Logic

48 points, 0 targets for Cooper. And ya know what? It's fine. Last week he was a big part of the offensive success. This week, he was not. At least not in a tangible way. I'd have to watch the All-22 to know if he was commanding extra defensive attention. But the Bills, by acquiring him, were not saying "you're going to be the new focal point of our offense". They've shown that they're going to stick to their "everybody eats" mantra, spread the ball around, and there will be a new offensive hero every week. Even Khalil Shakir was not All-World against the Lions. He had a good day, but not a great one. Coleman had ONE catch. Instead, we had big plays by Cook, Johnson, Davis, Knox, Kincaid. In fact, reading that list back, it seems clear to me: The Bills felt they could exploit the Lions' linebackers. And exploit them they did. Cooper or no, everybody eats. Prime Jerry Rice could walk through the door tomorrow, and I still think: "everybody eats". It's why Brady's offense is working so well right now and why Josh is playing so free. He can just execute the gameplan and find the open man and not have to massage any egos. It's working.

As I saw on Twitter last night: The Bills scored 48 points and didn't target Amari Cooper a single time. Simply amazing. As one of the most outspokenly irritated and flummoxed people on this forum all offseason with regard to the receiver room: Holy *****. What else can I say about this offensive production? Just....holy *****.

I'm with Kyle Brandt. It was the Lions admitting they knew they couldn't stop the Bills offense. It was them saying "we have a better chance at recovering an onsides kick than we do at stopping the Bills from scoring".

I get your point, but I respectfully disagree. Josh Allen has been doubted, ridiculed, laughed at, and insulted his entire career. He has had to fight, claw, and scrap to get where he is. You all already know the story -- the no college offers, the 1,000 letters he wrote, the "if Josh Allen succeeds, he will have outsmarted basically all regular humans and the entirety of math itself" article, all of it -- so I won't go into more detail on it. But make no mistake: If we're talking about legacy, if we're talking about going down as an all-time great and a first ballot Hall of Famer, Josh Allen DOES need to win an MVP award. He absolutely does. Not only does he need it for his legacy, but he deserves to win it. For the work he puts in, for the way he has transformed this franchise, for the way he lifts up an entire region, for all the good he does in the community. He deserves it. Aside from needing the award to help cement his legacy, and deserving the award, I also just WANT him to win it. He's a good, kind, funny, genuine, selfless, awesome person and an All-World golden retriever lumberjack space alien with a howitzer for an arm, and *****, I want him to have an MVP on his resume. So yeah...I get it. It's all about a Lombardi. I'm sure Josh Allen would say the same thing, and I'm sure coach McDermott would say the same thing. But I, as a fan, don't have to say the same thing. I can admit it: I WANT JOSH ALLEN TO WIN THE MVP AWARD. I want it badly.

Well...when are you suggesting to rest them, exactly? Certainly not for the last three games of the season? That would be insane. Either way, I'm not resting anybody right now. The Bills are so in sync, so in tune, playing so well, and in such a groove, that I'm not doing anything at all to disrupt that chemistry. Nope. Further, Josh Allen deserves to win his first MVP. He deserves it. I'm not taking away his chance to do so by resting starters or resting HIM until at least the last game, and preferably on the second half of that game. Play your guys. Fight for seeding. IF, in the last week of the season, there is nothing to play for, you can rest them then. Not a minute before.

All that's really on my mind today is this offense and this quarterback. There were tons of things about the game that mattered. Those first. - Getting off to a fast start was HUGE - Ed Oliver (most pressures by a DT in a single game this season) and others collapsing the pocket in the first half - Run defense came to PLAY! When was the last time you remember Gibbs/Montgomery being bottled up like that?! - Johnson and Knox making fingertip catches on slightly overthrown balls in two HUGE moments. If one or both don't succeed, it's possible the Bills lose. Game of inches. - Offensive line showed up. After our running game was completely stymied last week, this week, our guys were ripping off six yard runs with ease - Three-headed running back stable is very good. Each offer something different - Speaking of which, a special shoutout again to Ty Johnson. As Josh Allen said: "Best third down back in the league". Sounds crazy, but is it? - Hats off to Kaiir Elam. Not a perfect game, but he was not a liability out there. Acquitted himself well - Good thing the team got off to a fast start, because our MASH unit defense was just barely hanging on by the end - Joe Brady was an another level. He used the QB run the most effectively I've seen it used all season, and the Lions D was on its heels all game - Loved how aggressive McDermott/Brady/Allen were at the end of the game on offense. Elite coaching there - You just knew early on that this was gonna be one of THOSE games for Josh. Historic stuff But all of that said -- the defense being amazing and then having to hang by the skin of their teeth, the high degree of difficulty on the fingertip grabs, the play by both lines, the onsides kicks, etc, etc -- it still all comes back to this QB and this offense. The Bills, with eight straight games of 30+ points have joined elite offensive company. The Greatest Show on Turf Rams, the Brady/Moss Pats, the Manning Broncos....and the 2024 Buffalo Bills. That's the list. It is not hyperbole at this point to say this at least MAY BE the greatest offensive season in Bills history. Certainly Brady is playing a big part in that. Certainly our offensive line and Kromer are playing a big part in that. Certainly our unselfish group of skill players are doing their share. But the main reason for it? We all know. It's #17. The greatest quarterback and, I would say, greatest overall football player on planet earth right now. He's on another level. He's the MVP. He's the catalyst for this absolute juggernaut of an offense. With this QB playing this way, and with this offense scoring at the frenetic pace that it is...they can beat any team in the league. They have ALREADY beat the best team in the NFC and the "best" team in the AFC. They've just gotta stay reasonably healthy and keep it up. If they do? It is not unreasonable at all to suggest they have what it takes to hoist the Lombardi.

As I've seen pointed out elsewhere: This is a PARTICULARLY egregious situation, because of the specifics of that 49ers team. Ward coming back after the death of his daughter. Trent Williams coming back after the death of his son. Multiple guys battling injury to get onto the field. An absolute MUST-HAVE game against a division opponent. This is different than retiring at halftime early in the season. This was BAD. The 49ers are right to cut ties with him immediately, and the only reason he hasn't been cut yet is that Shanahan says they're working through it to evaluate all their options (suspension vs release, contract money related things). Whether or not Campbell realizes it, he likely just put an end to his NFL playing career.

Ah, okay. THAT I can get on board with. Sorry, I misunderstood. Seeing Oregon in the Big 10 is still so weird to me...

Breaking: already great team gets elite players back just in time for the Bills game. The more things change...

College football has always been a game where the universities exploited free labor to make obscene amounts of money. Now, at least the labor gets to get in on the money-making. Considering that only 1.6% of college players make it to the NFL, I hope they all get AS MUCH as they can WHILE they can, whether it be via transfer portal, NIL deals, whatever. Enough with asking young men to place their bodies, brains, and long term health on the line for free. So rather than viewing the game as entering a new era dictated by greed, I view it as top universities -- if they want to continue to attract talent the way the used to be able to -- being required to distribute some of their football-earned wealth to the young men who actually brought it to them to begin with. I do not fault the players one bit for seeking every last penny they can get their hands on.

This is an outstanding post. Posts like this are what make this forum such a great place to be, and one which -- at times -- can provide tremendous insight and new ways of looking at things. I read, watched, and listened to analysis of the game both before and after it took place, and nowhere else do I remember hearing the tidbits about Lafleur and Shula. Thank you. Great stuff!

Indeed. On the other hand, the 49ers defense that gave up five touchdowns and 35 points to the Bills only gave up 4 FGs and 12 points to the Rams. It goes both ways. Football is a matchups-based game, and for multiple reasons, the Rams' style of offense proved to be a bad matchup for the Bills' style of defense. I'd say I wished we had played more tight man coverage like the 49ers did, but even when we tried that later in the game, the Rams smoked us. C'est la vie.

Welp... When it comes to my fantasy football playoff matchup, Cooper Kupp ***** me in the ass without buying me dinner first. Rude.

My only real reaction to hearing from Terry is that my heart breaks for him. The stuff about missing seeing Kim bake cookies for everyone prior to gamedays...just thinking about the entire situation, and how in the blink of an eye, his life changed forever. It's just really sad. My heart goes out to him. Tell your loved ones that you love them. Take a deep breath and be grateful for your health and that of your loved ones.

GO HEART TRANSPLANTS!

It's hard to pull off without a lot of hurt feelings. Just shake hands with Mr President to an old Ursula Andress picture and call it a night. Way less hassle.

Not a fan. I think I can tell you the main reasons why: First, they are always held on a Sunday afternoon. I'm sorry, but I spend five out of seven days a week with these people and now you want me to come in one of my two free days to spend MORE time with them? Second, no alcohol is served. Wait a second...so you want me to give up some of my rare free time to hang out with my co-workers AND you want me to be sober as a judge when doing it? Lastly, I work at a hotel that has lots of banquet space and holds lots of banquets. As such, our Christmas party is held AT our hotel, serving food MADE by our hotel kitchen. So just to recap: I'm coming in to my actual workplace on my day off, eating the same sort of food I get fed in the employee cafeteria all week, and not getting to drink a drop of alcohol? Nah. No sir. Not me. The possibility of winning an air fryer or a new set of pots and pans in the Christmas raffle isn't enough to cancel all of that out. Hold it on a weeknight in which we're all already at work, get it catered with food we don't already eat all the time, and let us drink. THEN maybe I'll be excited to come. As currently constructed? Hard pass.

An interesting thing I saw on Twitter, but have since lost, and do not know how/where to verify: All three teams that beat us this year are in the top 10 of the NFL in usage of condensed sets on offense. Condensed sets specifically seem to give our defense a lot of trouble. The bad news, if this is true? The Lions are 4th in the NFL in usage of condensed sets on offense.

Agreed. This is absolutely, 100% the final chance Elam is going to have with this team. The thinking has been that they've kept him because he had a really good Summer, and the only reason he hasn't been playing is that he didn't beat out Benford or Douglas. Okay, well....Douglas now appears set to miss a game. Soooo.... I have understood Elam's being gameday inactive up until now because Ingram plays special teams and Elam really doesn't. But special teams aren't what we need this Sunday if Douglas is out -- good cornerback play is. If they really, truly feel that undrafted Ja'Marcus Ingram is the superior option at boundary corner, then why is Elam even still on the roster? If he can't get on the field for special teams OR defense, then why use a roster spot on him? Is he really SO bad that they won't even use him on defense in a game against a non-conference opponent when they already have a playoff spot sewn up? I, too, will always give the benefit of the doubt to the coaching staff when it comes to DBs, but this Elam stuff is madness.

If Ingram starts in place of Douglas instead of Elam, then Elam's goose is well and truly cooked.

I don't think losing the game this week pushes Josh out of the top spot as betting favorite for MVP. So long as the Bills finish as at least the AFC 2-Seed and Josh continues to play well, I think he wins it. In my opinion, the Bills could lose this week, but if they win the next three, finish 13-4 as the 2-seed, and Josh continues to play well, he wins it. That being said, while I don't think losing the game will LOSE Josh the MVP, I DO think that having a great game and leading the Bills to a win would all but definitively seal it up.

If we could just have our offensive coordinator for two or three seasons, that would be great. It's crazy to watch Ben Johnson stick around in Detroit and Bobby Slowik stick around in Houston, but the Bills' OCs get poached. Yes, I realize this is the reality of having a defensive minded head coach and a franchise QB. Our OCs will repeatedly get hired elsewhere after Allen has great seasons. But if it could not happen after just ONE SEASON, that would be freakin lovely.

Not by my count. Assuming they lose in Detroit... They'd then have three regular season games left, three playoff games, and the Super Bowl. Seven total.

I'm just curious: does he get credit for the Bills' 10 wins this season, or does he only get blame for the losses?

I would first take umbrage with the notion that McDermott's blunder -- while egregious -- COST the bills the game. They gave up 44 points. They allowed a blocked punt to be returned for a touchdown. Based on the frequency with which the Rams converted 3rd downs on Sunday, it's certainly no guarantee that the Bills would have been able to stop the Rams three times and get the ball back even if McDermott HAD managed the clock correctly. Hurt the team's chances to win? Certainly. Reduced the likelihood of victory? Absolutely. But "directly cost his team the game" seems a bridge slightly too far, because it ignores the defensive futility and assumes that the Bills would have been victorious if McDermott not mismanaged the clock. Clock management has been an ongoing issue across the league for years. To start with, Andy Reid has famously had clock management issues. A few articles: https://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2019/1/18/18185839/andy-reid-kansas-city-chiefs-clock-mismanagement-timeouts https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/14585604/andy-reid-offers-little-explanation-kansas-city-chiefs-clock-management-loss-get-done https://www.nbcsportsphiladelphia.com/nfl/philadelphia-eagles/reids-awful-clock-decision-kills-chiefs-triggers-eagles-fans/177775/ Beyond Reid, here are some other articles talking about the problem in general: https://www.si.com/nfl/2016/09/05/nfl-clock-management-andy-reid-homer-smith Other coaches compared clock management to surgery or giving birth or even a person’s final days. In his book Homer Smith listed eight ways that managing the clock is like a pilot’s handling a mid-flight Mayday. The last one: “In neither can you make a major mistake and survive.” “A lot of coaches don’t want to mess with [clock management],” says DeCamillis. “It’s not a real sexy topic. It’s not how coaches get jobs, being great clock managers. But this is where games are being won and lost. https://athlonsports.com/nfl/nfls-clock-management-mess The number of variables that swirl around a late-game situation — or even in the closing minutes of a half — is astounding. Coaches must deal with down-and-distance, timeouts remaining, field position and time left on the clock, and that doesn't even begin to cover intangibles like which players are performing well in the moment or how various sectors of a game plan have worked to that point. Trying to find calm and reason amidst sideline chaos is extremely difficult. "To think that in the heat of battle with the play clock going that you can just refer to the manual for an answer is not realistic," Pitcher says. "You can prepare and have scenarios in your mind, but you still have to react to situations. "The goal is to develop some guidelines that give us the best opportunity to succeed." This season, Pitcher will do more than work with QBs. New Bengals coach Zac Taylor has added another duty to his job description: clock management assistant. It's not an official title, and no one will find it on his business card or in his official Bengals bio. But at a time when information is exploding throughout the NFL, and teams are paying more attention than ever to how they manage every part of the game — especially in the crucial late stages of the halves — it makes sense that Taylor would look for someone to help. https://www.phillyvoice.com/times-not-actually-yours-psychology-poor-clock-management-football/ It's nearly impossible to think of a coach that excels in clock management. If you can think of one with a spotless reputation in that regard, odds are they haven't been coaching very long. Even Bill Belichick, respected as one of the smartest coaches in the league, was criticized heavily following his team's loss to the Broncos in the AFC title game. That's because we rarely credit them when a late-game decision works, and all too often focus blame on their decision-making when things go wrong. That is a result of our troubling inability as a whole to evaluate the process. Instead, much more attention is paid to the result. When talking about how the game impacted playoff seeding, that may be all that really matters. But when attempting to analyze why and how the result came to be, the process should carry far more weight.