Beck Water

The Shnow (no C) spelling doesn't bother me. But you make a great point - shouldn't be named something that's about just 1 of the linemen It's how the Eagles do it and the fact that it's hella effective that way. Have you seen it? Their OL gets so low they're practically biting the opposing OL's knees (if not their *****s). Then there's "Did you know Jalen Hurts can bench 600 lbs?".

I can see the Bills drafting a safety early this off season and TBD losing its collective marbles in a gimondulous meltdown if it happens. Paying a younger guy they like might be a good strategy. But I think they may want to keep Poyer and try to groom a couple lower picks or a mid tier FA. I think they took a swing at the mid-tier FA thing with Rapp, and I would have to call the results "mixed". They took a shot at a lower pick with Hamlin, but he took a year before they were letting him see the field. Am I missing someone else? As for Hamlin, I felt he showed improvement through the season and occasional flashes before the Bengals game. It's not impossible that he might yet come back to form. We talk about the time to recover from something that has surgery and a pretty known timeline, like an ACL or Achilles tear, and how the player can come back in a year but it's often the 2nd season before they're truly themselves. But what Hamlin went through was a huge insult (in the medical and biochemical usage) to almost every organ system in his body. No one really knows what the timeline to truly come back from that to peak athleticism is, because no one has done it. Very few have had the opportunity to do it!

They really need to call it the "Snow Plow". But since they're trying to re-case "the Tush Push" as "The Brotherly Shove", I get how the "Buffa-Shove" works into that.

Well, to be fair, you're still 3 days out and the forecast isn't much more reliable today. Wait, what did I miss? I haven't even seen the injury report from today's practice, were they announced as out?

Ouch. But funny.

Some of the incidents discussed in the article are clearly from 2020 (the WR Christmas gift of a truck to Chad Hall and McDermott's reaction to that gift) or 2021 (13 seconds). These were described up thread. There were on the record quotes positive to McDermott from several players including Lee Smith, Pat DiMarco, Isaiah McKenzie, and a couple others - this was described up thread. So there were positive points of view presented. What there didn't seem to be in the excerpts that have been made available, is the direct juxtaposition of opposing interpretations or viewpoints on the same incidents which anonymous sources blasted. Example: 'According to a Bills assistant, McDermott would express his frustrations about Newton [ruining Carolina] in offensive staff meetings, creating an uncomfortable atmosphere, especially for Ken Dorsey, Newton's former coach and the man credited with his rise.' Put that way, it kind of makes McDermott sound 'stuck in the past' or even unhinged (why TF is he ranting about Newton and Carolina now, with the Bills?), and certainly insensitive to the feelings of former Carolina coaches who developed Newton. But maybe there's some missing context or a missing alternate POV? Maybe McDermott's point was that Cam Newton, as the Franchise QB in whom CAR invested a 5 year, $104M contract (huge for that time), was reckless of his body in his play (like Allen is now) and when injuries accumulated, Newton put CAR in the tank because they were paying a guy who could no longer perform up to his contract. If that's the case, it can be argued McDermott could have a point, especially if he's using it to illustrate why 1) he wants a plan to run the ball that doesn't involve Allen as the primary RB 2) wants Allen coached harder to give himself up, get out of bounds, or slide when he runs. [to be clear, the above is my speculation] That's the kind of direct juxtaposition of different interpretations that seemed to be missing from the excerpts presented. But there were positive quotes, some have been shared here.

It was pointed out in a response to you that you are using "personal" in a different sense of the term than others who say "it was personal". You are using "personal" in the sense of "involving my life and character outside my job setting" (kids, wife, church, home, dog) Others are using "personal" in the sense that behavior in the workplace can be described impersonally (by focusing on the situation, behavior, and what was said). If the behavior in the workplace is instead described by using pop-psychology labels, ascribing personal motivations, making generalized claims about the person's abilities to relate to others - then it is said to be "personal" or a "character attack". The latter is commonly described as "making it personal" or "attacking someone's character", even if it is 100% about their profession or workplace. I'm kind of surprised that you allude to having taken various workplace trainings about how to "not take things personally" but you were never introduced to this distinction because usually these trainings about "don't take things personally" (on the job) include "don't make it personal" (when dealing with issues on the job). But anyway, it really isn't debatable that some of the sources quoted in Dunne's article did, in fact, make it personal - according to the second definition. We had "he has zero relationship with any of the offensive players, zero". We had "he's jealous". We had "he's insecure". We had "he's mentally, psychologically, and physically incapable of relationships with the players". It's so blatant that one could practically use it as a training exercise for a workplace class on the topic of how to address problem behaviors without making it personal - on the "don't do this" side of the ledger.

as one of the replies points out:

This is a great post, thanks for putting this together. Three players you don't mention: Rasul Douglas, who is still under contract for 2024. I would be shocked if the Bills don't extend him. I think he's played very well, and would certainly be our #1 CB if Tre White can't come back (and maybe even fight for the #1 spot if Tre does come back) Taylor Rapp, who will be a free agent. I see him as a mixed bag. He can make plays, yes, but the Friendly Fire, Man! Sheesh! Cam Lewis. He has caused many Bills fans PTSD with some big misses in his play. He will be a free agent. The Bills have him as the primary backup at NCB and at Safety, ahead of Damar Hamlin. He can also play boundary CB in a pinch. The Bills love his versatility. I agree

Hyde will not be cut. He can not be cut. He will be a FA

What makes you say that about Poyer? Hyde is a free agent after this season. The Bills will have dead money on the books for him, which will remain dead money (I think) even if they re-sign him. Hyde has 2 young kids, the neck surgery clearly haven't prevented him from having neck and back issues, and you'd think he might decide it's time to hang up his cleats while he can still play catch with his kids and teach them to ride bikes. Poyer is under contract to the Bills in 2024. He's got ~$5M in new money coming into his bank account next season. I don't think he willingly gives that up.

I think the intent of the article was to identify questionable coaching decisions for which McDermott was accountable, and to raise questions about whether he has the coaching abilities to lead the team and make winning decisions in "crunch time". And it did that****...but it did so much else that it ultimately detracted from that intent. Whoever it was upthread who pointed out that Dunne would probably have benefited from an editor probably has it right. That's not intended to be a knock on Dunne's talent as a writer. Edit: ****and just to be clear, those are fair questions and until/unless we win the Superbowl and continue to contend, those questions will remain

I think that's probably TBD (to be determined). I think he was hoping it would draw in subscriptions. It probably did. Now the question is how many of them will find enough other content (or just be lackadaisical) to not cancel.

Thanks for your response. I think it's the "not cool" aspect (on which I agree with you) Josh and some others are reacting to. To me, what Josh said about "you can criticize the coaching (implied: that's fair game). You can criticize my decision making, (implied: that's fair game). But then expressing his view that some of it amounted to a character or personal attack, and that's as you say, "not cool, went way too far". So to that point, if Josh had said stuff that defended McDermott as a coach or team builder, it wouldn't have addressed the fundamental problem he sees. If the article had stuck to an expose' of who was responsible for many key on-field decisions like 13 seconds (McDermott) and factual reactions to various events (like Hall's truck), I don't think there would be as much problem with it - but it wouldn't have drawn in as many subscriptions as it probably did. Drama draws clicks. But I don't think we can conclude either way what Josh thinks of McDermott as a coach and a team builder, because it wasn't the issue at hand (if that makes sense).

Thanks, that's very clear on the coverage responsibility aspect. I missed that in McDermott's presser. How I interpret what you wrote is that Benford drifted downfield anticipating that Kelce might go vertical, and he should have stayed closer to Kelce ("sit on the route") and the LOS ("underneath the pick"). Is this correct? If you're willing to explain, though, what does "catch technique" mean? I had the feeling that Reid/Nagy must have studied our coverage carefully and mapped out how to cause confliction. I can see where Benford would want to give Kelce a cushion to avoid getting blown by if Kelce did go vertical. I hope McDermott and Co are working overtime on resolving because Sirianni was certainly taking notes and, as Milano put it in plain words about McDaniel and the Dolphins, "they want to make you run into each other" Edit: OK this may be above and beyond, but you're able to deduce a lot from body position etc - do you think it's possible that there was confusion between the DBs, where Benford expected Lewis to switch while Lewis expected Benford to stay with Kelce? Benford stays looking at Kelce, which is why I guessed that was still his man.

When I saw Josh Allen's post game where he talked about McDermott as one of the best people on the planet, I thought he seemed as though he were containing anger. He's made it clear since that he considers he has a solid relationship with McDermott - maybe not a 'buddy' relationship where they smoke cigars and trade stupid bets and BBQ together like he did with Daboll, but a solid coaching relationship with a personal "I care about you off the field" component. Then this from Mitch. It's clear that whoever Dunne quoted as saying McDermott has "zero" relationship with any of the offensive players because he's "mentally physically and psychologically incapable" of it, is mistaken. Period. McDermott clearly said the right thing at the right time for Mitch Morse, and Morse will never forget it. Given how vehement the man-of-few-words Big Ed has been, I wouldn't be surprised if there's a story there too. Maybe McDermott reached out to him after his 2020 DWI arrest/charges (charges dropped in August after blood test results showed no substances) and offered timely words of belief and encouragement that Ed will never forget, either.

Riiiiiiiight. Beane and the rest of the Front Office aren't looking at dead cap hits and trade value and last year's grading and anything like that. They're making their decisions just based on which players the fans like. 🙄

I think it's pretty clearly OPI because Toney actually turns and slams his BACK into Benford. He gets up to Lewis and Benford and his apparent desire to run a route or to show his #s to Mahomes evaporates. I posted some pics in the X's and O's thread, of course don't show what a moving picture does, but as a sales job it was entirely unpersuasive. And also moot, since there was already a flag thrown at the snap.

Well, that pick play that the Chiefs used to spring Kelce open might work for Diggs..... ....seriously though, one of the differences between being a 26 yr old athlete, and a 30+ athlete, is that it just takes longer to heal up from every ding. One of the funniest football interviews I heard was between Zo Alexander and Steve Smith Sr - I've forgotten the show they were on, but they really got talking back and forth. Topics were taking care of their bodies, how young guys just roll out of bed on Monday and Tuesday and as they get older it was "nuh uh, Not Today, give me that deep acupuncture, give me that massage" Anyway it's a good question whether it's how he's being used, or whether he's picked up some bruises and bumps and nagging dings that are hindering him. He does get extracurricular hits and twists on almost every play, despite the best efforts of his teammates to get there fast and shut things down.

Wow, that really pisses me off. McAfee going on as though that wouda been a "walk off touchdown" instead of leaving like 1:15 or whatever it was on the clock and 3 time outs for the Bills and Josh Allen to work with. I hope Allen and the Bills offense are taking receipts because that just seems like total disrespect, as though Allen has never led a go-ahead TD scoring drive with a minute on the clock in Arrowhead against the Chiefs.

I kind of feel as though the Commissioner is engaged in a real-life version of the story of the farmer who helped his pocketbook by cutting the food his horse got every day. He cut it day by day until just when he got the horse down to eating nothing, the damned horse died. American fans love football for one or another reason (tradition, the mental chess match aspect, the physicality). Outside the US, football means the game we call soccer. For the sake of short term boosts in the bottom line, Goodell is taking more and more football away from the lifeblood that feeds it, the American fans who love the game.

This may have been upthread here and my search missed it. Pretty thorough and nuanced look at the Patty Melt Eisen is a bit of an apologist for Mahomes but ties in a bunch of things - like the Bradberry "holding" penalty in the Superbowl with 1:54 left on 3 and 8, that helped the Chiefs defeat the Eagles by giving them a new set of downs to run out the clock before kicking the winning FG. Eisen points out the ref could have let that holding call go, as other holding calls are let go at different points in that game and others. He also touches on the general fan (and probably coach and player) frustration with officiating: both the Bradberry and the Toney penalty were correct calls by rule, but what about all the times a call is made incorrectly?

Bizarreness is as Bizarreness does? I thought your response was bizarre myself (obviously) You'd do you, but I've already said why from what I know, that's not how most football players would think about it especially young guys trying to earn a spot in the starting rotation. And players who do are kind of given the side-eye - remember the reactions to Russ Wilson talking about how he handled his hammy injury on the plane to London? If it's that well known, wouldn't opponents just target accordingly?

Depends on if they knew the specifics and extent of the injury. If they didn't, perhaps? The NFL has weasel wording in there defining whether or not an injury is "reportable". If the injury limits the player's participation in practice or for a game, it's reportable. If it's to a "key player", it's reportable. Otherwise, if it doesn't impact the player's ability to participate in practice or cause him to miss a game, apparently not. You can read about it here if you like, weasel words and all https://operations.nfl.com/media/2683/2017-nfl-injury-report-policy.pdf Elam showed up on the injury report Week 7 (NWE) and Week 8 (TAM), and then went on IR week 9. I can easily see a scenario where Elam was reporting to the training room for treatment on "ankle soreness" and getting PT, but wasn't getting better or even got worse after playing near the whole game vs. Jax Wk 5 and the whole game vs the Giants Wk 6, so they sent him for another MRI and a surgical consult.

I was responding to why Elam might not have wanted to disclose his pre-season injury while he was still trying to play through it. I'm really unsure what you're getting at here. Are you suggesting that reporters should track an injured player down at home or stake out the entrance to the Bills sports medicine facility and jump him to get a story? That sounds kind of creepy and stalker-ish to me. Injured players aren't required to be in the areas of the building accessible to the press, they're not required to make themselves available to the press.