Drunken Pygmy Goat

You were probably one of those guys on Sabres Mafia that always commented on former Sabres in the playoffs??? That's what this thread reminded me of. That's not a good thing

We should rank the "Rank drought _____" threads

None of this would be an issue if the league wasn't receiving money from the armed forces. I don't know how the protests have affected or will affect the bottom line, but perhaps cutting ties with the armed forces (not to sound so negative; meaning "stop collecting their money") would be less of a blow to the bottom line than turning ignorant fans away over the protest controversy would.

Yeah, it's that time of year. Chalk it up to me yelling at clouds. Btw, I appreciate what you do here. If there's anything posted on the internet, you (and Yolo) are quick to post them here.

Sorry, just seems like another lazy, regurgitated piece to me, Greg. Why bring up Vick, Kelly, and Favre? Simply because they had poor completion percentages in college, just like Allen? Did they, too, have footwork issues that led to those numbers? I'm sure they did at times, just like pretty much every QB ever, but there's no mention of that in the article, in relation to their completion percentages. Could be that the talent around them played a role, among other things, not to mention that the game was different back then. Comparing QBs from different eras is foolish, especially when comparing numbers. I get the point he (you?) was trying to make, but I feel like I've read this article before, several times, from several different journalists. Got a click from me, though... And he didn't provide any examples, or what may have led to bad footwork on a given play. And he also didn't attribute all bad throws to bad footwork. Not saying that he should have, but what were the issues on those plays, if not footwork? Do those issues support his article in any way, or were they conveniently left out??? I didn't mean to ruffle your feathers. I'm just tired of reading the same things, I guess.

Yet another guy that views completion percentage as a direct reflection of accuracy. I have a hard time giving these guys credit when they do this, as well as bringing up completion percentages of college QBs from 20-40 years ago. I don't care that he was a scout. And he writes for a website with poor editing.

This part stood out to me a bit: I assume the reason for this is that proper ball placement on short throws was one of the bigger knocks on Allen, so it makes sense for the staff to make that a focal point early on. Everyone knows about his arm strength. No need to put too much work in that area so soon, especially since the majority of passes in the NFL are within 20 yards of the LOS.

In the article, he mentions the idea that the Bills may be in for a bit of a down year. Its more about the future. What does that have to do with the point of my post? Exactly

Having all that cap space next year doesn't mean they have to use it next year, or the majority of it. They could roll over a nice chunk into 2020, and use that to extend some guys, then roll the remainder of that over to the next year, so forth and so on. If they start spending big right away, they'll face some tough roster decisions in 3-5 years, when players on rookie contracts now come due for new deals, especially if Allen pans out. Having some considerable cap money to roll over each year would help to alleviate that issue.

Yes, and great. /thread

The Bills "betting big" on two first rounders that they traded up for??? No way!

I doubt they'll be big spenders in free agency, not just in 2019, but in general. Down the road, I can see them adding a WR that puts them over the top, but I think they'll take care of their own first. Build through the draft and get good return on rookie contracts, "value" type free agent signings that address areas of need (like Hyde, Star, Murphy etc), and only spend "big" after the team is very well constructed. I wouldn't be surprised if they roll over $30 mil into 2020.

You missed the point. It doesn't matter why, or who caused that to happen, it's the fact that it happened. Those players were gone, and that played a role in certain in game decisions. Not an excuse, but rather a factor.

You're right. All I'm saying is that if you combine those 3 things, you understand why he wasn't more aggressive. Considering the talent, and his lack of experience running the show, you would think that a coach would lean more on what he knows best, not the other way around. I think it's important to remember that it was year one for him, so there's nothing to compare it to. Unfortunately, this season looks to be much more of the "rebuilding" year than last year was, and the final record may fall short of 9-7 (which I've accepted; this team is heading in the right direction). If the offense isn't as good or any better this year, we may see even more conservativeness. On paper, the defense is better than it was last year, while the offense may take a step back. All depends on QB play and O-line. Leaning on the defense a bit more is probably going to be a better path to wins, than being more aggressive on offense. Then, we'll revisit this thread, and start to wonder if McDermott is DJ 2.0, even though it may just be temporary and for good reason.

Dude, by saying you have a "main team", that is different than the team that you're "ecstatic" about, pretty much means you're a GS bandwagoner. Nothing wrong with that, but you can't deny it. "Greatness" in sports is generally defined by championships. They didn't win the championship that year, so to say that they were the greatest team of all time IMO is wrong. Maybe the best team of all time, but that's not the same as "greatest". The 2007 *Pats were arguably the best team of all time, but they weren't the greatest, because they lost the title game. Same kind of thing applies to the *Pats win over the Falcons. It is referred to as the greatest comeback, because a title was involved. But the Bills own the biggest comeback. Holy crap! How was being a Sharks fan for 3 years???

I see this thrown around a lot. Sure, he was out-coached that day. Parcells and Belichick are arguably the 2 best coaches of all time. But the fact of the matter is that the Bills were a made FG away from winning a title (barring an Ebor City Miracle on the ensuing kickoff). There was plenty of blame to go around for that game. Levy, Norwood, Reed being "taken out" of the game, several missed tackles on 3rd and long, etc. all played a role. If the players had made the play on 3 or 4 plays during that game, especially on the Giants final offensive drive (and obviously the FG), the Bills probably put the Giants away, and no one would be pointing any fingers. Perfect thread for this post

I'm a "cup half full" mind of guy myself, but this is just wrong. The "should have" and "should be" parts of your post aren't a true reflection of reality. If they were, the history books would reflect that. The Cavs would have lost the series in 2016, and the Bills would have been world champs following the 1990 season, but that's not what happened...The Cavs may have defied the odds, and the Warriors may have let one slip, but if they "should have" lost the series, they "would have". BTW, the Bills aren't the worst team in sports, and haven't been for almost 35 years, if you consider the 1984 Bills worse than every other professional sports team that year. The early 90s Bills may have been a bit of a punchline at the time, and for a little while after, but everyone that's not "hating" and is rational outside of Bills fans will tell you that those Bills were some of the best to ever play the game, and that the 1990 Bills was arguably the best team ever to not win a title. When I read the thread title, I thought this was going to be about the Sabres. In a few weeks, they won't be arguably (hardly arguable) the worst team in professional sports when they draft Dahlin.

3 things that I believe may have attributed to that: 1) He's a defensive minded HC. Being aggressive isn't necessarily exclusive to the offensive side of the ball, but it's usually what you think of when talk about aggressiveness. "Keeping your foot on the gas", "stepping on their throats", etc. are phrases that refer to the offense. 2) He was a rookie HC. Granted there have been more aggressive rookie HCs in the past, but if you comibine that with his defensive background, you kind of understand why he might not have been as aggressive on offense as others. IMO, a lot of what we saw on offense was McDermott delegating to his OC, as he gets more acclimated with being HC. 3) Talent on offense. When you think of aggressiveness in offense, you think of a potent passing attack. In 3 years with Taylor at QB, that was never the case, for long stretches at least. They were efficient more so than proficient, even with Sammy and Woods. Of course our run game being a major strength played into that, but last year, there weren't many weapons in the passing game. Shady and Clay were the top 2 pass catchers last year. When your RB and TE lead the team in receptions, getting aggressive would probably backfire more often than it would yield a reward.

That, and Cliff Avril taking Jordan Mills' lunch

I stopped reading here. Are there people that say luck was the only reason? If so, it's probably only a few, and it would be wise to simply ignore those people, for obvious reasons. Of course the Bills got lucky. Without that TD by Boyd (among other plays in that game), the Bills would have been golfing the following weekend. You can say the same about the blown call at the end of the Colts game. How many times over the last several years have we said that 3-4 plays throughout the year was the difference between 7 wins and 9? But anyone with even a little common sense knows that the Bills had done enough throughout the season to put themselves in that position in the first place.

None of this would be an issue of this country wasn't lettered with so many ignorant, simple/closed minded people, many of which watch NFL telecasts. Also, none of this would be an issue if the league wasn't receiving money from the armed forces.

I think it makes a lot of sense to leave out some of the costly bells and whistles that other stadiums have. It would obviously make the project cheaper and more feasible, and would also cater more to the general Bills fan. But yeah, a new stadium could be done for around $500-600 mil without a roof, or $700-800 mil with one, but I believe it would have to be in OP for that to be possible. Anything downtown will cost much more just from infrastructure alone. Excellent post!

Well played!

A new stadium in downtown Buffalo would cost far more than a total renovation of New Era...roughly double. And it could be more, depending on what accommodations are built around the stadium. I'm sure that a downtown stadium is the ideal plan for the Pegulas, but that may not be feasible financially. A renovation is feasible, although probably not their first choice. That, and just how much the Pegulas are willing to pitch in are the main issues here.

Good post! A couple things should be noted (I've done a lot of homework in the past regarding the subject and G-4 program). Using the Lions and Colts stadium models should be used as a basis for design only. The cost for a new stadium for the Bills (if it were the exact replica of one of those buildings; obviously, it won't be) would be different for a couple key reasons. Infrastructure cost is based on the site. The changes that would be necessary for a stadium in downtown Buffalo would be different than it was for those projects, which would have a significant impact on the total cost for the Bills project. What's unknown is whether it would require more or less work than those projects required. Also, inflation. Lucas Oil was $720 mil, but that was 10 years ago. If built exactly the same today, that project would cost more than $800 mil, more than 10% more expensive due to inflation. (IRG to your renovation guess figures) One of the provisions in the G-4 program requires the team to match the league contribution. If the league grants $250 mil for a renovation, the Bills cannot contribute $125 mil, it has to be equal. Also, another provision in the program relates to the total league revenue. It states that up to $200 mil for new stadium/$250 mil for renovations, but there's also a limit of 1.5% of total league revenue in a given year. In 2016, that figure was over $13 bil, and it's estimated that it was over $14 bil last year. At $14 bil even, the max contribution from the league would be $210 mil, and that would be for all projects, not each individual project. (The good thing is that the Bills are at the top of the list when it comes to potential stadium projects in the immediate future, but some teams may want to do some minor upgrades over the next couple of years, and that could dig into the allowed contribution a bit. Grants are reviewed and awarded case-by-case, and with the owners being so adamant about the Bills becoming bigger contributors to the total league revenue, I would think that the Bills are given some leway there, and other teams' potential upgrades would be put off to allow more funds to the Bills project.). Part of the revenue increase is due to the opening of stadiums in Atlanta and Minnesota, and stadiums opening in Las Vegas and Los Angeles are on the horizon (scheduled for 2020 season). In order to be granted the full $250 mil for a renovation, league revenue would have to be roughly $16.7 bil. With the most expensive PSLs for the Rams estimated to be between $175,000 and $225,000, total league revenue in 2020 could be more than $16 bil. Also worth noting is that the current CBA expires after the 2020 season, and there's no guarantee that the G-4 program will continue under the new agreement. Then again, it was revised from the G-3 of the previous CBA, so it's just as possible that the league revises the G-4, and that league contribution could increase with the new CBA. Perhaps the loomig expiration of the CBA, and uncertainty of the new CBA, has something to do with why the stadium talk from Goodell and the league began a few years ago in the first place???