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Yikes on bikes. Poor dude surely didn't think his NFL career would begin like this. First, he's sentenced to the Jets. Rookie year wasn't awful. Jets can't build or operate a team tho, so they hire Adam Gase. He gets mono. Then plays with a JV o-line and virtually zero offensive weapons, still puts together a few decent games at the end of the season. Jets do poop-all to get him some playmakers but improve the OL somewhat then their rookie left tackle gets hurt and now he gets suplexed into the turf and jacks up the shoulder on his throwing arm. Sucks. Couldn't happen to a better franchise, tho. But still, poor dude. If Sam Darnold ever reaches his potential, I don't think it'll be with the New York Jets. They need a complete overhaul, ownership included.

Might be in the minority here but I dig the white on blue. Hopefully they switch up to white facemasks in the future.

The raw skills were always there. He has the size, the arm, the moxie, all that good stuff just needed to be refined. And the desire was there as well. Kid sat down and emailed hundreds of schools when he was looking for a shot somewhere, he obviously wants it. One of the things I've noticed with the draft analyst crowd is that some of them seem to think these guys can't improve once they get in the league. They develop their assessments and then seem to stick to that assessment even when the player is doing things that deter from their evaluations. And then that crap just becomes talking points for the games. Josh Allen could go out and complete every single effin' throw he's ever attempted and the minute he misses one would be the cue for the talking heads to start spewing nonsense about his accuracy. I'm a bit off topic but I'm on a roll and I can't stand most of the lip-flappin' dipsh*ts that get paid to talk football. Every QB is going to have a misfire in every game. Just now it is... But when Patrick Mahomes misses on a throw it's: Play by play: And a rare misfire from Mahomes on second down. That'll bring up a third and long situation. Color commentary: Even though it was incomplete, Pat Mahomes throws this ball with the might of ten million Norse gods, Jim! I mean, be dazzled in the magnificence of his weird curly locks and his angelic Kermit-style cadence! Josh Allen misses the same exact throw in the same exact situation... Play by play: Oh my, and there's just an atrocious, horrible, awful, terrible, and downright heinous throw by Josh Allen. That'll bring up a third and long and once again, Josh Allen costs his team dearly, Fred! Color commentary: Yeah Jim, it really is quite disgusting. I mean, we knew of the accuracy issues coming out of Wyoming but this is egregious. By god I'm going to have to bleach my own eyes after what I've just witnessed. I like the kid but he should be so ashamed of himself that he voluntarily gives the other team the ball and just retires forever. Just an ungodly abomination of a throw from the Firebaugh kid. In short, I watch the games on mute now.

Kroft is deceptively good. And I say deceptive because I don't think defenses feel the need to specifically focus on him. Knox can be that type of player, though. He's a more of a mismatch on linebackers than Kroft. He's still developing. I won't write him off yet. And if he and Kroft can both play at a high level then that's a great problem for the Bills to have.

I almost feel bad for Sam Darnold. Almost. I despise the gotd*mn Jets tho, so, almost is as much as I can offer. It starts at the top with moron ownership. That ownership can't keep it's front office straight and is now stuck with a team built by two different administrations with two different team building perspectives. They give up a buncha picks to move up and get Darnold third overall in 2018. He shows some promising signs that year. They fire their head coach. Then they hire a coach who made his name as Peyton Manning's clipboard jockey. And then they sign a running back that needs a solid OL and isn't wanted by the head coach. Then they let their best receiver walk and the other one (Enunwa) is forced out of the game by injuries. They don't do a thing to improve their OL on 2019 yet they somehow finish relatively strong and Darnold shows more signs. 2020. They try to improve the OL but their big first round left tackle is already out. They have precisely zero offensive weapons. Bell has a bum hammy. Darnold's seeing the same ghosts he's seen since last year. He's regressed. He's doing all sorts of things Josh Allen was eviscerated by the media for doing. He's probably friggin' miserable. He's stuck with a numbnuts head coach who's main concern is, "Did they deposit my paycheck?" Well... f#@k 'em, man. They made their dumpster fire of a bed and now they can all sleep in it. Losers. I hope by this time next year that Adam Gase is the world's sh*ttiest Walmart greeter, get lost ya frickin' putz.

We always talk about how players need to buy into the culture or the vision or the grand master plan or whatever they call their method of operating a pro sports franchise. But all of that has to start at the top, the owners, administration, and coaching staff all have to believe and buy in themselves. And with our dear leader McBeane, they saw Allen's raw skills and his desire and said, "We can make him a franchise quarterback. We believe in our coaches to get him where he can be. We believe in our front office to build a proper offense around him. We believe in our owners to provide the resources to build that offense. We believe we are the ones to maximize his potential." It's a roll of the dice, really on so many things in sports. But they saw what he could be and said, "Yeah, we're the team that'll help him reach his pinnacle." And that's the culture that McDermott and Beans have created that permeates throughout the entire building. This is really a complete team, they all prop each other up and wanna see each other succeed. McBeane have this team in the right place and headed in the right direction. I hate to get ahead of myself but it feels like something real interesting is brewing for this season. Just feels like we're entering an era where a lot of big time stuff is gonna go down. We're here for it. Youse guys all just gotta Billieve!

Methinks we all probably underestimated the impact of Star Lotulelei has on that DL. People wanna whine that his numbers are never special but that's not what he's asked to do. He's asked to plug up the lanes and eat up blocks and free up his linebackers, and he's pretty good at it. I've noticed on more than a few plays that if he gets the leverage he wants, he's extremely difficult to move off the line. They're missing that right now but I have faith they can figure it out.

I'll give Lamar a mulligan on this one. If they do falter this season, I'll put it on Greg Roman. It's happened everywhere he's gone, he designs an offense that can lead the league in rushing year after year but his passing concepts have always been pretty elementary from what I've read. Once you stop his run game, he struggles to attack you through the air. It caught up to him in both San Francisco and Buffalo. Both teams could run the ball all day and do well with a lead. If they fell behind and had to throw it a bunch, forget it. If he can't adjust to help Lamar then they could have some trouble.

Solid breakdown, the guy obviously knows what he's talking about. I'm sure every QB watches the film on Monday and sees something he didn't see during the game. And I mean, if you're still executing the offense and being effective, does it matter that much if you're not throwing to your first read? Or throwing with anticipation? I know these are things JA will continue to develop but as it is right now, if the play is there it's there whether it's "see it-throw it" or an anticipation throw.

I told them not to trust that new doctor, what's his name... Dr. Hustin Jerbert.... yeah, sketchy character, that one.

I saw him out there once or twice. Honestly, I wouldn't expect a whole lot from him this season. Without a regular off-season and pre-season games to get used to the speed of the game at the NFL level I think it's tough to expect him to come right out and tear it up. He's also seen as a bit of a project, needs refinement in some areas. But the word on him coming out of college was that he doesn't do any one thing spectacularly, but he does all things well. A quote from an AFC exec or scout said something like, "Give him a year or two and we'll all be saying, dang, we over thought it with him."

Haven't seen much of him yet. I think they're working him in slowly after his injury. Not sure of his snap count, but I don't think it's very much. He was in on a run stuff vs. Miami but other than that, quiet start so far.

Strange how it just doesn't click for some guys. By all accounts, Zay is a hard-working dude that does his best to improve everyday. Very productive college career and led the Bills in receiving in 2018. But now he's kinda been forgotten, even in Vegas he's like the 5th option behind Ruggs, Agholor, Renfrow, and Waller.

Today was rough for injuries. Without a full regular off-season and zero pre-season games, I figured we'd see a lot of injuries early on. Bummer. Hopefully Knox is alright, and did anyone know how close Edmunds and Milano were to playing? I know Milano was ruled out earlier in the week. I thought there was a chance Edmunds would go but looks like they played it safe. They got something in Tyrel Dodson, kid made some plays today and always seemed to be buzzing around the ball. I'd even consider giving him some reps with Edmunds and Milano when they're back. Klein is an experienced vet but he's kinda just another guy.

Yeah, given the way Herbert has played today I'd keep him in there for good. He's the guy sooner or later anyway. He's looked pretty solid today.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure Murphy mentioned this during the radio broadcast. With the heat and humidity they planned on rotating to keep guys fresh.

Incredible day for JA. So great to see a Bills QB rack up the numbers like this, been way too long. Some of the throws he made today were ridiculous. Everything down the field, I think his YPA was 17.9 or something. Crazy. For the second straight season, he displays growth and improvement in an area considered a weakness. After his rookie year, they said he couldn't throw the short/intermediate stuff. Comes out in '19 and shows marked improvement in that area. But struggled with the long ball and touch on certain passes. Two games into 2020 and he's shown fantastic improvement in that area. To see that type of progress is definitely promising. The best part about today's game for me was just watching him have total command of the offense. He's recognizing coverages better, he doesn't look to bail out of the pocket at the first sign of trouble, and he's got the confidence and swagger to try any throw. He dropped some dimes today, wasn't reckless, didn't force anything, but didn't shy away either. Hope it keeps rolling for him. Love it.

I'm worried that you guys worry too much.

I was never on the "cut Murphy" bandwagon. But good lord, Joe B couldn't stop talking about it all summer. He had to delve into the cap stuff and whatever money they'd save. It's not like the dude is on a record breaking deal. I've always figured you can never have enough solid DL/pass rushers. And McDermott's defense has always depended on a really strong DL. On top of that, we don't know if Murphy was at or even near 100% healthy in '18 and '19. And yeah, I'm aware that no player is 100% as the season progresses but I say this in regards to the injury he's dealt with for a while now. He's also part of a rotation that McDermott sticks to pretty religiously so these guys aren't playing 75% or more of the snaps. Plus they have their responsibilites on each play. Also, I like Darryl Johnson but without pre-season to evaluate whether he's taken the next step, it's tough to roll the dice on him right now, so it makes perfect sense to keep a veteran who seems to be returning to the player he was before his injury. Maybe even better. I've said this before but Beane and McDermott bring in guys for more than just their on-field production. They're obviously very big on culture and finding the right type of players for that culture. They want guys like Murphy in the building because they want their rookies and young guys to observe his practice and preparation habits and emulate those. The entire approach to team building and how they operate everything is such a huge contrast to how things were run for the last 20 years. Can't explain how nice it is to finally have competent leadership and how that's permeated through the building to create a team that players genuinely want to join.

It's strange what's happened to him in Cleveland. It's not like they don't game plan to get him his targets. I don't know if he's in his head or what but he hasn't been the same. Go back to the NFC. Packers would be smart to jump on this.

Second OC. He had Jeremy Bates his rookie year and it's been Loggains since 2019. Bates and Loggains have also served as QB coaches for Darnold's career. I thought he had three OCs already as well so I had to check. I think it's Gase, really. Not that you can trust everything the media reports but if nine outta ten people say you're an assh*le, then you're probably an assh*le. It just does not seem like his players enjoy playing for him. I saw it with Miami and now with the Jets, when Gase is HC there's like zero spark or energy on the sidelines. In Miami, if those Gase-led teams got down by 10 or more points, forget it, it was over. No communication the sidelines, no one trying to rally everyone, just blank expressions all along the bench. And it doesn't reflect well on coaching when some of the better players on your team actively find a way out. Gase just seems like a standoffish pr*ck who couldn't care less about results, just so long as his paychecks are deposited every week. Strange dude. Doesn't strike me as a true leader. As for Darnold, I feel like he would probably be doing better in a different situation. I think he needs a coach who wants to sit down and really figure out who he is and how he approaches and plays the game. With Gase it feels like, "This is my system and it is impeccable, you will learn it, you will adapt your game to it." When it should be, "Here's our system, we're gonna adapt it to your skills and develop it from there." I also feel like Darnold is more of a quiet type of person so his leadership might be more of a "lead by example" approach instead of a guy like Allen who leads by example but also has an extroverted personality that allows him to be a vocal leader as well. I also think Josh just has more of a "I want this" vibe to him. Josh had to scrape and claw his way through zero DI offers and JUCO and all that just to get himself on the map. Sam was a four-star recruit and the starter at USC three games into his second year there. Not saying he's had it handed to him, but his path to the NFL differs a lot from Josh. Get Darnold in the right situation with a better coach that will adapt their system to his skills and take the time to really get on the same wavelength and I think he'd be really good. With the way the Jets are going, I can't see him succeeding there.

Easy, junior. He'll be alright. They knew they were rolling the dice on a rookie kicker without the benefit of pre-season. I'm sure they're aware that they're going to have to live with the occasional miss on a kick that should be good. Kicking ain't easy. Let the kid settle in and get some games under his belt before you go chasing him out of town.

With a decent OL, more talented receivers and a coach who is not Crazy-Eyes Gase, Sam Darnold would probably be in pretty good shape. Instead, he's stuck on a team with an arrogant pr*ck for a coach and a front office that gave him a JV line last season and JV receivers this season. I don't care how good of shape Bell is in now, without a solid OL he's just another guy. Not that there was much for the Jets to celebrate but I get the impression that they really aren't a team. And by that I mean, their culture probably isn't great, and that, of course, reflects on the abysmal "leadership" from Gase. You just don't see players interacting with the guy. There's like zero spark or excitement on their sideline. Meanwhile, the Bills sideline will go apesh*t when a second or third string guy gets in there and makes a play. McDermott is constantly communicating, praising when it's warranted, criticizing just the same. He's right in there *with* his team. He's not just the boss collecting a paycheck like Gase. This is why culture matters. Is Buffalo the most talented team in the league? No. They have one All-Pro and a few Pro Bowlers (although I'm starting to disregard the Pro Bowl as a true honor because these days it's nothing more than a popularity contest, kind of a joke too, really, when guys who get voted All-Pro don't go to the Pro Bowl) but they have a group of players who understand their role, have the desire to make not only themselves better but their teammates as well, and they work very cohesively. And that results in success. We may not see a WR rack up the numbers like Adams in Green Bay did today, but you'll see eight different guys each doing their part when they're called on and not a one of them will whine about not getting the ball enough. That's a team.

Just hang onto the stoopid ball, Josh. I give him an A-

Cough up that intel, Johnny!