RunTheBall

Fuller is out, Hopkins will be doubled regularly or at least Trey will have deep help so he can be aggressive. The D plan should be stop the run, double Hopkins and contain Watson to the pocket. That means a LOT of Zone with 4 man rush and occasional A gap blitzes, basically our standard package which should work. If their running game gets going we will need to switch it up as the RPO and play-action game will get our LBs to bite. On O, we should be able to run enough. Texans can't defend the middle so I'd hope to see a lot of Beasley/Knox over the middle. The only reason I think Duke might be active is because he's a big target in the short and mid range which Daboll might want to use to exploit their poor middle D. I'm not worried about Watt. If he's in there I'd show pass and do draw plays right at him to exploit his overeagerness to get to the QB

We are further along than we should be, but not where we want to be, which is both exciting and frustrating at the same time. We really have to keep the big picture in mind which is we are at least one and probably two seasons from super bowl contention if things continue to progress. On D, we were out coached by McDaniels, outmuscled on the line, and the poor tackling didn't help. I sure hope that was a vanilla D by design because I was not impressed. On O, everyone knows what we are. Josh needs more polish and needs to get rid of the early game yips. I was discouraged by his poor mechanics which is why he missed some easy throws. I was encouraged by his leadership, his ability to move on from poor plays, his ball protection, and he hit two deep throws with touch! We were outmuscled on the line again, and they keyed in Singletary and took him away. No moral victories, I friggin hate that team with a passion and their fans too. Simply put, they are still the better team and we aren't there yet.

Daboll isn't going anywhere unless he gets a head coaching position. I'm not thrilled with him either but in no way is he on the hot seat with the way Josh has progressed. There is zero chance McBean brings in another coordinator

I see the next two games as like a playoff pre-season. We definitely need to play-to-win since the Division is still in play (barely) and to get the New England monkey off our back. That doesn't mean trick plays to me, but I'd work on formations and tendency breakers that target NE weakness against stopping the run. Throw in some heavy packages, unusual formations (Gore and Singletary on the field at same time) different RPOs etc. Heavy play action to work on Joshs deep shots too. Our bread and butter seems to be 11 personnel with Josh running the no huddle. If it's close in the 4th, break that out and win the game.

I like your post about the D and giving up the big plays And players learninf to do their 1/11, I think you are spot on. I understand why people would be skeptical about "culture change" but for some reason Mcdermott was the first guy I actually believed (Rex? Hahaha, Maroon? Hahaha). McDermott practiced what he preaches with the Peterman decision. People still moan to this day about starting Peterman but if you look at it from a culture perspective it was the right call to start him, and the right call to yank him. If you remember we were not very active in the FA QB market and ended up with Mccaron because McBeane knew they were getting their future QB in the draft and wanted someone to handle the position for the year. Unfortunately AJ was a complete misfire for us which left Peterman and Allen. Peterman clearly outplayed Allen in the preseason. If McD had started Allen right out of the gate it would have undermined his culture message to the lockerroom that how you perform in practice/games determined how much playing time you get. When Peterman crapped the bed again he was yanked quickly and Allen started. I don't have a problem with how that was handled if you look at the big picture.

I've seen a lot of commentary recently on here and in the media reflecting this opinion. I don't agree with it at all I think most long term fans who've been with the team through the thick and thin recognized that the culture of losing was the number one thing that had to be changed first before this ship could be turned around. This entire $hitshow of a franchise needed to be fumigated from the stench of losing that Ralph (God bless his soul and thank you for keeping the team in Buffalo) allowed to permeate his team. It was refreshing to hear McBeane not only voice this but put it into practice year one. The one major thing I saw early on was a team that played hard for their coach and didn't fold when there was a turnover or a tough stretch. That's when I knew we had a good coach and if he could grow and get some talent we'd have a competitive team. So many people have a hard time seeing the forrest for the trees. Good football teams are more than the sum of its parts and more than just a collection of talent (aka Browns) although talent is important. I think these guys have earned a lot of patience from the fan base to continue to put their plan in action. Fans need to take a deep breath next time there is a bump in the road or set back, and there will be. I could care less what the national media, amatuer Twitter film analyst hacks, or local media thinks.

This a big game, definitely not the proverbial "must win" some are describing. Last week's game was more important. It's the least important game left in terms of making the playoffs. Yet, in terms of Buffalo pride and changing the narrative of our team, this game couldn't be bigger. Thanksgiving day, primetime, friggin Dallas, the entire country watching - wow! I don't care how we do it, just go get the W. We've heard a lot of talk from the D about the lack of respect they perceive. Time to back it up with their best effort of the season. I hope the stench of decades of futility has been fumigated from this franchise because in years past this is where we'd completely crap the bed. Gut is telling me this team is different. I hope I'm not just projecting. Go Bills!

Time. That's all that we need to get this offense clicking even with the lack of a legitimate #1 WR and TE. The game needs to slow down just a touch more for Allen. He's making his reads, just getting there late so throwing late and with rushed mechanics. Guys are open, but rarely does Allen have time to get through his whole progression before the heat is on. It's a combination of Allen getting through his progressions a split second quicker and the O-line holding up just a fraction more. As Allen gets more experience, especially against the blitz, the game will slow for him and he will be getting the ball out faster with better mechanics. Unfortunately, as long suffering Bills fans, most have little patience to allow Allen to develop and Daboll to figure out how to call a game that maximizes Josh's chance to succeed while reigning in the turnovers. Daboll is still a work in progress too. I'm thinking unless there is a complete collapse the next 8 games there is no question they will both be back next season despite many calling for their heads. The next 8 games will tell us a lot.

Sunday can't come quick enough. The amount of irrelevant BS that will have zero impact on the game yet gets sweated over incessantly has reached a fever pitch even for this place. Us fans need to learn how to win again just like our team.

The only fans who don't look back fondly on 4 straight years of Super Bowl appearances were either too young or too dumb to appreciate what we had.

IDK, this may come back to bite me in the ass but I was more concerned with Miami than I am the Eagles. I don't care what their record was, playing a division opponent with Fitz at QB played out like I anticipated. I figured it would be close, Fitz would get hot, and I figured he'd throw a game changing pick. The Eagles are not a good team. They and the national media are clinging to the false notion that they are still a super bowl contender, that Wentz is still as good as everyone annointed him, and that the internal dysfunction has no effect on game day. I don't care how "desperate" they are either. Buffalo got it's wake-up call last week after coming out flat and still managed to pull out the W. They were humbled a little after being huge favorites and needing to come back to win. No one gives them or our QB credit for being 5-1 and winning in different ways. The posters on this board are a thousand times more in tune with our team than the majority of national idiots who cling to their preconceived notions That's good. I like a hungry team. I think this is a close game as usual but Buffalo will win and will come out of the gates hot.

Allen is going to get at least another 2 seasons after this one. He's shown all the intangibles you look for in a QB and is WINNING despite learning on the job and not even being close to his ceiling yet. It amazes me how many of us Bills fans, who like to think of ourselves as some of the smartest fans, have shown such impatience towards the rawest QB in the top of that draft. Relax and enjoy the ride

I think some people are getting way ahead of themselves. We are at the quarter pole and people are seriously discussing our playoff seeding?? Yeah, I'm optimistic we have a shot at making the playoffs but I don't even look at the Miami game as a given W. We are going to have bounces that don't go our way, games where our D is not as dominant, injuries of unknown impact/duration. Obviously it's the offense that will most determine our fate assuming the D continues a high level of play. If he cuts down on the TOs, I think we have a wild card shot. If he make a leap over the next 8 games, we could make some noise. That's a long ways off though. Let's just beat Miami next week.

I'm not impressed with Mayfield, he's been way over hyped and over rated. I'm not saying he's not going to develop into a good QB, just that the media were way too quick to annoint him the next great one.

Steroids don't make you a douche, they enhance the douche that was already there.

The only reason Shady is gone is because McBeane knew he wouldn't accept a lesser role in the offense without making noise. I'm sure they would have loved to keep him but Shady has always been more of a me guy than a process guy. They chose team culture over a diminishing talent, that's all.

I don't think this is a complex situation at all. Allen is the starter, Barkley is the backup. If Allen is cleared, he starts. If not, Barkley the backup is in. Simple. No more "learning from the bench". Allen starts unless McBeane decide he's not the franchise guy in which case he won't see the field again. That decision won't be until the end of next year at the earliest unless he has several Peterman level performances in a row and even then they might ride it out. Personally I think the best thing for Allen after his horrific first half last week is to get right back in there. It's up to Daboll to develop a game plan that both gives us a chance to win the game and at the same time gets Allen out of the gates hot. To me that means start with short easy throws and running the ball. 3 step drops, slants, swing passes, shallow crosses. Beat it in to Allens head that if his reads aren't there quickly in the progression, chuck it away immediately or run and SLIDE every time. The only deep shots I'd do early are play action passes where if the first read isn't there, dump it quickly to a short relief valve. Get Allen his confidence early and the longer developing plays will come later.

The only way we win this game is if we stop the run and don't turn the ball over. Brady is going to move the chains regardless, but if we squash the run enough where our guys can tee-off and rush him hard we can get him a little rattled and that's when they are vulnerable. If we turn the ball over, especially if we leave points on the board when doing it, we don't have a chance.

I love the meltdown. Of course we can relate, but I have zero sympathy for the over-hyped, over confident and over-rated Jets and their fans. No one gave a crap about us during the many seasons we experienced the same thing. It's nice to be on the other side for once and be able to point at the mess other teams are when we seem to be on the right track. I'd be concerned about Darnold. He's got the potential to be a good QB but he may be in that situation where he's going to have a bunch of different coaches and systems early in his career and never develop fully. It's still very early but I have not been impressed by him so far.

I'm pleasantly surprised that Allen has showed the degree of growth he has in both the mental and physical aspects of the game. This is a testament to both the player and the developmental coaching he has received. Baker is going to be a solid starter and was quicker out of the gate but his ceiling is lower than Allen's Jackson has surprised me in his development but like Allen still, I'll wait to see some consistency over time before drawing conclusions. Rosen is a disaster and certainly his circumstances haven't helped The one who surprises me is Darnold. I've watched most of his games and I'm just not seeing this future pro-bowler they everyone hyped. He seems skittish in the pocket, isn't reading defenses as well as Allen so far, and only seems comfortable on the run during a broken/extended play. It's real early for all of them except Rosen who I think is done. Time will tell

She's a coaching intern. She will have zero effect on wins and losses. I couldn't care less about diversity hiring but good for her.

I just like to add my name to those threads on TBD that may go down in history as some of the stupidest threads ever started

It was Ike Boettinger #65 who buried Alonso. Mills never should have been tossed but the refs had to divy it up

This kid is the real deal. He is as raw a LB as Allen is a QB. The fact that he is only 20! is like giving him 2 years to learn and grow into the job. He’s smart, he’s going to learn from the mistakes he’s currently making. The more he plays the more he will stop thinking and start feeling what’s going on. I’ll never understand why it seems so many Bills fans, who I think are on the more football intelligent side than the average fan, expect a linear progression of improvement from players. I’ll start looking for specific improvements next year after he’s got one under the belt. I really think this kid is going to be special for us for a decade or more.

He had multiple shots. He blew each one in spectacular career ending fashion.