Ethan in Cleveland

There are only two things I want to see. A win or an embarrassing loss. A win makes this year still exciting. An embarrassing loss and we can officially put McD on the hot seat.

Wouldn't be surprised if they benched Morse and played Feliciano at center. I don't think this coaching staff has any clue what to do about the o-line. McD benched Morse last year when he had passed the concussion protocol and still didn't let him play.

We need to make a separate board for the conspiracy nuts It really takes away from the experience of this board. You can't escape it. There should be two game day threads. Just choose the one if you think the games are fixed, come up with any crazy theory you want, and don't bother the rest of us

That doesn't make sense. Your logic is fundamentally flawed. McD deferred. Therefore he wasn't looking to do anything except business as usual. He didn't choose the wind after winning the coin toss. He deferred and Belichick chose to take the ball. There was no plan by McDermott to win the 1st quarter.

You think they would bench Williams and play Feliciano at RG?

Last time I cheeked all four quarters had 15 mins of playing time. Taking the wind to start or in the fourth quarter is meaningless. Execution is all that matters. With or without the wind they didn't let Allen win the game. Stupid over commitment to attempt to run. The only adjustment that should have been made with regard to the wind, was to go a bit more hurry up with the wind. Maybe they get a few more offensive plays or force the Pats to play a few more offensive plays against the wind. The BiIlls got beat in all four quarters and all phases of the game. And that falls squarely on McDermott Wouldn't that have given the Pats an extra possession? They got the ball to start the game and then again in this scenario to start the second half.

Its a stupid HS coach move. Will McD bench Allen next time he fumbles? No. Its fake accountability and one of the reasons McD will never be great.

I agree. I'd prefer they draft an OT to push Dawkins to guard.

Agreed its a low bar. Being long is what modern 4-3 DEs look like. I agree he is unlikely to be a 14 sack a year guy. But who is? Only a very rare few. If he can get 8-10 sacks a year and play solid run defense its a good return on investment Not hindsight when there were plenty of us calling for it during the draft

How can you tell that after 12 games? Groot has had a solid rookie year. Far better than Epenesa and Basham. I'd be fine with a 1 tech monster DT early, but otherwise you are correct. They need 3 OL potential starters in free agency and the draft.

1. Morse was overpaid from the beginning but he is serviceable as a pass blocker. 2. Everyone knows this so why is Daboll and McD asking him to do things he can't. There are plenty of undersized centers that have done well with zone blocking schemes and superstar QBs. Bring in Jeff Saturday as a special consultant. 3. They should have drafted OG/C last year. Now there are too many holes on the line to fix them all. Keeping Morse for one more year makes sense so they can address the guard spots. This regime really sucks at OL talent evaluation. Beane made an average center the highest paid in the league. They let go of Teller. And Ford is a massive bust. I have no faith this regime will make the right moves

Get rid of it and replace it with nothing. The crowd knows it is 3rd down. Pretty stupid to need the horn.

Let's for a moment assume he is as good at pass coverage in the middle of the field as you suggest. How did that help against NE, Tenn, and how do you think it would help if they play the Colts again?. Teams can adjust to what he does poorly. I have been a long time skeptic of Edmunds and got fooled once again with a few decent games this year. Once again last week he showed he is a truly awful LB. You can't pay him Bobby Wagner money and have him suck at half his job. If he wasn't a first round pick and Beane didn't want to look bad for trading up to get him, he'd be jettisoned this off season. As for picking up the option, I 100% agree it was the right move then. Have no issues with that decision. As for moving to OLB I would love to see him play there a few games. With his speed I think he could be a terror rushing the passer. The argument against that is that he has not shown any pass rushing skill. But that is rushing from the middle which is wholey different than from the outside.

I would trade him this off season. He has value to some moron GM that will think they can get him to play better and he is still young. They can probably get a low first rounder or high second round pick. Maybe a player and a second round pick. If they give him a long term deal this off-season they are really stupid. Picking up the option made sense. He has still not proven he is worthy of a long term deal. Make him play the last year of his deal if you can't or don't want to trade him.

Yes I'm sure they do. And if they play Mike White or Jacob Brissett every week I'm sure they will stay #1. #1 defense gave up 200+ rushing yards when they knew they were running the ball. Let's see what Tampa does to them. Love the optimism. I hope they win and Allen can carry the team if needed. If they are going to lose I hope it is another embarrassing loss so we can really see what McD does when the pressure gets even more intense.

But we don't have a strong D. Why do people keep saying that? They only look good playing scrub QBs. Wait until Brady and all his skill people torches them for 40+ points.

So sad that this year has a gone from SB contender to trying to figure out how the Bills even make the playoffs.

Once you have the QB you should trade down at every opportunity. The draft is pure luck. None of the GMs know anymore than any of the others. Just get more bites at the apple. That's the only way to succeed. If the Jets had taken Allen, Beane almost assuredly takes Darnold or Rosen and he would have already lost his job.

They are sleepwalking to missing out on the playoffs

Cmon this is not even close to accurate. The Bills have issues but they are a handful of players away not a complete rebuild. If Brown is a capable RT, then you only need to look at upgrading at worst the two guard spots. Again I would move Dawkins to G and get an OT, but if they don;t then Dawkins is still capable of playing LT. Morse is good enough at center for another year. Both safeties are playing at a very high level and they have actually decent depth behind them. The window is wide open. The cap is going up next year. Groot looks liek he is a capable DE. They need 2 OL, 1 DT, a # 3WR for sure. I would trade Edmunds and replace him but I don't think that will happen.

Most people including many around here were saying the same thing about Allen in year 2. I dont think Tua has anywhere near the skill set Allen does but I also am not predicting he will succeed or fail. Still too small of a sample size.

OP dig a little deeper than the win-loss record. The losses this year have been awful. The wins have come against doormats. A SB season is turning into a struggle just to make the playoffs. They have had some injuries but no more or less than others. McDermott and Beane are just average. Maybe that's ok. Maybe that is the best we can ask for. They got the QB. My gut tells me McDermott will never win a SB. I hope I am wrong.

Ok except none of this is really true. He did have strong O-lines from time to time but no all time greats in front of him. He had journeymen RB's for most of his career. He made two midget WR's into stars in Edelman and Welker. It was not the other way around. And outside of Randy Moss his WRs were forgettable. Brady left New England for exactly all of the opposite reasons you posted. He was tired of carrying the entire load of the offense. That said, that is what Buffalo needs to do. Stop takin g the ball out of Josh's hand. The entire offense needs to go through him. If they want to get the RBs involved do it via the short pass and screen game. The only way to win the SB this year is run everything through Allen. That does not mean you have to be in 5 WR sets. You can play a ton of different formations and still keep the focus on Allen. For the most part he makes good safe decisions. Give him the chance to be special.

Sad news. I was unaware of his ST tackle total.

I said the same thing during the game. Daboll rightly deserves some criticism but there were many plays the players failed on. A run on first down when it was obvious it was four downs to get a first down or score was a fine call. Better execution and that is a TD or at least a 5-7 yard gain.