Beck Water

Ha. Um, No. Interesting perspective. I'm interested if this is your theory or do you have some inside info and know this for fact?

Over the top, Not over the top...I dunno But I think it's worthwhile to look at the injury situation and results this season. As far as Rapp goes, he has missed most (3/4, 2/3) of two games: Bal L 10-35 Bal W 27-25 He has missed all of 3 games: Hou L 20-23 Det W 48-42 NWE W 24-21 I think it's worthwhile to look at the other players that were missing (and who was playing for them), putting the games in order: Bal L 10-35 Bernard (Spector), Milano (Williams), T. Johnson (C. Lewis) Hou L 20-23 Milano (Williams), T. Johnson (C. Lewis) Det W 48-42 Rasul Douglas (Elam), Damar Hamlin (C. Lewis) NWE W 24-21 Baylon Spector (Milano, Williams), Damar Hamlin (C. Lewis) Bal W 27-25 Let's be real: KC was going to pick on our safeties regardless, because safety has not been a strong point for the Bills all season. And Bishop in the 2nd half vs. Baltimore wasn't pretty. But I think it's important to remember that in previous games where Bishop was starting, there were multiple missing starters on D. The Bills, like a lot of defenses, historically have usually been able to field a competent D when missing 1 starter, but when missing 3, the quality drops off fast. People here like to dog Hamlin, but I think he's played competently for the Bills this season. I think it's possible that Bishop playing next to starter Hamlin and with starters in front of him, may play better than Bishop playing next to Cam Lewis and missing another starter besides. I would also like to say that I had considerable trepidation about Rapp as a starting safety because of his tendency towards "Friendly Fire". IIRC, he took out both Douglas AND Bernard on one play during the Pittsburgh playoff game last season, and cost us Bernard (and Douglas hampered). I've been pleasantly surprised all year that he was playing more "in control" and mentally sound this season, but his injury occured on another "friendly fire" episode where the Raven was already wrapped up by 2 Bills and Rapp arrived late to the party and took out Hamlin and Douglas. This year, the Bills are going into the offseason with the lowest-ranked defense they have had since 2020. I think a barrage of defensive injuries mid-season are partly responsible. Some people blame Babich. Whatever reason, it was definitely a reset year on D. The Chiefs are going to "get theirs" on offense. The key for the Bills will be to keep their poise, keep moving on offense, and limit the time KC gets the ball. I may be a minority view but I thought Bishop played OK against Baltimore. Hamlin was the one who made an error that resulted in a completion for a TD (going for the INT instead of "doing his job").

Didn't McDermott basically come out and say we won't see Hyde in a uniform?

I wouldn't. Nothing against Slowik, but I think that Shanahan-tree style offense is a total mismatch for Josh Allen.

That's true. Trentative Edwards vs. Ryan Fitzpatrick would be another example. But in the end, there is something with the Jimmies and Joes - they have to know where to go and when to get there, and make it happen. For most teams, losing 3 starting WR for most of the season would be fatal to this.

I'm not gonna go back and watch all the Texans games to make that judgement. You can't just watch the sacks; you have to watch all the passing attack and ask "where is he going or trying to go with the ball and why?" Stroud had an AY/A of 8.7 last season and an IAY/pass attempt of 9.0. The Texans offensive identity was clearly built on having a deep passing game and making teams pay if they tried too hard to clamp down on the run and the short/intermediate stuff. The Bills have a decent run game and they were still struggling earlier in the season (Balt and Hou games especially) when they had absolutely no outside threat that teams could respect. Can you adjust that to some extent during the season? To some extent, sure, but you need receivers who can beat man quickly in the short/int passing game and who will read the zone defense with the same eyes as the QB and find the soft spots. Were there any of those on the roster with so many receivers in the Body and Fender shop? Don't know.

They had time to do all their evaluations and interviews with players, then they turn to the staff. Maybe the evaluations and post-season interviews turned up some stuff Ryans wasn't aware of or wasn't certain were factual vs. impressions.

I don't watch enough Texans games to know if they actually ran Mixon on every first down on nearly every drive. I can look at stats and say their offense is not "super run heavy". It was predominantly a passing offense last year (57% pass) and the same this year.

Don't forget they also lost Collins for 5 weeks (plus another couple where he wasn't at full speed)

That's what happens when you have a young QB who is worried about whether he's gonna get killed while he tries to find a receiver open downfield. He takes a big step back.

Agreed. I'm feeling like the Texans are scaping his goat. Yes, we do over-react about coaches, using the "greener grass" principle. I'm not so clear that the Texans offensive problems are on Slowik, though: 1) They had a whole 5 games with their planned-for receiving corps together before Collins got hurt. 8 games total with Diggs. Then they had 5 games after Collins came back before Dell had that horrible injury. I felt last year that Stroud's apparent poise and maturity in the passing game was linked to having quality receivers that ran good routes and showed up where he expected. Didn't have that this season. 2) Stroud threw 5 picks last season, 12 picks this season. Part of that is shortage of quality WR, part of that is teams having more film on him. Either way, I don't think it's entirely on Slowik. They still won 10 games.

I don't think so? Chris Brown went on to quote McDermott: If you want to conspiracy theorize, his "personal matter" could in truth be an MRI or a PET test and they're hiding his real medical status. Actually it sounds fully compatible with a pretty much full practice. He'll test out his hamstring and see how it responds, then the trainers and coaches will make a decision based on that.

Here's the full rundown per McDermott: the "show more" word is "today".

That was what I thought.

No, it's not confirmed. It's possible she has an inside source. McDermott does a weekly segment with Sal Capaccio at 10:45 Eastern, and usually one of the other reporters will listen and tweet out what he says - Joe Buscaglia or Alaina Getzenberg are two to watch. McDermott will often say on that show if a player has been ruled out. Some other info: Analysis based on previous injury reports vs game availability: https://x.com/BangedUpBills/status/1882787197767881168

So my In-laws used to own and run a fast food restaurant in a small town, back in the 70s through 90s. Hamburgers, pulled pork, deep fried veggies, soft serve ice cream, if you've been in a small town in that time frame, you know. For the sit down inside guests, they had those little jukeboxes on each table. My late MIL was a Lady of the old-school rural style - could milk 4 cows and 2 goats before breakfast, vaccinate a dozen feeder pigs, do beautiful crewel work and cross stitch, get the restaurant suppliers to "fly right", and individually greet 300 different customers with personal enquiries before going to church on Sunday in an impeccable outfit with a fetching hat. A kind and generous woman and a sweetheart, but if you go to mess with her, get up early or she'll make you feel un-punctual. There was a guy whose job it was to drive around setting up the restaurant and bar jukeboxes with a mixture of old faves and the latest hits. One fine day he loaded "Centerfold" on the units in the ILs restaurant. My mother in law called and had "a little word" with him. I think he set a land speed record getting back there to take it off, breaking the previous land speed record he'd set in 1974 after he cued up "The B word is Back". If the police had stopped him, they would probably have provided a siren escort.

You don't need to get him on the ground a lot. In fact, getting him on the ground allows the refs to decide that's UR due to too much body weight or too late hit, and throw laundry. But if you get him off his spot and make him run around without allowing him to escape and run, it can have the same effect. He becomes inaccurate. Fair point. I will hope that they are actually thinking they want to rip their opponents to small shreddy pieces and avenge themselves for 2020, 2021, and 2023.

Is anyone else starting to get a little twitchy about our players talking about "it's a blessing just to be in this position" and yadda yadda? I don't want them to give the Chiffs bulletin board stuff but I'd like to hear a little edge.

Arrowhead at any time is intimidating, but I actually think it's a little bit tamer at night. Just like Buffalo, the fans start early on the drinking and by night-time many of them are too boozed up to make as much of a hollering.

I'm pretty sure the NFL has rules about the circumstances where coaches can be put on the practice squad or rostered as players, to prevent teams from doing just what you say. Nothing stops teams from hiring former players as assistant coaches or having them fill roles as players during practices, but I don't think it's so easy as "in a pinch throw on the PS and used in a game". For the punters the Bills had in, they may be hoping for a reserve/futures contract. Being brought in for the Bills and having a good try out not only might give them such a contract here, but would give their agents good "buzz" to get them other looks around the league. I don't know what the rules are on paying players to try out. They certainly cover their travel and lodging and meals and give them a per-diem, but if I'm sitting on the sofa and want to break into or stay in the NFL, that's all the motivation I need to get on a plane.

You're welcome. Andrews is a great player. It's crap that he was receiving death threats. When the Bills lost to Houston, our rookie OLman Cody Ford was flagged in OT for an illegal "blindside block" that the NFL later used as an example in a training film of the kind of blocking that was allowed! It turned 4th and 5 and a long FG into 3rd and 24 outside FG range. Now, Ford did not turn out to be nearly the outstanding player Mark Andrews is, but he still didn't deserve the death threats he got. So we feel him.

You said " Even if I take Jimmy G away. I still gave you 2 that were after Tom Brady showing his ability and who produced 10 top offenses" Matt Cassell was in the middle of the Brady era, so he is not the answer to my question "who were those two after Tom Brady"?

I'm great with Josh as a hire - from the point of view of a Bills fan!!!!! The situation you allude to - taking a young QB who has had success with a WCO offense and moving them to a EP offense - is exactly the situation that led to very poor results with Sam Bradford in St Louis. Bradford looked decent under Pat Shurmur, who has a track record of bringing out the best in QB - and then after McDaniels left, looking decent again under Brian Shottenheimer. With McDaniels, he looked like he flat out couldn't play football. It wasn't like Bradford was a tempermental diva either. His press conferences were painful to watch that year, he was so sincerely earnest about how he believes in their offensive system. He pretty clearly was trying his best. Keep in mind that it's not just the QB who has to adjust, it's the entire offense that needs to learn a new terminology and new ways of thinking about plays. The whole offense has to learn it, and buy into it. That may have played a reasonably significant role in what sunk the Rams offense that season. Excuse me, who were the two that were top 10 offenses McDaniels was coordinator for after Tom Brady left? I do apologize, but I must have missed the second one whilst correcting your misunderstanding of Alex Van Pelt's previous experience as offensive coordinator. The Patriots had 1 top 10 offensive year after Brady left - 2021 with Mac Jones. Who and where was the second? You're missing the point about Sam Bradford. I'm not playing a "numbers game". I'm looking for relevant examples: examples where McDaniels, as OC, worked with and developed a young QB as starter in his rookie or 2nd season. I can find two examples: Sam Bradford, and Mac Jones. If Josh McDaniels gets an "A" for Mac Jones, but an "F" for Sam Bradford, that at best gives him a very mixed track record working with young QBs. This really shouldn't be hard to understand.

No, you gave me one other young QB McDaniels has had success with. I gave you one young QB McDaniels spectacularly failed with - outside the influence of Bill Belichick and the established "Patriots Way". The Patriots did not have a successful offense with Cam Newton. The Patriots did have a successful offense with Matt Cassell, but that was very much plugging a veteran guy who had understudied Tom for 5 years at that point, into an existing offensive machine with great talent and a great OL And all of the above was under the aegis of Bill Belichick - who is no longer there. I suppose we could look at how McDaniel did with Aiden O'Connell. He wasn't a 1st round pick, and McDaniel was HC not OC, but he surely bears some responsibility there. That wasn't pretty, either.

Facts: Alex Van Pelt was OC in Cleveland for 4 years, from 2020-2023. During that time, the Browns had 11 win records and went to the playoffs twice. Van Pelt also had a stint as OC of the Bills in 2009. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/coaches/VanPAl0.htm This and the Pats offense is all stuff you could verify on a site like pro-football-reference in like 10 seconds or less. Sure, the Patriots could have done worse than hire Josh McDaniels as OC but "could have done worse" is a very low bar