LSHMEAB

For "some," the last 20 years have instilled this mentality and "they'd" LOVE to be proven wrong.

I'm in favor of any rule change that improves the accuracy of calls on the field. Have this debate with my Dad all the time. I think MLB should go with K Zone and be done with umpires calling balls and strikes. He counters with "umpires are part of the game and it's OK for an ump to give the pitcher the benefit of the doubt if they've been close." Absurd. A ball is a ball and a strike is a strike. I could see this hurting the Pats (and others) with some of their pick plays, but why is that a problem? If it was a pick, it should be called accordingly. More oversight is almost certainly better for the Bills who often get the shaft. What's the problem?

Great post. I would say we're in the same boat as the Chiefs/Lions/Browns. They'll only pay attention if we're winning and even then, not so much unless the QB is a standout. Generally go hand in hand, but there's a distinction. The media will be forced to talk about the Bills if Allen is a star. Just the way it is.

Kaepernick had a decent run in the NFL. The Tebow comparison is WAY off. Allen has a huge arm and Tebow's was Peterman level bad.

I bet against all "my" teams in relatively big games. If they win, I have no problem losing a few bucks. If they lose, at least I can cash a ticket. Never once even tepidly rooted for the bet over the team. People think it's crazy when I celebrate considering I lost money. Meh. To each their own. Unfortunately, I cash the tickets far too often.

In all fairness, they kinda do. His team at Wyoming was garbage, which explains his less than stellar college statistics. Last season, the Bills offensive talent WAS awful, which explains his completion percentage. Excuses and explanations certainly overlap on a zen diagram, so not all excuses are created equal. Sometimes they have merit and there's certainly quite a bit of truth to the two examples I cited. Wyoming was not very good offensively and the Bills offensive talent was terrible in 2018. But one man's explanation is another man's excuse. Semantics. Allen does appear to have a great head on his shoulders and has a certain aura that I find encouraging. At some point, there SHOULD be results and not explanations. I think that's what BB was driving at. This will (obviously as Marrone once said) be a big year for Josh. This snippet was the first time I've heard him utter anything that could CONCEIVABLY be viewed as an excuse. I understand what he was saying and his intent; a diplomatic way of stating the truth about the surrounding talent. So it has little to do with Allen making excuses for himself and much to do with the overall explanation of circumstance.

He's not saying the Browns WON'T win the division. He's saying the value is gone. LJax COULD be much better than the board believes and the Ravens could finish ahead of the Browns. Big Ben COULD have a huge season with JuJu and they COULD be better off without AB and LB creating distractions. Cincy. I doubt it, but their HC COULD be some kind of genius. I believe the Browns will win that division, but it's far from a lock. Betting wise, the current reward is not worth the risk. The Pats may represent some value. You put up 400 to win 100, so you're gonna have to put up a ton of money to make money. What if Brady gets hurt or the dynasty ends with a thud? There's a reason books/bookies exist and it isn't to hand out free money.

I think the chances of Lee OR Lawson getting the tag are the same; zero. Shaq Lawson for 19 mil a year? Never.

Are there any (other) young QB's "we" DO think are good/going to be good? Seems like they're all trash or in perfect situations.

A disaster in the sense that those teams were far more talented than the teams McDermott has coached. Rex turned a great defense into a below average unit. I guess you have to give him credit for his offensive hires, but he was supposed to lead the defense and he failed miserably. That 2015 offense was good enough to win 10+ games with an above average defense. The only thing that really changed between 2014 and 2015 was the defense going from Schwartz to Rex. When a DEFENSIVE HC turns a great DEFENSE into a below average one, I consider that a coaching disaster.

The hiring was actually genius from a PR perspective. Season tix skyrocketed and the Bills were suddenly an "interesting" team. It was an awful football hire and that predictable boondoggle ensued, but it definitely worked from a bottom line perspective. As you said, football disaster. Those were some talented teams.

Vegas has the Pats favored by 6 in the home match-up. Plus less than a touchdown at home is often a good sign. That game will be a huge barometer. Not quite sure why some are willing to concede 2 games to the Pats. If we're actually on the right track, there's no reason we can't beat NE at home.

And 2 total touchdowns/200 rushing yards over two SEASONS. There is absolutely no room on a roster for that kind of production. I don't love/hate the idea of a gadget guy, but Brad Smith is a very strange hill to die on. You gotta bring a WHOLE lot more production than that to make it a worthy debate. Pure silliness. What about Tyree Jackson's skill set says gadget guy? He's fast (FOR A QUARTERBACK). Kind of like good looking for a politician. The guy is either a QB or a TE and chances are good he's neither. Strikes me as a really good kid, so I wish him well in life. It's probably not gonna be in the NFL. THIS is how I'm spending my Saturday.

Yep. He's lifting like Mickey(Seinfeld) Pretty much ended his career in show biz. I actually like Murray, but there's no way he's 5'10.

It would have basically been a wash. Watkins was on a rookie contract as well. We payed KB 8+mil last season on his fifth year option. Watkins 5th year option was 11+MIL. With the benefit of hindsight, it wasn't a smart move. I liked Watkins and never liked Benjamin. Pretty sure SW would have helped Josh quite a bit more than than KB last season, but it is what it is. Allen doesn't seem to be phased by much and GM'S can certainly recover from mistakes. I agree that the Pegula's are bought in and they'll almost certainly get a 4th year barring a disaster. 5th? No guarantee there. I think they've positioned themselves relatively well to have a breakout season in 2019. Much of it hinges on Allen. If Beane nailed that, he'll deserve all the praise that's heaped upon him. This is the season I would expect a top tier regime PRODUCE. But that's just me; a random fan on a message board. Terry and Kim have the keys to the car.

Once again. Why are you here?

Alright. I'm convinced we found our new Joe Webb. My main concern with the offseason is that we didn't find our new Mike Tolbert.

I don't listen to Steve on the radio, but when NFLN does the home/away telecast for preseason replays, I prefer the away feed. He generally seemed very ill informed about the Bills, which is pretty shocking in it's own right.

Yeah. Narratives tend to change as decisions are made. THAT'S what they needed to do. I would have preferred a different approach, but they've got a shot to see this through and I'm hopeful that they know what they're doing. This is the year the plan should bear fruit. I'm gonna have very little faith if 2019 is another middling year.

Hughes is getting up there as is Lorax. Murphy is always hurt. Shaq is Shaq. If we were talking about a different position, I'd say that's fine. We're talking about the most important defensive position. I would have no problem trading for a Clark or a Clowney even if it meant giving up next year's first. The defense would go up several notches IMO with one of the best front four's in all of football and all but guarantee an 8 win team. If Allen takes a leap, we're talking about a monster season. I don't expect them to be that bold, but I do expect them to re-sign Hughes to a reasonable contract(13M/YR), cut Murphy, ditch Shaq and sign a young premier pass rusher. I don't know what kind of deal Hughes is looking for, but his age is gonna be a detriment. My personal preference is to allocate a LARGE chunk of resources on the defensive side of the ball to the line.

I'm mad as h*** and I'm not gonna take it anymore! Who does this Justin Diloro character think he is?? Really. Who is he?

I would say Indy. If their defensive acquisitions along with Parris Campbell work out, they could actually overtake KC or NE. The Browns are definitely in the conversation. If Josh Allen makes a quantum leap, the Bills could be in that 2nd tier as well.

Yes. I would have done everything possible to retain Woods and moved some money around elsewhere. I would have kept Watkins and not acquired Kelvin Benjamin. It would have been great if they were organizationally in position to draft a QB, in which case they would have cut Tyrod making the salary cap issue ENTIRELY moot. The point of my contention is that they COULD have kept Woods and I believe the cap stuff is completely overblown. They couldn't have kept Gilmore. That I'll concede. For better or worse, they made these decisions. I like many of them and question many of them. Their fate will ultimately be tied to wins and losses. I think we can all agree on that. They decided to tear the whole thing down and start from scratch. The last time we did that was back in the early 2000's with TD. It almost worked. McDermott did an amazing job with a below average roster in 2017 and actually made the playoffs, albeit at 9-7 and one & done. Last season, McDermott eked 6 wins out of a TERRIBLE roster. This is the season I want to see it all come together. I'm really not down with the whole 5 year plan. I'm actually higher on McDermott than most. The blowouts are alarming, but the end result has been a win total that surpassed the talent level. What I want to see now is the talent level rise to a point where surpassing expectations means 10 plus wins and not 6. They've certainly upgraded the roster, but by how much? How will these pieces fit together? That question will be answered this season and ultimately determine whether the plan is working or not.

They carried 12 mil of cap space into the season.

The ACL tear was a really freak injury against the Rams. I was watching. Incredibly bad luck the way his knee got twisted. It happens. I would contend that the back issue was the result of overcompensation dealing with some discomfort related to the ACL. If he gets injured again, I'll be more willing to accept the idea that he just can't stay healthy. I'm not there yet. If I had to choose QB's with age as a factor, I'd take him top 5, injuries and all.