Logic

Mack Hollins -- week one starting receiver for the Buffalo Bills in the year 2024. What a world.

Their current uniforms are perfect as-is and they should stick with them for a long time to come. The only thing they need, as others have said, is to roll out the 90s throwbacks twice a year. If they wanted, I believe they could even feature both home and away throwbacks. The fact that they have not yet done so continues to be baffling. It would be an absolute printing press of money. But I guess the Bills...don't need extra money?

I was called silly, unreasonable, and all sorts of other things when I said that the Bills would likely start the season with Mack Hollins as one of their two starting outside receivers. And here we are. Yes, I realize they'll rotate heavily. Still. They released a depth chart indicating the starting player at each position, and at one of the outside receiver spots, they have Mack freakin Hollins listed. In 2024. For Josh Allen in his prime. Fun. This is fun. I'm having fun.

By preference, I'm a stander. I understand and empathize with those that sit. If you have, say, knee or back problems, or just generally aren't physically up to the task of standing the whole time. I get it. But for me? It's a gladiator sport. It's spectacle. It's exciting and loud and fast and violent. I want to stand. Standing feels right. Like Hunter S Thompson (who was a big 49ers fan) used to say to those that got mad at him for standing and being audibly raucous at football games: "THIS IS FOOTBALL!!! GO TO THE ***** OPERA IF YOU WANNA SIT AND BE QUIET!!" That said, if I'm in a section where everyone sits for much of the game, I will be courteous and sit, too. EXCEPT for during the exciting parts. Kickoffs, 3rd downs, red zone, big plays. I'm damned sure standing and cheering for those parts. If you don't like it, go to the opera.

Sometimes I think the mental and emotional toll a receiver takes on a quarterback can outweigh the on-field production he gives that quarterback. In other words, the constant little voice in the back of Josh's head going "I need to keep Stef happy. I need to get #14 the ball". That's gone now. The need to massage the ego -- and let's be honest here, as hard of a worker as he may have been and as good of a leader as he may have been at times, Diggs has a massive ego that constantly needs massaging -- is gone. Sometimes, when the little (loud, insistent, toxic) voice in a quarterback's ear vanishes, the quarterback suddenly plays a freer, more pure brand of football, where he's solely looking at who's open and making the right reads on a play, and not having to worry about keeping a certain personality happy. That's what I think his going to happen here. I think Diggs' on-field contributions are great, and that he's still a great player. But I also think his intangible toxicity grew to outweigh his on-field contributions. I think that Josh -- and by extension, the Bills offense -- will be better off without him. Healthier. More diverse. And Digg's playoff disappearing acts? I won't miss those either. Josh and the Bills just got out of a toxic relationship. That's what happened.

Here's what I'll never understand: Diggs seemingly had everything a player could want. He was handsomely paid, he received a ton of targets, he put up gaudy statistics, he played for a top five quarterback, he played for a winning team that is perennially in the playoffs, he was beloved by the fan base, he was a national star. What more -- literally, WHAT MORE -- could he possibly want? One could say that it was his waning involvement in the offense that soured him, but we can all see that things had changed prior to that. That Diggs' demeanor and interest in being a Buffalo Bill had changed. So the question is -- why? How could a player have everything I just listed above, and still want out? Still think the grass is greener elsewhere? There simply MUST be something that happened behind the scenes that we're all not aware of, because none of it makes any sense. He seemingly had everything, and he still wanted out. I'll never understand it. Oh, and one more thing: seeing how free and light and fun the atmosphere around the team seems to be right now, compared to what it was last year...it's hard to conclude anything other than that Diggs's presence was a huge negative influence on team mood and chemistry, and that his ouster is gonna pay huge dividends for this team (and this quarterback) mentally.

The pearl clutching and denunciations that take place within Taylor Swift discussions in relation to the NFL always lead me to the same conclusion: The fragility of some people's egos is absolutely astounding. If the 47 Applebee's commercials, military flyovers, endless gambling promotion, gross commercialism, and potentially life-altering risk of brain injury that take place on NFL Sundays don't offend you, but seeing a pop star for two collective minutes out of a three and a half hour broadcast DOES -- and to the extent that you'd threaten to stop watching altogether -- I don't know what to tell ya. If you're that bothered by it, then I would politely suggest that this probably isn't just about Taylor Swift, and that perhaps you have some deeper-seated issues that merit closer examination. As for her drawing up plays: Good. Let her. She can't be worse at it than Arthur Smith or Nathaniel Hackett 🤷‍♂️

The league SOMETIMES, but not ALWAYS, places players accused of domestic violence on the commissioner's exempt list. Their decision not to do so in Von's case does not mean that this is not true.

I understand and, to some extent, agree with what you're both saying. The issue here is "precedent". The NFL tends to have a "way of doing things" when it comes to legal run-ins. If they just say "to hell with letting the legal process play out, we're just gonna suspend him now", then they risk Rice and his lawyers crying foul, appealing the league's decision, and creating a mess on top of a mess. Again, I'm not defending the league's actions here. It's pretty clear Rice is guilty, and it's pretty clear he should face some discipline. I believe he will. But if the league rushes into it, they risk creating a headache that may undermine their eventual and overall efforts to mete out justice.

It's simple. The NFL tends to let the legal process play out before imposing discipline. The ONLY exception is domestic violence charges, which is what they got Zay Jones in. In these instances, the league tends to come down more harshly (ever since the Ray Rice incident gave the league such a black eye), and even when it doesn't outright suspend players, it often places them on the commissioner's exempt list while the league "investigates" the incident. Rashee Rice's incident did not involve domestic violence, and it is unlikely to be resolved legally during this calendar year. As such, he avoids the commissioner's exempt list, and any discipline he faces from the league will likely not come until next season. I'm not defending any of it, I'm just giving you the answer to your question and explaining the league's process.

To answer your question: I can't speak for others, but I'm not giving McDermott a pass. I called for him to be fired last year. The way the team rallied around him, and some specific ways in which I saw him improve as a coach over the course of the season, caused me to call off the dogs for now. But if the same old "getting whooped in the divisional round" song and dance continues, you can bet your bottom dollar I'll be calling for a change again. *Edit: As for Mike McDaniel: I'm sticking with what I said. I think he's an excellent play designer and play caller, but I DON'T think he's a quality head coach. I don't think he's a natural speaker or a natural leader. He gives convoluted word salad answers. I don't find him to be authentic. I find him to be awkward and much of his schtick to be contrived. I'm just not a believer. I fully understand why the Dolphins extended him. They should. What else could they do? I just don't trust him to be anything more than the Rex Ryan of offense. Entertaining, full of bluster, and coordinates a cutting edge scheme. Once the league catches up to the cutting edge scheme and the innovations stop, all that's left is the schtick and the bluster.

I'll grant you that the Bills continually fold in the playoffs, but they're actually incredibly good in November and December. I don't have their November/December record from the past four years in front of me, but it's elite. Josh Allen is also one of the best 4th quarter and crunch time QBs in the game by any metric. Meanwhile, here's an article about how the Dolphins fold late in games and late in seasons. I get what you're saying, but the Bills and Dolphins are not the same. Tua and Josh are not the same. https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2024/1/5/24026177/dolphins-bills-tua-tagovailoa-future-nfl-playoffs-afc-east *edit: whoops. I had included the wrong article before. Fixed now.

Great in September and October, folds in November and beyond. Great in the 1st and 2nd quarter, folds in the 3rd quarter and beyond. Until further notice, this is who BOTH Tua AND McDaniel are to me. When its early in the season and its a sunny day and things are going well, they're lions. When it's crunch time and its a cold December night and adversity hits, they turn into lambs. I think McDaniel can be an EXCELLENT offensive coordinator in this league for many years, but I don't think he has what it takes to be a head coach. I think he's not a natural speaker, not a natural leader, and that his cutesy schtick only works when things are going well. If the Dolphins ever hit a rough patch, or continue to be unable to break through to greater postseason success, I expect his act to wear thin on players. I do not fear Mike McDaniel, and I do not fear Tua Tagovailoa. "...other than that, Miss Lincoln, how was the play?"

I'm not sure if these things are what they once were. Maybe I'll give this a shot, maybe not. This used to be one of my favorite articles every year. I'd read every single team's version. But ever since they moved away from Deadspin and Drew Magary, they've undergone a consistent and precipitous decline in quality and funniness. Now they're mostly shoulder shrug material.

It's from Ron Jaworski's (excellent) book: "The Games That Changed the Game". Here's the actual excerpt: "As we watched, we were surprised to see Manning taking virtually all the reps in the session. Jon [Gruden] asked Tom [Moore, the Colts offensive coordinator,] why he wasn’t giving some snaps to Peyton’s backups…He looked at us both in the eye, paused for a moment, then said in that gravelly voice of his, “Fellas, if ‘18’ goes down, we’re *****. And we don’t practice *****.”

Yeah I know it. The Hardy one I get. Promising rookie who looks like he could be good depth on defense. Cain was weird to me. Been around since 2019. 124 career receiving yards. I get that he looked good in spots this preseason but...yeesh.

Absolutely fair point and a good question!

This. If Allen misses a quarter of the season, we want to be able to stay afloat. If Allen misses the WHOLE season? Yeah. We're cooked. My favorite football quote of all time is Colts QB coach being asked why Peyton Manning's backup doesn't get more reps. His response? "If 18 goes down, we're *****, and we don't practice *****". That quote notwithstanding...we need a guy who can keep our season alive for a few games. Anything beyond a few games and we might as well start talking draft prospects.

WR Jalen Virgil now officially signed to the Bills practice squad, WR Deon Cain released to make room. per Joe Buscaglia.

Yep. Exactly this. They'll only need to open a Practice Squad spot if Virgil signs, which it sounds as though that move may be imminent.

That's a deep cut. Only us true wrestling sickos are gonna appreciate your Virgil Runnels joke.

They quote an article from the Athletic, which quotes a player agent, and also references a thoroughly researched and expansive Athletic article from months ago. It's from a reputable source. It's also not really new information -- other than the quote from the agent.

Some potential good news there. This article is from May 2023. OTAs the year after the fracture: https://www.si.com/nfl/vikings/news/8-months-after-injury-lewis-cine-looking-more-explosive-than-last-year It's been less than eight months since Vikings safety Lewis Cine suffered a compound fracture of his left leg while playing on special teams in last season's London game. And yet, if you watched him fly around the field at OTAs this week, you'd have no idea he was coming off a major injury. Vikings special teams coordinator Matt Daniels knows what Cine has been through because he suffered a serious leg injury of his own during his playing career. That's what makes it so shocking to him to see how quickly and how well Cine has recovered. Daniels even went so far as to suggest that Cine looks more explosive than he did at this time a year ago. "It's mind-blowing, quite frankly, because I suffered a similar injury, broken (tibula and fibula) and dislocated ankle, and he comes back off a compound fracture like that and he's looking more explosive than he did last year," Daniels said. "A lot of times when you do have these types of injuries, it's more of a mental block than it is a physical block. I think he has surpassed that mental block because of how he trained and rehabbed his way back to it. He has that supreme confidence back in him that he's out there flying around."

Posted this in another thread just now, but I'll paste it here: From what I could gather online just now, Cine's time in Minnesota went roughly like this: Unable to claim a starting spot as a rookie, he was playing special teams in London when he suffered a compound fracture in his leg that ended his year. Last year, after recovering from the leg fracture, he oscillated between missing games due to a lingering hamstring injury and just being a straight up healthy scratch. It sounds as though he never quite gelled with Brian Flores, and never quite stepped up and claimed a starting defensive spot the way the Vikings clearly hoped he would when they drafted him. Reading between the lines with Vikings fans and reporters a bit, it sounds as though maybe Cine's work ethic and will to be great were somewhat in question. Knowing there have been recent publicly discussed issues with Brian Flores and his way of, um...motivating and connecting with players, I'm at least slightly wondering if there's more to it than simply "Cine didn't want it badly enough". In any case...Everything about Cine's history in the NFL so far screams "in need of a fresh start and a change of scenery". I'm not absolving Cine or saying that the Vikings screwed up and the Bills got a great one, I'm just saying that sometimes a guy needs a fresh start. Hopefully McDermott, Babich, and Addae can get the most out of him, and his release after just two years will be a wakeup call if, in fact, he needs one.

From what I could gather online just now, Cine's time in Minnesota went roughly like this: Unable to claim a starting spot as a rookie, he was playing special teams in London when he suffered a compound fracture in his leg that ended his year. Last year, after recovering from the leg fracture, he oscillated between missing games due to a lingering hamstring injury and just being a straight up healthy scratch. It sounds as though he never quite gelled with Brian Flores, and never quite stepped up and claimed a starting defensive spot the way the Vikings clearly hoped he would when they drafted him. Reading between the lines with Vikings fans and reporters a bit, it sounds as though maybe Cine's work ethic and will to be great were somewhat in question. Knowing there have been recent publicly discussed issues with Brian Flores and his way of, um...motivating and connecting with players, I'm at least slightly wondering if there's more to it than simply "Cine didn't want it badly enough". In any case...Everything about Cine's history in the NFL so far screams "in need of a fresh start and a change of scenery".