LSHMEAB

I got a 33, which means I'm as smart AND as handsome as Tom Brady. That's what they told me anyways. All the credit in the world to the folks admitting they didn't get an amazing score and shame on folks (like me) for flaunting a "decent" score on a meaningless test.

I love Gardner Minshew for his odd, attention seeking wardrobe/persona, but I HATE Cam Newton for his odd, attention seeking wardrobe/persona. Makes sense.

Word. Kind of like the point differential in 2017 and needing a miracle in Baltimore to get in. I feel zero shame seeing a few breaks go the Bills way. Been a whiiiiiiiiiilllllllle. One of the reasons I'm pro McD is that I have not seen those gutwrenching, "Billsy" losses during his tenure.

I actually don't think Allen is particularly humble, and I'm fine with that. I would say he's as cocky as anyone ON the field. You can tell he does a lot of talking. You show me a great QB with zero swagger and I'll show you a 1960's sports encyclopedia. Even those guys were probably cocky S.O.B's. Just didn't hear about it sans social media and such. It requires a MASSIVE ego to play QB in the NFL.

The fact IS that the Bills have had some pretty glaring issues defensively the past 3 outings. It was a nice article and it's clear he's well respected by his teammates, but I don't think the defense should be resting on it's laurels. They've got a ways to go. The LB group has not maintained disciplined gap assignment. Edmunds and even Milano have been inconsistent in this regard. BUT, is Star really doing anything special? He's occupying space, but slipping in terms of his already low standards of playmaking. I don't think anyone looks at Star as THE problem over this stretch. The problem is that he's not a solution.

Your face is my case! Well done.

Your brother in law was souring on an MVP QB who lead the Panthers to the Superbowl? That seems odd. I think he's taken too many hits and will never get back to where he was, but I can't imagine being displeased during the SB run.

For clarification, when I say win BIG, I'm talking about winning playoff games and such. I do like to analyze games, understand why, and try to determine what that portends for the future. But as far as results, couldn't care less how the Bills win; only "want" is WINNING.

I don't think people understand the IMPORTANCE or the DIFFICULTY this game represents. This could very well determine whether the Bills make the playoffs. That being said, a win. 2-0. 63-0. Whatever. I will say perfect would be an offensive explosion.

I feel like these match-ups are important, but the team cannot continue to go into every game expecting to hold opponents to less than 20 points week in and week out. At some point, the Bills offense needs to step up. Why not now? The Browns have given up 20 plus points in all but one game; 40 plus once, 30 plus twice. All of this over an 8 game stretch. How's about the offense starts scoring?

This is where I come to air all my grievances with the team. Kind of like a "family" of sorts. I'm not gonna put any of it out there to non Bills fans. Only I can talk (blank) about my brother type of deal.

Truth is, the Bills are in the same boat as teams like Cleveland and Kansas City in terms of lack of interest. UNLESS your QB becomes a national figure like Mahomes and Mayfield(for some reasons other than football). I don't think anyone will care about the Bills until/unless Allen becomes a star. But really whatever; I cared about this stuff when I was in my 20's. At this point, I just want to see them win. Couldn't care less what people have to say or whether they "talk them up." Win BIG and they'll have no choice but to take notice.

I guess that makes Steve "Owen." He's got a terrific coin collection and he'll tell you all about it.

I'm not even sure they know much about Tre White TBH. I would guess that Frank Gore would be the first player mentioned if you asked casual fans to name a Buffalo Bill. Either way, we've improved the talent, but this remains a pretty average roster. McDermott has proven that he will eek out every win possible with the roster he's provided. Whether or not the author knows the details of the roster, I think his assessment is correct.

From my admittedly limited understanding of the system, it's based primarily on timing and ball placement. Again, perhaps I'm oversimplifying here, but if we're talking about the obvious one; NE, I don't think Allen fits at all. Yes, the Pats had the year with Randy Moss and they go deep on occasion. But beyond Brady, the system itself requires to QB to make quick decisions and hit receivers perfectly in stride(as I understood the system prior to reading the article.) I just don't see these as his strengths. I don't think he's ever going to reach peak Josh Allen in a system that's super structured. That's my overall point. You mention Bill Parcells and it has me thinking back to the days of Phil Simms. Very structured passing game. I think he's gonna to be at his best in a system far less structured and nuanced than the one Daboll appears to run. I'd rather see Allen just out there dropping back, doing his thing, and making plays. That also sounds kind of rudimentary, but I think you get the gist of the point whether you agree or not. JMO. Time will tell(ultimate post ending cliche!) Edit; Upon further reflection, I actually think it's possible that his improvement in the short area accuracy could be hampering the things he does really well. He's obviously much, much better in this regard, but he seems so focused on avoiding mistakes here that he's not "playing football." I prefer the scientific explanations and this is clearly an eyeball test response, but that's the way I SEE it.

I don't disagree at all; I'm talking about this team and this season. I don't expect this team to be SB contenders and I didn't before the season started. Whether Allen improves enough/they add the right components/Daboll improves or is replaced; that's going to be the key to big success. But THIS season, the defense IS going to have to carry them. I don't expect some magic transformation to occur on the offensive side of the ball. I would like to see them make the playoffs THIS season and my opinion is that the key to that will be the defense playing even better than it has. That means understanding the limitations of the edge players and finding a way to create turnovers, etc. The reason I tend to focus on that is because I think that's more feasible than an offensive surge NOW. Again, disagree with nothing in your post other than the c's in defenSe.

I love our uniforms and I'm "fine" with these. The only problem I have remains the logo/helmet. The standing Buffalo is so much cleaner IMO.

That's my concern Doc. I think this is the correct approach given the talent. I like Doc's idea of blitzing Edmunds on occasion. I don't think that's something McD likes to do defensively, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do given the circumstances. Also bring White and Johnson a little more often to shake things up that way as well.

Agreed. When I take a step back, the real question becomes is Josh Allen an E-P quarterback? The answer is a decisive no IMO. So then the question becomes whether or not Daboll can adjust his playbook enough to work with Allen's strengths and minimize his weaknesses. I don't know the answer, but I think that's the question. So far this season, the results just haven't been there. It's within the realm of possibility that the real problem is that Daboll and JA just don't mesh. We'll see what happens. They've still got 8 weeks to get on the same page this season.

Exactly. The Redskins game is a prime example. The Bills got gashed in the run game, which is what everyone is talking about. The Redskins also scored 9 POINTS. Winning NFL defense doesn't require a GREAT run D. Obviously you can't get gashed the way the Bills did against Philly and New Orleans a few years back. Those are anomalies that you just can't have. It just require a decent run D and a PASS RUSH capable of disrupting the better QB's, rattling them a bit, and creating turnovers. The Bills have a good defense, but I think they've got to shake things up going forward against the better QB's. Gotta get in their mug. The LB's did not cover well against Philly, but I think they're "fine." Wallace has had some issues, but I think the secondary is fine overall. What they really need to do is turn up the heat.

We've been harping on this all season and I would say we've been very fortunate in the QB's the defense has faced. Mayfield is certainly not a great QB, but he's someone who's perfectly capable of big games under the right circumstances. This will be a big test for the question marks some have about whether or not the defense can disrupt opposing QB's ENOUGH with their current group of pass rushers. Somebody's gotta really step up against Mayfield and Dak. Man, this schedule is really advantageous on the QB front when those are the two most concerning games! I'll give McD a ton of credit for the work he's done on Brady, but that hasn't been the result of heat.

Yeah. You'd have to bite the bullet and lay the juice on the ML to protect against that scenario. This is just one of those games that looks awful from the perspective of sports betting. Same deal with Philly. I would love to be wrong. I'm honestly more concerned about Baker going off than I about getting gashed in the run game. They'll make stopping the run the top priority and most likely have better results in that area. But are the Bills gonna generate enough pressure to disrupt Mayfield on 3rd and whatever. That will be the deciding factor IMO. We're probably not gonna score more than 21-24 points and that's being optimistic. Gotta get the pressure going and make some game changing plays on D.

Oh, I agree with this 100 percent. He's in a GREAT position in KC. I'm referring to the notion that he would not be a good quarterback had he been drafted by the "wrong" team. I summarily reject this narrative. If you watch enough football, you recognize "special" when you see it. He wouldn't be putting up video game numbers; no question. He'd STILL be a rising star in this league. Great QB's tend to mask many offensive deficiencies. The question then becomes; do you think Mahomes is a great QB? My answer is a resounding yes. But no; he would not have thrown for 50 TD's with the Bills last season or this season if we're bringing it back to JA. That much is true.

Not exactly. There is a distinction here in Vegas between the "public" and the sharp bettors who rely on data. The public is going to bet heavily on the Bills. The sharp money is betting heavily on Cleveland. Hopefully the public wins this one, but I prefer situations when the inverse is true; sharp money on Buffalo, public money on opponent. We shall see. That's why they play the games and all that jazz. A win in Cleveland would be huge for the Bills season. Huge.

I think McDermott will find a way to "fix" the run D. I'm not nearly as concerned as others about that aspect of this game. As a matter of fact, I'm not really even all that concerned about run D in general. Keep yourself in the middle of the pack and you're fine. You saw last week that a team can run all day and not score points if the passing game isn't working. The Bills have been very good against the pass, but they've also faced some very weak QB's. Mayfield is a guy who plays MUCH better when he's got a clean pocket. Night and day different. My concern with this game, as with any in which we're facing a competent QB, is generating pressure and forcing QB's into bad decisions. Failed pretty miserably against Wentz if we're being honest. We just played a BAD offense with a raw, rookie QB and didn't force a single turnover. That's more concerning than the run D. I actually think the defense can afford to give up a "decent" amount of yardage on the ground........IF they come through with heat on the QB when they earn themselves a 3rd and 5 plus.