Beck Water

Yep. Everyone was led by Tim Graham to totally dunk on Whaley his last year here with the stat about the Bills having the fewest players they drafted on the team. Like that meant Whaley didn't draft talent. Except that Whaley did draft talent, both as Nix understudy and as GM - shown by the fact that a number of players he drafted had decent careers or are still in the league. But the Bills moved on because every time we swapped coaches - from Gailey to Marrone to Ryan to McDermott - the players did not suit their scheme so they were jettisoned or left to walk in FA, in favor of FA or draftees who were a better scheme fit. Continuity provides a talent advantage.

My guess is that Shavers has been that guy who works extra-hard on the scout team and is always there when one of the backup QB wants extra passing practice. So yes, that was quite an impressive catch and run, but I'm gonna guess the game ball is also recognition for being a great and hardworking teammate all season Healing and rust-scraping, sure The playtime percentage data are out on NFL.com Some interesting observations: -Rapp and Bishop played 100% of the snaps on D. I take that as saying, they want to get Bishop more playing time with Rapp in there as the traffic director to keep things under control (and maybe he has a bit of rust too). -The starting CB trio of Benford, Douglas, and Johnson went out earlier than I'd thought - only played 63% of the snaps -Starting linebackers Bernard and Milano even earlier than that, 59% and 56% of the snaps -Ed Oliver, who normally takes ~70% of the snaps, took 43%. Rousseau, who has been taking 70-80% of the snaps, took 41% -DQJ 35% of the snaps, but he was down last week as well, 40% vs NWE vs the 50-55%. Something may be going on there -Von Miller 22%, down from his 35-40%, but he played 44% last week vs NWE which represented a high since he returned from suspension. I guess if it's TL;DR the summary is that the starting defense was only in a bit over half the snaps of the game. Note that doesn't correspond to "first half of the game" because the Jets offensive plays weren't split evenly across the halves

I thought this was pretty freakin' fascinating - while Belicheck was talking McAfee and Co seemed transfixed as well!

I thought practice squad elevations became unlimited for the playoffs? Was that just a one-year thing?

LOL. I have a feeling there are a couple of games that are going to be "No, seriously, does either team want to win this one?" No it's not. You can get a pickup truck load of draft picks for it.

Exactly. We call those "TFG" throws, for what we believe the DC is saying as he throws his clipboard. And yet, Collinsworth goes on endlessly about Daniels and Penix doing "things only Mahomes and Burrow can do" and I'm like "Seriously?"

? Can not find ridiculous Rivera comments?

I was actually thinking about that during the Falcons Commanders game last night, when Collinsworth was being his usual ball-laving self over the new hot talents of Penix and Daniels. Daniels was running, and getting shoved back and I was thinking "wow, if that were Josh the other guy woulda gone down". And Collinsworth was talking about his arm strength and I was thinking "huh? that just looked like an ordinary throw to me, nice throw but nothing above the ordinary" It had me reflecting on how Josh has made the extraordinary, ordinary for us. Yeah, I get your point, but Reporters Gonna Reporter, what's a Sporty Guy gonna do? But given that he just had the shittiest performance of his career, smirking about his 4 MVP seasons seemed like a huge gap in self-awareness. He had other options, like saying "I appreciate the question, but we just lost the game, and that's what's on my mind right now."

Really? It would only be asked of great QB who have played at an MVP level or won AP NFL MVP. The list of current players who have done that is Lamar Jackson, Pat Mahomes, and Aaron Rodgers. Which of Jackson or Mahomes do you think would have exploded? I think both of Jackson and Mahomes would have said something about "fun to watch Josh, focused on watching D during the season, we're different players" or maybe "we lost and I'm still thinking about the game and how I could have played better, I can't really answer that right now".

It's really a good question. Do you play Milano, who knows exactly where he's supposed to be, but who might not get there fast enough or tackle well enough? Or do you play Williams, who will get there quickly and tackle hard, but who is still struggling to figure out what gap he's supposed to mind or what his assignment is when the offense changes post-snap.

Really? I thought the smirk and the reference to his own 4 MVP seasons when he just lost the game and played like crap was kind of pathetic. "Gracious" is not the word I would use to describe it. A guy who fancies himself as a veteran leader should never explode in an interview, he should know how to handle himself in public by now. Muki Hawkins LOL

I kind of thought it was a douche, self-aggrandizing response to reference his own 4 MVP titles in his response when he just played like crap and let his team down. He could easily have said something like "Josh is playing at an MVP level this season and it's fun to watch, but we're really too different as QBs to answer that question; I wasn't the rushing threat he is, for example" (or something like that). Or he could have said "I've really been focused on trying to play better and help the Jets, which means watching the defenses; I haven't seen enough of Josh's games to answer"

Not at all. The Pats can dangle the #1 overall pick to the highest bidder and bring home a boatload of picks from a team that wants to jump the Pats

Is Woody Johnson's son seriously named Brick? I may be alone in this, but I don't think Ron Rivera would be the dumbest choice the Jets could make right now. He's not sexy, but he seems to run a disciplined team and to be able to get the most out of some of his players. He had Heinike looking like a servicable QB for example.

I think, with all respect, that you're getting things mixed here. First of all, Nothing is Guaranteed. It's not just Josh, despite what people say. The D is leading the league in turnovers; even with the debacles in LA and Detroit giving up 44 and 42 points, the Bills D is still a top 10 D on points. But that's kind of a nit. The Big Point is that there are different ways to "chase a championship". One philosophy is "you find good people, growth-minded people, put them in charge, and let them figure it out". That's the philosophy of teams like the Steelers who have long tenured coaches like Noll, Cowher, and Tomlin. Another philosophy is that you move on promptly when you aren't getting the results you want. That's the philosophy of teams like Denver. Fox took them to the Superbowl, lost, 12-4 the next year but lost in the division round, it was "Off with His Head" and move on to Kubiak. Superbowl! But then when they missed the playoffs the following year with Brock Osweiler and Trevor Siemian at QB, it was "Off with His Head" and on to a carousel of Joseph, Fangio, Hackett, and now Payton, 8 straight years of missing the playoffs with a realistic chance they make it 9. There are also teams that have looked promising, changed coaches, and spluttered. Frankly I think if the Giants had stuck with Pat Shurmur after 2019 instead of "chasing a championship" with Joe Judge and Brian Daboll, they might well have been better off. Please don't shove a bunch of straw people at me and say I'm claiming we shouldn't move on from McDermott. I'm simply making the point that it's hyperbole on your point to link "change in head coach" to "championship" and "stay the course" to "lack of passion for championship". I'm saying there are different strategies on that point, and it's not clear cut that one is a sure path to success.

I don't think so this play. There was a gap, with 'nard dog lurking in it, and Benford minding the LOG the whole play. Rodgers woulda gotten blown up if he tried to run it. Shoulda taken the checkdown to 20 though. But perhaps a different play is meant as this is actually 3rd and 1, but I thought it's the play referenced as the TE was open and Rodgers just badly missed him. It's about 1:50 in

OK. I can't say I agree. The last 3 games, the Bills D has been so sus. In addition to giving up 44 points by the Rams, the Bills D couldn't seem to stop the run (137 yds), allowed 11 of 15 3rd down and a 4th down conversion, and only 2 punts at the end of the game. Unacceptable. Then against the Lions, 6 of 13 3rd down and 3 of 3 4th down conversions in addition to 42 points, 494 yds passing, and 5 passing TDs (though they did force 3 punts and get a fumble recovery). If you told me those stats, I would never ever think the Bills won. Then last week against the Pats, again, Bills D let them waltz down the field on their first 2 drives and again, convert 7 of 12 3rd downs, 2 of 2 4th downs, and 121 yds rushing, against a team that is just not that good led by a rookie QB who may be good, but isn't yet. So I was over the moon with the way the Bills D came out against the J E T S Jets. TOD, interception, safety, punt. *Chef's Kiss*. Now I grant that Rodgers played badly, but the Bills D helped him play badly by giving him no peace. No 4th down conversions, 4 of 7 3rd down, 112 yds rushing with the starters sitting in the 4th Q: Now That's More Like It.

I don't hear a lot of ripping on Lamar, but maybe I'm just not listening. This guy at SI is ripping on Spencer Brown as taking a "thinly veiled shot" at Lamar, though. I don't see or hear a "shot". https://www.si.com/nfl/ravens/news/bills-spencer-brown-takes-shot-baltimore-ravens-lamar-jackson I think Spencer Brown's point is that last season, Josh did have a lot of stats over Lamar - not "every", OK, but passing yards, passing TDs, 1st downs, 4 Q comebacks, game winning drives, rushing TDs, rushing 1st downs. Jackson had a higher completion percentage, higher pass Y/A, and more rushing yards and yards/attempt (also more fumbles). Then people were making the point to justify Lamar as MVP "well, it's not just about the stats, it's about what he means to the team's success". So now some of the same people are looking at what Josh Allen means to the Bills success with most of the pundits predicting the Bills have no talent left and wouldn't even make the playoffs or win the division (and also cleaning up the INTs), and those same people are saying "oh, Lamar should win it because he has better stats, more passing yards, more passing TDs". That's Brown's point. Tell us you don't understand how the MVP selection process works, without telling us that you don't understand how the MVP selection process works.

Diggs wasn't very super-star-like last season, after the first 6 games or so. What kept Josh from consideration last season was really all the turnovers.

Got to say though, the guy is a bit delusional thinking Rodgers could have run for the 1st down (Romo was saying "Run it". This is what was waiting for Rodgers at the first down marker. An accurate throw to 20, though, might convert. I absolutely agree. Fall down and protect the ball Big J

"Tipped and intercepted by a LINEMAN" Oh, the humanity!

has them 9-8 and 3rd in the AFC East See above - not the bottom but #3 There's a "how it started....how it's going" meme someone put together summarizing all of the experts picks (Rich Eisen, the CBS team, GMFB I think) for the AFCE and then the actual standings at the point where the Bills clinched.

I can't say you're wrong. Someone was opining that when you have a late-career great QB like Peyton Manning or Aaron Rodgers, they are really the OC and the OC's job is to figure out what they like and install that. Where that goes off the rails is if the QB has really lost a few steps to where they can no longer execute their own offense, and that's what's happened with Rodgers. In Denver with Manning, it worked because Kubiak actually knows something and could come up with something that worked and talk Manning into it. I could be mistaken, but I don't think Nathaniel Hackett is a good football coach. While the assignment was "do what Rodgers wants" he was fine, but when it changed to "figure out something that will work and then get Rodgers to buy into it", he lost the flick.

Oooof.

Not sure? Ty Johnson not sure either since he left his feet too.