Richard Noggin

On one hand, you hate to see it (player's wife putting it out there so publicly). On the other hand, you really can't be mad at her if she's right. You have to be mad at the leadership and org structure/culture that allowed it to get to this point.

Have to imagine/hope playoffs Bills are like the 1st quarter Detroit v Buffalo Bills AND/OR the regular season Kansas City v Buffalo Bills. Really hope they have been sandbagging down the stretch, and that their approaches to, and performances against, the two 15-win teams they played this season, are the best indicators of how they will handle the playoffs. True, objectively, but we cannot ignore Payton's ability to attack specific defenses. The gameplan his offense executed last week against KC backups actually looked like something the Bills have trouble with: an offense attacking horizontally with motion and misdirection and play-action and screens and a mobile QB. How well our DEs and CBs set the edges and don't take the bait inside will be huge on Sunday IMHO.

yeah I know I wasn't exactly ahead of the curve on predicting Mayo's firing.

Smart. Call him directly and get in his head.

I really appreciate when posters leave room for nuance and disagreement, like you're doing here...

This is a fun one.

Made a little edit to your post. Hope you don't mind.

Fair, but bad weather would provide an even greater advantage, potentially, than nice weather.

Was hoping for the colder and windier long term forecasts we were seeing recently. That would hurt Nix more than it would hurt Allen, obviously. Damn.

Nix is mobile and has developed a decent connection with his #1 WR, Courtland Sutton. Sean Payton found himself an oldish, talented rookie QB with TONS of ELITE college experience to basically download his offensive philosophy into. They don't run the ball well, but they do move the pocket and utilize easy answers in the passing game to matriculate down the field at times. And we all saw them discover some explosivity these last couple weeks. Their defense can be problematic. Their line pressures QBs better than anyone else (inside and outside), and they have one elite shutdown CB. I don't know too much else there. My hope comes from what Nix looked like in the rain early this year: ball control/grip and accuracy issues. It's gonna be cold and probably breezy. That could help limit Denver's offense.

I have not heard this trade rumor. Also, I don't frequent online places where rumors are shared (until they reach us here). That's wild, though, if true. Seems crazy that they'd make a little move up in Round One to guarantee they got McCarthy, with a former QB as their Head Coach, and then fall in love with a former top-3 pick reclamation project and completely light that entire draft process on fire. Would signal a lack of alignment on the pick to begin with. Because if the HC and GM genuinely believed in McCarthy to begin with, this one outlier season of Darnold success would NOT so easily move them to abandon the prospect and pay MUCHO doll hairs to a vet instead. Just can't see McCarthy getting traded before having a chance to compete for the job, nor can I envision him having enough value to justify the move. Minnesota ain't afraid of paying a vet, to be sure. See: Kirk Cousins. But cutting bait with the hand-picked, traded-up-for top-10 prospect seems bonkers so soon.

Did I see a tweet about Mayfield playing scout team DT for Carolina at some point that season? There is a pic out there that essentially shows us this. Crazy. How could Minn sign Darnold to starting QB money while they have a 1st rounder they traded up (slightly) to draft at #10 who just redshirted his first year? MAYBE if Darnold accepted a "bridge" deal (which isn't super realistic) for a few years they'd let the two QBs compete for the job, but I can't see Darnold signing for less than stupid starter money. Terrible ownership listening to OBJ and his dad and the disgruntled fans who agreed with them (in large part due to Mayfield boldly but stupidly playing hurt all year...same shoulder injury and harness that Allen also played through with mixed, at best, results)

Any season ticket holders been selected recently to hold flags on the field pre-game (for team/player announcements I think)? Our two seats got picked, and we have to report to the Fieldhouse pre-game to partake next week. No clue yet what this entails, or how excited we should be. My 72-year old mom (who taught me how to have an unhealthy lifelong relationship with local corporate football) is ecstatic, like the org has finally recognized her LOL.

Hasn't Brady differentiated himself by building the offense to be balanced and NOT built around just one guy? (Obviously Allen will take a handful of pass calls each game and turn them into Superman/off-script plays, but isn't the important thing this year that the Bills can impose their will up front if/when necessary, and they also have the most talented QB ever to then turn balanced offensive production into flawless 30-40+ point outputs almost weekly? Brady is optimizing Allen by optimizing everyone else. Wasn't he a Reid guy in KC or even PHL? (I ask this without looking it up first.) Edit after looking it up: Pederson was Chiefs OC '13-'15 under Reid, so I'm not sure if he actually called plays full-time. But Nagy got an HC gig in Chicago after he left to be Philly HC, so obviously other orgs value Reid's OC pipeline (plus being a former player/QB) as long as you're not Eric Bienemy lol.

Agree on both. Give us the Broncos and their rookie QB in cold and wind, or the banged up Dolphins.

Fair enough breakdown there.

Pederson should be considered radioactive after how badly his last two teams, and their offenses, have regressed during his tenures.

Ah, thank you. Mayo might well be one-and-done.

McCoy's reaction to Edelman's lame denial is hilarious. Good on Shady here. I read this as I hope it was intended.

And is there anything you wish to point out about this seemingly inconsequential observation?

Kromer, if he elevates a passing game coordinator? Would rather not lose him.

What if those drops are influencing most assessments? Didn't it get bad last season? Dude is so greasy good, naturally, destroying defensive angles and arm tackles with his explosive forward lean. And he runs good routes, too, so those play-action, outbreaking touch passes especially need to be hauled in. Lethal dual threat from the RB position no matter who gets the snap, ideally.

We're already fully there, aren't we? At least as much as we're going to be. "The run" isn't something that can consistently work without a similarly threatening pass game, unless of course that offense is willing to ONLY run well. Offensive balance and general physicality is probably the notable hallmark of a contemporary Andy Reid/Matt Nagy attack. They attack ALL quadrants of the field at all times with all kinds of pre- and post-snap motions, and when they're able to control the LOS, they have success. (Reminds me of Brady's collaborative and dynamic approach to offensive football in 2024.)

What about Ty Johnson's availability? Prior to 2024, has he struggled to remain available with anything above a sparse #3 workload? Sincere question. He's OBVIOUSLY dynamic and versatile when he's healthy. His current role is also helping him remain healthy and explosive. Hell, I thought he looked pretty good returning kickoffs recently, didn't we all? Perfect #3 RB talent. Great 3rd down guy, teams guy, everything guy. Can sub in for moderate carries too, probably. But will he accept the same kind of deal he's been working with each season so far? I'd expect some team to reach out with a deal more suited to #2 money for a couple/few years. Will the Bills match it, or even have a chance to match it?

Something to consider here is that anything the Bills offense has been specifically rostered to do in recent years, such as Harty being a dynamic weapon early on, or Curtis Samuel being a similar dynamic weapon early on, or now James Cook being someone who can leak out of the backfield without deliberate eyes on him, has not worked early on as desired. The Bills have had to prove their ability to attack all quadrants of the field before defenses were going to back off those motion-based and near the LOS plays for these obvious McKittrick-style players. The Bills offense was not effectively diverse enough and multiple enough to back defenses off of some of these personnel-based downhill reads for a while there (mostly in 2022 and 2023). Maybe Johnson just doesn't warrant the same defensive alert level (as James Cook), so far. But maybe he will moving forward?