Phil The Thrill

It would have been a great question Nope. And I also think they are pleased with the way that has been supporting Josh

Sure but in this case, discrediting the source is easy to do. Is Seth Galina a credible source? Yeah I have the same concerns about Josh. I just feel that you have to credit the source. I have no idea who Seth Galina is but I have seen him on Twitter for weeks repeatedly trash Allen whenever he could and support any other person who trashed Allen. He comes off as someone who’s more out to prove that Josh is a bad QB and that the Bills are crazy for not cutting him, than he is an impartial evaluator

Um ok....so if you listened to either Beane or McDermott’s press conference, they clearly believe in Josh Allen 100% They aren’t going to do anything to mess with him like signing a higher profile backup QB like Winston or Keenum. It’s not going to happen. I think they are ok with Barkley as a #2 QB for 1 more year. Depending on what Josh does in year 3 will determine what the team does at QB

it didn’t seem like that tough of a catch

No I don’t agree with this narrative at all. You make it sound like Ralph was powerless and chose to give full autonomy. This wasn’t the case, as Ralph was known to meddle in coaching decisions going back to the Polian years through the week of the Music City Miracle. He was also allegedly known for wanting to draft running backs high in the draft given his fondness for a player like OJ and the Electric Company back in the day. After Butler was fired, Ralph brought in Tom Donahoe and President and gave him more power and control than he ever had. At the time he was a “hot” GM candidate, so this wasn’t a terrible move. But the results were not great. The Bills floated around 7-9 to 9-7 for his 5 years - largely due to poor coaching hires. Plus long time Bills employees said Donahoe was an absolute AHole to work for. People at OBD that Ralph was close to were miserable. So he fired Donahoe and he would never hire someone from the outside to run the organization again until Russ took over as President. This resulted in Ralph empowering the wrong people who made poor decisions terrible decisions because they were unqualified. Marv Levy was a terrible choice for GM who made bad picks and hired a bad coach in Dick Jauron Ralph refuses to hire a replacement for Marv, would not fire Jauron he should have to save $$$$ and made Russ Brandon GM who was completely unqualified. Russ then empowered Buddy Nix as GM who had worked as a Bills scout and floundered in the position, which included hiring another bad coaching in Chan Gailey. But Ralph knew Buddy and trusted him! Russ did bring in Doug Whaley from Pittsburgh to takeover for Buddy, which wasn’t a terrible idea in theory - but the results were terrible. This is a huge reason why the Bills had a playoff drought - Ralph empowered the wrong people to make decisions for the franchise.

It all depends HOW we lose. If the Bills are getting beat 35-32 every game, it will be hard to fault Josh. If they continue to get beat by scores like 22-19 to a lower-ranked defense, it’s going to make you wonder

But....but....but..... He traded “Generational Talent” Sammy Watkins He missed on Kelvin Benjamin He overpaid for Star He passed on Lamar Jackson for Josh Allen Terrible GM. He’s no Doug Whaley They seem like hardworking genuine people

Here’s the thing though. Don’t you trust Beane and McDermott more than a fan who writes on 538, mathematicians on PFF, or some Canadien hoser named Seth Galina? They aren’t stupid and I’m sure they get input both inside and outside the organization. If Josh is as bad as they say he is, wouldn’t they start to find a better “Plan B” than Matt Barkley? That’s what Vrabel did this year and it saved his season. I am very much concerned about Josh - but I do think the actions of Beane and McDermott will be telling in the offseason. Saturday showed me that SOME of these critiques are in fact legit. There is some merit to what informed media says about him - not sure about this Timmie’s eating, dart smokin’ hoser, eh?

I don’t think you can say that, because if you are going to count things that didn’t happen, Siena Neal had an easy INT that he dropped. It would have put the Bills in FG range to win.

You can be grateful for some of the philanthropic contributions to WNY but still acknowledge that he truly made some terrible decisions as owner that resulted in One Bills Drive being disfunctional and the laughing stock of the NFL. There’s no one more responsible for that terrible 17 year drought than RCW

Yeah but bottom line... he was a terrible owner and much good as he did keeping the Bills in Buffalo, he tarnished the franchise badly after firing Tom Donahoe. Some of the decisions and hiring that Ralph made were really bad. As much as everyone says the Bills “backed into the playoffs” in 2017, they did so by winning enough and beating the teams they should have beaten. There’s numerous times in every coaches tenure where teams lost important games. About beating good teams - they’ll only go so far as their QB

Wasn’t Ralph like 0-13 in his final decade + as team owner?

I don’t think Poyer gets a second contract with the Bills

It should be noted that Seth Galina routinely writes about bad Josh Allen is as a QB. Not saying he is wrong, but he’s far from an impartial evaluator

But it’s easier to blame the coaches than admit the popular players we love might have screwed up.

Honestly, I think Drew Locke might have saved his job. He came in and looked pretty good and I think the thinking is, if he can play well enough, Fangio’s defense should be set up where the team can start to compete for a wildcard spot

Owners are biased against coaches against coaches named “Greg”

I don’t think he prefers to be conservative but he doesn’t have the personnel (namely a QB) that can do that yet. You saw what happened when you “let Josh Allen loose.” He still has some Wyoming Josh left in him which isn’t a good thing. Also they did pass 46 times that game. Did you want McDermott to go ground and pound? Because that’s more conservative than passing the ball. Even the sequence everyone complains about at the end of the first half, no one is talking about poor game management if Duke catches the football. I can answer this.... because it’s easier than blaming the players. All of your points are spot on!

I wouldn’t say that there has been regression in Josh Allen’s deep ball. While he hit a few passes his rookie year I think he was something like 2-18 in passes over 30 yards. I think that percentage wise he might have been a little worse in 2019, but neither season was great. If he can someone find a way to put touch on these passes it will make a difference.

Sean McDermott and Brandon Beane will be Tuesday at 10:00AM. It should be broadcast on WGR and bills Facebook

That can change when the offers you get are below the market you agent has been telling you.

Sounds good

Good stuff and beautiful writing! LOL Curious though - what’s the difference in price? I subscribe to the Athletic but not TBN. This feature looks pretty interesting but I’m not sure that TBN gives you as much value The Athletic. You not only get the Buffalo coverage but also coverage from every other market. Plus exclusive feature like live chats and podcasts. I’ve seen the TBN content and while it looks interesting, it doesn’t compel me to want to subscribe

Browns fans would go crazy if Frazier were hired. But with Rivera gone, I think Frazier would be the perfect candidate in Cleveland. He would just need to find someone to run the offense. But he’s be the even-tempered coach the team needs

ok sorry, thanks man