ctk232

Honestly, I'd take a second or third pick for shady at this point to open up cap and just have more drafted youth on the team. Love the guy and would hate to see him go, but he's not a long term solution, and don't think we'll be an actual contender in the league before he gets too old. KB is an enigma, he was never great, but his hands were never really the issue with him. He's regressed since being traded last year, and his initial flash of hot hands and contesting jump balls is now gone. Did something happen? It's not like he's purposefully tanking his play to have another team sign him in FA, but I'd like to retain him as a WR2/3 option if his hands get better moving forward. I think he'll perform better in those matchups than against DB1s.

Agreed - looks like Mills saw the back coming out of the backfield and thought he might chip him or block...Allen really could've recognized that too, though, and thrown it in a perfect world. But show Juan the door, we need competency in front of our developing QB

While I'm in total agreement here that it's way too early for our typically overly-emotional Monday reactions. Albeit, getting shutout is never what you want to see waking up Sunday, but this is not a consistent team, and frankly looks like a team without an identity or any kind of cohesion. This is a large problem that extends beyond roster holes and depth charts, but I'll leave that for another post. I only wonder if Allen can "only get better" from the experiences he's having. I'm not saying we should start Peterman, or that we should go looking for another QB whether interim or long term, I have to question that the trial by fire method for all rookie QBs is effective. I think it can be if the rookie is surrounded by a team who knows what it's doing, has a cohesive identity, and performs consistently at the NFL level. This is not that environment, and Allen can only respond to his experiences. If what he is experiencing is atypical for an NFL team, what habits is he then building? Not all of it can be bad, but can exposing him with this team actually only be for the better? I'll wrap this up by addressing those who say, "it's the NFL, if he doesn't pan out then we draft another and move on." Can't say I completely agree there either, while it would be the only option. We really don't want to become the Buffalo Browns rotating out coaches and QBs every season, but if we're going to capitalize on a top overall pick for a QB, this next year might be our best bet. So you have to ask, can you even really guarantee the kind of QB Allen will be at the end of this season?

Even so, don’t want to spend all that cap on three guys. To OP’s question, that’s why we have the draft. But we need more pull to Lee contract prices down as much as possible.

While it’s too early to tell for Allen, I agree with trying to trade shady for a pick. Regardless of whether Allen pans out or not, draft offense, give him a crew and if he doesn’t pan out, let’s hope the next guy we bring in can get right to work with the weapons we built. Build a WR corps and an Oline that can perform at an NFL level each week. Address defense in FA as much as possible. We desperately need depth in our secondary - a stout DB2 is an absolute must have next to White. Depth is always needed at that position but our holes are obvious. Contributory to that is need to fill out the DLine. While Edmunds develops we need consistent pass rush pressure and run stoppage, but it needs to start on the line.

Nothing on starting DB2? Not like he'd actually have to mention anything, but I find myself more interested in that than Clay's status...

But actually though - can we just be patient with one thing and not start the messiah conversation yet? I'm as excited as the next guy, and think he's been playing well, especially for a rookie that needs development. But considering it's only his third game and teams haven't had enough tape to really prepare for him, I'll be more willing to jump into the "superstar" moniker when it actually happens... Let's give it a few more weeks, at least, but color me hopeful - the most I've been in 18 years.

Truth. Strength of schedule has always been arbitrary...sure it's based on previous season's performance, but we all know what can happen in an off-season and certainly within the season itself. Power rankings change week to week for that reason...strength of a team changes week to week as well. Nevertheless infographics tell a story, if not the story, and there's nothing we love more than infographic speculation

I'd believe it - for what little I know about the guy, he's has incredible character. I would've loved to have seen him in Buffalo earlier when no one would sign him. But that's a great personal story, and you're equally great for helping him curbside!

Don't worry, he was signed by the Panthers...the over/under for an inevitable trade involving the Bills and Beane is currently at 2 weeks...

Completely agree, I'm just glad to see this from McDermott regardless, much less the receivers. Practice how you play, otherwise why show up. That's how you see teams show up "unprepared" on Sundays. That being said, when healthy, Ray Ray is performing better in games than some of our top receivers...

Potential sure, will he? Current opinion is doubtful. To be honest, based upon current performance, our top receivers are Andre and Ray Ray, imho...

Never start a guy first week off injury if you can avoid it. Rotate him in and see how he does. That being said, I'd prefer to keep Lewis and Johnson in there as being healthy, and contributed well to last week's win. As I recall, before the Davis speculation started, Gaines was used more for our nickel db, and wouldn't mind seeing him work in rotations there. I think we know what we have in both Gaines and Johnson for now. While we evaluate Johnson's growth, it'd be nice to give Lewis a chance to lockdown the DB2 spot and let him run with it until it breaks. It's not like our DB roster depth really scares any opposing QB or provides gameplan issues - especially teams with more than just a WR1 to target. It's great to see White evolve into a shutdown corner, but it's really easy to negate his play with a solid WR2/3 or TE options. We need more successful depth in our secondary and it would be awesome to see these other guys step up if they can. Just don't see it becoming a shut down unit at present (Johnson's potential future development aside).

Not that I'm thinking playoffs at this point in the least - but if we had to lose two and win two of the first four, we're doing it backwards...

Also have to realize, Mahomes would not have been this successful if we had drafted him. What you're seeing is the result of more than just his singular development. Exactly how much of it is the team and coaches around him, versus just his performance is still difficult to discern. But a lot of what we're seeing these past two weeks has more to do with his weapons and Reid than anything else, imho. Looking back, he would not be the QB we are seeing had we drafted him and "developed" him for a year.

This was the part that got to me about our OL. Yes, they've performed well overall in pass blocking, or at least 3 of them have per PFF. But our run blocking took a huge hit when we lost Wood and Incognito. It was a huge reason Shady offered Richie money to resign - before all the craziness happened. Wood was phenomenal in setting the middle wedge for interior runs, and I have rarely seen a guard who can pull and block on multiple levels like Richie did. Say what you will, but most every run Shady picked up he was looking to get behind 64 until he had to change direction. We might be creating pockets, but we could really use lineman getting to the next level against the backers, and executing some pull schemes for outside gains. 95% of Shady's style is outside runs. For Ivory it'd be nice to have some in-between the tackle space, or at least seal off alleys that last longer than two seconds. In reference to yesterday's game, a lot of the play action that was opened up was due to our consistent positive gains with the run game. Even if only for three yard chunks, they were missing Griffen on their Dline, and certainly had to compensate and gameplan for stopping the run regardless.

This made me feel like I was watching the Pats at times...again more parallels with Daboll. But the looks they try to give defenses always are borderline LOS issues. When they aren't, they seem to work well in packaging plays. I'm still geeking over the fake screen pass TD to Croom. Just like @Kmart128 said, it's amazing what success with the run game and screen pass can open up when used effectively.

I think we all did - guy is certainly famous now.

Exactly - though if we see more play calls like the Croom TD pass with the pump fake to Ivory in the flat, I think it will create a much more difficult game to plan for. It's one thing to recognize the coverage. But route options that give Allen multiple looks, or even planned play calls like the pump fake LB read to Croom in the end zone, will be there every week as long as the play call comes in from the sideline. I liked the play calling from Daboll yesterday overall - I've also almost forgotten what it's like to have an actual passing game.

I know exactly what you mean - 3rd down was always a point of complete lack of confidence that we could convert, and any result to the otherwise was met with equal surprise. Especially under Tyrod, you just could never count on the offense doing anything to convert 3rd downs. We've established, ad nauseam, that it was due to Dennison and Taylor primarily, but Allen makes or at least attempts the throws that we haven't seen in a hot minute from this team. I always equated it to the Pats offense, or other offenses where the momentum is so palpable that you can't help but feel like they were going to drive the field and score. It'd be nice to see some of that again, and get that feeling back.

We all said the same thing! Right around the third quarter when the 27-0 lead finally seemed legit, we said we'd have to buy round trip flights to Green Bay to keep it going.

Exactly - I don't think he was as exceptional as he was competent. Something we were lacking at Center the past two weeks. Love Groy as a Guard or utility lineman, but I don't have faith in him calling out protections as center. What we saw yesterday was simply NFL competency from having experience in the league, knowing the position, and he played well to complement it.

If he doesn't cost us much I'd be okay with it. Still more in favor of just riding out this season and using our resources to build in the offseason. But that's a solid possibility given Gruden's shake up. Another seemingly wild trade that will never happen but I'd be okay with? Shady for Bell - don't get me wrong, love Shady and the guy is great. But I never particularly enjoyed his running style of either -5 yds or 30 after changing field. He's good in open space which always causes matchup issues, but I've just always preferred Bell. Wild scenario is Bell never comes back and signs with Pittsburgh, and we either trade for his contract starting next year, or pursue him in the offseason. Enjoyed watching Ivory play with everything we needed from that position yesterday, gotta say.

It's true - having been at the game yesterday, I was actually able to notice a bit more than what the screen at home shows. Obviously no expert in the least, but one area I saw Allen take strides in (literally) was in blitz recognition and response. He still has a long way to go to get to the competent level of top QBs in the league, but the prime example of this was on the KB drop which very well could've been the second score of the game. Pre-snap Allen picked up the down recognition and defensive formation threatening blitz. Whether or not he read the actual blitz package is beyond me, but he recognized the pressure off the right side, and threw a window to KB on the one-on-one slant which, for any other team, would have been a solid six points. But I was more impressed to see him take a quick drop, set his feet, step into the throw and deliver quick release a dead on ball to KB in the face of pressure. I don't mind when this kid scrambles and tries to make plays with his arm strength, but that play to me showed more future promise in this regard than most other passes that game.Albeit, certainly not the only great throw he made all day.

Apologies if this belongs elsewhere on the board, but I just had to post a true thank you to this team for showing up the way they did yesterday, for a pretty personally important game. After 26 years of growing up a Bills fan in Philly, now living on the west coast - my first ever Bills game was nothing short of what we had hoped for. It was my Uncle's 68th birthday, and he had recently relocated to Stillwater from Buffalo a couple years ago. Not too long ago he had an accident falling off a ladder in the driveway, and now that he was finally recovered, we had the idea to buy tickets to the game to get us all back together. His brother (my dad), their childhood friend, and myself would all fly in for a birthday weekend, and suffer through what would otherwise be a fairly familiar scene of a blowout loss. We sat around the night before eating Sahlen's with webers, ted's, and everything else that brought these guys back to the glory days. We talked about starting Cousins in fantasy (have to admit, I did...) and we all expected the worst, but would have a great time reuniting for the game regardless. The one silver lining we clung to was that maybe Minnesota would be looking past the Bills to the Rams game in LA on Thursday. But regardless of the outcome, it would be a time. Have to say, amazing stadium up there. Completely different experience than most other stadiums that I've been to. Especially when we saw the beer stand at the section entrance, we knew we'd be just fine. Game started and everyone was ready for what was talked about all week. First 3rd down was a sack, and we were all getting up for the next round of drinks. Vikes fan behind me said "you're welcome" for that roughing the passer call, and sure enough, we were up 7 to start. As most Bills fans do, we speculated before the game with practiced skepticism from years of disappointment, but it's something else to go to a game with three guys who grew up going to the Rock, running across the field after games as kids, talking about Jack Kemp, and literally aging with the franchise. As for most fans, it's a bit more than just a team. Once we were up and sent the defense out, we expected it all to come crashing back to reality, but the ball kept bouncing our way. Reminded me of the start of last season when our turnover diff was off the charts. Everything seemed to bounce the defense's way. One thing was definitely noticeable though: regardless of whether Counsin's was playing ahead to the Rams game or not, the defensive execution and play call was night and day from the last two weeks. One nice thing about that new stadium, first row of the upper deck gives you a great All-22 view for most of the game. Not sure what impact having Johnson back made to the secondary, but the Davis retirement must have lit some sort of fire under this squad. Tip of the hat to the offense here as well. A few playcalls reminded me of the Pats offense from the past few years. Short throws, route options, and an actual run game that opened up the door for some play action. Unsurprising with Daboll when you think about his previous lives, but have to say the pass option fake to ivory in the flat to croom for the TD was a perfectly executed play call. I'd love to see more of this in the coming weeks which will really help Allen develop where the play calls actually help create separation for otherwise inconsistently-handed receivers. The Vikes just didn't seem to have an answer for much of anything going on, and at some point I thought I was watching the ravens game, but this time being on the right side of it. I'd never seen my Uncle more excited since 1990, and he was really pulling for that shut out to ice off the cake. I still think Rudolph's catch was questionable at best, but didn't mind the courtesy fantasy points for Cousins there. It was an experience and a half for me as a first game, even on the road, starting up Let's Go Buffalo chants and finding every Bills fan regardless of where they were in the stadium. Gotta give credit to Minnesota fans for being truly great people, and couldn't help but feel for them on some level having been on the receiving end of too many of these games. But walking out of that stadium chanting shout and having every Bills fan within earshot echo back brought the old guys back home. As much of a great first live experience it was for me, it meant the world to my Uncle and fam. Whether it ends up being the only win this season, or first of more, I just have to say a true thank you to the team for playing the game they did against the team they played yesterday; a thank you to bills mafia for being the best travelling fans in the NFL; and for a long overdue first game experience I'll never forget. GO BILLS!