PBF81

I understand that line of thinking as well. Could be.

Well, LOL, that's a somewhat different matter. Since you ask in the present, I'll answer in the present. They are the proven commodity and IMO that's the difference between McD/Dorsey, McD/Daboll, and Reid/Bienemy, with the emphasis on Reid since he's an offensively oriented coach. As you know, I'm not an apologist of McD. No need to rehash the details. However, to the extent that they have the edge, I would say that the dramatic difference is Reid v. McD, and it is dramatic IMO. Having said that, other than for the Cincy game, offense has not been our problem. Again, keeping it in the present, I'll use the last two season's playoffs. Apart from the Cincy game, and I'll defer to the benefit of the doubt on that one re: all the issues we faced last season, but apart from that game, in the other three playoff games over the past two seasons (3 other games), in regulation we averaged 39 Points-per-Game, 25.7 1st-Downs, 312 Passing Yards, and 442 Total Yards. I'm not sure how anyone could impugn an offense for doing that regularly. In contrast, in their 6 postseason games over the past two seasons in regulation, KC has averaged 31.7 Points-per-Game, 24.5 1st-Downs, 282 Passing Yards, and 411 Total Yards. So I fail to see how our offense was the problem, other than for the difference between McD and Reid in situational coaching. Even then, for us to outproduce them like that is impressive. Since we were also talking about the dropoff in play between Hill v. Smith-Schuster, but for reference purposes, in the playoffs in regulation, the difference between 2021 (Hill) and 2022 (Smith-Schuster) was 4.7 Points-per-Game, 4.4 1st-Downs, 65 Passing Yards, and 90 Total Yards, which is nothing to sneeze at, nor can it be ignored. So what's the dropoff this season from Smith-Shuster to Moore or Toney? I'd say that it'll be significant. So I don't share that view that losing Smith-Schuster now too won't matter. I would argue the same, don't get lost in anything regarding the offense. The Defense, as you accurately said, was ranked 2nd and 1st the past two seasons respectively going back. In the 2022 playoffs however, where we had the 2nd-ranked Scoring D on the regular season, for all teams that had at least two playoff games, we ranked 7th out of 8, and embarrassingly behind the first four teams. And Miami, which we allowed 31 points to, was the second worst scoring team in the divisional round, only the Giants were worse. So it's not as if we faced the top two scoring teams. In 2021 we had the 1st-ranked regular season Scoring D, but in the playoffs, of all teams that played at least two games, we ranked 5th out of 6, and again, embarassingly behind the first three teams, and only the Chiefs were worse. So from where I sit, that's really the core of the problem, and considering that McD is a Defensively oriented coach .... Again, this season will reveal much there. That's true, but every season is a different season as we shall see. IMO, other than for OL, we have better skill position talent than the Chiefs do. Coaching of course may once again be our undoing. We'll see, but we nearly beat them in 2021 and should have, it wasn't the players that lost that game much less the Offense. I simply disagree with this notion that no matter who KC's receivers are, their offense is still the best in the league. (n fact, in their two first playoff games in the Division and Conference Championship rounds, KC only averaged 25 PPG which was only 3 points above-average on the season, and 360 YPG, only about 20 YPG better than average on the season. Those were against the 21st and 28th ranked Scoring Ds, and the 7th and 24th ranked Yardage Ds. We shall see.

But presumably not for an impact player, simply more depth.

I hear ya, but I think we've lost focus of them original point that I made that you took issue with. My point was that we have no reason not to be better than KC offensively this season, not that KC's O wouldn't be good, which would be an idiotic proposition. I see no reason why we shouldn't be #1 in the AFC in both points and yards. I'm sure that KC will be#2 or 3, top-5 worst case. Otherwise, that step down from Hill to Schuster is a lot different than to what it is now. I'm not sure I see any of those guys going much over 1,000 if at all. As to Ken's, again, the point is that he's not going to get better, only worse at 34.

BTW, you red-x'd my comment, so I've been meaning to ask, here are KC's starting WRs this season. Which of them do you think is going to carry the water the most on the receiving end, and why, given their performances in the NFL to date? Kelce's 34 this season and into his back-9. Tony Gonzalez, the best TE in the history of the modern game began slowing down significantly at 33/34. Marquez Valdes-Scantling https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/V/ValdMa00.htm Kadarius Toney https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/T/ToneKa00.htm Skyy Moore https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/M/MoorSk01.htm What kind of overall receiving numbers do you expect for that group? ... even with Mahomes throwing. I hadn't heard of any of them prior to recently in this discussion.

Yup!

IDK, but if I'm a GM I'm not sure I'm willing to trade any player that's going to make a difference for another player, when in a few weeks teams are going to be waiving nearly 40% of their players, minus IR stocks etc., in the cut from 90 to 53. Were there a lot of trades last season before final cuts?

Indeed, agree, and he can afford it. My concern is that he doesn't want to afford it. LOL He wants others to pick up the tab. Remember, Kim said that they couldn't afford it, that they had a lifestyle to maintain. I don't see why that's changed. Between that and the Raccuia thing and the focus on "the business side" of it all, it makes me antsy. Then factor in NYS's involvement, etc. As of now he's on the hook for very little. I'd like to see some serious cement in place soon.

Some good points there. Keep in mind however, perhaps Pegula also told Raccuia to make sure that it came in under a certain budgeted figure that he was willing to dish out. Clearly the money's a concern for Pegula. A shitspreader. LOL

Well, that then leads into a discussion about the OL and why more hasn't been done to create an OL like we had back then. I'm not sure now is the time to discuss that, ... again, for the umpteenth time. LOL The season is upon us. If the "new and improved" (?) OL antes up, great. But if not, I firmly believe that fan and media pressure are going to start bearing down significantly on McBeane. We'll see, but what, 32 days away from the season opener, it's time to be positive and hope for the best all the way around. There will be plenty of time for discussion of that nature upon the conclusion of the season. GO BILLS!!! What's the huge arm do, arbitrarily sprinkle snow/rain throughout the stadium at random times? We can call it the Commodium.

LOL Shades of Stonehenge in Spinal Tap.

Not all of it, but what's he gonna do, have $25,000 PSLs for the cheap seats.

We'll see. Maybe he won't be any good in Chicago, but as pointed out, he'll be playing in a classic 4-3 there from what I can tell, we didn't do that here, so it will be different for him. Whether or not that changes remains to be seen. He had his weaknesses like most players, but I also see quite a bit of bias in the anti-Edmunds Contingent. IMO we're going to get a dose of the grass isn't always greener on this one, which is my point, if you thought that the MLB play last season was deficient, buckle up my friend, it could be a long season for you in that regard. He also just turned 25. It also sounds as if they wanted to keep him but simply couldn't afford it.

Indeed, but we don't care, that only impacts Pegula.

No one gives a crap about the price, everyone just wants it built as you say. But a mere few months after signing the deal and already nearly 40% over budget? That couldn't possibly have been all Raccuia's fault. Fewer details than with any other stadium project at this point in time. As Blank Stare implied, it's very odd. Remember, NY State is involved.

Their WRs don't appear to be anything special. It'll be up there, 2nd to us? I just don't think it'll be as good as last year. We can be better is all.

We'll find out, but I would strongly suggest that another early playoff ouster in the wild-card or divisional round, especially now with KC not as strong offensively as they've been, and while Cincy and Jax are better, we're still better, IMO the wheels are going to come off if that happens, the fan & media sentiment will begin to swing in the other direction. It's a huge season for several reasons. Let's hope for the best and see how it unfolds. You know my views, I'm not in on the old Carolina staff and IMO McD in his quest for ultimate control, has bitten off more than he'll be able to chew. But I'm also hoping I'm wrong. OTOH, maybe we'll finally bring a Lombardi back to Buffalo.

It's funny you say that. I'm one of those types that distrusts everything until it happens, or in this case there's an actual point-of-no-return. Here's my issue, we know that Pegula was going to move if he didn't get public funds, that's been made clear. But he's only in for what he gets from the public, namely the combined $850M. Very little of that has been spent, negligibly. We have a new dig housing project going on near where we live, several hundred homes, and the amount of equipment they have for the excavation and earthmoving is ten times what we've seen on the videos from the team. I questioned in that video that I linked a few pages back, on the team's youtube channel, that there's not very much equipment there. That has me scratching my head. I've seen more equipment in building small strip malls or townhome tracks of 20 homes. I would think that they'd be moving on this as fast as they can, and the digging it would seem has to be the most finalized part of the entire shebang. So why isn't it further along is the question. If you could see how much they've done in that housing community, it doesn't even approach being a comparison. I'm skeptical as we speak. At the current rate there's no chance on earth that they finish in three years, it'll be a miracle. Until at least half of that money is spent with Pegula on the hook, I'm not going to be at ease. I know this post will get slammed, and call me paranoid, but something's amiss. Maybe it is simply that they really aren't as far along in planning as they wanted to be, but again, that's odd too as you say, like they're hiding something. I mean what, one single excavator and one big Titan truck? Seriously? There's a good dozen of each in the housing community being built near me, plus earthmovers, D8 dozers and a bunch of other stuff. But think about it, right now, with the suspect cost increase so soon after inking the deal on the stadium, and what, already almost 40% of the total expense, Pegula's already on the hook for what he's getting from the state & county. He could cut now and save himself nearly a billion dollars. If it escalates anymore, even more. I know this is going to get red x's and thumbs down, but just sayin'.

Maybe I'm off, but I thought that they said something about it still being a work in progress, which is why more detail isn't available. I thought it odd to begin construction on something that isn't even fully finalized. Meh, maybe I misunderstood. [shrug] I suspect that so many fans are going to be pissed when the new price structure comes out.

Let's see what ours looks like in real games first. Likely agree, but I'm fine for the moment with Dawkins, McGovern, Morse, and Torrence/Bates for L to R. Brown is the wild-card. I'm hopeful. I'm not as sold on McGovern as everyone else is, but let's see. It can hardly be worse than what we've had if Torrence is anything. If not, then I suspect all hell's gonna break loose in terms of scrutiny and criticism by season's end. This is a pivotal season in terms of PR stuff and fan/media reaction. Let's hope that was because of his injury. We got what we got at this point. The rest will work itself out after the season. Time to kick some ass.

Again, I probably should have defined things, but I meant strictly in terms of scoring. This team has already done that in 2020, putting up 43 more points than Kelly's best team did. I don't see why we cannot beat that this season. We'd need to average 31.3 PPG to achieve that. Denver holds the record for most points in a season with 606 in 2013, so if we can manage 38 PPG we could beat that. Here's the thing, 2020 was Allen's first season coming out. Our receivers were Diggs in his first season with Allen, Beasley, Davis as a rookie, and Brown, McKenzie if you want to include him. Knox was in his second season and posted his worst season of the four he's been here. Then we had Knox/Kroft. Now we have Knox/Kincaid. HUGE difference there. Now we have Diggs after three seasons with Allen, Davis in his fourth season, Harty, Shakir, Shorter, and Knox and Kincaid. I'll take that last batch with their experience over the prior batch. We also had Singletary in his second season, also his worst, and and Moss. Advantage goes to Cook/Harris. No question, I'll be disappointed if we're not 1 or 2, and honestly, IMO if we can't beat the Chiefs out with Kelce at 34 and a bunch of mediocre to average WRs that they have, then it'll be a travesty. We were 2nd in PPG and would have been 2nd in Yards had we not missed a game, behind KC in both instances. If we're not 1st or 2nd then something's seriously wrong, whether it be an injury situation or Dorsey not cutting it. Of our last four playoff games the past two seasons we have produced in three of the four, obviously the Cincy game was horrific, but we at this point should write that off as what it was following what had occurred. Let's simply leave it at that in a "not crying over spilled milk" kinda way. But see above if we skunk the playoffs again. Our problem in the playoffs has been our #1 and #2 D playing like a 25th ranked D therein. Not the offense. Completely agree too, and agree with the above, the Kelly-era OL puts this one to shame, but stay up on that, Torrence and McGovern should do wonders for us. Right now it appears that we have average or average-plus players in four OL spots. Obviously Brown is a huge questionmark. And yes, the WR-ing core lacks "eliteness," but all we need is five solid WRs. Beasley wasn't "elite." Davis was a rookie. Brown, ... average on a good day. We shouldn't and don't need three all-pro WRs to make it go. We didn't three seasons ago when we finished a mere 8 points, or 1/2 PPG behind Green Bay in scoring, and look at their WRs that season. Their second best WR was Valdez-Scantling, an incredibly mediocre WR that finished with 690 yards and 6 TDs. Unimpressive. We can easily do better. Again, hinges on Dorsey and luck with injuries, OL playing better than it has, not even necessarily like a top-5 OL, just notably better than what we've had. Agree on Cook/Harris, but again, it's a passing league primarily, so how Kincaid plays will also factor in heavily. I see us being the best offense in the AFC easily. I see KC dropping down a few spots. Kelce can't do everything. We should get a good glimpse as to how good Mahomes is with a mediocre/average cast of WRs apart from Kelce. I'd say top-5. Agree otherwise, but if Allen & Dorsey sync, then buckle up and prepare yourself for some broken records!!!! GO BILLS!!!!

If Dorsey can keep from putting his head up his ass this offense has the potential to be the best in franchise history and rival the best all-time in the NFL.

Seems to me that Sherfield's the 6th WR overall at present, the most likely to be knocked out by another. I don't think he will be, but Diggs, Davis, Harty, and Shakir are locks. I can't imagine that they'll waive Shorter, their early 5th-round draft pick, who was the second leading WR, only by a narrow margin, in his last two seasons at Florida, with siht running QBs that were among the worst passers in the SEC. IMO his ceiling is higher than most think. That would place Sherfield, who despite any narratives, hasn't done much to distinguish himself in four seasons in the NFL, as the most likely one to be surpassed, especially since the only two behind him whose names I've heard about from Camp, Isabella and Johnson, are in his spot on the depth chart right behind him. The fact that Isabella is after Harty and Shakir as a specialist may be concerning for Sherfield.

We're going to miss Edmunds. The move was probably best for both however, us as well as Edmunds. I suspect that he'll flourish in Chicago in a traditional MLB role. We obviously didn't use him that way.

And those that seemed to think that Williams would end up at MLB, or that Klein was anything but a depth player at this point in his career. Maybe he'll move up, but based on this chart I at least feel vindicated in my positions about the starting players. Same for Poona Ford whom IMO many overrate. Again, poor planning. I'm not sure that it can reasonably be spun any other way.