SoTier

This is what's troubling to me, too. He's lost his capacity to play "hero ball" -- his willingness to do whatever it takes to win football games -- since the NE game. Dead on. Allen shouldn't be playing "hero ball" all the time, but he's almost like a zombie out there now. Trying to be a game manager isn't his forte -- and the lack of elite talent around him on the offense makes it impossible for him to be successful. Game managers are only successful when they have great talent supporting them.

I have zero confidence that McDermott and Beane can build a competitive team, so unfortunately Allen doesn't have a chance either. If the current regime stays in place, the Bills will be stuck in the same rut of mediocrity that they've wallowed in over the last two decades, and the blame will undoubtedly fall on Allen for "not being good enough". Maybe he isn't, but I don't think we'll ever really know because offensive coaching and talent around him are mediocre.

No, the Bills were the first and only to team to "get the wool pulled over our eyes" because Wilson and Brandon were in a hurry to sign him before he "exploded" and would have been more expensive. Well, Fitzy exploded all right, just not the way that Wilson and Brandon thought he would. The other teams that signed Fitzy knew what they were getting but felt he was worth it. I'm sure that's how the Fins and their fans feel.

That he didn't bring in an experienced QB coach to mentor Allen last season underscores that point. You don't have to be a coaching genius to understand that if you draft a project QB who needs to fix a whole lot of passing issues, you better bring in somebody with more than one year of QB coaching experience thirty years ago. If the issue was that the Bills already had a "QB coach" then do a little "organizational realignment". If the issue was money -- that there wasn't money in the coaching budget to hire a good mentor -- then Beane is even more clueless than McDermott. No excuses for the way Allen was just thrown out there as a rookie to sink or swim.

I agree. They seem to hit on the lower picks and fail on the higher ones. My guess is that that outcome stems from McDermott/Beane always trading up to chase projects in the first two rounds, and none of them have worked out as well as expected. Zay Jones was a bust. Dion Dawkins is a JAG OT. Allen was easily the most flawed QB prospect taken in the first round, and his improvement has been modest. Edmunds has improved somewhat but he's maybe an average MLB. To put it plainly, Ford has struggled. Maybe McDermott and Beane should stop trying to fit square pegs into round holes. Just because you need help at a particular position doesn't mean that you can find the answer to that personnel issue in a particular draft. In the specialized world of the modern NFL, each position has its own specific skill set. Part of the problem with both Dawkins and Ford is that they both were projected to be OGs in the pros although they played OT in college. Moving collegiate OTs to OG when they come into the NFL is a very common practice since most colleges just play their best OLers at OT. As for Edmunds, he doesn't appear to have the natural instincts needed by a good/great MLB, but he might make a great OLB. In view of the success the Ravens have had by retooling their offense to take advantage of Lamar Jackson's skill set, maybe the Bills should reconsider trying to turn Allen into a game manager QB. It reminds me of Bills HC John Rauch trying to turn OJ Simpson into a pass catcher out of the backfield and making Simpson look like a bust. Thankfully, Lou Saban wasn't as stupid.

I have never been a McDermott fan, and that stems mostly from his similarities to Jauron. That he's a better HC than Jauron -- which would be hard not to be -- doesn't mean that they don't share the same philosophy on how to run a football team. Jauron's approach was a fail a decade ago, and I think that McDermott's approach is doomed in the current NFL.

Why did both have limited talent? Part of it comes from personnel decisions made higher up the food chain than GM or HC. The Bills just seemed to have a policy under Wilson that continued under Brandon that they didn't pay DBs, RBs or WRs. That's almost certainly why Gilmore, Woods, and Goodwin are playing on other teams because they were allowed to walk in FA when McDermott was only a few weeks after being hired. I would argue, though, that they had limited talent because they were not only willing to shed talented players who didn't fit their ideas of how they wanted players to be, but they were, at best, mediocre at assessing talent so their drafts weren't very productive, especially in the first and second round. In his four drafts, Jauron hit big on Marshawn Lynch. Donte Whitner was a good pick but he was probably drafted too high, and Bills fans never forgave him for that. Leodis McKelvin, taken in the top ten in 2008, was a bust for his draft position. Eric Wood was a good pick in 2009 but the Bills got that late first round pick for future All Pro LT Jason Peters, so it was an overall loss for team's talent level. The Bills own 2009 pick, #11, they wasted on an epic bust, Aaron Maybin. a tweener DE/LB who was too small and not agiile enough to be effective as the pass rusher he was drafted to be. Paul Posluszny from the second round in 2007 and Jairus Byrd and Andy Levitre from 2009's second round were solid performers and were all players who left in FA and found success. The second best player drafted in the Jauron era was Kyle Williams, a fifth rounder who developed into one of the best DTs in the league but it took him a while. The plain fact is that under Jauron, the Bills talent dropped significantly, so that the team that Buddy Nix and Chan Gailey inherited was so talent depleted, it was bareliy competitive even with NFL bottom feeders. Three years into the McDermott era, the Bills talent level isn't as good as it was before he was named HC. The list of numerous ex-Bills who exited after McDermott was hired and are contributing to winning teams starts with All Pro Stephon Gilmore. The list of outstanding players that McDermott drafted is very short: Tre White. Milano is decent. Allen and Edmunds are still question marks. Phillips is on IR. The top picks from the 2019 draft, Oliver and Ford, have been underwhelming. Singletary looks promising.

Buffalo was a pariah during this time by Ralph Wilson's actions. After the 2000 season, Wilson fired Wade Phillips in circumstances that resulted in Phillips suing the Bills for the rest of his salary under his contract and winning. In 2005, Wilson fired Tom Donahoe over reasons that remain unknown to the general public, and it seems that he blacklisted Donahoe who has never been hired except as a consultant by another NFL team despite the regular recycle of NFL execs with lesser resumes. Moreover, Wilson and his new protege, Russ Brandon, in charge, they successfully forced Mike Mularkey to resign without having to fire him. Marv Levy was never in charge of anything during his two years (2006-2007) as the Bills GM. He was a figurehead, and that was plain in the 2006 TC when he seemed to wander around chatting and shaking hands but having nothing else to do.

Let me count the ways ... McDermott plays not to lose just like Jauron. Conservative game calling and playing for a break to win on a late FG hasn't been a successful formula for winning in the NFL for a couple of decades at least. McDermott wants a bend not break defense and an offense that plays it safe so it doesn't lose the game. McDermott's clock management, especially at the end of first halves and games, is mediocre at best and frequently inept as it was at the end of the game Sunday. McDermott intersperses his usual conservative game plan with a series or two of stupidly aggressive calls. McDermott favors players who fit his narrow view of "character" over players with significantly more talent who may march to a different drummer. He doesn't seem to have much tolerance for differences. McDermott favors undersized defensive players. McDermott doesn't seem to understand or care about offense, underscored by his poor choice of offensive coaches and the lack of playmakers on the offense.

I think we're seeing the results of "the process" not waiting on them. When you have a play not to lose philosophy that emphasizes bend not break defense and limited risk offense executed by players that have a lot of try but not enough talent, you get a team that can usually beat bottom feeders but seldom better teams. This philosophy was popular a few decades ago, but in the current NFL with its rules that encourage scoring, it's a prescription for losing with regularity,

The Stillers D will feast on the Bills offense. They'll be lucky to avoid a shut out. When you consider that Pegula had to think about firing Phil Housley after the Sabres' ghastly collapse at the end of last season, it doesn't look likely even if they lose out. No. See above. And we all know that the Tennessee Titans are "genetically predisposed" to go 9-7. This ain't Adam Gase's run-for-the-bus Fins from 2018. They're playing above their talent -- and anything is possible with Fitzy when FitzMagic is flowing.

Who the hell hired Daboll????? When do you ask "Sean" to take responsibility for hiring 2 crappy OCs????

This is classic Jauron ball. See above. You don't "get the Jauron comparison" because you either don't remember his tenure with the Bills or you refuse to see what's been in front of your face for 2 and a half seasons. Excuse me, but who picked those players???? When you value "culture" over talent, what you get are "team guys" who aren't good enough to make clutch plays when the chips are down.

What, exactly, is this "plan" that is not failing? I mean, I hear all the McDermott/Beane supporters alluding to "the plan" but it remains as elusive as "the process" whenever anybody asks what is it. From what I can tell, the Bills are playing the same kind of decent defense, crappy offense they've played for most of the last 20 years. McDermott and Beane need to go, but neither probably goes anywhere until their contracts are up. Pegula apparently has infinite patience as witness how long it took him to can the Sabres HC, Phil Housley. It's related "the plan" but the details -- hell, even the outline -- of what either is apparently is known only to McDermott and Beane who aren't sharing. ROTFLMAO. ROTFLMAO>

Name the players on either side of the ball who are "game breakers"? They have tons of JAGs, some decent aging veterans, a handful of young "projects", and only one bonafide outstanding young veteran -- Tre White. I'd call that a serious lack of talent to try and compete with the likes of the Pats, Rams, Saints, Chiefs, Cowboys, Packers etc. They also don't have a competent FO or coaching staff which is why they don't have a competent NFL quarterback.

I'm not saying Rudolph will be better than Allen long term or was a better prospect than Allen -- Rudolph was a third round pick in the same draft as Allen -- but he's had all of 6 starts, winning 4 of them, throwing for 10 TDs, 4 INTs, and 3 fumbles. Part of his success is better coaching and part of it is also better support, including a better OL, better running game, and better receivers, but part of it is that he's actually making good passes with some regularity. He may very well crash and burn before the end of the season but right now, he's playing better than Allen hands down. I've said this before, and I'll repeat it: the way the Bills have built this offense, they've set up Allen to fail. They've given him minimal support in terms of coaching and providing talent to help him, thrown him to the wolves, and then expect him to sink or swim. Today he looked like he's struggling against a rip current.

Compared to the Bills, they're offensive juggernauts. Their defense is pretty good, too, and unlike the Bills defense, they thrive on creating TOs and scoring off them.

I'm not impressed with being marginally "better" than a 6-10 tire fire, and after three seasons, it's clear that "the process" is simply a new package wrapped around the same mediocrity that the Bills have been peddling for the last two decades. lol the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Rams ... and Rudolph played well within the limits that Mike Tomlin and the Pittsburgh coaching staff have set for him. He's not continually missing open WRs or making poor passes.

Played well compared to whom? JP Losman? Trent Edwards? Ryan Fitzpatrick when FitzMagic is MIA? EJ Manuel? Kyle Orton? Tyrod Taylor after his promising first season as a starter? The scariest part of this loss was that it was like a replay of so many crappy losses with any of the above crappy QBs. If Daboll is a failure, why does McDermott get a pass??? Daboll is his second OC in three seasons. McDermott's philosophy -- strong defense, barely functional offense charged with not losing the game -- hasn't been a successful strategy in the NFL in this century. Point 1: McDermott and Beane's "process" appears to be the very same one that the Bills have been employing for the last twenty years: the pursuit of mediocrity with the promise of "wait until next year". Point 2: Take your own advice and watch other games. Both Kyle Allen and Mason Rudolph are playing considerably better than Josh Allen, not just today but since they've become regular starters. Give an honorable mention to Jags' rookie QB Gardner Minshew, too.

I was very skeptical about Watson' based on his performance as a rookie and about Mahomes early on last year, but in their third and second year as starters respectively, they are so good that even if they don't improve, they are great as they are. Joe Flacco was good but never in the same area code as Watson and Mahomes. Mariota always seemed to me to be a very uninspiring game manager. I think he lacks leadership for want of a better word. Technically, he's probably a better passer than Tannehill, but Tannehill just gets more out of his teammates despite his shortcomings.

I think you know what kind of QB you have when he stops improving his play and keeps making the same kind of plays -- good or bad -- over and over. I think that sometime between the start of his second and the end of his third season as a starter, he hits his ceiling and any improvements from then on are probably only minimal. It's why so many QBs who look so good as first or second year starters derail -- they hit the limits of their abilities and those limits aren't high enough to justify that QB being a competent NFL starting QB AFAIK, there haven't been any cases of a QB who's been mediocre to poor for his first three seasons as a starter suddenly metamorphisizing into a great QB. I think the hard part for teams is deciding to cut ties with a young starting QB who's not improving. They know he's not getting better but they keep hoping. The Bucs handling of Jameis Winston is the classic example of this. Rarely, a poor team or an injury obscures a QB's progress, which is what happened with Drew Brees in SD and Derek Carr in Oakland early in their careers as well as with Carson Wentz. However, sometimes a poor team or injuries simply obscures the fact that the QB just isn't that good, which seems to be the case with Marcus Mariota. OTOH, some young QBs are so good coming out of the gate that even minimal improvement later doesn't affect their status as NFL starters. I think that both Patrick Mahomes and DeShaun Watson fit this category. Back before the season started, there were a number of threads on "what do you need to see from Josh Allen", to which I responded that I needed to see him on a continual arc of improvement (meaning that while there might be setbacks, he was still improving as a QB and hadn't hit his ceiling). Allen made a big jump between last season and this one. He's continued to improve as the season has gone on. Unfortunately, he was so far behind the other QBs in his class -- and most other first round QBs in recent years -- in his passing skills that he remains very much a question mark as to whether he'll ever be good enough to be considered a franchise QB. At this point in time, he certainly seems to be on track, a young QB still on the upswing, unlike the 2 QBs taken ahead of him in 2019: Mayfield and Darnold. Hopefully, by this time next year, the Bills will have figured out if he's truly a keeper of not.

That's a very partisan and elitist statement -- and it's untrue. Maybe it's not where you're coming from, but most of the proponents of this view are the same people who advocate subsidizing private elementary and secondary education via vouchers; are always worried about "unqualified" people color being admitted to prestigious educational institutions while being just fine with "unqualified" children of alumni taking spots at competitive colleges, etc; and who actively promote the idea that college degrees are unnecessary when, in fact, statistical data shows just the opposite. The rise in the cost of tuition coincides with the decline of government support for higher education, especially on the state level with aid to public colleges and universities; with the rampant inflation of the 1970s and 1980s which raised costs for all organizations and businesses; with the unionization of collegiate faculties which raised the wages of teaching and research staff; and finally, a massive increase in demand, especially for prestigious schools. Except for the issue of government support, these same factors have resulted in massive tuition increases in private elementary and secondary schools where government backed loans have never existed.

Alumni contributions seldom actually reduce tuition for all students. The Ivies have monstrous endowments (which are used to provide a reliable revenue stream for operating expenses) and it took an expose by the media about a decade ago to embarrass schools like Harvard and Yale to give almost all students reduced or free tuition. Most contributions to colleges go into endowment and building funds -- often for building Taj Mahal-like sports facilities -- as well as providing inflated salaries for institution administrators, big name professors, and football and basketball coaches. Donations to scholarship funds are the only dollars that are actually earmarked to help students with college costs with the income from those scholarship funds.

Agreed. "Legacy" = affirmative action for rich white folks. At lesser institutions, it's favoring graduates' relatives in hopes of garnering a few thousand dollars in donations. At prestigious institutions, it's giving slots to frequently unqualified candidates who are the children/grandchildren of wealthy, prominent alumni in exchange for millions in donations.

Game. Set. Match.