Beck Water

I love punts and can't get enough of them - when it's the Bills opponent doing the punting.

7 punts and a TOD, are you freakin' kidding me? Might be our Josh is right when he says Division games, you throw out the record, they're always tough

Yeah, the back end of the Bills D is designed to be 7 guys moving as one. When you're playing 4 backups (one of them 3rd string and out of position) out of 7 as the Bills did against NE, it's a problem. Lions, 3 out of 7 but Milano still de-rusting and of course went out and so did his backup. On One Bills Live segment discussing the NE game with Greg Cosell , he expressed surprise that the Bills were playing Cover 0 and using pressure. Brown pointed out that it was probably that with so many of their starters in the secondary out, they needed to play man to minimize communication issues in the coverage. I don't think it was the chip on his shoulder that was missing, I think it was a chunk on his chest. I thought Bernard came back from his pec injury very quickly. 2 games then back at 100% of the snaps, Are You Kidding Me? I think he probably needed about 4 just to heal up and then another 2-4 to come back to strength. That would match with your "much better over the last month or so" observation.

Please...Make It Stop

Thank you very much, that's clear now.

He was never seen wearing a splint in pressers or video around the facility. But Allen just confirmed he played with a broken bone in his L hand in an interview. I would guess the glove was specially constructed to provide splinting. And maybe he wore a splint when the cameras weren't on?

I wasn't a fan of his play with the Bills either, but he is making plays for Houston.

That's what Kurt Warner settled on and it turned him from a guy who got benched in St Louis for fumbling 6 times in Week 1 (Warner had a broken hand as well), to a guy who had a career renaissance with Zona in 2008 2009 I'm sure having gotten comfortable with the glove and not wanting to make a switch the last couple weeks is a factor, but both things can be true; like I said, I don't see that as an ordinary glovie.

But is that Williams, or is that the design of the called play? Allen did the same kind of things his first years in the league. I have archived posts suggesting that Devin Singletary be equipped with an orange fiberglass pole topped with a flag, like the Syracuse fire hydrants, so that Allen could better find him for a checkdown that could gain 10 yds.

He's had the same girl since HS

A sensible post. Why Bernard hasn't looked as good this season: 1) the line, especially DaQuon. Ya know how Edmunds finally looked like a decent player in 2022 before leaving for the Bears? Direct relationship to the departure of Star "No longer Shining" Lotulelei and replacing him with Daquan "Damn! So that's what good 1T play looks like" Jones. Only Daquan has not been the same player this year after returning from his torn pec last season. If the DL isn't keeping the LB clean, the LB look worse 2) Who is playing next to him? Dodson was a physically limited LB who knew what he was supposed to do and whose liabilities in the pass game were overcome by bringing Poyer in and playing a form of dime on passing downs. Williams may be a good tackler, but he's still learning to read the offense and decide what he ought to do. It makes a difference. Milano knows what he's supposed to do but he's still scraping the rust off. 3) torn pec for Bernard, takes a while to come back from and frankly I think he rushed it, but I think 1) and 2) are more important. Who is in front of you and who you're playing next to makes a huge difference to the OL and to the front 7.

But didn't you just do the math and determine that Buffalo's DL is actually larger and heavier on average than KC's DL, with one large "outlier" in both cases? The reason Phillips has decent penetration into the opponents backfield (but leaves the Bills vulnerable to the run) is that he gets upfield "too soon", he doesn't maintain his gap integrity to stop the run. That's been the "double edged sword" of BigJ9797 as a 3TDT all along. Having Phillips in the backfield while the OL is free to block the LBs at the 2nd level in a run play does not help the LBs

I mean, if the FO says "we want you to sit these guys", what's the coach gonna do, say "hell no, I'm playing them, they give us the best chance to win" "Yes Grasshopper, we know. Sit them". Rumor had it that's exactly what went down with Ryan and Whaley and Pegula, Rex said "hell no I'm playing Taylor, I want to win" Pegula said "you are not going to risk an aggrevated injury" and Rex said "fire me then". That was the rumor.

I can't say he's a crazy good candidate, but that wasn't my point. Many here at the time thought we were in for a huge letdown on D when Pettine was hired away and publicly speculated that he was just interviewing for practice and wouldn't take the Browns job if offered. After all, he was going from a 6-10 team that many saw as "on the rise" (and that did have a winning record the next year) to a 4-12 tire fire. Spoiler Pettine did take the job, making the point that there are only 32 of those jobs in the world.

I will say, we needed some higher level of team prep like that leading up to some of the games we've played. Yeah, I thought Allen injured his shoulder in the Detroit game, it could be the sort of thing where it got a little dinged and then aggravated vs. NE. I'm hoping it's just muscle soreness and he's re-habbing diligently to work it out.

Players don't, no. But FO and coaches can make personnel decisions and coaches can make scheme and play calling decisions that make a win less probable. Example 2016, when the Bills sat Tyrod Taylor for the final game of the season because he had a pulled groin and they didn't want his salary to injury guarantee if he aggrevated it (and, they didn't want a worse draft position if they won)

I don't see the Patriots tanking. Mayo is trying to show to ownership that he can be the man. Drake Maye is trying to show the coaches he can be the QB. They're picking like 2nd overall right now? Not sure 2nd or 3rd matters. The Jets....that's an interesting question. They're picking what, 7th to 9th? I can see where tanking would help them, but Rodgers isn't gonna want to go out that way.

I'm sure your observation that the glove has changed is correct, but it doesn't look like the "just a glove" Kurt Warner and other QBs have worn - it still seems bigger and bulkier to me, and like it may have some protection in it still.

Fair, I was just responding to the claim that the glove and the fingers taped together should tell everyone it's broken.

I'm so confused. In one post you're complaining that the Bills DLmen are all undersized and simply too small. In the next, you're pointing out that on average, the Bills DL is the same size as KC's excellent DL. So which is it, undersize DLmen or how they're used? I'd like to point out one of the "too small" DLmen (Phillips) has started every game for the Vikes for the last 3 years and they currently have one of the best defenses in football, including one of the best run defenses in Y/A given up (3rd, tied for 2nd)

I'm not trying to spin it as a "joke" The point stands - what is their football expertise? The quote is a single line from a podcast Belichick appeared on, and totally lacks any context. It's also inane and lacking in insight as quoted. No one would disagree with it, including Sean McDermott and Bobby Babich. Now maybe the greatest coach in football history has some additional insight as to why the Bills D had two abysmal showings, but that wasn't offered.

I don't disagree with you, but I think it calls for more depth. On DL, the Bills have invested: 2 1st round picks (Oliver, Rousseau) 2 2nd round picks (Basham, Epenesa) 3 3rd round picks (Carter, Phillips) This is in 6 years I think that's the biggest draft investment at one position on the team. In addition, the DL saw the flashiest FA acquisition in Von Miller, and typically the largest % of salary cap tied up - 16% in 2024, QB is only 13% and OL only 11%. So DL, year after year, is receiving a disproportionate share of the team's draft and salary cap investment, for typically a sub-par ROI I think when that's true year after year, one has to ask what the scheme is requiring of the DL and whether that's something that somehow requires a "unicorn" as far as physical and mental ability, (or a rotation of 8 uniconrs) It's not like the guys we draft or sign can't play football - 'Horrible Harry" Phillips has started every game for Minnesota the last 3 years, and they've gone from the 28th to the 13th to the 3rd ranked D, Tim Settle could barely see the field in Buffalo and didn't look good when he did, he's played every game and started 10 games for Houston and has looked like he could play. Jerry Hughes went from 2 sacks to 9 sacks and 1 QB hit to 10 QB hits in Houston.

I would just like to point out that in 2019 where you pin it on the "hall of fame QB", the Bills were leading 16-0 halfway through the 3rd Q. The Bills D then allowed 2 TD and a FG to allow the Texans to take the lead. There was an offensive fumble involved in the 2nd TD, but 3 successive scores, and then a score in OT? I don't think you can put that entirely on the QB.

Times of India, seriously? quoting a podcast? C'mon Man Of course the Bills don't feel good about giving up 40+ points in back to back weeks. They also don't feel good about having their entire back 7 banged up or MIA I don't think Pittsburgh, Houston, Denver and "a couple of NFC teams who also lost" all play the same D

Oh hell to the noes, that ain't 925 (sterling silver). That's white gold, probably palladium white gold. And I'm sure those diamonds are genuine. C'mon, Dion is getting paid like $640k per game, McGovern $231k, they aren't gifting their man lab grown diamonds.