GunnerBill

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.

Yep. I screwed the pooch on Allen. I still hate his college film. Still even now. I missed on his legs massively and that does stand out on his film... but man I still hate him as a passer at Wyoming. But again, fair to accuse some of the hindsight game. Not fair to accuse me of it. My opinions are always there for right or for wrong. Don't try to hide them or change them. I got Josh Allen majorly wrong.

Ownership is a farce, their facilities are dreadful, they have a tiny personnel operation, they are renowned for treating their players poorly and they traditionally don't have a great track record of paying their guys They had a great 2020 draft, no question, hit it out of the park with their first 3 picks.... but when you pick at the very top of each round after being the worst team in the league it is definitely easier. They drafted Chase the next year too, well done them, and they have made some sensible FA signings. They are legitimately one of the best teams in football right now. But I question their organisational capacity to sustain that. Hitting a couple of home runs is easier than making sensible long term strategic decisions. Because I don't think they are where they are because they are well run, I think they are where they are despite being poorly run.

I know you asked me this in another thread yesterday @boyst wasn't ignoring you just finding time to reply. I will start by saying my daily de-briefs after each day of each year of the NFL Draft mean that my thoughts on every player the Bills draft at the point they draft them are recorded for posterity. For example, here is what I said in my 2021 draft day 2 debrief about Boogie Basham: "I haven't been the hugest Boogie Basham guy. I certainly was very strongly against him at #30. At #61 it was still a reach by my board (I had a mid 3rd on him) but I don't hate it. He was an excellent college player at Wake Forest but his production came largely by just overpowering tackles who will not play in the pros. Against superior NFL athletes starting at offensive tackle I worry a bit how he wins. He isn't overpowering Mekhi Becton for example, or Orlando Brown Jr who will be manning the blindside for the team we are all chasing in the AFC. He isn't explosive off the ball and his hand usage and technique need some major refinement. That said can he play the run, set the edge, funnel things inside and even make some tackles for loss in the backfield? Yes, I think he can." My take on the guys this year in summary: Kincaid - I like him. Think he is a very good receiver, very fluid, excellent hands and he should be one of the better receiving tight ends in the league. Don't ask him to block, he can't, and slow the roll slightly on the Kelce comparisons. I see him more as Zach Ertz. A big receiver playing as a slot tight end who will have 6-8 good years in the NFL, a couple of 1,000 yard seasons very possible. Torrence - Was slightly surprised the Bills took him. Didn't think he was their 'type' in terms of play style though it is hard to be sure exactly what their style is on the OL given they have mixed and matched a fair bit. I also don't love IOL in round two, and I should make that point, but I do think the player represented good value at that spot and given my take on this past draft (I didn't think was a great class all around) I was less bothered by positional value than normally. I think he has had a great pre-season, expect him to be an above average starter as a rookie and down the line he could be a pro bowl level guard. Williams - Like him. Thought the Bills took him right about where he should go, late 3rd. But I said straight away I think really he is more of an outside guy than a MIKE. That makes projecting him for the Bills long term tricky. I think his best spot is going to be manned by Milano for the foreseeable. But if he finds a way onto the field he will be a good starter. I didn't have a strong view on Shorter, Austin or Broeker. I really haven't watched much if anything of their college tape and they didn't get the most run in pre-season. I think the history of size and speed types like Shorter who haven't made it in college suddenly making it in the NFL is pretty thin... he'd have to be a bit of a unicorn to turn it around, but I don't totally write him off. The other two got claimed and are no longer Bills. Wish them well.

Because a well run organisation and a good team are different.