Straight Hucklebuck

I honestly don’t care if it comes at the expense of Harty or Sherfield or Gabe’s snap counts. Sherfield has played 6 seasons including this one. 3 of them have been exactly what he’s done this year - nothing. Harty is playing 17% snap count right now. I advocated earlier in the year for him, but it’s obvious the rest of the coaches feel the same way about him pre and post Ken Dorsey, so try someone else.

Why do our fans not want a better WR? I just don’t understand the logic here. Davis has been here for 4 years now, playing with the best QB in franchise history and he’s not a consistent, dynamic, athletic weapon. He's a 4th Rounder with 4.54-4.55 speed. Happy that he’s turned out to be a capable NFLer, but is the offense getting better year over year? No it’s not, despite the best Offensive Line we’ve had, good running backs, a first round TE, coordinator continuity, etc.

It's working out well for both parties - Gabe can get a deal somewhere else, and for the Bills it's worked out that he's played himself out of a contract and they can draft someone just as a productive out of the box. I would double down this offseason on WR. George Pickens is now getting called out by Mike Tomlin for showing his frustration on the sidelines. What would it take to get him in Buffalo, and then draft a WR in Round 1 on top of that? Sherfield is in his last 4-games as a Bill, and it's clear that hasn't been much of a plan for him. Harty played 3 snaps against the Chiefs, after being a healthy scratch in the weeks prior, cutting him saves $4M - $5M. That leaves just Diggs and Shakir. And the Bills would be foolish to not plan for Diggs' physical decline and just hope he's the same guy at 31. And with that said, even if he is the same guy at 31, he can be taken out of games as we've seen in his Playoff games here and now the regular season. Love the guy, but the Bills organization has to raise the bar when it comes to WR and playmaking ability. And no, this doesn't account for some miraculous growth by Shorter in 2024, and if that happens, still add Pickens and a #1 WR.

There is no magic to do anything about this. His contract makes him unable to get rid of or trade, and now Epenesa is out week to week, so he's going to have to play. The Bills have no choice but to try and make this work.

Wow, what a shock.

Hyde is done, contract plays out, he retires. Cut Poyer Benford, Elam, Douglas are back. Let Dane walk. Release Tre White

We really need another WR who can separate. Are we all finally on the same page here with Gabe Davis not being the #2 going forward? He has 3 goose-eggs now.

On the telecast they were making a big deal about the crowd noise, one of those third downs it was oscillating between 111 - 117 dB.

I would like the Bills to conduct real coaching searches for DC and OC. Not just promote from within to keep continuity.

It's been the standing #1 need on this team for the two years Gabe has been in the WR2 role: There is no other boundary WR on this team that presents any sort of physical mismatch and playmaking.

I was expecting our corners to play 10 yards off every snap, allowing Mahomes to dink and dunk his way down the field, and to McDermott's credit, he had them closer to 4-yards off on 2/3 snaps.

As I think about this game, that’s what I hate the most. Knowing that McDermott is going to do the same thing he always does in these big games against good quarterbacks - turtle up - and play 7-10 yards off every WR and get picked apart. He did it in the second half against the Eagles, sagging off. Devonta Smith on a critical 3rd late in the game literally ran straight ahead turned around and the ball was right there, easy first down on 3rd-6. I can’t wait for another “Bills did nothing to make Mahomes uncomfortable” video from Orlovsky. And you watch the Chiefs, they are bubble screening and dumping off to running backs constantly, so it’s going to be a YAC to tackling clinic on Sunday. McDermott will approach this game as if Tyreek Hill is still on the team and you need Safeties playing 30 yards down the field. As far as Kelce, two Kansas City radio personalities said they see signs that he is physically slowing down. I don’t know that he’s ever been tight in the midsection, but he had a catch against the Eagles where he was running towards the camera, and his gut was bouncing up and down. But I don’t remember any Bills player being dedicated to him and having success. Normally I just remember the replays of him running off the line, even helping to chip, without being touched and just moving freely tracking with Mahomes eyes and settling in. Our personnel is largely the same, so I just don’t see a dedicated, tight coverage player on him being a tactic. It’s going to bother me again to watch this Chiefs offense soar into the 30 point range and the Bills defense get no pressure on Mahomes and continue to back up, only to try a telegraphed all out blitz at a critical juncture. CEH should be easier to tackle than Pacheco. SHOULD. How do the Bills handle the Rashee Rice bubble? And the Valdez Scandling deep shot? Because we’re going to see both of those plays.

I have no faith in McDermott to snug our corners up on the WRs. The bubble is Rashee Rice’s primary route, and I can see the Bills allowing 9-11 catches on this for 100+ yards. Despite having (2) 6’1” 200+ pound corners. I think they’ll play the Chiefs like Tyreek Hill is still on the team and play 15-yards on critical 3rd downs.

But Brady told me that the league is full of mediocre now. What gives? 🤷‍♂️

Sal Capaccio is such an apologist for this organization. Great, he can tell us the generic coverages the Chiefs use and never make a single prediction on what will happen. And of course he'll throw in the "I'm not in the room with the coaches" throw away line. He doesn't really say anything.

Thanks for the response. I said it - not shocking - this sounds just like Rex Ryan in the book Collision Low Crossers, and all the references to Buddy Ryan in Chicago and Philadelphia. Rex dropped into the offensive room to make some jokes and make a fool of himself.

Would you agree that the Chad Hall story was the worst of McDermott?

So the biggest stories are referencing 9/11 and the Chad Hall car situation? My big takeaway is McDermott is a controlling micro-manager? Okay what else am I getting for $8?

My gosh this is horrific football. George Pickens face coming off the field. What would it take to get him in the off-season?

Does this really paint any different of a picture for McDermott than the Warren Sharp article a couple weeks back?

Is anyone shocked? He came to Buffalo trumpeting a "physical run game" to play in "snowy weather". He'll tell you himself that he's seen it all, done it all, thought of everything, knows what it is supposed to look like, in his same low-volume, generic platitude, monotone style. The team is managed exactly like a Defensive Coordinator as Head Coach would be - picks and resources devoted to the defense, a franchise QB given one big time weapon and a cast of low round misfits (Allen said it again yesterday referencing how Buffalo feels like Wyoming - literally yesterday). It's clear that we have peaked with him as a Coach, but Buffalo is going to hold onto 2017 and breaking The Drought. All I can hope as a fan is that the Bills add more brainpower to the offensive coaching staff to compete with the other best coaches in the world, and Allen stays motivated to stay in Buffalo because he is fond of reminding everyone how small and uninteresting the city is in every interview he gives. Terry loves him, calls him a faith based leader. All we can do is pray for offensive investment.

The next logical step is to watch the league more like an analyst would and just break down the results of the games, and have opinions on how other teams are building their teams. I certainly look forward to, and watch, other games around the league. Follow the statistics closely, have a plan in my head for what other teams should do to improve. I have tuned out the National Media. I watch 0% of any pregame and have for years. There are plenty of avenues now to watch All-22 break downs and learn more about the game. With all that said, being born in WNY, it's hard for me to completely disconnect my emotional attachment to the Bills. In the end I don't feel happy for other teams that win. I don't want to see Cleveland become a champion before the Bills, I can't stand Cincinnati and their loudmouth fanbase, no way am I rooting for Herbert or Lawrence or Stroud. But the Bills have had decades to build a winner, the first time around they fired Bill Polian. This time around their QB doesn't give everything he's got in the offseason to improve, and they won't get enough offensive firepower in an offensive league to get them over the top. So it's an in between period of actively assessing and artificially modulating how much I care. Intrinsically I enjoy football, the numbers, the strategy, the feeling like it's the biggest hobby in America, it's the common language with many people, but the Bills for me do take the fun out of the game to some degree. The media and their endless who is the MVP debates, and best QB right now points get exhausting and that also takes away from my enjoyment.

I agree with burnout with Buffalo sports. I mean yesterday was all about how to get the Sabres back on track after 12 years of no Playoffs now … but you're not allowed to say that the bar for that franchise is too low. Buffalo is a small market, and the Sabres have a small market mentality. They will continue to peddle look at our prospect pool, we're really young, hey we just signed a 37-year old to show the young guys "how to win", Kevyn Adams really wants to be here. Whatever Sabres - where did Don G come from? They picked the guy 1-spot down the bench from Ralph Kruger. Where did Kevyn Adams come from? He was is next office over from Jason Botterill. As far as the Bills - again seeing the offense topped out because we don't have another dynamic weapon to pair with Diggs, the defense showing their age now, playing 10 yards off WRs in critical situations, and ultimately we're back to the Billsy loses. After 13-seconds I felt like it's just not going to ever happen for this city. I took some time away from football after that game and didn't follow anything Bills/NFL related until after the Rams opener. But, winning is fun, and they were winning. Allen played through the shoulder, I went to both games in Detroit. But I never felt good about that Monday Night game, and they were going to get killed. When our Coaches said they were going to reuse the same MNF game plan against Cincinnati in the Playoff game, I knew we were going to get steamrolled again. So, now, 6-6, sitting in disbelief that they blew the Patriots game, I laughed and turned off the TV against the Broncos, and I knew as soon as that 59-yard field goal went through that the Bills were going to lose against the Eagles - listening to WGR still talk about the Bills as if they are some big, bad, dangerous team that nobody wants to play. Beat the Chiefs, then beat Dallas, get to 8-6, and then I'll believe they have a glimmer of hope. I don't want to hear about mathematically being alive if they lose 1 of the 2 next next games. Otherwise, I'm turning my attention to how the Bills can get another elite WR.

Good point on Evans/Diggs age and love the idea to pair him with Odunze.

Went to Spotrac and looked at everyone’s FA WRs. Its Tee Higgins and Michael Pittman Jr as ready made top end weapons. Mike Evans is also a FA, but there is a lot of mileage on those tires. After those guys, it’d be a lot of mid to low tier projections of guys that you would be trying to squeeze more out of.