BarleyNY

The B1G commissioner will be handing down the first round of penalties as soon as today. It looks like it will be more than just Hairball.

Yikes! I guess I’m saying that innovative schemes isn’t their strong suit. There are other parts of coaching that I think they are much better at. They’ve built a very good team and turned around a franchise that was foundering. Some coaches are more about motivation, execution, etc. While I think McDermott choked away the Bills best chance at a SB with 13 seconds, he did get the team to that point. They were capable of winning a SB that year. I do question McDermott’s ability to fully motivate the team at this time though. I think he’s run his course with the team and some new blood is needed.

I didn’t know about a bunch of the other parts - especially the placenta. I would not have guessed that.

Here is the recipe I have used, except I used Hatch instead of Anaheim chiles. It’s an America’s Test Kitchen recipe (subscription required), but I found a public copy. In case you are not aware, the hottest part of peppers is the ribs. Seeds are second hottest. So if you don’t like heat get all of the ribs out along with the seeds. https://www.splendidtable.org/story/2017/08/01/colorado-green-chili

That is a shame. FWIW if you take out the ribs and seeds, then roast the hatch chilis they have almost no heat at all. My recipe adds other spices for heat.

Perfect. I was about to post the same. I made it twice while hatch chilies were in season and I have a big bag I roasted in my freezer for when I want to make it this winter. Absolutely delicious!

Chicago is up there. Raiders too. I’d throw in the Chargers as well.

Yes, it was the Bears. Thank you both.

I think the Browns ownership might have leaned their lesson with Hue Jackson and Freddy Kitchens debacles. They have taken a big step back from football ops since. Jimmy Haslam will always gets the unethical nod from me for the Pilot/Flying J rebate scam though. Many other owners seem suspect in this arena too. The Haslams certainly belong on the watch list for years to come. The worst one - Dan Snyder - is now gone.

It is a good question. But it’s worth noting that the Bills paid him like a starter when the matched the RFA offer from the Vikings. (At least I think it was the Vikings.) Edit: It was the Bears.

Guessing ownership. Probably told him he had to make it work with Wilson. Once they are satisfied it’s not going to happen, then they can move on. Woody Johnson has always been clueless and unethical as an NFL owner. I was surprised when Saleh took that job. It is one of the few HC jobs in the NFL that up and coming coaches should be wary of accepting due to ownership.

It is far, far easier to find quality coaches than an elite QB. Maybe just try that first.

Simms is pretty dialed in. He talks to players and may have even seen some TC. He may not have liked what he heard or saw. One thing I would bet heavily against is that he made that prediction on a whim. He had his reasons even if he isn’t sharing them now.

My general take on Davis: Due to his inability to uncover quickly (lack of lateral agility) he is usually a later option in the QB’s progressions. Therefore the ball is usually out before the QB gets to him and it doesn’t matter how open he is. I’m sure this isn’t news to defensive players or coordinators.

Agreed. Kraft could have that difficult conversation with him. BB retires, gets his accolades and paid out on his contract - which makes him unavailable to other teams. Or a team like Washington is dumb enough to give up picks to get him. I just can’t see this ending any other way.

I think Daboll was blamed for everything on that side of the ball, whether or not it was his fault. This time around people see that there’s blame to go around with Dorsey/McD’s scheme & play calling, Beane/McD’s resource allocation and Allen & Co all having a share.

Agreed. That’s exactly how I see it. This past draft was a nice deviation from the status quo, but too little, too late IMO.

Von Miller - TBD. He’s got this season to return to form. If he does, then he’s got another season here. If not, then I suck it up and designate him a 6/1 cut. (That’s the only reasonable way to do it at that time.) Tre White - He’s a cut. Sorry, Tre. I love him as a player, but the odds of him returning to form and staying healthy are basically nil. He’d probably be a 6/1 designation as well (teams get 2). He’s got a roster bonus due just after the league year starts so it would be before then. Knox - Gotta ride this out. We need a TE who can play inline - which means blocking and catching the ball. We’ve got no one else who is capable at both so he stays. TEs who can do both reasonably well get paid well and that is what it is. (Kincaid is a big slot. Excellent receiver and horrible blocker so he isn’t a candidate for an inline role.)

Best case scenario for the Giants and Dabs is losing enough games to get a FQB. Dabs is definitely a guy you want developing one from day 1.

Florio, sure. But not Simms. He’s obviously very knowledgeable and connected. He’s also been a huge Allen fan. I was not aware that prior to the season he picked the Bills to miss the playoffs. That’s both shocking and very telling. He obviously saw the severity of the issues with the team. To put my surprise into perspective I predicted that we’d see the same this year as in the recent past - playoffs with wins until we lost to the first real contender we played. Regardless of injuries on the defensive side of the ball, missing the playoffs entirely should be the end of this Bills regime - if that comes to pass. Edited to add: The pity from Florio is also telling. Jeebus. “I’d hate to be a Bills fan right now.” Ouch.

I agree, but I think this illustrates the general issues with scheme and play calling. Tempo can help mitigate them. So I agree that we should utilize it more. But it’s a short term band aid rather than long term solution.

It’s worth discussing how much of the issue is Allen not performing versus his circumstances. Is he being put into situations where too much is being asked of him or is him in generally favorable situations and not coming through? I think the blame is a lot closer to 50/50 than 100/0 - something like 60/40 with a lean toward the circumstances (scheme, play calling, talent, etc.) Allen had been put in. Edited to add: Some of Allen’s 40 is probably frustration. This brings up the topic of reasonable expectations with a top QB like Allen. He’s been a top 3 QB in the league. It’s not reasonable to expect SB win after SB win, but it is very reasonable to expect more than what we’ve gotten. In fact, our playoff record with Allen playing as a top QB is a huge indictment of McDermott (and to a lesser extent, Beane).

The Bills are definitely a team that wins with talent rather than scheme. That’s always been true with the defense, but the offense under Dorsey is now in the same category. With all of the injuries this year - especially those to the best players - the defense doesn’t have the horses to do that. The play calling decisions have only made it worse. Exhibit A is the 6 man blitzes against Burrow, who is one of the best at beating the blitz. The offense does not have anything close to the talent that the defense does - at least when injured players are included. I appreciate that they added to the offense in this past draft, but for this season it is too little, too late. Their inability to effectively run the ball (with RBs) is even worse than it looks since defenses usually have light boxes. The passing concepts are pretty basic too. The last two seasons how many defenders have mentioned that they knew what play was coming? That’s a function of basic schemes and a lack of diversity in play design. The play selection leaves a lot to be desired as well. By the third drive I was calling out the runs before the Bills snapped the ball against the Bengals. I wasn’t perfect, but I was legitimately at 80-90%. If I can do that from my couch I’m sure a decent NFL coordinator can do better.

Jim Harbaugh’s coaching at the end of the SB lost them that game. His team should have won. Stupid play calling to keep passing instead of running it in. Ngata was gassed and out of the game. I was dumbfounded by Harbs putting the championship in Kaps hands rather than Gore’s.

The one place Jim Harbaugh didn’t wear out his welcome in 4 years is his alma mater, Michigan - and he had to cheat to make that happen. He’s also a colossal d-bag. It’ll be Wrex all over again if he comes here. I might even openly root for his quick failure so we could move on to a good candidate deserving of respect. It won’t matter though as he will almost certainly be getting hit with a show-cause penalty.