PoundingDog

The problem with Beane is he didn't try hard enough so far. Oliver and Carter last year is his only investment on DT. I know he put a lot investment in DE position and those who can also play DT. How about some projects there like we invested in O-Line? I agree with colin above that getting a DT who pans out like Chris Jones is the most direct way to improvement your overall defense.

That's a possibility and I hope so. It would mean the Bills D being able to do a 180 from their week 4 performance against the same team and no one in the media thinks possible right now.

Appalachian Mountains make a big difference weather wise. Baltimore is shielded by the northern end of that mountain and right on the Chesapeake Bay. Thus, latitude wise, Baltimore may look to suffer winter snows etc., not much different from Phily. Reality is that not often it gets snow and extreme cold.

What ever past history between Bills and Ravens is out of the window in my view because .... Ravens added future HoF Henry who is playing at HoF level right now. The Bills? They added future HoF Von Miller who is just above average these days. That is a big difference. The Ravens also hit jackpot with 2023 practice squad veteran Van Noy. Van Noy never had more than 6.5 sacks in his career up to that point. Then in Baltimore he got 9 sacks last year and 12 this year at age 33. I know the Bills paid Floyd last year to get 9 sacks, but man wouldn't be nice to get Ravens luck on Van Noy.

The match-ups. We don't need to go to the topic of Bills D against Ravens O, do we? Bills D is built to stop the pass and the Ravens O is built around running the ball. So it is kind of like fighting left-handed there. Looking into Bills O against Ravens D. Ravens play 3-4 defense, all 3 linemen are big (over 300 lb). With Roquan Smith and Van Noy having a late career year at 33 year old, it's hard to run the ball --- Ravens is #1 against run in NFL. I think Connor McGovern against their NT Travis Jones is critical if we want to run the ball, or give Josh some room to step up in passing situations. Jones has 20lb over McGovern but believe me, the Bills are in better shape with McGovern against Jones than Morse. On the flip side, we are not likely to pull McGovern like we do with Morse to attack the edge on run plays. We need to run the ball effectively, like 3+ yards per attempt, can't allow the Ravens to tee-up on Josh with Oweh (10 sacks) and Van Noy (12 sacks). We will see Marlon Humphrey's status but he's perennial all pro. Hamilton to me is one of the best secondary player, not just on their team, but the entire league. I think Josh needs to pay close attention to him every snap. It is a tall order - you know the Bills offense needs to find a way to move the ball and score, preferably in time consuming fashion. I know we ran the ball on Broncos which have a good D-line. But the Ravens are another level up. I see the Bills go pass heavy but I think it could lead to a disaster. The last thing we want is that our offense go 3 and out in less than 2 minutes and the Ravens run the ball to consume 7 minutes, even just to kick a field goal. Allen probably has to put superman cape on and just run the ball himself extensively, which means he could be beaten up pretty good this game and ... guess what, Mahomes is waiting at home with one extra days rest the following week. I really want Cook to have his best game of his career. Is that in him?

Specifically for the Ravens, I mean in the past they have accentuated Lamar's running ability and gradually developing his passing game. Lamar himself may have tried to hard to try passing instead of maximize his running game a few years ago. This year the new OC seems to incorporate more scheme into the offense, centered around the new weapon of Darrick Henry. Like some have pointed out, the Ravens O-Line is good but not great. I think the scheme has got them to where they are in addition to the talent of Henry. This is where Babich comes in. He's known for developing D players in where their eyes need to be, how to diagnose plays quickly. We really need more players know where to find keys of Ravens scheme next Sunday. Of course it helps to have player like Milano who has great instincts. But to elevate the level the other 10 to make less mental mistakes is his job.

As far as the defense goes, I'd hope we are NOT pinning our hope on one guy, even a guy like Milano, like he's going to wash all the sins we saw in regular season away. There are a number of issues, from D-Line to Safeties. Everyone, I do mean everyone, including Babich, needs to step up and do better.

It's about organization as well. The Chiefs, Ravens, Bills are well run organizations right now that have critical talents. The Texans might get there. My outlook is that the Bills might have 2-3 years in AFCE before they are seriously challenged. Ravens will be there AFCN but talent level like Henry might dip in short order. The Bengals might peak once in a while because they have talent but no an overall consistently well run organization. The Texans will have 3+ years in AFCS. The Chiefs will be challenged even though I don't believe in Herbert, Nix that much yet.

The dilemma is if you are not aggressive trying to crash into Henry when he gets the ball and just play containment, Henry can get sizeable yards most of the time. This is why Lamar's variation made it so hard to the Steelers. Simply put, the Ravens put you in a bind on attacking Henry aggressively and containment of Lamar. As a defensive, you want to make the right choice most of the time, like 75%.

The same 4 teams go to the final 4, different order. Last year, Ravens, Bills, Chiefs, Texans. This year Chiefs and Ravens switch position. I can easily see the same 4 next year also. Among the 4, the Texans might be a half level below the other 3 and the Chiefs, also benefiting the bye week, have the easiest path. It will be a blood bath between the Bills and Ravens next weekend. All 4 teams have stud (relatively) young QBs. But I'll say Allen and Jackson are gaining on Mahomes. Stroud had a step back from last year. We'll see if he goes forward next year. So it comes down to supporting case. Chiefs are the most balanced team. Mahomes, Kelce, Jones are HoF worthy guys, but Kelce might be nearing the end. The Bills have Allen. Miller is a shoo-in HoF but is even past Kelce's stage for high output right now. The Ravens have Jackson and someone like Hamilton playing at HoF level, but got Henry playing like a 25 year at HoF level. Texans has Hunter, Collins promising young stars. This is Allen's best year as a QB and leader in his NFL career so far. We probably need him to play the best yet of his best year next week to upend the Ravens. For reference I personally believe this is a transition year for the Bills and next year is what they plan to start another series of charge at the Superbowl. Nice to have some pleasant surprise.

Against almost all other backs, this is true. Henry is just a different animal. You hear the phrase that "you get to Henry before he gets started" so many times on how to stop him. I think that's what Tomlin and the steelers were thinking. They had done scouting and knew Ravens tend to run Henry on 1st downs. So the plan could well be crashing to Henry on early downs, then put Jackson defense (which the Steelers done better than anyone) on on 3rd downs. Well on the handoff to Henry, Jackson played perfect by pulling the ball to run himself on early downs and getting 7/8+ yards a pop. That derailed the Steelers entire plan. and made them look like "not planned or not trying". Tomlin at half time said something like Lamar played at another level is pretty much an admission to that. Typically Lamar do not change plays that much at LOS. He'll scramble when things don't go as he expects to see. Not that game Saturday. Oh by the way his scrambling changed this year where he looks to pass more than he ever done in the past.

Mike Tomlin agrees with you. So he told the d line to go all out for Henry. The result: Jackson beat you, over and over again. McDermott and Babich need to pour over the film and find keys the guys real quick.

Smiley's fate is about sealed. Just hope he does not cost us in the playoffs.

I like the name with billieve and 420 linked together, whichever comes first. Serious though, "the winning formula for this Bills team is for the offense to score 30+ each game while the defense attempts to hold the opposing teams to under 30" is hard to do. This is the playoff and we are playing teams with significant winning record. To expect we score 30+ point on all of them or holding them under 30 points on all of them is not realistic in my opinion. You have to win a game like 24-20, or 42-38. The Bills played 5 playoff teams this season with a record of 2-3. It's not a bad record mind you. If you are a consistent team, you probably should be losing to playoff teams in the regular season, and the Bills did this year. The scores are 10-35 Ravens, 20-23 Texans, 30-21 Chiefs, 42-44 Rams, 48-42 Lions. Pretty indicative of the ebbs and flows of game to game variations. I'm willing to bet for the Bills to play all 4 games in the playoffs, there will be a game they score significantly below 30 and still win.

Chris Jones is a second rounder.

Has anyone researched Joe Brady's family tree to find out he has a non white great grandma somewhere? Or any family relationship with Tom Brady (in which case a 1st round pick is awarded immediately)?

Thanks for your input on Broncos' D. I admit that I have not watched them much. Only based on paper. I think the way the Broncos for a possible upset is more on the line that they sustain drives, keeping Josh and offense on the sideline - the Bills nearing the league bottom 3rd down defense and Nix's mobility may make that a likely scenario. Then on defense they manage to get a turnover (or from special team) to steal a possession, making it a close game to the end. To me that is a far more likely plan from their view than trying to win a shootout.

Overall. this Bills team is better than Denver, probably more than just better. I don't think anyone can deny that. Looking into the details, this Bills team is flawed, in particular, on defense, which is unlike what we had in recent years. I mean when everyone is healthy, this defense has issues unlike the previous years. So that means you have to look into matchups. Can the Broncos take advantage of Bills flaws to make a more even leveled game? I have not watched enough Broncos' game to make a meaningful case. On paper, it looks like strength against strength (Bills' O against Broncos' D) and weakness against weakness (Bills' D against Broncos' O). If one team wins on both sides, I'm fairly confident that team wins. If it is a mixed, it is going to be a nail biter and could come down to special teams. Regardless, I agree with Steve Tasker that Bills are going to get the best of Broncos because wildcard games usually mean the team worked hard to get in and had momentum, not necessarily mean they are going to win. Remember Josh Allen's first playoff game in Houston? The Bills need to be able to take the punch and then use the overall superior talent to overwhelming them.

In 2027 on a Giants Monday Night football game. Aikman "... and what a play by Kaiir Elam! he uses his speed to catch up to the receiver and then uses his length to take the ball away. Great Play! He's really coming on to be a premium corner in the national football league."

I don't know if you are tongue in cheek or not. The preseason game against the Steelers was a unique one. Allen were going to play. But it rained before the game and due to wet conditions, McDermott decided to sit Allen, but the rest of the starters played (Maybe Von was out too). I saw the same Trubisky as he were with the Steelers.

The Trubisky you described was 5 years ago. Whatever he learned behind Josh the first time around was put on display when he went to Pittsburgh and it showed he's behind backup types of Pickett and Rudolph. Maybe White is not the answer as Allen's backup. But I know Trubisky is not the answer.

Trubisky is terrible. Even in the pre-season game in Pittsburgh. White is going to be cheaper and equally capable as Mitch.

This is the kicker that no one saw coming, or even in him. You'd think a big play from him would come from Josh throwing him the ball or some carefully schemed screen play of sorts. Instead, plain inside tackle runs where he used his vision and speed to make it happen. Someone said Josh helped. True, like Lamar Jackson helping Henry and Allen certainly makes the DEs to think twice about crashing down the line, but main credit of those big runs is on Cook. You may argue he is THE homerun threat of Bills offense this year. I want to see how he does in the playoffs though. Does he make a material difference where Josh does not have to play superman every down? In the past years, opposing D would go into a playoff game saying don't let Diggs beat us and spy on Josh. What will they say this year? Don't let Shakir beat us, or don't let Cook beat us?

Agreed with Dalvin batting for his brother. But I'm willing to bet that the Bills and James Cook's representatives had conversations to gauge the stance of each other. Both sides may have come away with positive feels. I just don't get the wording of "a few weeks". Looking at Beane's contract extension history. It's clear he likes to do them a year before the guy hit FA (except QB position), but his timeline is usually training camp before the season so that he knows the guy works hard all spring/summer for a contract year.

Zack Hiller, both Cook's agent, is the owner of LAA Sports & Entertainment agency (out of NY). That agency followed up on Dalvin's tweet publicly. Maybe it is nothing. By the way, they just announced "welcome to the family" to O'Cyrus Torrence. Another guy who is going to get paid in 2 years.