GunnerBill

I stick by what I said pre-season. He is Austin Ekeler playing receiver. He runs routes a bit like a back in that it isn't about precision and getting to a spot it's about finding space, and then when he has the ball in his hands it is using his low centre of gravity and his natural contact balance to be slippery and tough for defenders to get down.

Let me start with my projection. I know there is one game left (not sure how much he will play) but that is pretty spot on in terms of yards and TDs. He is at 821 and 4 TDs. He's done it on slightly more targets and receptions than I thought. We all knew his yards per reception would fall as his volume increased but I didn't quite account enough for that.... so 100 catches, 76 receptions to get to 821 and 4. Then in terms of my rationale I think point 1 has rung true to a large extent. Shakir has played 61% of our offensive snaps. He missed one game, so that plays a part, but he has been off the field a ton in big personnel packages which have been lots of 12, not necessarily the way I envisioned it, it has been more Anderson as a 6th lineman nominal 'jumbo tight end' rather than lots of Knox and Kincaid. But my general theory this was not the Daboll Bills offense that was gonna be in 75% 11 personnel has been correct. Point 2 has been less true. I think Josh has been more patient and Brady has designed the offense and the game plan in a way to allow Josh to still feel like he is being aggressive while showing patience and he has played his best ball. So has Khalil Shakir arrived? Yes I think he has. I think this is who he is. Could he have a 1,000 yard season somewhere in his career? My view hasn't changed on that - he could. But he isn't going to be a regular 1,000 yard receiver. He is much more of a guy who will live in that 750-900 yards range for the most part. That isn't a knock. It isn't a criticism. We should be celebrating a 5th round pick who we think turns into that sort of consistent contributor to the offense, not holding up 1,000 yards as some sort of arbitrary test of whether he is any good or not.

Sure. Sunday was a significant step forward for him though. He moved better in coverage and he was more decisive attacking his gaps in the run game. Sue he missed the tackle on Adams on the crosser but that is a darn difficult play for any linebacker. Hopefully we get something resembling the real Matt Milano from hereon in. We will need it.

The interior Dline is on Brandon Beane. 100%.

You don't get that moment without the drought. In life, and often in sport, you gotta go through the bad times to appreciate the good.

Why do I? I think I have been right. Good rush on Sunday though. I am not against giving him credit where it is due. But in terms of real impact on the season... has he made any? He still has a chance to do so in the playoffs. Here's hoping.

Yea the first half Sunday was worse than the scoreboard for sure. The Jets missed some chances, made the bonehead run up the gut on 4th and 1 call, and struggled a bit with pass pro. But I do give the Bills credit for the two splash plays Groot and Epenesa made. They were both legit good plays but they were talent wins rather than scheme wins. The D was a bit better 2nd half. Oliver slammed down on their run game early 3rd and once they got the Jets into a dropback game the Bills killed them. But if the Detroit game was an example of the Bills D playing better than the scoreboard suggested, this was definitely the opposite. The one positive that the all22 reinforced to me is that this was the first game since his return we got something resembling the real Matt Milano. He was good. As for changes after the season, I am never a change for the sake of change guy. You have to drill down into what isn't working. I'd want to add some experience to the staff. First timers at DC, DL, DB all at the same time plus a new (although experienced LB) LB coach has been a lot of churn and too much learning on the job. Steve Wilks is a name I'd keep an eye on. Succeeded McDermott as DC in Carolina. A highly qualified DB coach, brings some experience to the party. I expect he will want to interview for DC jobs first but if he comes up empty I'd love them to add him to the staff. Then in terms of players, they have to start right up the middle. The defensive tackles have been bad. Took until December to get Ed Oliver into form, Daquan Jones is washed. Carter showed flashes pre-injury but nothing since, Austin Johnson's bad and bringing back Phillips and Jefferson was desperation. That unit needs yet another remake on Beane's watch. They will have a hole at corner opposite Benford. Douglas's play this year has been more who I think he is that who those who loved the trade (and to bs fair were proven right last season) think he is. And then Safety my thoughts are well known. None of the guys they have are better than replacement level starters. They gotta hope Bishop kicks on in year 2. Those three areas are all priorities in terms of offseason planning. There are question marks at linebacker and that is where I think you might just want to tweak the scheme. I feel like McDermott had Bernard doing more attacking in 2023 and Babich has him doing more read and react which suits him less well. They need to look at what they have - where is Bernard at, where is Milano at and where are you with the Dorain Williams project. And then work out how best to use what you have there I think. I don't want them plunging resource there because I think they have pieces if not the perfect ones for the puzzle they are trying to construct. Reshape the puzzle to make your pieces fit. That's coaching. I suspect Babich gets another year but he will start 2025 on the hotseat IMO. He has to get better. I know for a fact Sean McDermott will not be happy with a 31st ranked 3rd down defense. I think they need to add some fresh eyes from outside. Not just to add the experience I talked about above but to just add a different perspective. Remember when Sean started and hired Leslie they had common history in the Jim Johnson scheme but Leslie had other experiences as well with Dungy and the Tampa 2 scheme and was able to mesh his concepts together to build an excellent defense. Babich, apart from a couple of years in Cleveland with Ray Horton as DC and then Pettine's crew, has been in this system his entire coaching life. I think he is bright, he is smart, he is well regarded around the league. But when things go south does he have enough to draw on? He certainly lack patience for my tastes.

I think Cook will play too. He is about 30 yards short of 1,000 and one touchdown short of OJ's record. They will give him a quarter I reckon to achieve those.

Yep. Exactly the same play is the standout for me.

The difference between this and the Dorsey reign is night and day. I also think this thread is hyperbolic nonsense by the way, but Joe Brady is streets ahead of Ken Dorsey as an OC. Brady is a really good offensive mind. Dorsey was just a guy here calling plays. Josh is the most important man to this offense, of course he is. Quarterback always matters most. But Brady is the second most important.

I think that's spot on as to his defensive philosophy. Unfortunately this season it isn't working so well. On defense at the moment the total is not greater than the sum of the parts the way it has been in previous seasons. They have made as many mental errors in the last month or so as in some entire seasons previously. Their fundamentals are way below their usual standard.

I agree a Cincy - Bills game comes down to a shootout because neither D is any good. But I give the Bills a strong coaching advantage.

I think most of the people wanting Denver are looking at it in that McDermott has a pretty good record vs rookie QBs. Even the couple of times he has lost to them it was the New England wind game where Jones threw 3 passes and the loss in Jax to Lawrence where we didn't give up a touchdown.

Yea I have to say "Josh is holding the ball a ton" is not a thought I've had this year.

They were given up because the O and STs kept throwing up over themselves.

Taylor is safe now IMO. The Bengals don't wanna pay him off. It'd have had to be bad for them to do that. And 9-8 isn't bad enough.

Fair enough if I confused what you said with someone else I apologise.

You have said we have got good players on defense. I think in some areas, sure. In others, no.

Who is conducting these interviews? They were briefing "GM first, no matter what" two weeks ago. Suppose Rivera is a Rooney Rule qualifier. So that could be part of it.

I am not sure that is my conclusion. I'm really not. I don't think the underlying scheme and approach are the problem. I don't think it is being coached well enough, called well enough or executed well enough this year. I disagree with you on how talented the defense is. I think we have some spots where we are good enough and others where we are not.

First of all Sean doesn't run the draft. Second of all Elam was their guy all along. Third of all Hall went like a full round before Cook so whether they wanted him is not really that relevant (and they got the better player in any event). Bullard is the guy who went just before Bishop. I can imagine he was of interest, but he has mainly been playing nickel for Green Bay.

They did. But I never said that was my gold standard. Where did you get that from? I just corrected an incorrect statement.

I think the second sentence is definitely true.

He had a bad drive. The defense sucked all 2nd half. That game was not on Lamar.

Chiefs are resting everyone. Take it from me. They want no piece of the Bengals in the post season. Andy might start himself at Quarterback. I'd make the Bills favourites but not by much. It would be a very losable game. Both defenses are struggling big time so it would likely be a shootout.