GunnerBill

Yea I think at some point Clemson, FSU and Miami end up in the SEC. But I think there is a viable second tier of conferences that is the ACC and Big 12 that still has some decent programmes in them. Though agree geographically there is nothing Atlantic about the ACC anymore.

I agree. I don't think it is the ideal solution or the answer you would design if you were starting now with a blank sheet of paper and without the history, tradition and politics within the structure.... but I do think ultimately we are heading towards a situation where the Big 10 and the SEC are the Premier Division of conferences with, loosely, the Big Ten as the North and Western division and the SEC as the South and Eastern division. And I think that will make for better matchups although the scheduling will still need some work. You'd almost then have the ACC and the Big 12 as the second tier conferences. I know at the moment we have Clemson, Florida State and the U in the ACC and Oklahoma State still in the Big 12 etc and that might still need some shuffling.... but I do think those two conferences feel viable but not on the elite tier.

True, the NFL has a monopoly. But the fundamental point I was trying to make stands. The reason they break the rights up in the way they do is to maximise their profits and they don't care about the impact on the consumer. If the consumers respond by finding ways outside of the law around the monopoly then it is a bit rich for the monopoly to cry about it.

I think the predictability is a much better point than the aggression. Even the creative things they did do in terms of some of their coverage matching (although they could do less of that once the Hyde and Poyer axis was broken) and the double A gap blitz look that they used to drop and flood zones from teams just got a bit used to them after 6 seasons of the same coordinator. Remember go back to 2019 and Bill Belichick no less was saying no defense in the NFL disguises its looks better than Buffalo. It just gets hard when you have had the same DC and a lot of the same core players - White, Poyer, Hyde, Edmunds, Johnson, Milano even Oliver together 4,5,6 seasons - to keep things fresh and to keep evolving. Teams are going to study film on you and find ways to break down what you do. I get that the D did not play well v the Bengals in the playoffs. But they held Miami to two drives of more than 30 yards in the entire game in the Wildcard and ended the regular season as a top 5 defense despite all their injuries. It was a hell of a coaching job. I think McDermott will call plays differently because no two play callers are ever the same even if the scheme is similar and that might break some tendencies that offenses had keyed in on under Frazier. Hopefully it does refresh what we are doing a bit. I just wonder if it might be undermined by the glaring hole at MLB.

When you blitz them a ton they kill you. I have said it many times but everyone goes on about the Miami touchdown last year when Leslie rushed 3. Probably a call he'd want back. But there are also plenty of examples in the last two years where gave up big plays when did try and blitz. The Buccaneers game winner stands out but there are others too. I don't think McDermott is going to become some sort of all out pressure guy and I certainly hope he is not. It is the wrong was to play defense in 2023.

Nobody is saying Frazier was perfect. But the hate he gets for the results he has produced is way over the top. What has happened since Jim Johnson is the NFL has changed. The rules have changed. The way offenses play has changed. I don't think Jim Johnson if he was still alive and coaching today would still be running the Jim Johnson defense of the mid 00s. And if he was it wouldn't be as successful.

Yea keep dumping on the guy that kept producing top 10 defenses.

The man deserves his money! Maybe Mahomes should strike in solidarity.

I think they will play a little bit more downhill (especially the linebackers who I think are gonna play vertically more and horizontally less) but I think our defense will be extremely similar to what has come before. It will be about discipline and control first before it is about aggression.

12-5 but three losses will be Bengals, Chiefs, Eagles and the narrative will be that the Bills are a step below those 3 teams. Make the AFCCG and lose there again is what my gut is telling me. But with the right bounces this can be a Superbowl team.

Bills, Ravens, Jaguars, Chiefs Chargers, Jets, Bengals Cowboys, Lions, Saints, 49ers Eagles, Packers, Rams Superbowl: Eagles over Bengals MVP: Trevor Lawrence Coach of the Year: Doug Pederson First coach fired: Todd Bowles (with the Buccs 1-6 after a defeat in Buffalo).

Don't blitz Aaron. Every time we have one of these threads on almost any QB the answer from fans is "BLITZ." Play our defense. Be disciplined in our rush lanes, control our gaps. Don't let the Jets establish a ground game, put it all on Aaron, shade coverage towards Garrett Wilson and let him throw 5 yards to Randall Cobb in the slot as much as he likes.

I can't work it out. Draft a top 5 QB. Play some games. Win a Superbowl. It's well known it is as easy as that. Has anyone told the Bills?

Yea AFC South and NFC South the two worst. I think I'd have NFC North a spot or two higher too.

Yep, it is entirely an example of that. And you are right about the response to the banking crisis a "true" believe in free market capitalism should be entirely relaxed about the fact that the markets decided the big investment banks had failed, they should go to the wall. But that wasn't the response at all. Those who most complain about state intervention were suddenly desperate for it. And the state stood as the bank of last resort. That wasn't just in America, but in the UK, in the Eurozone and around most of the western world.

Market capitalism in itself requires rolling back of, or exemptions from, regulation. If you are a pure free marketeer you think antitrust regulation should be abolished anyway. Why should there be any restriction on how much the richest make? If everyone else suffers that's tough. Live and let live. But it is always the case that most powerful get the most favourable treatment by regulators.

While we are on the subject... similar but unrelated the contract to show college football on UK TV appears to have run out and not been renewed. Therefore my only way to watch this season is illegally.

The actual comparison is I own a convenience store and I used to allow customers to buy a bag of potatoes for $1. Then I decide I am not going to sell my potatoes in bags because I can earn more charging individually for them at 20 cents per potato. It is same product. The individual potatoes are no better than the they were in the bag. I have just decided I want to make more money. If I am that store owner and someone who can no longer afford the potatoes for his family runs in grabs them and runs out that is my fault not his.

So your position is the rights holders should be able to sell to as many different subscription services as they like and then require consumers to pay the cost, so long as it makes them more money and at the same time should aggressively go after any illegal streamers? Rich get richer. All hail market capitalism.

He will be back once the 6 weeks are done.

Yea and the Bills need the likes of Rousseau, Cook, Benford (or Elam, but more likely Benford), Kincaid and Torrence to step up and become the core for the next 5 years. We don't have a lot of middle tier guys.... everyone you mention above (except Tre White) is 29 or older. Tre is 28. Then if you ask who are our core players who are not still on a rookie contract and are younger than 28 it's Josh Allen (27), Taron Johnson (27), Ed Oliver (25) and Dawson Knox (26). The core built from those two very good drafts in 2017 and 2018 (plus Hyde and Poyer as 2017 FAs) need some younger blood coming in behind them.

No they have to be under the cap now. It was 4pm THIS Tuesday when the roster was set.

They topped the poll on NFL.com too. 20 Bills 12 Jets 2 Dolphins That is about how I'd price them chance wise too.... that would be Bills 59%, Jets 35%, Dolphins 6%.

Yep. The 2018 QB class was not my finest moment.

I don't think they will pay Tee. I think they will pay Joe but a week before the start of his 4th season they haven't. And that in itself is an example of what I mean. Look at the other guys in that top tier... they were all paid by now. But the Bengals gonna Bengal. And Brown isn't just frugal.... by NFL owner standards he is poor. The thing I can't see them doing with Burrow is converting salary to bonus year after year to create cap space. And that is what you have to do to remain long term competitive. Unless of course Joe is really gonna sign for 50% of market rate.