mjt328

New England's schedule reads like a the Top 10 mock draft coming up this April. Regardless of their record, almost nobody outside of Boston MA is 100% sold on the Patriots yet. When you go from worst->first, there is going to be skepticism that it's a legitimate turn-around. When you play mostly bottom-feeder teams, there is going to be skepticism that it's real. When your second-year QB has a sudden breakout season, there is going to be skepticism if he's a one-year wonder. Fair or not, all that is going to hurt Drake Maye's chances with most MVP voters. With four games left, there is definitely time for that to change. The Patriots basically have two wins against somewhat quality teams this year. A 3-point victory over the Bills, after a penalty/turnover fest. And the Bucs, who fell apart after losing Mike Evans. How they perform against the Bills this Sunday is going to feed the narrative for the team and Maye. If they walk away with another win, a lot of people are going to start believing they are really a contender. If they lose, they are going to be seen as frauds going into the playoffs. Stafford has played great this year, and is the current frontrunner. I do think many voters want to see him get it, because it's the one thing in his career that he's never won. It's like the cherry on top to seal a Hall of Fame career. But the Rams also have the Seahawks nipping at their heels. It may be tough to give that award to a second-place QB with a great playcalling coach, two stud WRs, etc.

There is a full month left in the regular season. A lot can happen in four games. But a lot of weight is put into team record when stats aren't overwhelmingly in favor of one guy. Allen won't win unless the Bills win the AFC East. Stafford won't lose unless the Rams fall out of first place. Maye is the wild card if both of those teams end in second. Both are mathematically possible. And to happen, it would like coincide with Allen have a very strong finish and Stafford falling off.

The Bills going through an October slump has pretty much become the standard. Penalties. Turnovers. Poor Run D. Even Josh reverting to bad habits. Sometimes it stretches into November. And it doesn't seem to matter who the opponent is. Then suddenly it hits Thanksgiving and the team wakes up.

Very good point. Most teams with superstar QBs are going to be carried by their superstar QB. I would also argue that Buffalo has won as many (if not more) games this season because of James Cook, than because of Josh Allen. Also, Christian Benford should get equal credit for helping the Bills win that game (crazy pick six AND shutting down Jamar Chase).

I would call this roster very flawed. Not sure it's accurate to use the term "disaster" though. Previous seasons, I was worried about facing specific teams/players in the playoffs (Chiefs, Ravens, Bengals). This year, there isn't a single team that I'm really afraid of facing. Mostly AFC, but also the NFC. We are more than capable of beating every single one, even with the huge issues we've had over the course of the season. My biggest worry this year is consistency. Can we put together 4 straight quality games against good/very good teams once the postseason rolls around? I could easily see us smacking around the #1 seed Broncos and putting up 30 on their defense, and then somehow falling apart in a rematch with the Steelers. Nobody knows what version of the Bills is actually going to show up from week to week. I'm going to be watching several things very closely over the next four games to see whether the Bills have found some answers and turned the corner... or if we are going to continue seeing the up/down roller coaster for the remainder of the year. The run defense has been solid the last 8-10 quarters... pretty much since Terrel Bernard got hurt, and was replaced with Shaq Thompson. The Run D has easily been our biggest weakness this season. So keeping it at an average level would be a huge boost going forward. The passing offense has been very uneven at times, for many reasons. Josh Allen has been in a slump, but had possibly his best game of the year yesterday. Can he keep playing at that level the rest of the year? Dalton Kincaid being back healthy helps. Joe Brady's gameplans have been much better the last two games. Can Brandin Cooks give us a respectable threat on the outside? Can the pass rush get a boost from Joey Bosa and Ed Oliver returning down the stretch?

This coaching staff just doesn’t get it. Bills fans all across the world can see to stop playing our CBs ten yards off the ball against Burrow. Have been saying it since the 2022 playoff game.

How about that top pass defense? Eye Test > Stats/Metrics/Rankings

Derrick Henry is the nightmare RB matchup for Sean McDermott's defense. Joe Burrow is the nightmare QB matchup for McDermott's defense. To have a prayer against Burrow, the corners need to play press/man coverage and the D-Line needs to get quick pressure. Our defense has historically been mostly zone with an inconsistent pass rush.

My problem with Beane is mostly with talent evaluation. His method for building a roster seems more like putting a checkmark in a box, than actually targeting specific prospects that he is confident will be successful in the NFL. On draft day, he goes in with his top 3 position needs and a plan to address them with his top 3 picks. Just following the board that he and the scout team assembled. You never hear anything about them being truly convicted that a player will be great, or them being willing to make a significant trade to target a player they covet.

Fans are frustrated, because it seems like these kinds of things always happen to us. Not because Slay or Ingram are anything special. Anquan Boldin retired a week after signing with us. Vontae Davis retired at halftime. Antonio Brown forced Pittsburgh to back out of a trade to the Bills (although we probably dodged a bullet there). Roger Goodell pushed Michael Vick to the Eagles instead of us, back when we really needed a QB. A few years ago, JD McKissic agreed to a deal with Beane... then changed his mind at the last minute and went back to the Redskins, after all the other potential RB signings had already found homes. This forced us to use a draft pick on a running back (fortunately it worked out and we picked James Cook). This offseason, two of our top free agents (Michael Hoecht and Larry Ogunjobi) were signed to fill holes on the D-Line. And right after the ink was dry, the NFL suddenly announces that both would miss the first quarter of the season with drug suspensions. Why couldn't they have announced it before free agency, so teams had a heads-up? If Beane had been the one tampering, the Bills would have lost a draft pick. Because it's the Eagles, nothing will happen.

I've stated that I'm ready to move-on from Brandon Beane. But I'm not going to blame him for things that are out of his control. As revealed by many sources, it's against NFL rules for him to contact Slay or his agent before putting through the waiver wire claim. He had no way to know Slay would rather retire than play for an 8-4 perennial Super Bowl contender... outside of tampering and taking the risk of getting caught/punished by the league. We did things by the book, and end up losing a player (Ingram) for following the correct procedure. Meanwhile, (based on the information that has come out) the Eagles likely did tamper with Slay. They will never get officially caught or punished, and will almost certainly end up with him on their roster before the year's end anyway.

Dalton Kincaid somehow gets a mysterious knee injury while standing on the sidelines waiting for his hamstring to heal. AJ Epenesa apparently injured his foot in practice yesterday. Why are half our injuries this season happening outside of the actual games?

This year isn't going to be about the opponent we face. None of the teams in the AFC are elite juggernauts. I could see us beating any of them. But they all have something that can exploit us. Which means I could also see us losing to any of them. In my opinion, the key to this postseason is going to be consistency. It will require 4 straight quality performances against top level competition. Our best bet is getting all phases up to at least a solid/decent level, so that it's not a glaring weakness leading to our downfall. Then hopefully Josh Allen can break out of his slump and be the element that pushes us over the top. #1 - We can't go into the postseason relying completely on James Cook sparking the offense. At least one of our opponents is going to succeed in stopping the run, and at some point our WRs will need to get open and we will need to move the ball through the air. The offense needs back Dalton Kincaid and Josh Palmer fully healthy... and Brandin Cooks needs to become someone the defense needs to account for downfield (similar to what Amari Cooper provided last season). #2 - We can't go into the postseason with our rushing defense constantly getting run over. At some point we will inevitably face someone like Jonathan Taylor or Derrick Henry. There needs to be a realization that our normal plan on defense isn't working against the run. Less nickel and more 4-3. More Shaq Thompson and less Terrel Bernard. Doing this led to our best rush defense all season against Pittsburgh. Keep it going. #3 - We can't go into the postseason without getting pressure on the QB. This has been our weak point each of the last 5 years. Even if Patrick Mahomes misses, there are still passers who will exploit us if we give him too much time in the pocket. Joey Bosa and Ed Oliver need to return healthy, and some other guys need to step up.

Not nonsense. Those three games are significant. - Bills get AFC champion Chiefs. Patriots get Raiders, arguably the worst team in the league. - Bills get Texans, best defense in NFL. Patriots get Titans, only team probably worse than above. - Bills get Super Bowl champion Eagles. Patriots get 2-win Giants with rookie QB and interim HC. Also: - Bills got the Ravens at full strength. Patriots will get version with Lamar Jackson on one-leg. - Bills get Bengals at full strength. Patriots got them without Joe Burrow or Jamar Chase. The Patriots best win of the season was against us... probably the most lopsided penalty fest in the NFL this year. And they barely escaped with a 3-point victory. We will see about the rematch. It may be a longshot for us to come back and win the division. But if we win that game, the margin will be pretty close. Yes, the Bills blew a cake schedule this season. No excuses. But the Patriots have a HISTORICALLY weak slate of opponents. If the AFC East comes down to Week 18 or a tiebreaker, nobody can say these differences didn't play a factor.

This is somewhat true. The Bills-Patriots have exactly three games different on their schedules. Bills got Texans, Chiefs, Eagles. Patriots got Titans, Raiders, Giants. That's a pretty significant difference in opponent quality. Not to mention, they got the Bengals with both Joe Burrow and Jamar Chase out. We get to play them with both on the field. We also got the Ravens before all the injuries hit. At the end of the day, there are no excuses. The Patriots are going to win the AFC East, because (as you said) we blew it against some very inferior teams. Not because we had a more difficult schedule. Take care of business against the Falcons and Dolphins, and things look a lot different for the division. The Bills seem to be sleepwalking through the season, while the Patriots are focused and playing hard against every single opponent. The real question is... what happens in a month when the real bullets start flying? Everybody knows there is a different intensity that level when the postseason hits.