GunnerBill

I don't love the status quo. But I don't see a better solution. And until I am persuaded there is a better alternative I'd be minded to stick with what we have.

I don't think they will rest key guys from the off but if the Bills jumped out to a lead I could totally see them going into self-preservation mode. It's a "take the ball" game if you win the toss for me. Try and get out to a start and see how much Miami wants to win the division with their beat up players. EDIT: equally in a world where the Jags have lost and the Bills are already in I'd say the same about us. Play while it is a tight game. But if Miami is up two scores mid 3rd Qrtr... pull our guys.

If the only options are he plays on his current deal or we cut him that is a really obvious decision. You cut him. But they are not the only two options. I think the Bills should and will try and find a way to do a pay cut deal with Tre. Then it comes down to what does he want to do. There are reasons to believe that it is in his interests to be here in 2024.

I disagree. But I also think how productive Johnson has been is overstated. But this should be for Murray. Who has had a great career but looks every inch his 107 years old at the moment.

Playing the run is not a strength, agreed. But his biggest weakness is his transitions. Always has been. It is why he excels in man coverage and struggles in what should be the comparatively easier discipline of playing zone. You have to be able to go from dropping to attacking in an instant and he can't. His long limbs kinda get in his own way.

They are. But only moderately. They are still a bottom 3rd of the league Oline. Otherwise.... I wouldn't swap McDermott for Taylor. And sure, they drafted Chase 5th overall. They also drafted Higgins 33rd overall. Give them credit for those two picks. But their last six day 1 and 2 picks have been defense. I think your perception that they have prioritised offense massively more than Buffalo is slightly off.

I mean the Bengals have thrown more money at their oline than the Bills and this year got worse results up front. Where else does this investment you speak of show up? It isn't in their receivers - all 3 of those guys were draft picks. And on "the Bills need to draft receivers higher" no arguments. I have been draggin Brandon Beane for that for 3 years.

Allen is the main reason the Bills are a Superbowl threat every single year. But down the stretch here it hasn't been Superman Josh and 21 guys. They have turned their season around through really strong team performances particularly on defense and they have ran the ball well. The passing game has been the bit that has been lagging behind. It isn't nitpicking. It is honest analysis of what the Bills have put on film.

They did have a 2nd year safety they spent a 1st round pick on ready to step in, which factored into that decision.

Not all on Allen at all. But there is a narrative that is being attempted here that none of the passing game struggles are on Josh. And they are. It is all parts. Separation hasn't been great against man. Protection has had difficult games against KC and New England. The drops have been drive killers. But there have been bad reads, slow decisions and poor throws (including throws fired in at short quarters unnecessarily) that have contributed too. Everyone on that side needs to play better tomorrow and in the playoffs. And as always on offense it starts with your Quarterback.

You get DPI on deep shots mostly. And we haven't thrown that many that have been super close to connecting. That plays into that number significantly. Their offensive line is still good G-C-G but their tackle play this year has been garbage

And over the last month the worst in the NFL when not under pressure.

Well we don't have a DC. We have an interim OC and everyone knows our ST coordinator is out of his depth. Not shocked there is no Bill on the list.

Sorry what is the story here?

Cam Lewis is their 4th safety.

As I said earlier in the thread, even if he is held to 0 yards on Sunday Kincaid's was the 14th best rookie TE season OF ALL TIME. The problem was some people thought they were getting year 9 Travis Kelce right off the bat and that was never happening. He never even crossed my radar. He got an invite to the Senior Bowl and I watched the game but I don't remember seeing him once. Fair play to the Rams though for drafting him in the 5th. I think he was probably more like a Priority Free Agent type for most teams.

Yea agreed. I do think the Bills have some leverage to re-negotiate though. They are on the hook for $10m of dead cap already paid that they have to account for somewhere, but there is no guaranteed new money on Tre's deal. So they can offer him some guarantees for him lowering his overall number. There is an incentive for both sides to do that deal. I think it is 60/40 that Tre is back, but it won't be on the current contract as it stands.

Ah the game where the Dolphins had literally one drive over 38 yards. Josh Allen contributed more to their points than Skyler Thompson did.

I disagree with this to an extent.... but it was very small sample size. He was very good week 3 at Washington and then I'd argue week 4 vs the Dolphins was one of Tre's best 3 games as a Buffalo Bill. He was absolutely lock down in that game. But I agree that last season and even the first couple of games of this we hadn't seen close to the pre-ACL White. But I honestly think that is why he was so upset when the achilles happened - he knew those last two games were finally the real Tre White it had taken him so long to feel like that and he got less than two full games to enjoy it before another bad injury.

My mate who is a huge Jags fan (one of the few London Jags that pre-dates them playing here) is terrified about this game. Says that if the Titans bring it the Jags will crumble as they have zero ability to beat physical football teams. I haven't watched much Jags football this year to know if he is right.

Agree with everything you have said. The way I'd sum it up in a sentence is: We have been used to 'Josh Allen Experience' games in the past but this has been a 'Josh Allen Experience' season.

Agree although a healthy, but slower Tre White would be a candidate for a move to safety IMO. Achilles injury is tough. Because more so than the ACL it really affects explosiveness which for a zone corner is a possible issue. If you are getting Tre back and he is healthy but he is a tick slower because he doesn't have the same explosion I am interested in whether they'd consider him at safety. But I will caveat all of that with the only way Tre is back is if he is willing to take a pay cut. If he still wants to play football his best chance of being a good player again is on this team where he knows the scheme inside out, knows the coaches and knows his teammates. The only new guaranteed money for Tre on his current deal are the $1.5m roster bonuses which guarantee early in the league year in 2024 and 2025. So the Bills have leverage to discuss a new contract with him. They have to account for $10.3m of money that he has already been paid, but if they gave him say $6m of new guarantees in exchange for cutting in half his base salaries the next two seasons (from $8m to $4m in 2024 and from $10m to $5m in 2025)... which would mean his cap hits come down to $12m and $11m rather than $16m and the Bills would still have a pretty easy out after 2024 (probably for circa $6m rather than the $4m it is now) then I could see a route where he comes back. We'd be essentially asking him to give up $9m in possible earnings for the guarantee of $6m in new money and a chance to re-stablish himself in a place he feels comfortable.

No. Safety is more of a reaction position. You can be more of a protaganist at corner and particularly in a man scheme get away with not being as smooth in those transitions because the job is run with your guy and once he gets in stride Elam is capable of playing sticky coverage. It is true though that zone coverage rather highlights his weakness even at corner. I never felt like he was a natural scheme fit for the Bills. Still an odd pick to me.

Yea the only year I felt the Bills were running on fumes was last year. I don't feel that this year at all. In fact the defense has been flying about the past few weeks like men possessed. The issue at the moment isn't fumes. It is execution on offense.

I think this version of Alabama did extremely well to make the final four. It was one of Saban's best coaching jobs IMO.