Einstein's Dog

As has been said, it's just the Governor allowing the possibility, teams can still limit the number if they like. The 13k at Miami/Bills was easily handled, they should increase. I believe the move is being made now so they can ramp up for a full Superbowl.

I forgot about Vrabel. I think he is currently down the list because of unimpressive competition and just squeaking through it. Plus he has a boring style that is a continuation of last years. And I'm not a believer that style can win against the good teams. But I do think if he can beat the Bills his stock moves up to the top tier. I just don't think (or hope) that happens.

I haven't seen much discussion on the job McDermott has done this year. Typically the Coach of the Year (COY) goes to a very successful team. At the quarter mark McDermott should be in the race. He has changed the identity (or at least let it happen) of the team from a conservative defensive oriented club into a pass first offensive team. Secondly, he has now gone toe to toe and IMO, outcoached both McVay and Gruden. McVay's failed fourth down call, and McDermotts Raider call of fourth and one have all worked. A long way to go but we need to give McDermott his due. The main competition of Reid, LaFleur and Harbough, all seem to have just done continuations of last years clubs while McDermott is not only firing on all cylinders but has transformed the identity of the team. Right now, my vote goes to McDermott! Here's hoping he can hold on to it.

I'm still in shock of the total revamping and changing of identity of these Bills. Is it from here on out a passing team? It's four games in and now the slinging of the ball starts from the opening bell. We're daring teams to try and keep up. I love it, but just did not expect it. I don't think enough people are giving McDermott his due. The defensive, conservative background seems totally changed to an offensive barrage and win it on Offense. Not only that but to me it seems like he outcoached both whizkid McVay and boy genius Gruden in back to back weeks. McVay's lost gamble of a fourth down play cost them, and in the Raiders game it was the Bills who went long on third and one (bet he was going to go for it on 4th if missed) and later going for it on fourth and one. Well done.

Love Knox's potential. Some of those catches last year were amazing, and the highlight angry runs are memorable. But for this team I agree with the OP, lets keep the consistent reliable threat in there. For instance I would rather have 2 safe, confident, 8 yard move the chain catches, over the highlight 16 yard angry run and the easy drop.

Unless there is some serious backtracking I don't think NY will be allowing any fans. So that leaves only the away games as potential fan sites. At present you can count out NV, so that's a no for this week. The Jets and Patriots would be no go, and no go to CA (San Fran) and CO (Denver). Leaves only TN and AZ as possibilities. In one way it's kind of sad not to see this exciting team in person. But on the other hand at least they're not getting screwed too much in terms of the home field advantage discrepancy. The Miami game was fun (except for the bogus lightning delay-which seemed unneeded). With FL opening up even more, maybe NY can revisit their policy before the playoffs.

Gonna be there! Some questions: Is tailgating even allowed? Is parking still ridiculously expensive? How far away is the HardRock casino? Doesn't look very far.

The pass Josh threw was not high risk, just stop with that. I'm sorry you're upset that Josh had a stellar day.

No, it's not a miss. Josh took and connected on the higher percentage play. Yes, it looks like the possibility was there to have led him Beasley and make a bigger play. However, in attempting the leading pass you increase the degree of difficulty of the pass and increase the odds of an incompletion. The game situation did not call for taking an increased level of risk to reap the reward of the immediate touchdown. The secure victory we just witnessed was due in large part to Josh taking the high percentage completion that was available.

Or an alternate way to view it is the 2020 offense position vs 2019 with assessment of talent: WR1 better Diggs > Brown (significant upgrade) now WR1 is excellent, was average WR2 better Brown > Beasley (decent upgrade) now WR2 is very good, was average WR3 better Beasley > ?Duke (huge upgrade) now WR2 is good, was terrible RBs better Singletary/Moss > Singletary/Gore (significant upgrade because Gore stunk and couldn't convert short yardage) now good, was average TE better 2nd yr Knox > 1st yr Knox (could be decent upgrade if hands improve as expected - biggest improvement from yr 1 to yr 2) now decent was below avg OL better OL in 2nd yr together > OL in first yr together (continuity is significant in OL and biggest improvement from yr 1 to yr 2) now slightly above avg, was avg QB 3rd yr Josh > 2nd yr Josh (normal progression but it gets magnified because all the pieces around him are better) This is why some people (including myself) are excited and expecting a jump in the Offense. And it is possible that Josh only incrementally improves but with all the improvements at the other positions the stats could skyrocket. The benefits of being a decent QB in a good system (Dak-like)

I like/hope they continue the signing of people they want to an extension a year early at reasonable rates. It gives the lower draft picks mega-money now with the guarantees and the Bills can get a good deal on the player is they have assessed that player correctly. Locks up good players, gives consistency to the team, gives good base of players, limits turnover from year to year. The player gets into the mega-million range, not as much as hitting the open market, but secured mega-millions a year earler. Looks like the Bills have the opportunity to present Milano a four year extension at around $10 million for later years. Give him the guarantee now and spread it out for the next 5 years.

I appear to rate Norman a lot higher than most (along w GunnerBill). I thought the Front Office did a good job in addressing what I (and the author) thought was last years weak point in the Defense, namely CB2 - IMO the awful duo of Wallace/Johnson. I thought this years battle was Norman/Gaines with Norman as the upper hand. I don't understand the idea of losing it physically for CBs after 30. Yes, I see that for RBs, but CBs don't take that physical abuse. An athlete that is taking care of himself in a non-contact position has a lot longer shelf life than the oft referenced 30 year mark. IMO, Norman was being used improperly last year by a scrub team and lost focus. I see him as an upgrade over the Wallace/Johnson tandem from last year. McBeane knew what Norman can bring and went after him quick and hard. Well done.

Gaines chickened out. IMO, there is no competition at this point Norman, starts alongside Tre. Wallace is a clear drop down in level of depth. As a matter of fact, I hope the real competition is for the backup CB spot between Wallace and the newcomer from Seattle.

I think the OP missed the first competition. The CB competition is between Josh Norman and Gaines. The weak link of the 2019 defense of Wallace/Johnson has been gutted. The Norman/Gaines winner not only will be better but brings the entire defense to a significantly higher level by making the weakest component a strength. Both Norman and Gaines have shown they can be excellent in the past, odds are one of the two still has it.

I think after they see the windfall Snyder gets from this name change nonsense, there might be some low key lookout for controversy by the Pegulas. Maybe even in this day and age, some behind the scenes funding to get the controversy started. If they can get enough traction to bow to the artificial pressure to reluctantly change the name and make millions, I hope they consider a more generic geographic title, like Upstate or something that recognizes the Rochester influence. Kind of like New England as apposed to Boston.

You don't have to dislike Knox to want Njoku. Having two similar high potential TEs increases the odds that one of them will pan out. The other TEs on the Bills do not seem of the high potential variety. I would be excited if they brought Njoku in. A 5th and on of the other non-Knox TEs would work for me.

I hope this year the Bills can get credit for winning the games we should win, because we have 11 of them on the schedule (according to Vegas). As for QBs, you will be able to make a list next year (and every year): R Fitz x2 (or Tua) Stidham x2 S Darnold (insert excuse here, but he is just mediocre at best) x2 The corpse of P Rivers The corpse of B Roth D Lock D Carr (similar to A Dalton) As for the AFC East comment w the Bills having a better team but a worse record, please remember the Bills only went 3-3 in the division last year. And while you claim the other teams have gotten better, what you really mean is the Jets and Miami have added new players. It looks like the Jets have just recycled mediocre parts - Perriman and the like while Miami has added a ton of what could be better pieces. But Miami has a long way to go and has too many new pieces. And you certainly can't be including New England who no one thinks is better this year. The Bills have made incremental concrete improvements on offense- Diggs as WR1 and Moss>Gore. Plus a year for the majority of the group to grow and gell - in particular J Allen, the O Cordinator, the Oline, and Knox. The Bills will be better. So yes, the Bills will have a better roster, but finish with a worse AFC East record? Worse than 3-3, so 2-4? Come on now, no way.

I think the Pats are in for a big decline. BB can only do so much. The Bills weren't too far behind last year and the Bills got a lot better (Diggs) and the Pats look to be a lot worse (Brady). I think people downplay the loss of T Brady. Sure he didn't put up the stats as before but his understanding of the offense made that oline so much better. And his delivery of the offensive philosophy made the coaching easier. Personally I think TB will put up huge numbers in Tampa. A big reason he chose to go there IMO is the offensive potential. I will be targeting TB in FF.

And prior to the trade I was incredibly worried about the WR1 pick. Not only is the league wide hit rate around 50% but this front office seems below average. And with the recent wounds of Zay Jones and K Benjamin who wasn't worried?

Clowney would be a DE. Theoretically the Bills would cut Murphy to make the room. Seems highly unlikely at this point however. The Bills already have a large percentage of cost invested in the DL and just put draft capital into the position. But for me, the idea of adding an elite player like Clowney to this D is just so appealing. I know his stats weren't there, but from what I saw he passes the eye test with flying colors. He would add a dimension of speeding up the time clock for apposing QBs that is so valuable. He just fits what our defense could use.

Bill -glad to read your excitement. I would have to think you would be in agreement with me on the unusual joy that New England has helped us achieve. NE unable to come to grips with TB now has the Bills as frontrunners for the AFCE. And to add to that NE took Duggar, and there are strong rumors that the Bills would have taken him over Epenesa. I value Epenesa over Duggar and am pleased things broke the way they did in that regard. The slight differences I have with your thoughts: I am ecstatic over the Diggs trade, to me that was the biggest need and they addressed it big time (much better than trying to gamble on a rookie). Secondly, the Fromm pick doesn't do much for me. Like you said the backup QB can be important, and IMO Fromm won't be useful for years if ever. I look forward to the time when J Allen is so secure in the position that a real QB can be positioned there - kind of like the New Orleans model. This team would be much better positioned for a great season if it could have handled Cam as a backup. If Josh goes down, the expectations for the season go down a cliff, and Fromm IMO does nothing to stop that bleak scenario.

Might not go 6-0, but what I'm saying is the Bills should be favored in all of the division games. Someone posted the early Vegas odds and I believe that is already the case. And if the Bills go 5-1 division they would just need 6-4 out of division. Still doable (AZ, Pitt, LAR, LAC, Denver, Seattle).

Yes, of course the Bills should be better. The on paper improvements to the offense alone - Diggs/Moss, continuity of oline and OC, and experience for Josh. The Bills should have improved more than most teams. As for tough schedule - outside the division- yes. But the division, namely the Patriots has softened incredibly. The Bills went 3-3 in the division last year, this year the Bills should be favored in every divisional game. Miami is in the first year of a rebuild, the Bills improved more than the Jets and were better than them last year, and the Pats are in tank mode. So if the Bills are projected at 6-0 in the division, they only need to go 5-5 outside of the division to hit the 11-5 mark. Very doable.

Sorry, I can't let this Knox hate go unchallenged. Like if Knox pancaked the guy, the flagged play would have ended differently? There was a penalty on the play for god's sake (and the penalty was not on Knox). The play was coming back. As to the OP, yes they are both under pressure to improve. A key to this improvement is the development of Josh. I think Josh has improved significantly and Daboll is a big reason why. It needs to continue and improve though. This coming season when the Bills have the ball, 2 or more timeouts, and around a minute to go in the half at around the 30, I do not want to see them sit on it. Saw that at least twice last year, kind of pathetic.

Not from a defensive point of view, Carolina and Atlanta stink. Plus he now has Evans/Godwin + Gronk along with the Arians mindset of letting it fly. Certainly beats the grind it out New England of last year for stats.