BarleyNY

I just listened to a discussion on a podcast about the Bengals - Chiefs game. They talked about the deep pass to Higgins that got deflected by the S to the CB for an interception. They said Higgins usually goes up for those balls, but didn’t on that one. That led to a discussion on WRs in general. They said that some always let the ball drop to them, which occasionally leads to plays like that. Also they said that it is something that is not easily changed. They also talked about other aspects of playing WR like tracking ability, etc. When watching Davis I haven’t looked for him high pointing on the run, but I will in the future. Anyone have any insights on that?

In Williamsville, house shook and the dogs went nuts.

I think the main issue with the defense was obviously the ineffectiveness of the DL to generate a pass rush. KC played a lot of Cover 2 and it worked because they got pressure on Burrow. They didn’t even have to blitz. The Bills had trouble even when they sent blitzers. The Von Miller injury was a big loss, but we got very little from the DL that was out there. A lot of that was on the players. The coaches made the situation worse by doing things like repeatedly blitzing Edmunds. Lotta blame to go around.

I definitely think the Bills should incorporate a 3 man front, but not in a traditional 3-4. There is no reason to go with 4 DBs against the offensive personnel KC and virtually every other NFL team trots out. I have not watched the All 22 yet, but I suspect Cincy was using a 3 man DL in a 3-2-6 Dime or 3-3-5 Nickel against KC. Those formations - and others - should be on the table. No argument here.

Leaks of his “outrageous” salary demands might be from the team. It makes sense for them to start the PR work now if their intent is to trade him this off-season as it would soften the blowback from the fans.

What players do you think would fit better in a 3-4? I’ve got two maybes in Oliver and Edmunds. Oliver is on his 5th year option and Edmunds is an FA. So right now we have 1 excellent LB under contract in Milano. But we don’t have another one that’s even starting level. Since we do not actually play a 4-3 - we play almost exclusively Nickel - why incorporate a 3-4 at all? when would we even want to put that on the field?

They need to pay Burrow and Chase. Higgins will get WR1 money somewhere. The smart move by the Bengals is probably to trade him for a first plus more picks and replace him in the draft. A team could stay ahead of the game like that. He was a second round pick.

It’s not. Just look at how few SBs have been won by QBs on their rookies deals since 2010: - Mahomes in 2019 - Russell Wilson in 2013 - Joe Flacco in 2012 That’s it. I used 2010 as the cut off since that was the last draft before the rookie salary cap was instituted. Early picks were getting paid well in 2010 and before. Wilson and Flacco were drafted prior to 2010, but were still on relatively cheap deals due to their draft position so I included them. Eli and Roethlisberger each got one on their rookie deals - and then each got a second while on big vet deals. But Eli was 1st overall and Roethlisberger was 11th and both were paid well at the time. (Both were drafted before 2010 and won their first before then too.) So, sure, it’s helpful to have a cheap QB contract when building a team, but it’s not the secret to hoisting the Lombardi. And guess what? A stud veteran QB can help bring in supporting players, often at a discount.

Agreed. I’ve been saying the same thing. Same focus on the same positions. Lots of players brought to Buffalo from Carolina and lots of similarities between other additions and what he had. For example, it didn’t take McD long to try to get his new Kuechly with Edmunds. Same zone concepts even if some have evolved a little. I don’t know how much McD is involved these days, but his finger prints are all over the defensive scheme and personnel.

I think most fans were looking for a sign that we weren’t just going to run it all back in 2023. We were looking for an acknowledgment that some changes needed to be made, but it doesn’t seem like we are going to get that. Sigh

Agree on all counts. A Bills fan board is the only place this would even be asked. Spot on regarding Allen’s contract. He got paid full market value at the time of signing. However I give both Beane and Allen credit for doing it a year early. Josh got a huge chunk of cash early and the Bills locked him in at that season’s rate. I’d take winning a SB or two with a Favre or Roethlisberger level career for Allen. What I don’t want to see is him have a Philip Rivers career. That was certainly not all on Rivers. HCs Norvell Turner, Mike McCarthy and Anthony Lynn (!) all had a hand in it. Unfortunately we still need to progress from the Rivers/Turner trajectory because where we sit today looks scarily similar.

No love for Bart Starr, Otto Graham, Johnny U, etc.?

Really depends on if they keep Hines. He seems like a cut due to salary or a pay cut candidate to me. They traded (not much) for him, then hardly used him on offense. $4.8M is his salary in 2023. That would put him 17th among RBs in average salary. I just don’t see that happening, but maybe we see an extension with some decent guaranteed money and lower AAV. He just turned 26 so it’s possible. But I think him getting cut is much more likely. If Hines is a cut then we just have Singletary and we’re looking at adding a FA, a draft pick and an UDFA to our 90. I would not use any consequential resources on one with one possible exception: Bijan Robinson. That’s not the direction I think they will go and it’s not my first choice, but if the team was to revamp its offense, he’s the one playmaker at RB we could afford and possibly acquire. I think they’ll go with low cost solutions.

I agree, but I was a little more concerned about the Miami playoff game. We just looked sloppy. I was worried, but thought that as long as they got all that out of the way and came in focused the rest of the way we’d be competitive. They did seem to clean up the sloppiness for Cincy, but the game plans on both sides of the ball were awful.

I can’t imagine that McDermott and Beane aren’t a package deal and I think their tenures will end on the same day - whether that’s one or twenty years from now. That’s probably for the best anyway. I did want a bit of a shake up in the coaching staff if only as a sign that McDermott understood that changes were needed. I think I’m sitting here thinking the same thing as most Bills fans - that next year will look a lot like the last 3. I just wanted some sign that the team was making some changes. My concern at OC is that Dorsey isn’t up for it. I really don’t want the Bills to be his on-the-job-training. My concern at DC is that Frazier is just helping McDermott run his scheme and any change would just result in another DC doing the same. At least a new DC might bring in some fresh ideas and aggressiveness come playoff time.

Thanks. That makes more sense.

Not only that, Salgado has been here since 2017. Poyer and Hyde have been stellar the whole time and backups seemed to know their assignments when on the field. I understand that sometimes coaches get fired for reasons unrelated to their main job such as disagreements/personality conflicts with their managers. Maybe he told McD and Frazier they were stupid for rolling out soft coverages against the Bengals and they wanted him off the staff if he wasn’t on board with their plan. Who knows? It’s just weird though. I’ve got no idea what’s up with the new hire. I hope he does well here.

Spotrac’s market value calcs are notoriously wonky. They are often a good place to start but you have got to look at the current year’s market and think logically about it too.

Yup. Allen, Barkley, a day 3 pick and a dumpster dive FA to give us 4 for our 90. Josh and another go to the 53 and one of the others to the PS.

From Browns Reddit

You can always tell the quality of a team by the quality of their excuses. Right? Isn’t that the saying? That’s why KC brought up their hobbled QB and injury riddled WR room at the press conference after they lost to the team that beat us. GMAFB. You can add “out coached” to unprepared and dominated.

Exactly this. From reading this site, you’d think we were a JV high school team. “Hey, Coach we’re slipping all over the place out there on these cleats!” McD: “Wow, that too bad. I guess you’ll just have to deal with it today. We’ll try to get it worked out for next week.” LOL

And I’m sure that’s true. But they’re going to spend in some fashion on a QB this off-season even if they prefer it to be someone other than Jones. That is not likely the case at RB. Keeping Jones as an option only helps them in negotiations for other QBs. Besides, he might be their best short term option anyway.

What else would he say? It’s worth noting that his 5th year option for 2023 was not picked up last offseason. I guess a transition or non-exclusive franchise tag are still options. I just don’t see the Giants committing to him long term.

Seems like Jones’ agent is working hard for his client.