bills were favorites in all but 2 games in which they played this season. Ironically, they are 2-0 (against the Chiefs and the 2nd game against the Pats) in those 2 games in which they were underdogs. That means they have gone 8-6 in games in which they were picked to win. I would definitely have to call that "under-performing". However... They lead the league in point differential and no team is ranked as highly in total offense AND total defense. The Bills currently rank 5th in total offense and 1st in total defense -- the only team to rank in the top 5 in both categories. The key, as everyone has pointed out, is that they have come up short in all 5 games that were decided by a single score. IMHO this has nothing to do with the clutch factor, as the same team has been rather clutch the last couple of seasons heading into this year. However, many factors have been at play, including timing, officiating, health -- and plain old luck. I won't beat a dead horse about each of the losses, but in a nutshell, here is what we can say: 1. Pittsburgh. First it is a bit misleading to say that the Bills lost this game by one score (and, thus, incorrectly suggest that they are non-clutch for coming up short on a potential game winning/tying last minute drive). The Bills were down 2 scores inside of 2 minutes. Still, an extremely rare blocked punt for a TD was the difference in the game. This was the type of game that we often see in Week 1 match-ups, where nothing that happens is indicative of how the season will go. The Bills faced a healthy and highly motivated Pittsburgh team that day, that viewed the game against Buffalo as their "Super Bowl". The following week against the Raiders, the Steelers suffered a series of injuries -- and went into a tailspin afterwards. 2. Tennessee. This game could have gone either way. Two very good teams that were mostly healthy facing off under the lights on Monday night. We all remember the slip on the critical 4th down at the end of the game, but there were plenty of other things that could have happened in this game that would have landed the Bills the much-needed win. Regardless, this was the Titans at their BEST (with Henry, Julio and AJ Brown all healthy) -- and the Bills very nearly pulled it out. 3. Jacksonville. An aberration. No one will admit it, but the Bills absolutely under-estimated the Jags in this game. Yes, the offensive line was a mess -- down 2 starters. Yes, the officiating was terrible. Still, the culprit here was a lack of respect for the opposition -- and a failure by the coaching staff to adjust play calling in a game that was clearly a defensive battle. 4. Indy. Not much to say here other than everything that could go wrong did. Sometimes even the best teams have days like these. The Kelly era Bills always had a game or two like this every year (usually against KC or Pittsburgh). Sometimes you simply have to throw a game like this out because the performance and results are not indicative of anything in particular -- other than a very bad day at the office. 5. New England (Game 1). Obviously the weather was a huge factor. Much has been discussed about the Pats relentless rushing attack, but aside from a couple of critical runs, the Bills' defense held up OK -- and the Pats only scored a total of 14 points. Play calling was brutal here -- as this may have been Daboll's worst job as OC. Failure to better utilize Josh's legs, especially down around the goal line, was inexplicable. 6. Tampa Bay. It is true that the officials absolutely determined the outcome of the game. However, awful play (especially by the offense) in the first half put the team in a bind that they very nearly dug themselves out of. The Bills faced a Bucs team with both Mike Evans and C. Godwin, who have been limited/out since then. The Bucs then were subsequently shut out by the Saints and very nearly beaten by the Jets. The good news here is that in the 2nd half of the game, maybe the coaching staff finally figured out the recipe for success on offense. A new season is now afoot. A win over the Jets this week earns the division and provides the Bills with home field at least for week one of the playoffs. After that anything is possible. Even if they have to play on the road afterwards, the Bills have shown that they can manhandle the Chiefs, and they came so very close to also beating the Titans on the road as well.

The situations for all three teams are very different. There is nothing special about Mayfield -- and the Browns made the blunder in the 2018 draft of selecting him #1 overall because he was the most NFL-ready QB in that class. They were right about his relative polish entering the league -- but how much better is he now than he was as a rookie 4 years later? Given his propensity for INTs, I am not sure that I would even argue that he is a true game manager (in the Alex Smith fashion). Truthfully, with the supporting cast that team has, the Browns could make do with a solid signal caller who does not make killer mistakes and thrives in a play-action offense (think someone like Tannehill). All of which is to say, if I were them, I would not be opposed to looking elsewhere for a QB -- and a solid guy that doesn't break the bank would not be the end of the world given their situation. Jackson is a true and rare talent that fits the offense that the Ravens have in place for him. He has been a winner, a league MVP, and he truly is a QB that every opposing DC must contend with. That said, his talents are so unique that he has to be in the right offense/system to thrive. I do not necessarily see that as a detriment with him and the Ravens because the Ravens definitely have built their team specifically for him. When it is all said and done, both sides will likely realize that it is in everyone's best interest to reach an agreement -- and he will wind up with top 5 (probably top 3) QB money. Josh is a generational talent, whose high-level broad skills make him uniquely diverse. That is, you could literally put him on any team with any system in place -- and he would thrive. The front office was very smart to work out a fair and long-term deal with him when they did.

The defense forcing the 3-and-out after the 3rd interception at the start of the 2nd half was huge! It snapped the team out of the funk they had been in since the middle of the 2nd quarter. The offense moved the ball at will after that -- and the defense gave up 0 points.

I suppose we as Bills fans should be thankful for fool-hardy metrics like the QBR that allowed some "scouts" to over-evaluate NFL prospects using numerical analysis rather than the good old fashioned eyeball test. Remember that the 2018 draft was a battle between the analytics crowd who favored Baker Mayfield versus the physical scouting crowd that favored Josh Allen. Let's all be thankful that the analytics goons in Cleveland and NY preferred Mayfield and Darnold over the infinitely more talented Josh Allen!

Was that on the Pats final possession you are talking about? if so, it was a Bills player (Milano) that was hurt and the Bills were out of timeouts, so by rule there is a clock run off.

Certainly can't blame the refs for what happened last night. That said, Josh is still not getting those off sides calls. There was a blatant one late in the game. That's like the 5th one that hasn't been called this year -- all at critical times. Regardless, he needs to stop assuming those are "free plays" unless he sees the flag.

1. First, throw out the game film from last week's loss. While the game certainly demonstrated areas where the team needs to improve, it was also an abomination that always seems to happen to the team once a year, where EVERY aspect of the team from coaching, offense, defense, and special teams is abysmal. Let's not dwell on it and "over-correct" things that are not truly broken. 2. With the struggles of the OL and the tendency of teams to take away the deep shot via cover-2, etc. the game plan absolutely must be for the ball to come out of Josh's hand faster. He and Dabs should take a page out of the Bucs' playbook on Monday night when Brady was getting rid of the ball < 2 seconds. If the ball comes out of Josh's hand quickly, it will also help with YAC for Beasley, Diggs, Sanders, Knox, the backs etc. 3. A "traditional" running game may not be in the cards for the Bills, but there is still much that they can do with the personnel that they have. Especially with Josh's great ball handling skills. Sweeps, reverses, fake reverses, QB draws, etc. to go along with the typical RB rushes. The team did much of this against the Jets with a great deal of success. 4. Going back to #1 above, I don't want to beat up on Frazier and the defense too much. Defense needs to be smarter about figuring out when to drop into coverage and when to crowd the line of scrimmage. That doesn't necessarily mean switching up personnel all the time. 5. Cut down on penalties. Those were a huge detriment in each of the last 2 losses. Not sure how to best resolve this, other than to hold offending players accountable in practice. 6. Get back to the "us against the world" mindset rather than believing all of the hype. 7. Along the lines of #6 above, gather a true sense of physical and mental toughness. In 2020 and even more so in 2019, the team did a great job overcoming deficits and pulling out victories in tight games against tough teams. That hasn't happened this year. When they get down in games, it seems like they panic and lose confidence. Coaches throw around the term "bully" rather easily it seems, but my definition of a "bully" is not one with a positive connotation. To me a bully is someone who beats up on someone that he feels confident he can handle -- but wilts when someone stands up to him. In that respect, I do believe that these Bills may have an air of being a bully, as they do dominate the bottom feeders -- but have struggled against tougher competition (Steelers and Colts) as well as a team that didn't back down (Jags). It's time that they become a team that is confident and tough -- willing to take on all comers and not crumble at the first appearance of adversity!

The problem also is that Josh is not getting the "Aaron Rodgers treatment" from the officials. That is, game in and game out, Rodgers makes a number of big plays by drawing the defense off-sides with a hard-count and then rolling the dice with a high risk/high reward "free" play. Note that there have been at least 4 plays in recent weeks that I can think of where Josh clearly caught the defense off-sides, yet no flag was thrown. The first INT against the Colts was such a play -- and you have to wonder if maybe Josh forced that ball believing it was a "free" play.

Jauron clearly was not the answer and needed to go -- but I do not believe he was nearly as bad as everyone remembers. Recall that he took over a team that was devoid of talent in 2006 with JP Losman as his starting QB for all 16 games -- and STILL found a way to get the team to 7-9. The following year, I believe that the Bills set a franchise record for the most players on IR -- and he managed again with the revolving door of Losman and rookie Trent Edwards at QB to get the team to 7-9. We can all look back at the foolhardiness of the 2008 extension -- but after two seasons of overachieving followed by a hot 5-1 start in 2008, the extension made relative sense at the time. I would say that Jauron was a good coach for a bad football team. That is, his overly conservative coaching style minimized risks and hid an overabundance of warts -- and kept the team close in games they had no business winning. The problem, of course, was that he simply was not good enough to ever take the team to the next level and allowed Bill B. to bend him over time after time. He also was stubborn about his schemes and slow to make changes when they needed to be made. One thing to remember is that the week after Jauran was fired and Perry Fewell took over, it was Fewell who benched Marshawn in favor of Fred and Trent in favor of Fitz. Those were moves that were a long time coming that Jauron had failed to make.

Not sure if the OP is mentally challenged or just being a troll. Regardless, I will take the bait. The win proves many things: 1. The importance of rookie OT Spencer Brown. He missed the Jacksonville game, which caused Williams (who is much better at RG this year than RT) to move outside and Ford (who should not be on the football field, period) to play RG. Both Brown and Williams were back in their desired spots and played quite well against the Jets, whose DL is not bad. Without pressure in his face, Josh was much more effective this week than he was against Jacksonville when the protections broke down quite often. 2. The importance of TE Dawson Knox. Knox did not have a stellar game by any stretch of the imagination in terms of stats. However, he was quite effective as a blocker, and his presence in the passing game forced the Jets defense to account for him. That, of course, meant more room underneath for the RBs. He was out against the Jags -- and their defense was not worried in the slightest about Sweeney. 3. The importance of presenting the threat of a running game -- even if the running game itself is not especially effective. In Jacksonville the Bills really didn't even try to run the ball. Against the Jets they stayed committed to it. Eventually the rushing attack proved to be successful with four different players recording a rushing TD. It also opened things up for play action passing, where Josh was lethal. 4. The importance of Matt Breida. Maybe there is enough room on the game-day roster to ensure that MB remains active. He brought an added dimension that neither Moss nor Singletary possess. 5. The importance of ball security. Against the Jags the Bills lost the turnover battle 3-1. Against the Jets, they won it 5-2. 6. The importance of receivers catching the ball when it hits them in the hands. Beasley and Davis had critical drops in the Jacksonville game. Both caught pretty much every catchable pass against the Jets. Davis, in fact, made a couple of sensational receptions against the Jets. 7. The importance of a smart game plan -- and proper overall execution. Kudos to the coordinators for putting together much better game plans against the Jets than they did the week before against the Jags. In fairness, LF did fine against the Jags, as his defense held them to just 9 points despite the turnovers and overall lack of success of the offense. BD made much better adjustments this week than he did against the Jags and was smart to stay patient with the running game. 8. The reality that all NFL teams -- even the worst -- still have uber talent. That's why anything can happen on any given Sunday. These same Jets also beat the Bengals and Titans. The Bucs just lost to the WFT. A week ago we lost to the Jags. It happens. So, yes, the victory over the Jets proves MANY things.

Just saw on ESPN that Josh owns 3 of the top 5 air yard passes this week. All 3 of them over 40 yards.

If there is the one thing I do not WANT to see happen, it is an overreaction to what happened Sunday -- and a sudden emphasis on trying to force something that just does not equate well to our personnel, etc. Not to revisit past news, but the Jacksonville game was an imperfect storm of inter-related activities: 1. The Jags defense played out of their collective minds. They compiled more sacks and turnovers than they had collectively collected in their first 7 games combined. 2. The Bills coaches and players will not admit this, but they did not respect the Jags enough going into the game -- and (worse) they failed to respect them during the game. By halftime, it should have been obvious that the flow of the game was such that it was going to be a low-scoring, defensive battle. Points and sure first downs were going to be at a premium. Yet, too many times when in or close to field goal range, the team took foolish risks that cost them. Bass is a definite strength of the team -- and if the coaches had made better use of him, maybe they would have come away with a 12-9 or 15-9 victory (or something like that) -- and the talk of teh game would have been the hapless Jags missing multiple field goals on a single drive. 3. Key injuries to underrated players -- especially Brown and Knox. I don't think that there is any question that the offense has struggled without these two. 4. Poor OL play. (See #3 above) 5. Josh trying on some occasions to wait on a big play rather than settling for an effective check-down. (See #2 above) 6. Untimely drops by Sweeney, Davis and Beasley. I agree that a running came would help take some pressure off Josh. I also agree that when Dabol has tried it, he's been half-hearted about it -- especially in the last 3 games. Even this year, the rushing attack has been effective at times -- most notably in closing out the victory over the Chiefs. It may be worth being a bit more patient and consistent with it -- but I also do not want to fall into a series of 3-and-outs because the running game is not working. Also, I find it worth noting the team's overall lack of success on 4th down conversions this season. The obvious one was the failed QB sneak at the end of the Tennessee game. However, there were multiple ones in the Pittsburgh game and the Jacksonville game as well. Meanwhile opponents converted on key 4th down plays against us in all 3 of those contests. More success there on both sides of the ball and the Bills are 8-0.

The biggest problem is the OL. When a team can get pressure by only rushing 4, it allows the other 7 to occupy coverage. With no threat of a running game, teams will continue to do this. For those complaining about Josh holding the ball too long, notice that his average completion was well short of 10 yards. So they were going with plenty of dump-offs. The problem is that the Jaguars did a good job swarming to the ball and preventing YAC. Our RBs just don't do a very good job of making tacklers miss - and Beasley seems to drop to the ground after every catch. Possibly to protect himself, given the sore ribs? An imperfect storm of bad coaching, terrible OL play, season-worst QB play (easy to understand given the circumstances -- but Josh has to at least do a better job not turning over the football), and frankly an inspired performance from the opponent. On that last note, while the Jags are certainly terrible (a better team with a competent offense would have blown the Bills out yesterday), they played about as well as they are capable of playing. Just goes to show that every team has talent and can't be taken lightly. The Bills now represent a "strong win" for an opponent, so we will continue to get their best shot. And a team with any ounce of pride can only listen to how much they suck and are home 2-TD dogs for so long. The Jags' coaching staff won the gamesmanship battle from the outset -- as they clearly nudged the officials before the game to watch the Bills for dirty play. Then the Jags set out to instigate the dirty play, while the Bills drew the majority of the penalties. The officiating was awful, but I won't go there because the Bills don't deserve that excuse for this overall poor performance. As much as the loss pains us all, I wonder if this will be better in the long term than a last second (for example) 13-9 victory may have been. The glaring reality of the loss SHOULD invoke immediate changes. I am not sure what else can be done at this point to fix the biggest problem (Offensive Line) -- but I hope that we never see C. Ford on the field again. Someone also needs to sit the two high-priced tackles down and say WTF? From the first game of the season both Dawkins and Williams have under-performed. Maybe getting Brown back at RT will help.

I suspect that the personnel for the Tennessee game was very game-plan specific. They were worried about Henry breaking loose and Tannehill running around -- so they employed a defense that had less to do with getting pressure on the QB and more to do with stopping the run. Sadly, the net result was that Tanney had all day long to survey the field, was patient, minimized mistakes, and found mid-range receivers. With little threat of a running game from Miami, I believe that the game plan defensively this week will revert back to what we saw pre-Tennessee, which probably means an active AJ. The key will be to beware of the screen game, which Miami can run well with Tua, Gaskin and Gesicki.

Yes, OP, I am sorry for the loss of your father. And as others have also posted similar losses, know that I grieve with you as well. I lost my beloved wife earlier this year, back in March. They say that time is the magical healer -- and that is true. It still hurts everyday, but my son and I are in a much better place than we were 7 months ago. When we married almost 20 years ago, she was a Washington fan. She converted to becoming a Bills fan for me -- and mostly had to endure all those hard times during the 17-year drought. She actually grew to love the Bills -- and was especially fond of Josh Allen. Her birthday is coming up this week, and I would like to think that the big game on Sunday night against KC was in honor of her. 🙂

So he gave Dawkins the best overall grade? IIRC Dion was beaten badly on a couple of rushes in the 1st quarter.

I would pass. He was not very good last year -- and this year was relegated to backup duty. Honestly, I like what we have (even behind Edmunds and Milano) better.

I saw the piece. It was Steve Young who chimed in a few minutes later about Josh Allen -- and he clarified that he would place Allen in a different category than Herbert or Mahomes because both of them were outstanding right away, whereas everyone knew that Allen came into the league so raw. Young said Josh has grown by leaps and bounds and that he will continue to do so -- essentially said that he has a limitless ceiling.

Wasn't it Bill Parcells who said "You are what your record says you are" when it comes to rankings. From that perspective, I would say that Arizona should be #1. I could make a case for the Bills being #2 though. They are the only team in the NFL that ranks in the top 10 in both offense as well as defense (#1 on defense). Figuring out the strength of schedule is a bit tricky -- but the Bills do have wins over three teams who have a combined 4 wins among them.

I am hopeful that the hammy was just a minor ding that the trainers and coaching staff felt was worthy of sitting Milano only because of the quality of opponent we were facing in Houston on Sunday. If, God forbid, Milano is unable to go against the Chiefs on Sunday, I will say that I do feel better than I did last year when Milano was sidelined and Klein was pushed into regular duty. I think the coaching staff figured out during the course of last season what Klein's real strengths/weaknesses were and developed strategies to best utilize him.

This is exactly on point. I would also add that Josh's skill set is transferable, meaning that he could be the starting QB on literally any team running any offense. Lamar's skill set requires a more specialized offensive system tailored for him.