PoundingDog

Does Dalvin know something we don't?

Really? You think they are that afraid of the Bills? Maybe the fans. I'd bet you anything I have that Mahomes, Kelce etc. want to take on the Bills for a revenge. And the Andy Reid etc. would just think about how to position his team to the best possible state - #1 seed, health.

I noticed that too. I've never been to a film room, college or pro, so I don't know how individual player learns thru these class room sessions and applies to practice field and ultimately on Sundays. If I have to guess, different guys do it differently. You have Elam who kept notes from college, and I assume he continued that approach in NFL and the notes might double or triple in size by now. But what has that approach got him so far? Lawrence Taylor never took any notes from what I hear, and he's a HoFer. I'd think for a coach like McDermott, seeing a player taking notes is a sign of learning. I'd be too if I were in his position. Belichick mentioned that he's in heaven when he saw D players (Bruschi, Vrabel etc.) talking balls even in watching college games like scenarios, what they would do etc. That's another sign of learning. But there is more to it - Elam is an example. I do believe his pre-draft interview of showing his notes probably scored very high in McDermott's book.

McDermott's presser is below. About 7:47 mark where the question about Bishop expanded role being answered. Said something like 4 games span improvement, taking notes blah blah blah

Mmm I was thinking someone better than Diggs. Mahomes had Hill in 2018. Brady had Moss in 2007. Manning had Demaryius Thomas who is nominated for HoF in 2025 in his first year of eligibility, plus Eric Decker in 2013. In my view, Moss > Hill >> Diggs. I don't know where the comparison goes between Diggs and Demaryius.

That's a strong statement. I don't agree; strongly disagree. I believe Allen has at least one ridiculous season (like Mahomes 2018) coming, something like 50 passing TDs. Only 3 guys ever did that and they were all MVPs. Take a guess who are those 3 if you want. Hint, one did it at age 22, another at age 30, and another did at age 37. Allen's late boomer still learning some of the nuances of the game and becoming more steady (or less volatile) game to game. It will probably coincide with the Bills getting a true super star WR.

I have to stop right there. Everyone assumes, like you said, that the offense under Josh will score 30+ a game in the post season to the superbowl win. Does anyone know it is a TALL, TALL order in the playoffs? Look at the superbowl champ 1999 Rams. They went 14-2 regular season scored over 30 in all but 2 games. In the playoffs, they scored 49, 11, and 23 points in 3 games to win the superbowl. Only the 2019 Chiefs scored their way (over 30) in the playoff to a superbowl win and that is will a prime Kelce and Hill. When the offense is rolling un-hindered, I don't have much concerns. The problem is when opposing teams do stop us from time to time, we need our defense to rise up and match the stops. That's where no oner has confidence.

I don't follow the Chiefs closely. The few earlier games I saw, including the Chiefs Bills, I don't know he maximized the best of his weapons.

I'm not into MVP discussion. But I do have an opinion of best QB in NFL. Stats is meaningless to me. Winning is the #1 criteria. If you are a QB gifted with Chase as one of your receiver, you gotta take advantage of that and leverage that asset to other success on offense. Likewise if you have Henry as your RB, you gotta do the same. That's where I believe Burrows and Jackson deserve some best QB votes, especially Lamar - I see some significant growth where he's no longer running out of pocket and just look for run; he's now getting to Allen/Mahomes/Burrows territory of managing time when there is guy in his face and continue to look for a pass down field. For Allen, the big growth is the decision making of not taking too many risks. And I'll see truly he has grown into that since Brady took over last year (part of the reason I don't believe he's best QB last year). Copper mentioned after his amazing TD catch against the Jets that some QBs won't throw those jump ball and Allen is one of them who will and Cooper appreciates that. But you know what? This is exactly where Allen's growth is - that he did less of it than he has ever done in his career; he used to do so to bona fide top guys like Diggs who believed (and demanded) throwing him the ball in any situation. Knowing when to take a risk (and finding better alternatives) is important and I suspect unlike Mahomes/burrows of the world where they were brought up in college ranks with superior talent/talent against top level oppositions, Allen had to go thru several years in NFL to master that.

I don't know if the Bills D is that talented even when they are healthy, at least in measurement of superbowl caliber. The amount of big plays given up (10+ yards) is an indicator, and that is regardless good or bad teams. If I'm McDermott/Babich, I would have to have 2 plans at hand. If the normal sound bent/don't break defense is not working, just go for broke looking for big plays. If they score, they score.

That is the key but I'm not confident they can for 4 games in a row. At least at this point, our D does not have significant injuries. But we'll see after 1 or 2 games if that's still the case.

I'm not sure I like this decision to be honest. You start Allen then you start a whole bunch of other guys. It's just me - I want to give some guys mental break as well. No I'm not talking about like bye week when they don't even come into the facility.

Depend on your expectations. Overall I think this team is flawed. Defense can be had. Thus I'm not expecting a superbowl or disappointment expectation. I'd rank the Chiefs and Ravens ahead of us. The Chiefs less of a flawed team. Their offense is not as good as ours but capable enough. Their defense is very consistent - consistently good. Ravens have high fluctuations. Their offense can be better than us at times and their defense can better than anyone at times. With that in mind, I actually feel beating Bengals in the playoff will be a good thing for us --- and we CAN beat them this year. It's hurdle to go over. Let's face it, to be a champion, you probably need the confidence that we can beat anyone and that can start with the Bengals. Realistically, I think the team is primed for next year. But you never know, including this year. No one expected the Chiefs to hit a hot stretch last year.

Well Keon is a rookie and his strength and weakness, including the nuances of best catching positions (which may dictate usage) is still unfolding. It will take some time for Josh and Keon to find custom sized glove for optimal fit. Heck even for a veteran like Cooper it is a process. Personally I think the way Russell WIlson throwing those "moon balls" to Pickens might be worth studying for Josh and Coleman this off-season. One-on-one on the outside, letting the ball coming down at a more vertical angle, and allowing Keon more time to locate the ball use his basketball rebound skills, especially against a smaller CB. Now, throwing "moon balls" is not every QB's cup of tea. Wilson might be the best at it. But I believe if Allen needs to do it, he can master it in due course.

The Chiefs are going to be tough, at Arrowhead. Yes we beat them there before. It just looks like the Chiefs have another gear. Last 2 games beat 2 division leaders comfortably. It's clear the top 3 in AFC is Chiefs Bills and Ravens, which over order you prefer. The unfortunate thing is Bills look to have to go thru 2 of them to reach superbowl.

The scaring part is they looked peaking again. you have to assume with 24 days off, they will get everyone important healthy to start the playoff run.

Come now guys. Cooper is 30 and will be 31 next June. Relying on him to be the catalyst of your receiving weapons is not the direction you should be taking. Just enjoy this season and hope he steps up when we really need it.

My concern is that the Pats ran a lot of man and Josh had no one to throw to despite having an absurd amount of time in the pocket (average 3.50 seconds according to Joe B). That is with Cooper out there as well. Maybe they are not trying hard enough.

Maybe it depends on the offense system as well. Brady is from Sean Peyton’s offensive tree and Cook is exactly the kind of back fitting into that offensive philosophy. Mind you Ty and Ray are too. But Dorsey and even Daboll may be more WR centered. Heck Daboll found Barkley is not worth keeping.

That's why a Chris Jones type of guy becomes important - "I can still beat you when you play solid."

It's a tough decision. Ideally we want to see another year of Cook AND Davis. But like some of you mentioned, Cook may not wait for that. We shall see. Is Cook a top RB in Henry, Saquon's category? Definitely not. Is he as good as a Kenneth Walker? Maybe. So it is all about where we slot him in the money ladder and what he thinks in the money ladder. Remember contract is between two parties. Someone says sign him to a 2 year extension. If you are Cook, why would you even consider that? Two things I see. 1. Cook needs a good O-Line to be successful (more so than the like of Henry, Saquon). 2. He still cannot block worth a damn to the point Bills don't even put him on 3rd down situation. If I'm Cook's representative, I'd look for a Kamara comparison and ask for Kamara money based on the fact that Cook can be used, effectively I may add, as a WR. Kamara's 2nd contract is $75 million for 5 years, $20 million guarantee.

At playoff time, there is only one rule: play the best guy right NOW, that is, not the best guy in the past, not the best guy in the future.

It's not really hard to see the D issue. D-line not stout against run D-line cannot pressure the QB with 4 men front Not enough speed in the secondary, especially safeties. Result? If the opposing team can run and pass, it is extremely difficult for the Bills to defend. When the D-Line cannot control the middle, we bring LBs and safeties up and leave RBs to the sideline wide open --- forcing the DEs have to make great plays to hold their own and control the leakage. On occasion when we do get them to passing downs, the lack of speed shows up where we play deep in order not to give up big plays; that leaves a lot of space in the middle - especially when we have to blitz to bring pressure - and guys like TEs, Kupp etc. are eating us alive. I don't think we can change scheme at this point. My only hope is that some guys rise up to play above the scheme - in superbowl history, you HAVE TO have those kind of guys in addition to Allen. Miller might be a candidate; I'm just hoping for he does that on some critical moments. Oliver, DaQuan flash at the right moment.

Another theory from the beer conversation between me and my buddy is that maybe they were trying some new downfield plays to see how it looked. Notice they targeted guys like Shakir, Coleman etc. on those plays, not exactly maximizing these guys strong traits. The real intention is to have guys like Cooper to be the main target but they want to see how defense react and what adjustment they need to add to those plays. Again I want to emphasize the word "beer" here.

Texans can still get the 3rd seed (distinct possibility if the Chiefs and themselves win on Christmas day) - that is if that is important to them.