BigDingus

How you win matters, and who you win against matters. If they beat the Chiefs, it at least gives you confidence they can beat someone relevant. If they lose a close game, it also shows they can hang with a good team. But if they look like crap, particularly on offense, it'll be a tough road ahead.

My vibe is several of these options. In order of priority: 1) I care most about HOW we play. Been saying this even in those first 4 early wins. 2) It very much is a must-win for home field advantage, or any chance we have of getting it over the Pats & Colts 3) A loss would be devastating, especially if Allen looks bad. But yes, we have won in the past & it hasn't really mattered. We either lost other games to put us behind in the standings, lost to them in the playoffs or both. However, losing to them doesn't mean we'll magically reverse the results & win in the playoffs, so ultimately I just care how they play more than anything.

At this point, I'd be excited too. Shakir & Gabe will probably be more competent than Coleman & co. Can't get much more depressing than what we've seen the last 3 games.

Guys, I'm pretty sure we're too broke to trade or sign for any of the exiting players. We're dead last in available cap, so it'd take a lot to get someone notable. Makes it even more painful knowing the Pats have the MOST cap space available with like $50+ million. They're just going to get better & better, which is sad to imagine given where we all expected to be.

Josh is only 5 rushing TDs away from tying Cam's record for most rushing TDs by a QB. Right behind him is Jalen Hurts, who only has 10 less rushing TDs than Josh.

That didn't answer my question though. It was 3rd & 6 inside the redzone... at the opponent's 14 yard line. That made an easy FG into a much tougher FG & eliminated any chances of going for it on 4th down. Those kind of things may be ok against the Panthers, but they've killed us in the past against better teams. You think it was better to take a nearly 20 yard sack rather than just throw it out of bounds? It made zero impact on THIS game. But not every game is a route of the Panthers & a backup QB. The game wasn't a blowout at this point either. We're also ignoring that he's been making bad decisions the prior 2 games (losses) and this was after 2 weeks of prep. I was expecting a fire to be lit under him & to come out with something to prove. Our kicker also missed an XP. Where Josh took a sack made a FG attempt significantly further back than an XP, so that could've been points off the board. It also killed any chance of going for it on 4th down, had they wanted to. Nobody would be ok with this had it happened against the Chiefs. It shouldn't be ok now just because it happened in a blowout, in his 3rd straight game of not playing great.

Yep. They need to make this less obvious. It'd also be nice to get Cook a little more involved in the passing game or just keep him in on passing downs, if only to make it less obvious it's going to be a run play.

I don't know, but he made a lot of bad decisions. Like look at this play at 2:33 in the video. That's absolutely terrible. Even after he sees FOUR guys closing in on him with nowhere to go, he cuts back inside to take a huge sack! Why wouldn't you throw it away? These are mistakes he made in his first 2 years, now popping back up again. 3rd & 6 at the opposing 14 yard line. Ran so far back that he was sacked past the 30 yard line.

And all off season people wanted to trade Cook... I had people telling me Groot deserves to be paid more simply because of the position he played. Now it looks like the only way we're going the distance this year is to ride Cook until the wheels fall off. If this is how Allen looks after 2 straight losses & a bye week for extra prep against the Panthers, that's a bad sign. You'd think he'd have a fire lit under him, but it just looked like more of the same. Thankfully, the D looked much better. But it was against Andy Dalton, so...

I've said it a million times, but I'm no longer stingy about trading away 1st or 2nd round picks. Given what this team has spent them on, I'd rather them trade for a player that has shown they can be good in this league rather than roll the dice on whoever Beane & McDermott use the picks on. Who's the only player we've drafted in the first 2 rounds that would likely get back equal draft value for where they were taken is James Cook. I'm sure some team would think Cook is worth a 2nd rounder. Would anyone give up a 1st for Groot? We got back 6th & 7th round picks for Elam & Basham, so that's a no for them. Nobody would give up a 2nd for Cole Bishop, nor would Kincaid command a 1st. Our draft picks won't be more valuable than they are BEFORE we use them. Might as well use them in a trade & try to actually win a Super Bowl this year instead of hoping we'll get there in a few more drafts.

We need Hairston to be a great CB if we want to have any hope of making a Super Bowl. We also need him to fill in at Safety... And LB... And WR... You think he could call plays as well?

I don't think people understand just how massive of a failure it would be to lose the division & now be looking up at NE... We had a team that was supposed to be competing for a SB... with an MVP QB, several years worth of drafts/free agencies/other roster moves, and yet, instead of building on that & getting better, the moves we've made have made us worse. To allow NE to overtake us is a huge indictment on the front office & HC. That means the other team is hitting on their players, while you're not. It could also mean their coaches & just better too.

That's what happens when your HC oversees the one side of the ball that's been a perpetual issue in the playoffs, yet you have no way to fix it without letting him go. You can replace the OC or ST coach, but the defense stays the same regardless. And it's not just about the scheme & play calling, it's about the allocation of money & draft resources on rosters spots... all of which contribute to the defense declining each year. Pairing Mahomes with Andy Reid was the best thing ever for his career. He has a great offensive coach to support his career, all while allowing them the flexibility to change the defense if something isn't working. Allen doesn't have the option, not as long as McDermott is HC.

Better than what Beane would spend the pick on. I'd trade a 1st + more picks for any legit WR. I have no desire to waste another season & hope Beane figures it out next draft, only for us to need another couple years to see if that pick ever materializes into something good. Look no further than who they've evaluated taken vs who they've passed on. We literally gave the Chiefs a weapon that helps transform the look of their entire offense, while we took a project that can't separate & scares nobody. As I've said before, the best draft picks Beane & McDermott have ever used outside of Allen were the 1st, 4th, 5th & 6th to get Diggs. Nobody else has been as impactful Better to go that route again then sit around & do nothing. Even just having someone as good as Waddle could change the whole dynamic of this offense. Maybe then Coleman could even look as good as ol Gabe David used to playing opposite of Diggs.

Yep. Beane has had 8 drafts now, which is way more than most GMs get. We should have some great players anchoring both sides of the ball at this point. Like I look at the 2021 draft & see how it was basically a complete waste. 1st) Groot (OK, not great) 2nd) Boogie Basham- Traded for a 6th 3rd) Spencer Brown - Hit 5th) Tommy Doyle 6th) Marquez Stevenson 6th) Damar Hamlin - Decent for where he was picked. 6th) Rachad Wildgoose 7th) Jack Anderson 2022 got us James Cook, Khalil Shakir, Christian Benford & Terrell Bernard. A solid group to build off of, if only they followed that up with some premium talent to anchor both sides of the ball. Shakir shouldn't be our WR1. Bernard would be solid if our other LBs were decent or healthy. Benford is good, but they wasted a 1st in the same draft on Elam. 2023 got us Kincaid & Torrence. Kincaid is above average, but given our huge lack of talent, is basically our WR1 by default. 2024 set us back HARD. Another draft like 2021 where we had a lot of picks, only to squander them away. 2nd) Keon Coleman (But we traded back twice to take him, so basically our 1st) 2nd) Cole Bishop - Dud 3rd) DeWayne Carter - Always injured/Dud 4th) Ray Davis 5th) Van Pran-Granger 5th) Ulofoshio 6th) Javon Solomon 6th) Tylan Grable 6th) Daequan Hardy 7th) Travis Clayton 2025 consists of a bunch of injured players or those who won't make much of an impact this year. More "hope for the best in a couple years" kinda guys. So in the last 5 years & 41 picks, the Bills have found 3 x good - really good players (Brown, Cook & Benford), 3 x above average players (Torrence, Groot & Kincaid) and the rest are just bodies that fill out the roster. Meanwhile, others on your roster leave the team, get older, or get injured each year. Averaging 1 above average - good player a draft isn't going to replace what we lose.