MJS

Vegas doesn't know.

Many were claiming it was the worst group in the league. A few even claimed, hilariously, that it was historically bad. I think average is a lot better than what many Bills fans expected, and certainly a lot better than expected nationally. Many didn't like the Coleman pick. Many scoffed at Mack Hollins and questioned his roster position all offseason and into the season. So, I think it is not accurate to say "the wide receivers are essentially who we thought they were".

Maybe.

One thing that can't be understated is his ability to draw defensive pass interference flags. That is certainly a WR skill. It has been a LONG time since we had receivers who were good at drawing those flags. Hollins does a good job at that.

You can't quantify something with speculation, like when you said replacing Allen with Goff would turn the Bills into a 5 win team. There is just no way to quantify that. It is 100% guess work. But if the question is: Who would I rather have, Goff or Allen? I would choose Allen. There are plenty of actual metrics, over their careers, to make an easy case for Allen over Goff, and just about every other starting QB in the NFL, perhaps including Mahomes, especially lately.

Has Einstein come in here yet to lecture everyone about how it isn't the average speed and everyone is dumb for saying it is fast?

Agreed. I think OJ's '75 season could be the best season in NFL history regardless of team.

Josh is playing out of his mind. I agree with that. He also benefits from good players around him, a great oline, great coaching and scheme, including a good running game. In previous years he had to do a lot more to will the team to victory, especially when our oline was average and we had a middling run game. We could play the "what if" game, but it is futile. There is no way to know what it would be like if Josh was switched with another player. I don't like going down that road because it is 100% speculation and not worth arguing (for me, at least).

Recency bias. OJ is one of the greatest in NFL history regardless of team. Yeah, his legacy is tarnished for sure, but as a football player he was the elite of the elite. The same goes for Bruce Smith. Bruce is in the conversation for best ever pass rusher in the history of the league. Josh just isn't there yet. He needs to keep doing what he has been doing for a lot longer.

It is Bruce and it isn't even close. Josh Allen will likely end his career as the best Bill ever, but he still has a lot of playing to do. In fact, I'd put Thurman Thomas and OJ Simpson ahead of him too, and I'm close to putting Jim Kelly ahead of him, but I'll give Josh the nod over Jim because when Jim played, the offense went through Thurman Thomas, really.

It is so unfair that the Bills have to go through a gauntlet every year and the NFC playoffs can look like THAT. It is a free ticket to the superbowl if you have a good team. Not a great team, just a good one.

They should have known regardless. Only Josh Allen breaks records.

I never made that argument.

That's not the "gotcha" they think it is. Allen did it against a playoff team while Jackson did it against a hot trash team.

Oh, well they are probably talking about the regular season. A lot of times stats are separated by regular season vs post season.

I hate this way of thinking. Nobody ASKS Josh to do it. He does it because he chooses to. Josh is Josh because of Josh. And it is such bologna anyways. The Bills have an excellent running game. He has plenty of weapons. He is amazing, but he certainly has help out there. He has one of the best olines in the NFL. Because he plays QB in the NFL. That's how it goes. It is the most demanding job in pro sports and it takes an elite QB to have a chance at a superbowl.

What game(s) did Josh do that in? I believe you, I just can't remember.

Do I dare ask what that connotes?

He probably has all the other records at the other air yard distances as well, to be honest.

PFR approximate value is a good one to look at when comparing players of different eras and positions. Here are some of the highest single season AV scores for Bills players: 25- OJ Simpson: 1975 (2243 scrimmage yards, 23 total TDs, Pro Bowl, 1st team All Pro) 21- Bruce Smith: 1996 (13.5 sacks, 5 forced fumbles, 90 tackles, Pro Bowl, 1st team All Pro, Defensive Player of the Year) 20- Thurman Thomas: 1991 (2038 scrimmage yards, 12 total TDs, Pro Bowl, 1st team All Pro, Offensive Player of the Year, MVP) 20- Josh Allen: 2022 19- OJ Simpson: 1973 (2073 scrimmage yards, 12 total TDs, Pro Bowl, 1st team All Pro, Offensive Player of the Year, MVP) 19- Thurman Thomas: 1990 (1829 scrimmage yards, 13 total TDs, Pro Bowl, 1st team All Pro) 19- Thurman Thomas: 1992 (2113 scrimmage yards, 12 total TDs, Pro Bowl, 2nd team All Pro) 19- Mario Williams: 2014 (14.5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 42 tackles, Pro Bowl, 1st team All Pro) 19- Tre White: 2019 (6 INTs, 2 forced fumbles, 1 sack, 58 tackles, Pro Bowl, 1st team All Pro) 19- Josh Allen: 2021 19- Matt Milano: 2022 (3 INTs, 1 sack, 99 tackles, Pro Bowl, 1st team All Pro) 18- Fred Smerlas: 1982 (Full stats not listed, but he was 1st team All Pro) 18- Bruce Smith: 1993 (14 sacks, 4 forced fumbles, 108 tackles, Pro Bowl, 1st team All Pro) 18- Ted Washington: 2001 (1.5 sacks, 4 forced fumbles, 40 tackles, Pro Bowl, 1st team All Pro) 18- Josh Allen: 2020 18- Josh Allen: 2023 I didn't list Allen's stats for all his high AV years, but they are awesome. From what I can tell, OJ Simpson has the highest single season AV in Bills history by a wide margin, and it wasn't even his 2000 rushing yard season. It might be the highest in NFL history, too, but that is tough to look up. Lamar Jackson also scored a 25 AV for his 2019 MVP season.

Josh Allen elbow drop!

Same. It is the perfect time slot for me.

Can we give Sean McDermott his kudos? Oh wait, I forgot the rules. Anything good that the team does is because of everyone else. Anything bad is because of only McDermott and nobody else. I'll get it right next time.

Benford got beat a bit too.

Sure. But not if that means benching the starters, but if they can get rotated in to play some, or get more playing time while starters heal up, I'm fine with that. Hamlin and Rapp have been great tacklers, and we missed that for sure. Lewis also took some bad angles that Rapp would not have had he been in there.