Ethan in Cleveland

Three Steelers games in December? Four in five weeks? He must be betting on the resurrection of Aaron Rodgers. That week 17 game may only be interesting to see if Cleveland gets the first pick in the 2026 draft. KC plays the Chargers week 14 on Dec 14th. That game may decide the division. Have to think he will be there to call that one. Two words and three letters Josh Allen MVP

Ended the season is different than the initial 53 which is what I posted. It was 10 each of those years for week 1. In 2024 both Smoot and Carter were on IR thus the need to add Phillips and Jefferson. I think the DB situation was a little better in 2023 and 2024(perhaps not much after the Bishop injury in TC). At this point I have them keeping both Hancock and Strong from the rookie class. Also if the KR is a CB again that's another spot needed for the DBs. As I said above they probably get to 10 after the suspensions are over. Best way to carry 10 DL for week 1, is to get rid of Trubisky and just go with two QBs.

Nope. I went back and looked. It was five and five each of those years. At least that is how the initial 53 breakdown was. Maybe through the course of the year it changed. https://billswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/bills/2023/08/29/2023-buffalo-bills-53-man-roster-roster-cuts-brandon-beane-nfl/79143074007/ https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/sports/football/nfl/bills/2024/08/29/buffalo-bills-full-roster-practice-squad-2024/74990566007/

I went back and checked the final 53. It was 10 in 2024 and ten in 2023. I think they get to 10 when Ogunjobi and Hoecht come back. I think there are just too many question marks in the the defensive backfield not to carry an extra guy there. They will have four veterans in DQ, Bosa, Oliver, and Rousseau. If they keep 10 to start the year then Epenesa will make the final 53.

As others have said, I can't see him getting cut this year. Even after they bring back the two PED cheats, he is still the only true 1 tech guy on the roster. Yes they want to make Carter and Walker 1 tech DT's but that is really hard to do. Carter was so bad he didn't dress the second half of the season. Of the current DL on the roster that might get cut, I think Epenesa is the most likely target. If Bosa makes it through TC unscathed then you already have two starters at DE. With Solomon and Jackson you have two young pass rushers. The final 9 will be: Bosa Oliver DQ Rousseau Carter Walker Sanders Solomon Jackson I don't see them carrying 10 DL until the PED cheats come back. They will use the extra roster spot to carry an extra DB. When the cheats come back, they will have a tough decision to make. They will probably find one of rookies to go to IR or maybe cut Solomon and see if they can sneak him back on PS.

Makes sense to some degree. I’d say Palmer took Cooper’s role and with Samuel playing better at the end of the year, his targets would go down. Obviously the Bills want Coleman to get more targets too. All that said, he probably has better stats as 4/5th WR with Allen than whatever he ends up at with the Patriots. Last year with Allen was more productive than he has been in almost all other years with lesser QBs.

Bell was one of the pieces of the Cornelius Bennett trade. He went to the Rams. He had a decent career - three 1000 yard seasons - one with Buffalo his rookie year and two with the Rams. Didn't live up to first round draft status but not a bust either. He had a ProBowl and was comeback player of the year his first year with the Rams.

C'mon man don't make me have to explain the joke/reference

If Palmer can be a decent #1, then all we need is Coleman to do what Hollins did last year. Kincaid, Palmer, and Shakir need to be the top 3 targets. After that it will probably be game plan specific production. If Coleman can be a decent downfield blocker and make some contested catches from time to time he will carve out a role. If not guys like Moore and Knox will get many of his targets.

Actually he switched positions and played dominant outside pass rushing LB for over a decade.

Get rid two preseason games, add an 18th game and a second bye week. Everyone gets one bye week in the first 9 games and a second one in the second 9 games. Problem solved.

I don't have any argument with anything you wrote. My only counter is 6 of the 9 GMs that passed on Mahommes were gone 4 years after that draft. I beleive only McDermott (defacto GM) and John Schneider are still with their teams. Seahawks already had Wilson. And the GMs that drafted Mayfield, Darnold, and Rosen are all unemployed. Elway of course is gone too. So I do not think it is much of a stretch to think that Beane would be out of a job if he had taken one of the other three guys.

49ers were in a tough spot. He might be great but he might not. I would have franchised him twice like the Commanders did with Cousins. I'm not sold he is the long term answer. It may have been cap prohibitive for them to tag him though. Difficult decision

Im not one to defend McDermott but he got White and Benford to start and play significant roles in their rookie years. Hairston can hopefully do the same. As for the DL McDermott is not going to change his ways. He believes in a heavy rotation of 8-9 guys that dress and 9-10 roster spots. They just need the rookie ends to be better than Epenesa ( not a hard ask) and Carter and the rookies to be equal or an upgrade to DQ. I'm more worried about the WR/TE group. Palmer has to be a guy that can stretch the field and create seperation. The metrics say he can but he still didn't produce much with Herbert. Hopefully Coleman's floor is at least as good as Hollins was last year. And Kincaid needs to be more of a downfield consistent threat. He needs to be an 80 reception guy.

Thank you

Does anyone know how they decide the 17th game? We got the Eagles this year. Do they match by how you finish in the division like they do with the other AFC teams? Bye could be a little later. At Miami in early Nov is far better than Sept! Would have liked Cin earlier. Don't like 4 road games in 5 weeks. And two tough physical games to finish the year. Hopefully Bills have it wrapped up and are not playing the starters week 17. Have a really good chance to be 7-0 before KC comes to town.

Would have preferred them week 1 with Hendrickson sitting out. Bengals usually start slow.

I would so gladly give up next years #1 for Hendrickson. Adding him decreases the reps and risk of injury to Bosa. I think it would truly put the defense over the top even with the uncertainty with the safeties.

Its pure speculation on my part. Just like you are speculating they would have taken Lamar. I've defended Jackson on this board for years. Since virtually no one had Lamar in the top 4 QBs to be taken I think its a good guess when they traded up they would have taken one of the other three if Allen was gone. For me Allen was always the guy to go get. I didn't know a great deal about Baker but didn't like his size or the system/conference he came from. I knew Darnold was going to be a bust. Saw it in college and posted many times before the draft. Any pocket pressure and he panicked even against patsies like Washington State. I'm not ashamed to say for me it was always Allen, Rosen, Mayfield as 1, 2, 3. After that I can't recall. I liked Jackson out of college as I thought he was a better passer than people were stating. That said I also tended to prefer pocket passers so in the end I probably had Darnold 4th with a lot of trepidation. Hope I'm remembering it correctly. All that said I didn't anticipate the running ability that Allen has shown. I fell in love with the arm strength in the Buffalo wind and cold. You can't teach arm strength. Most everything else you can improve.

If Elway took Allen instead of a LB, Beane and McDermott would have been gone a long long time ago. The entire history of the NFL would have been rewritten with Mahomes and Allen in the same division. Beane can use whatever revisionist history he wants, but at the end of the day he needed Cleveland, Jets, and Broncos to make fatal errors. Still wonder if it was Buffalo that leaked the text messages the day before the draft. Has anyone ever learned where that story came from?

I think the offense will be best if Palmer and Kincaid are the top two targets. Shakir is a solid WR but the offense is too plodding when he is the focal point. Really want to see more intermediate to deep throws by Allen and use the entire field. Next will probably be Moore. He should be more of a threat than Samuel. Samuel will be the 5th WR gadget guy. That leaves Coleman as the 4th WR. He may be the Hollins role and be out there on more running plays. Never liked the pick. Just don't believe he can get open against NFL corners. I really like Knox but there just is not enough plays for him to get the ball often. I thought he could be an elite TE but he never developed into a star. If Kimcaod is playing well Knox probably gets 15-20 receptions but might have 4 TDs.

Dropped easy passes Several Allen INTs went off Gabe's hands or were because he ran the wrong route Caught some very difficult passes too Had some amazing toe tap sideline catches Scored a lot of TDs Seemed like a willing blocker but I'm not 100% sure about that Not worth what he got in FA, but a Bills reunion probably has more upside than downside.

Not unless DQ doesn't make the team. DQ is in final year of his deal and may still have enough to get one more 2 year deal from someone else. He should be motivated to play better. With Carter moving to NT, Walker is probably the 5th DT on the team, maybe 6th after the PED cheat. Barring injury to someone else, I would not be surprised to see him a healthy scratch most of the year if DQ, Carter and the PED cheat from Pittsburgh play well. Could be game plan dependent too, if they are playing against a run heavy offense. If he is ahead of Carter on the depth chart then this kid is either really good, or Carter is a bust.

Some great memories!!! I flew from Portland to Chicago in 2014 with my boys age 12 and 11 on a redeye. We landed 7am. Took L close to the stadium. Ate breakfast at Yolk. Walked to the stadium and went to natural history musem first to kill some time. Awesome finish. Stayed in the stands late. Then walked to downtown and had great steak dinner. Took the L back to O'Hara. Both boys were passed out in their Bills jerseys. They were so tired. One of my best pictures of my boys. Flew back that night. No luggage. No hotel. Great memories!!! The Fred Jackson stiff arm was one of the great drought highlights!

Agree that loss to the Steelers was so deflating Me too! Same experience! Oddly calm most of the game, thinking Allen would turn it around.