GunnerBill

Yea I'm completely the other way. I think Douglas has been average at best this year. I'm ready to give Elam a prolonged audition these next 2 or 3 weeks, knowing I can go back to Douglas in the post season if I need to. But Kaiir gives me an ability when I want to play more man which they have recently (Bills man defense % the past two weeks is way up) and might want to do some in the playoffs. I worry about Bishop being beat deep. I do think he was better in his run fits compared to the Houston game, and he tackled well. But I don't think he knows the D and I think teams would just try and throw over the top of him a ton. And I come back to the issue with a Bishop - Rapp combo. They are both guys who really wanna be in the box more than in centre field.

Bernard - 9 targets, 7 receptions, 158 yards Elam - 7 targets, 5 receptions, 56 yards Spector - 4 targets, 4 receptions, 48 yards Lewis - 4 targets, 3 receptions, 42 yards Johnson - 9 targets, 5 receptions, 39 yards Milano - 5 targets, 3 receptions, 34 yards Benford - 5 targets, 3 receptions, 31 yards Bishop - 2 targets, 2 receptions, 27 yards And then a few minor yards against others.

Yea. I had to fight against the masses pre-season when I was telling people they were too good even with a question mark at QB to end up with a top 10 pick and that the Bills would not be getting a pick in the late 30s as a result of the Diggs trade.

Yep. Playing Saturday Wednesday on a bum ankle would be reckless in the extreme. If it was the Bills I would 100% want them to sit him v Houston and see how he is by Pittsburgh.

I don't know in detail what those changes were, no. But I know Leslie signed up to them, reflected on it and changed his mind and it was his decision to walk away. He did not feel like he was pushed out even if you believe McDermott calculated it so that he would. Leslie is a great guy, he is also a fantastic coach. I'd hire him as a DC tomorrow if I was a first time Head Coach. I know he is Assistant Head Coach rather than DC in Seattle but the fact that Mike Macdonald who is a really clever young coach went straight out and got him speaks volumes. You will not find a bigger Leslie Frazier fan than me as a human being or as a coach.

I did not vote in the poll for that exact reason.

See the only one of those that I think is odd is the Amari Cooper snap count. I know they like Coleman and Hollins in their big packages because of their blocking, and they did use a lot of two tight end. But he is your best receiver. I imagine partly gameplan but bears watching. The other decisions all make sense to me.

I have it from as close as possible to the horses mouth - Leslie walked. Totally his choice. They had discussed making some changes to the defense and he originally signed up then took his week off and changed his mind.

I'm not old enough to have seen either of the other two. But I suspect the right answer is Josh in any event.

Yea the St Brown play is a great play by the QB and WR and Lewis taking a bad angle coming up from safety. It isn't on Bishop. Bishop got beat deep by Williams on a ball that should have been caught, albeit it was coming back for an OL hold in any event.

Yea Willis is 2-0. I'm pretty sure the Bills could beat Indy and Tennessee even if they had to play a backup. We were dreadful for a half against Tennessee as an entire team and only trying for 30 minutes blew them out. Of course the W/L delta with Josh is higher than with any other QB right now because he is the best Quarterback in football. That STILL doesn't make it "entirely Josh Allen."

Because it allows you to not have to apply the same formation and blocking rules that now apply to the normal kickoff. The on side kick is a victim of the gimmicky solution to the kick off problem.

He was 4 from 4 for 36 against Elam. Which isn't nothing, but it wasn't where he ate. He ate by Ben Johnson getting him matched up on linebackers - primarily Bernard who he destroyed. He is actually decent in the dime role. That is the common denominator. When he was struggling early in the year he was playing nickel and then this week he was playing safety. I think when he is out there as a regular piece of the D teams can work out how the Bills are using him and then find a matchup they like against him. That's much harder when he is playing just in spots as a dime. And he has made some plays in that role.

No it wouldn't. We know Quarterbacks have the single biggest impact on outcomes in the NFL. That is baked into the position. For as great as St Brown and Sewell are (and they are legit elite players) you could have taken them off the Lions on Sunday and replaced them with "any halfway decent" tackle and slot receiver and the Lions still play a close game with the Bills. Replace Jared Goff and they don't. And Allen's value above replacement is higher than Goff's, no question about that. But Quarterbacks impact football games more than anyone else. When you have a good one they are the irreplaceable part. When you have a great one that is even more evident. Vegas understands this because injuries only move the betting line when it's Quarterback. But it doesn't prove that the Bills are entirely Josh Allen any more than it proves that the Packers are entirely Jordan Love or the Bengals are entirely Joe Burrow or whatever other example you want to give. And Allen is the best player in the league. He obviously moves the needle more than anyone else. Oh and the other person who needs factoring in is Joe Brady. Because we saw the impact on Josh when we downgraded to Dorsey at coordinator. And the impact of upgrading again.

That actually isn't what people are arguing. Because there has never been any dispute that we don't win Sunday without Josh Allen. We don't beat the Chiefs without Josh Allen. Even if you replace him with a good QB like Goff. I have said that repeatedly. The hyperbole has all been on the other side of this debate.

I have said all along we don't win Sunday without Josh. But we don't win without the other things on your list above either. Ergo - not entirely Josh. Unless you want to redefine "entirely" as meaning "single biggest contributory factor." The single biggest contributory factor to the win was obviously Josh Allen. Are we good enough around Josh to beat the other top teams in the NFL without him pulling his cape on 4 or 5 times a game? No. Is that partly because when you begun having cap charges of over $30m a year on your QB that is just your lot? To an extent, sure. Is it partly the thing we have talked about ad nauseum about having lots and lots of good players but only 1 great player? Yep. Yea the Bills are not a 5 win team with Jared Goff. He is a really good Quarterback. Are they an 11 win team that looks like being a 13 or 14 win team, no. But the Bills are still a playoff team with Jared Goff. If the comparator is Kirk Cousins maybe the Bills win 7 or 8 games. If it's Bryce Young they probably only have a win or two more than Carolina does with him.

The mini movie has an even better view. Not only does Bates get there early he rakes Taron's facemack and tries to pull his head off while he is trying to field the ball. Yea... I'd have been pissed had the Lions recovered. Blatant foul.

No. That isn't the take. The Bills yesterday were not entirely Josh Allen. That's the take. Hasn't changed at all since this started. The Bills had three elite performances yesterday. Josh Allen's was the most important because an elite QB is always the most important piece you can have in the NFL. Buy those other elite performances had big impacts on the game, as did the really good playcalling. Does Josh put the cape on more than other NFL QBs? Yes. Because he can and they can't. That also is not in dispute.

It isn't silly semantics. It is the literal meaning of the words. I mean of you want to pretend words mean things other than what they mean, go ahead. But don't expect everyone else to just fall in line.

PFF

It was mainly Bernard actually. St Brown was 4 for 4 matched against Elam but only for 38 yards. Bernard gave up 158 yards on 9 targets.

Elam, yes. Bishop, not yet sold.

That was a fantastic Josh play. Nobody is questioning that he does that. Or that there are almost no other humans in the world that can do it. He makes 5-10 of those plays every week. And yet that still isn't proof that it is entirely Josh. That, and only that, is the point I have disputed constantly through this thread. There is zero dispute that Josh is the best player in the league.

I hope not, because that's the job I could see Joe Brady taking. I'm pulling for Cincy to finish 9-8 and miss out.

I don't see "send me to Seattle." I see "I'm pissed" and when Taylor responds him saying "eff that". Then I do think there might be a "trade me" in there, but I don't see any mention of Seattle.