mjt328

I'm a believer the HOF should only be for the BEST of the BEST. Peyton Manning - Absolutely Calvin Johnson - Definitely Charles Woodson - Probably Torry Holt - Possibly Reggie Wayne - Possibly Brian Waters - Possibly Zach Thomas - Possibly Patrick Willis - Possibly The other guys don't really stand out to me. Bennett was a vital piece to our Super Bowl teams, and certainly among the best linebackers in team history. But I definitely don't think he's Hall of Fame worthy. Same with guys like Darryl Talley and Kent Hull. The argument is certainly better for Steve Tasker. There probably wasn't a better special teams player in the history of the NFL.

Statistically, Josh did not have a good season last year. Nobody really contests that. The optimism surrounding him is based on how much he's progressed.... from college to his rookie year... then from his rookie year to his sophomore year... and now from his sophomore year to the early glimpses we've gotten in 2020. Considering how many QBs regress after hitting the pros, or after showing promise as rookies, it's exciting to see a guy gradually getting better. So far, Allen's early career-arc reminds me of Ben Roethlisberger. Early in his career, Big Ben was considered more of a game-manager. The Steelers were built on defense, defense, defense, and some really good coaching. The QB very rarely posted big numbers, and was really just there not to make mistakes. Of course, the key was that when his team really needed a play, Roethlisberger would almost always rise to the occasion. As time went along, the Pittsburgh defense became less dominant. And that is when focus started shifting to the offense, and Big Ben started putting up big stats.

Truthfully, his best bet for huge passing stats would probably be against Kansas City. Unless we are engaged in a shootout, our coaching staff is unlikely to keep the foot on the pedal with the passing game. It's just not Sean McDermott's style. And there aren't too many offenses in the NFL that I think can get the better of our defense for an entire game. Most teams are going to struggle to break 20 against us (we only allowed over 24 points once last season), and that isn't a great recipe for the QB to have big numbers. That's why I think the "300-yard game" talk is silly. There were a handful of games last year where Josh Allen was on pace to throw for 300-400 yards early in the game, but then we got the lead and started running out clock in the second half.

The majority of starting QB prospects are picked in the Top 10 of the draft. Many were the #1 pick overall. Which means they went to arguably the worst organizations in the entire NFL at the time. If Sam Darnold is going to be a great QB, he should be able to raise the play of the guys around him. You can see Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson often carrying the offenses around them. You can't see that from Darnold, Mayfield or Rosen.

It should tell you that a QB's success is more about the player himself, and coaching is only a small piece of the pie. Josh Allen has the same trainer as Sam Darnold, and started his career with much worse throwing mechanics. Yet in 2-3 years time, Allen has drastically improved his mechanics and become the better player, while Darnold is stuck in about the same place. And for everyone blaming the supporting cast, don't forget that Baker Mayfield also comes from the same draft class. The play-makers around him (Beckham, Landry, Chubb, Njoku) are arguably just as good as in Buffalo. And this is Mayfield's second year with those guys. Yet his play seemed to plateau in his rookie season.

Also, keep in mind the Bills wouldn't have gotten the chance to draft the top 4 guys without an additional trade-up. Ruggs, Jeudy, Lamb and Reagor were all off the board before pick #22.

Does anyone have stats/data on how rookie kickers perform in their first season, versus how they perform the rest of their career? I keep hearing about "first game jitters" and just to give Tyler Bass time to get acclimated into the NFL. I would be curious if that is a legit excuse, based on other successful kickers around the league. To me, kicking is kicking. If he was successful in college, he should be find in the pros.

Maybe he gets better with time, but my observation is that he needs some work reading the defender on those read-option plays. Without going back and watching the film, he seemed to make the wrong decision quite a few times. I'm also going to join the chorus of Bills fans who would like to see LESS designed runs for our QB. As much as Josh has improved as a passer going into his 3rd season, it's pretty clear that he hasn't fixed the ball security problem. Every defense in the league is going to target the ball when he's running, because of his fumbling problem. If a running back fumbled that much, our coaching staff would bench him, because those kinds of turnovers will eventually cost you games. The worst thing that can happen to a playoff-caliber team is the loss of its quarterback. The more you expose him to big hits, the great the chance for injury. Mobile QBs who aren't continuously sliding and avoiding hits (like Russell Wilson) often get hurt a lot (see Cam Newton, Deshaun Watson). And history shows they have much shorter careers. Don't get me wrong. I think using Josh as a runner in the Red Zone is fantastic. It's almost automatic points. And I don't believe they should discourage him from scrambling on plays where he can get the first down. But I do think we should greatly limit the DESIGNED runs. The risk just isn't worth what we are getting out.

In the New Orleans/Tampa Bay game, future HOF Drew Brees threw low on a similar pass to Emmanuel Sanders. The WR would have scored a touchdown, but instead had to go to the ground to catch it. The difference was that Brees was throwing 5 yards over the middle, and Josh Allen was throwing 30 yards over the middle. During the same game, future HOF Tom Brady twice missed WRs along the sideline at least as badly as Allen missed John Brown in the end zone. Both times they were wide open, and he threw about 10 yards over their heads without any pressure. And as a bonus... MVP Lamar Jackson attempted the exact same lateral (and failed just as badly) as Allen was crucified for during the Houston game. At some point, people need to stop ONLY picking at Allen's flaws and start judging him as a total package. No he's not the most accurate QB in the league, and probably will never be. But the positives FAR outweigh the negatives, and he continues to get better each season. He's ridiculously tough for opponents to defend, and most of the time that results in a WIN for the Bills.

I have no problem with Brian Daboll's coaching over the last 2 years. Our biggest problem has been a young/developing Quarterback, poor offensive line and lack of weapons. It's also very clear that Sean McDermott wanted to play it safe, and our offense frequently pulled back in the 2nd half with even the smallest leads. This year though, the bar has been raised much higher. To take the next step, we can't be barely scraping out wins against teams like the Jets and Dolphins. The O-Line is strong. The offense is loaded with weapons. Josh Allen is in Year 3, and needs to step himself into the Top 10-15 . If we struggle to score points in 2020, either Daboll or Allen will be on the hot seat. And rightly so.

The Chiefs probably have the best offense in the NFL. At this point, it would be insulting for us to even start comparing ourselves to them. However, the potential is there to attack defenses in a similar way. Kansas City uses great speed on the outside, which pulls coverage away from the middle of the field. When defenses are focused on stopping Hill/Watkins, that leaves Kelce open in the middle of the field. Put an extra man on the tight end, and you become vulnerable down the field. Patrick Mahomes is very tough to rattle with pressure and also deadly accurate on deep passes. So any strategy you use against him is risky. The pieces are available for the Bills to put defenses in the same predicament. On the outside, they can use Brown (similar to Hill) and Diggs (similar to Watkins) to draw defensive coverage down the field. Both guys are capable of demanding double-teams. Now, I certainly wouldn't put Knox in the same zip code as Kelce. But if defenses are forced to leave the middle of the field open, we can certainly take advantage with Beasley from the slot. Allen is also extremely dangerous as a runner. Try stopping all of this, and you start running out of defenders. The weapons are absolutely there. The key is Allen. If he cannot hit those downfield passes, teams won't need to respect Diggs/Brown on the outside and none of this matters. If he can't quickly diagnose coverages, defensive coordinators will just find ways to confuse him and keep him from finding the open guys.

I fully expect the Bills to open up the passing game. - The release of Patrick DiMarco signals the Bills are moving away from the power-run game, and into a spread system. We no longer have a true fullback on the roster, and I can't see too many scenarios where we don't want Diggs/Brown/Beasley on the field at the same time. - Our coaches usually scheme based on opponent, and the Jets defense is clearly weakest on its back-end. Especially after trading away Jamal Adams. We clearly have the advantage in the passing game, as opposed to trying to grind out yardage.

Excellent breakdown. We lost Shaq Lawson, Star Lotulelei and Jordan Phillips We gained Mario Addison, AJ Epenesa, Harrison Phillips, Quinton Jefferson and Vernon Butler. Plus a year of experience for Ed Oliver. It could certainly be argued that our D-Line has been upgraded since last year.

Historically, this coaching staff prefers easing rookies into action. I would be very surprised if Devin Singletary isn't the starter Week 1, and doesn't get the bulk of carries during the first month. In fact, I wouldn't be shocked if Zack Moss starts the season as the #3 back and plays behind TJ Yeldon. Ultimately, I believe the goal is for Singletary and Moss to become an equal 1-2 punch. Usage will depend on opponent and gameplan. Moss probably takes on more of the role Frank Gore had last season. Short yardage and goal line carries. Pounding the ball when trying to run out the clock. With that said, if Singletary starts showing a fumbling problem... it won't be long before he starts losing significant carries. I've been watching this sport for decades, and coaches do not put up with fumbling.

I watch every single Bills game, and I just don't see the "wild misses" from Josh Allen the media is always talking about. College? Absolutely. His rookie year? Sure. Last year, there were definitely times his ball placement could have been better. And he certainly struggled with overthrowing the deep ball. But it's not like he was totally missing receivers on easy throws. I feel like people see his 32nd ranked completion percentage (58.8%), and just assume he is inaccurate. But it's been also well established that Buffalo had the highest drop percentage in the league. Only six more completed passes, and Allen would have surpassed 60% completion on the year. Only ten more completed passes and he would have been higher than Tom Brady in completion percentage. Only 26 more completed passes (less than two per game) and he would have been in the top half of the NFL.

Barring a massive string of injuries, the Bills should win the division easily. - The Dolphins are in the midst of a rebuilding season. I think the Tua pick was a smart gamble, and they seemed to have a pretty good draft. But the roster is still years away from truly competing. In typical Fitz-fashion, they will be competitive in games they should be getting blown out, and then stupidly lose games they have a chance to win. It won't take long before fans are calling for Tua. And even if he plays well from the gate, all rookie QBs have their struggles. It's hard to see this team finishing above .500. - The Jets are stuck in the same "one step forward, two steps back" cycle, which plagued us for almost two decades. They had some positive momentum to finish 2019, but then lost their two best defenders (Adams and Mosley) for the season. I don't see any significant upgrades across the rest of the roster. At least not enough to notch them the additional 3-4 wins necessary to end in 1st place. I liked Sam Darnold coming out of college, but they have failed to surround him with anything decent and the offense is reportedly still struggling badly in training camp. Many are even considering this a lame-duck season for their head coach. - After 20 years of dominance, it's hard for anyone to discount the Patriots. But let's be honest here. The talent on offense is bone-dry. Does anyone really envision Cam Newton (who has struggled badly over the last few years) having more success with this offense than Tom Brady did? The Patriots often struggled to score in 2019. And they did virtually nothing to improve the situation for 2020. Even if Newton's best days weren't far behind him, his playing style simply does not match Josh McDaniels offense. The defense is going to be expected to carry the team, despite losing multiple starters (Hightower, Chung, Collins, Van Noy).

Bills 27-10 Buffalo is clearly the better team from top to bottom. It shouldn't be close, but we still haven't seen if this offense can pile up enough points to make it a blowout.

Let's watch how the season actually plays out. Then we can make a call about where this team stands. Going in, these are the milestones I expect to hit in order to consider 2020 a successful season: - At least 10-11 wins - AFC East Division Title - Win at least one playoff game However, I'm not going to draw a line in the sand. What if there are key injuries? What if we somehow win 12 games and it isn't enough to take the AFC East? It's also premature to blame a player or position until we witness it as a liability. Right now, I think our team is set for a playoff run.

Don't get me wrong. Zach Ertz would be a fantastic addition. But I'm curious to see how this offense looks to start the season. We may not really need him. - Addition of Stefon Diggs - Drafting Zack Moss to replace aging Frank Gore - Drafting two good-sized WRs in Gabriel Davis and Isaiah Hodgins - Not to mention a year of experience for Dawson Knox and Tommy Sweeney at TE All of these factors, plus hopefully another step in development for Josh Allen - and I think we may be good enough to score quite a few points on offense. We really didn't struggle in the Red Zone last year. Our biggest problem came between the 40s, and drive-killing mistakes.

It's not all about targets and catches. It's about keeping pressure on the defense, and making it impossible for them to defend everybody. Teams are going to have a very difficult time taking away John Brown deep down the sideline, Stephon Diggs up the seam, Cole Beasley over the middle.... and still managing to keep tabs on our RB, TE and scrambling QB.

1. Cole Beasley is a unique weapon to our offense, since he excels from the slot. 2. Our rookie receivers haven't shown anything, except in practice yet. 3. We need depth, due to possible injuries. 4. Back-end guys like Duke Williams and Robert Foster disappointed in games much of last year. 5. The Bills are ready to contend. We don't need to be getting rid of valuable pieces of the team for draft picks.

This is all being blown out of proportion. It doesn't sound like Chris Brown was fired. He was temporarily banned for breaking a rule, and will be back. As a former news reporter, I certainly believe in the rights of a free press. But the media also needs to respect the pre-set rules requested by sources. It's like saying a certain bit of information is off the record. The Bills didn't want certain aspects of their strategy released publicly, and Brown failed to abide by that rule. And if the Bills allowed Brown (who is actually employed by the team) to break the rule, they couldn't really enforce it on the other reporters.

I don't think it will make much difference. We usually do one scrimmage (which is no more than a glorified practice) against another team each year. And if you add up all of his normal preseason time, you are usually talking about one full game of action. Most mechanical improvements (like when Allen is working with Jordan Palmer) are made during offseason training, before the team even gets together. Training camp is more for physical conditioning, implementing the playbook, developing timing with teammates, etc. Preseason is for gradually getting into game speed. According to the reporters watching training camp, Allen's mechanics (especially on those deep throws) have looked cleaner from Day 1. Hopefully he doesn't slip back into old habits once the real bullets start flying, and the pressure is on.

For most NFL quarterbacks, the third season is a very good gauge of how they will perform the rest of their career. At this point, Josh Allen will have gone through three professional offseason programs. He's had plenty of time to work on fixing his biggest issues. On the flip side, defensive coordinators now have plenty of film on his strengths/weaknesses. This season he's probably not going to have tons of running lanes, and will be forced to make throws he's struggled with in the past. There are always exceptions to the rule (example: Drew Brees broke out in his fourth season). And it's fair to point out that Allen started his career behind most Top 10 prospects, due to him attending a small university. But I think we will know by the end of 2020 - barring a premature cancellation of the season - whether he's going to be a star, solid starter, bust, etc.

Unbelievable. The website link I posted is the OFFICIAL MISSION STATEMENT for Black Lives Matter. It is not just some website. It is the official BLM website. You are blindly supporting an organization without reading what it believes. If you think it is idiotic to de-fund the police (we finally agree), then you are disagreeing with the very organization that you DEMAND people agree with!!!!!!!!! I'm 100% for racial equality. I do not believe BLM stands for racial equality. I actually believe their ideas are damaging and destructive to the black community. - I believe that in order to save more black lives, we need to stand-up for police who are doing their jobs right. Not demonize them and defund them. - I believe that in order to save more black lives, we need to take drug dealers and criminals off the street. Not make it easier for them to commit crimes. - I believe that in order to save more black lives, we need to promote the nuclear family and fatherhood. - I believe that in order to save more black lives, we need to promote traditional Christian values, reject Marxism and socialism, and reject this idea that minorities cannot succeed in American society. All of these ideas are completely opposite of BLM.