GunnerBill

I just have a hunch the Bills are gonna play really well tonight.

I remember early last year there was a presser where suddenly after being complimentary of him just randomly both McDermott and Brady this one week were critical. I said it then and I stand by it.... Keon had some off the field issue that week. Rule breaking of some kind.

Yep, suppose that's fair.

Yep, wanting rid of Baker was Stefanski, being obsessed with Watson was Haslam. And yep, Stefanksi's game and clock management are awful. I made this point yesterday when people were shouting for him as a replacement for McDermott. I do think Stefanski can coach. He is a good offensive play designer. He has also been smart enough to hire a top DC and then give him control of the defense. But I think he is really a good OC masquerading as a Head Coach.

I'm not sure misjudging traffic caused by normal business is a legit excuse, but unexpected traffic such as that caused by a major accident is legit.

This is the best offense they have had in a number of years. Once Rice is back especially. Hollywood, Worthy, Rice, JuJu and Thornton is their best wide receiving corps of the Mahomes era, even if it isn't quite like having prime age elite Hill and Kelce as they did 4 or 5 years ago.

As Chan Gailey once said: "plays are more fun than fundamentals, but fundamentals are more important than plays." Miami is a team that has been way too focussed on the Xs and Os and not on the details and culture that foster winning football.

It is what DaCosta does. He takes the best player available in round one regardless of positional value. If you are mad at Starks you have to be mad at Linderbaum and Hamilton too. Otherwise it is a definite example of Monday Morning Quarterbacking.

Yea the Ravens are toast. They lost all thwir best guys pretty much inside 3 games. Any NFL team in that position is toast. But it is fair to say their roster is not built for depth.

Not when you are against the cap. Its all choices.

Yea I think Maye is good. The Pats are not ready to contend for the division this year. And I'd still make the Bills favourites in Gillette. But they are on the way. Another good offseason they are a proper contender.

My other half only allowed me to watch the final 4 minutes. Thank heavens.

Because the coach is absolutely clueless.

They 100% should have tried the kick. They should have run Hall on 3rd down and kicked.

Yea that was NOT a good throw. @Gugny was right. He should be 1 and done. Hopeless beyond belief.

I don't think him being "bigger" has anything to do with the injuries. I think that IS too negative to try and draw conclusions. It is totally fair though to say that LaPorta has been more productive and would not have cost them a trade up pick.

Meh. Settle was pretty rubbish in Houston last year. He graded out terribly - especially in run defense - and while he did get 5 sacks that was clean up duty playing between two top tier edge guys. I think this is more just a guy having a career year so far this year. That happens from time to time where a guy who is career average just has a year where everything clicks.

I was a fan of both guys coming out. Same class I think (one we took Groot in)?

Fans should absolutely analyse parts of the team that are and are not looking good. I think that is slightly different than catastrophising doom and there has been an element of that the past few days. Just the same as the team wasn't bound for the Superbowl at 4-0 the sky is also not falling at 4-1. What is the most frustrating element of this season for me so far is the two things that were major weaknesses on last year's roster - the secondary (save for Benford last year and right now he is not playing well) and the outside receivers - are exactly the same this year. They get a bit of a mulligan on the secondary with regards to their first round pick being hurt, however.... the two worst position groups on last year's roster - safety and receiver were largely ignored. I don't think we were ever losing to the Saints or Dolphins personally, they just weren't talented enough to make the Bills pay for sleepwalking through those games at different points. The Patriots are a better team than both of them though. They will be a playoff contender - an 8 to 10 win team.... and they were talented enough to make an underwhelming Bills team that made major mistakes pay. Atlanta this week are in a similar bracket for me. A borderline playoff type team who if the Bills don't play well and execute in key moments can catch them out. Let's hope the performance is better.

Possibly. At this stage I am more inclined to just put it down to a bad day. He definitely did not call the game to maximise our advantages. Which were definitely middle of the field vs those linebackers. And when we did we marched down the field. It bears watching for a pattern, sure, but I just think he called a poor game Sunday. When he has done that previously he has always bounced back the next week. I expect the Bills to have a really good offensive display on Monday.

I started the all22 yesterday - but didn't get very far into the second half.... I think your summary of the first half in particular and the criticism of Brady is right. The middle of the field was the Bills advantage all night and every time they attacked there - it worked. Unfortunately it felt like they had come in with this plan to try and attack the boundary and the edges and for some reason took way too long (until that penultimate drive and the Keon TD) to get away from it - that drive was almost all middle of the field and we marched.

This is very true. There are a lot of people here who would be willing to move on from Beane as the cost for moving on from McDermott. I think by the end of this season I may well be in the opposite camp. I haven't been in favour of firing either of them to this point, but with the 12 major moves Beane made in the spring/summer looking (other than Cook) questionable at best I'm starting to lean towards you have to move on from Beane and if the cost is you move on from McDermott too then so be it.

In what way would you describe him as being "solid"?

And of those only Houston was even arguably a team of comparable standard. The way this latest one is different is I was at the London game and Josh sucked, and Houston last year Josh sucked. He threw a bad pick on Monday and didn't play his best game by any stretch but he didn't suck. Previously it has taken Josh playing really poorly to lose those games. The worry is this roster lost with Josh playing okay. Their secondary is a major, major issue right now. I think if you told anyone before the year Benford was gonna play as poorly as he has that would have been entirely predictable.

Beane runs the draft. He is in charge of personnel. I have that on very good authority from people inside the organisation (or previously inside I should say, both are now elsewhere). McDermott has a big say in the type of team they want to build and the profile of person they want, but the individual selections of FAs and draft picks... that is Brandon Beane. McDermott and the coaches will watch some film and give their input after the scouts grade as is normal right across the NFL. But when it comes to setting the board and executing a draft strategy and picks that is Brandon Beane and Sean McDermott has total faith in him doing it. And I have made this point many times but if you look at the way the Bills draft, the positions the prioritise and the positions they don't it breaks down in very similar percentages to the way the Panthers drafted under Hurney and Gettleman who Beane learned from. Lots of defensive front seven, above average investment in running backs, way below average investment in wide receivers and no offensive linemen in round 1.