PBF81

One could also argue that they let Smith go for more money because they thought that Edmunds could do the same or better, or that perhaps his skillset offered something that Smith's didn't. I'm not arguing one way or the other there, except to say that IMO (as in opinion, and therefore TBD) is that Edmunds at 25 will be a whole lot better than he has been, in the same role that Smith's been in over there in Chicago, and out of the role he's been in here. I do find it amusing that McD's an expert and "knows what he's doing and is there for a reason," while their coaches, Eberflus and their Defensive Coordinator Williams (also from William & Mary BTW) don't know what they're doing and don't deserve to be there and aren't the same "experts" that our coaching staff is. LOL What will be interesting is how the narratives here will change if that in fact turns out to be the case.

LOL $22,000 gone in Final Jeopardy!! Good one! Love the humor here!! That is the rose-colored glasses narrative alright. We'll see how it all shakes out.

Half of his tackles were on plays that resulted in 1st-Downs. Just sayin'. If we're going to analyze, let's look at the entire picture.

Well, we're going to find out. Despite all the rhetoric back and forth, no one knows what's going to happen or how we'll be w/o Edmunds and with Dodson or whomever else starts at MLB. As Gunner points out, it's Dodson's job to lose. We'll see how it plays out once the season gets going. There are more reasons to think that it will be problematic than that it won't be, but until the games get played, we won't know with any certainty. We all have our thoughts on the matter. We're all hoping for the same result! GO BILLS!!!

Sam Mills, the NO LB? He played in the '90s, he was Bills '90s era. LOL I didn't realize that Von was our DC now.

FWIW, we allowed our 3rd and 4th most points against Cleveland and Detroit, two of the games that Edmunds was out. Also, the 4th and 8th most total yards. The other game was vs. Pittsburgh, which was ranked 26th in scoring and 23rd in yardage offense. Their QB was the rookie Pickett, who was terrible last season. It was his second NFL start, on the road here. Probably not the best gauge of our D with or w/o Edmunds. LOL

We'll, it's a new season. 🙂.

I don't know whether we'll lose him or not, but I'm firmly in the re-sign him camp. I've been one of his biggest supporters and apologists.

Thanks for that! They should post a more active video IMO.

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.