Rocky Landing

As a Bills fan, it's a head-spinning concept that our backup QB is, right now, arguably the second best QB in our division.

And Jarvis Landry ended Aaron Williams' career with a cheap shot.

I was thinking something along the same lines. It wasn't a perfect throw. Josh could have bent him a little to the right, and he would have been in for a TD.

OMG! Ben Solak! This kid's literally been posting nonsense like this since he was in high school! And, for some reason, people keep taking him kinda seriously!

I have mixed feelings about the Browns. I feel for them, in a way, and see their struggle as similar to the Bills. I also have a few close friends from Cleveland, and I actually like the blue-collar charm of their city. Spent a week there once, and had fun. And, unpopular as such an opinion might be on this board, I actually like Baker Mayfield. But... I can't get past my sincere dislike for Jarvis Landry, or OBJ, or-- especially-- Miles Garrett. F that guy. The way he handled his assault on Mason Rudolf-- clearly lying a week after the fact that Rudolf had used the "N" word, as an excuse for his violent behavior-- is utterly reprehensible. And for anyone who wants to bring up all the swell, charitable things he has done for the community since his brutal outburst, I will just say, thank the public relations firm he obviously hired after the fact for all of that. They were probably the same MFers who suggested he accuse Rudolf of overt racism to deflect responsibility for his own actions.

Ya know... occasionally we have folks on TBD who will still complain about Sammy Watkins, or Tyrod Taylor... hell, I still make fun of Late Nate Peterman every chance I get (those Chargers tickets were expensive!). This article is just offseason banter about a notable WR who didn't work out. The league is full of stories of players who switched teams and thrived elsewhere. We've had them going both directions-- Jerry Hughs shows up, Marshawn Lynch moves on... This is well within the Vikes purview to still be a relevant topic. I'll say this, though: I watched the condensed versions of several of the Vikes games right after we acquired Diggs, and if the Bills ever start using him the way the Vikes were using him during his last season there-- primarily as a decoy-- I would expect him to be a little salty, and I'd be right there with him.

I see no link for this restaurant. Can you post the name so I can google it?

Yea, 'cuz we rly din't miss him much last season...

Been snacking on those cicadas, I see...

One more reason to move back to the East Coast.

The point is that a lot of people did not see Josh Allen's potential when he was "not good." It's not a stretch to look at Mahomes stats from the last four years and conclude that, for the most part, he has either reached his potential, or basically plateaued. Of course there will be incremental improvements. Likewise, it is also not a stretch to look at Josh Allen's stats from the last three years, and conclude that he has likely not reached his potential, and has not likely plateaued. Certainly, he is going to start leveling off. But to look at Josh Allen's statistical progress from the last three seasons, and compare them to Mahomes statistical progress over the same period, it seems more likely that Josh Allen will see a greater improvement in the '21-'22 season than will Patrick Mahomes. Granted, as you say, Mahomes is already great. We can debate whether or not Allen is "great," and we can debate just how far behind he is from Mahomes. You can also make an argument that Josh Allen's inevitable plateau will be lower than Mahomes'. BUT... to simply say that Allen's "'trajectory” business only exists because ALLEN WAS ONCE NOT GOOD," is a cop out. This "trajectory business" exists because Allen has improved enormously over three seasons.

OK. But, as a homer, I'm willing to place more value on trajectory, and where that trajectory might land, and how that might translate towards potential, than I am on consistency. And, to be fair to Allen, his upwards trajectory is, by no means, indicative of inconsistency. In fact, it's an easy argument to make that Allens progress has been entirely consistent. If Mahomes continues to be consistently great, and Allen continues to get consistently better, then I will wager that down the road, Allen ends up the better quarterback. And I apologize for continuing to argue in semantics, but this is, after all, an entirely hypothetical discussion in the first place. But, at least we can agree the it is, indeed, an actual debate.

This is pure semantics. Don't call it a ceiling. It's just a reference point. The actual debate in this context is: Which QB is going to be better several years down the road, and I think that is a rational question. It's not like we're comparing Mahomes to Darnold, or something. There's good reason to be optimistic on Allen's future. The point I'm making as it pertains to this thread is that I think given both QBs potential, we are better off continuing to build off the culture, and team that includes Josh Allen, and that trading him for Mahomes would undermine that culture. In other words, in the short term, trading for Mahomes would damage the Bills as a team. And, in the long term, or several years down the road, Josh Allen may very well be the better QB. Ceiling is just another way of referring to potential.

Well, you asked the question: Has Patrick Mahomes reached his ceiling? And, if you think he hasn't, who do you think is closer to their ceiling, Mahomes, or Allen?

I suspect that Mahomes is closer to his ceiling than Allen is to his. Statistically, Mahomes has been remarkably consistent over his four year career. Allen's trajectory has obviously been quite a bit steeper, and it would be surprising if he was done improving.

I would counter that with: Some people don't place a high enough value on culture.

If Mahomes were a country mile better than Allen, and Allen had reached his ceiling, then sure. But, he isn't, and he hasn't. And, swapping the two, at this point in The Process would be utterly contrary, and damaging to the culture McD, and Beane have created. They're all in on Allen, Allen is all in on the team, and the team is all in on him.

My take: Since Fitz left, he's stopped shaving, and is drinking heavily.

You mean the victory formation? I’ll say yes, but that doesn’t really apply to the conversation. My point stands.

Running the clock down in the fourth quarter isn't exactly the definition of "smash mouth football."

Were you at Denonville Junior High between Fall of '75, and Spring of '78? If so, I probably knocked you on your hindsight.

I'm guessing Cam is gone. If they're building an offensive scheme around Jones/Hoyer, Cam would be a square peg in a round hole.

Not lying: in middle school I was a Kill-the-Guy-with-the-Ball legend. I was unstoppable. Admittedly, I grew up in Penfield (suburb of Rochester), which probably qualifies as a "sissy neighborhood."

Some of us live on the West Coast, so subtract three hours. And it's really nobody's business what I'm doing posting about football at 2am...

The more I learn about Dan Snyder, the more I suspect there is intention to this. I'm surprised he didn't name them Washington Team Football.