PBF81

Yeah, it was incredibly noticeable. I'm wondering to what extent Brady has anything to do with that. But absolutely, we've put nearly no significant resources into our OL, not one 1st-round OL pick in any of the 5 Drafts since drafting Allen, only two 2nd-rounders, one having been Ford, and Torrence only late in the 2nd round. Only one overall offensive player in the 5 Drafts since then, none in the first four of those Drafts, only Kincaid this year. How someone doesn't focus around a franchise QB is mindboggling. In fairness, Josh was having to run evasively all but immediately on many plays, particularly in the 2nd half where we couldn't even average 3 yards-per-play and put up on 121 net yards.

Little? LOL I didn't see any prior to your post. But oh my, had the intended receiver been Gabe and anyone else wide open like Gabe was, and AHEM, is at other times too going unnoticed, then everyone would have been appoplectic. I just hope that we get a whole lot more out of our mid-4th round WRs in the future.

No doubt. Rage and venom vs. poignant criticism, ... some define the latter as the former. I for one didn't think that the 9/11 comments were all that big of a deal. Horrible judgement, absolutely unwise, but clearly not supportive of terrorism, but that alone does take into account judgement, which many do have an issue with. But I did take issue with the whole truck thing, and I'm not quite sure how one keeps the personal aspect of that out of the discussion, ... for example. Think about it, if we read that about Belichick, ... LOL, people here would be all over that like dimples on a golf ball. But many want to dismiss it because it's our coach. I'm not trying to rehash those things, rather simply using them as an example of a mob mentality in both cases, one anti, one pro, respectively, but neither making sense like that. Well, in order, those decisions have all been McD's. He bears a good amount of responsibility for the situations he's put himself in. But let's keep in mind, he's made horrible decisions at all levels now, and with and w/o those guys here. Aka common denominator. At least to some extent. Wouldn't you agree? No one forced him to not hire a DC or let one of his senior coaches, like Washington, who's "Assistant Head Coach" according to TOS. Those were entirely his decisions. As to Brady, it's fair for everyone involved to wait and see what the next four games bring into something as close to a steady-state re: him as we're going to get. The one thing that no one can argue is that there's no shortage of excitement to finish out the season.

None of us think exactly alike on everything. That's entirely unreasonable. We all have our opinions on how best to win a Lombardi. Discussing the team should be fun and engaging, not laced with ad hominems. I personally love a good argument and discussion, as long as it's civil. I discuss things with many posters on which we take opposite sides, but it's usually civil and very respectful. Taking things as personally as so many seem to do, that would seem to create a lot of internal emotional stress for them and it certainly adds provocation in a public forum. What's the point. You're right though, certain topics get beaten to death, no doubt I've played my part in that. Sometimes you simply have to wait and see what the outcomes are. It's a very reasonable guess that we're far from past serious criticism of this team and its coaching at this point in the season. Time will tell.

They're called counterperspectives and unless they're way off base, why the ad hominem at large? This should be a place for discussion and exchange of ideas. If we were all that, then we'd all be talking about how we'd only need to go 2-2 to clinch the 1st Seed, which frankly, given the talent that we have, contrasted with every other team in the AFC this season, is where we should be. I'm still chuckling at MLB's (OP) "... wail and moan ..." comment, in good nature, truly, imagining some Bills fans at home actually wailing and moaning. LOL But leaning a little more seriously, talk about "wailing and moaning," we wail and moan, and I'm not talking about those that you label as "negative types," largely talking about the others, but we "wail and moan" over our "inadequate" receiving corps of Diggs, Davis, Shakir, and Kincaid, but imagine if we had a 34-year old Kelce, Rashee Rice, Justin Watson, and Marquez Valdes-Scantling for a moment. Imagine the complaints coming in then. We have better WRs than any other AFC team besides possibly Cincy and that's even debatable. At the end of the day we're a 7-6 team currently "seeded" 11th and incontention for the 6th and 7th seeds with 6 total teams, none of which we have the tiebreaker over. There isn't a team behind us that has a realistic shot if even a mathematical one at making the playoffs. Much like 2017, we need help from other teams, or at least a slump by most of them. Unlike 2017 when we were the worst team of any in playoff contention, we're arguably the best team in the AFC this season on paper. Do we have more talent than all of them? Absolutely, and with Burrow being out for the Bengals. So why are we 7-6 along with the other five then? It's a fair question. To label everyone that sees that and acknowledges it as some sort of negative type is simply not fair to them, do as one may there. Every single one of the teams that we're in contention with also has the ability to go between 3-1 and 1-3, Denver and Houston in particular on the high side and possibly 4-0 with Denver being the one of the hottest teams in the league right now at what, 5-1 their last 6 I think. We play Dallas next, which is arguably the most balanced team in the league from O to D and pass-to-run alongside San Fran. Then we're @ the Chargers where we haven't won since the '70s under Knox, and where we'll be playing a game starting at 11 p.m. our time. The last time we had time-zone or jetlag issues we didn't fare so well. Then vs. New England, but most of us will be on pins and needles going into that game, don't you think, considering the way that they played us in the first game and given Belichick v. McChoke-in-Big-Moments? Then @ Miami to finish the season, which will be like a playoff game. Need we be reminded of last season where they nearly beat us with Skylar Thompson who hasn't taken a snap this season, or them nearly beating us at the end of the season, both games in Buffalo, with Tua. Nothing is a given at this point. Everyone's stunned the Miami lost to Tennessee. If they manage to lose to the Jets while we beat the Cowboys, incredibly and against all odds the division is back in play, particularly with them hosting Dallas and @ Baltimore after that before they play us. Our game could very well decide the division, which many thought to not even be possible if that happens. Your association between contrarian comments and people being negative is misplaced imo. This team is far from having an identity of stepping up in the biggest of games. Factor in that our point-differential over our last 9 games is a mere +26, and -6 if we do not include the Jets game at home. The combined record of teams that we've faced is 59-58. On paper we're not all that different than the teams that we're competing with for those last 6th and 7th seeds. There's nothing wrong with being critical of your team, particularly when it's 7-6 but should have been 11-2, or at least 10-3 and in the driver's seat, and we haven't even mentioned having Allen yet. Anyone being critical and concerned about playing a team that's playing better than us, a team that already beat us, a team that we have never beaten on their turf in over 40 years and in a 3-hour different time zone with a game starting at 11 p.m. our time, and @ Miami is hardly being negative. And lest we forget, absolutely nothing that anyone here says or does makes one iota of a difference in how our team plays. I guess I don't understand the hostilities towards fellow Bills fans in simply discussing varying aspects of our team.

Trends and patterns. What happened in the first four weeks is much less relevant than what happened more recently. What's our PD over our last 9 games?

Our 2nd half was horrible. 121 total yards, not even 3 yards-per-play. To say that it was pedestrian is overstating the matter. It's a good thing that KC has no true #1 or even #2 WR. We complain about Davis, if they had Davis yesterday they've been much better offensively. I don't know what we did to adjust in the 2nd half, but KC's 2nd half was better than their 1st half and they put up 175 total net yards. It seemed like another game where we came out strong on emotion and faded down the stretch, in the 2nd half, where we can call it what we want, but caling it pedestrian is understating it. We'll see what happens against Dallas. What's our PD over the past 9 games?

The week to week waffling is its own special set of entertainment. LOL

Dallas and San Fran are the most well-rounded teams in the league at the moment. O to D, Pass-to-Run, etc. I don't see them hitting a trap game. We have to come back from KC also, them from Dallas, same trip, ... different days I suppose. Philly has a much easier schedule with the Giants twice and Arizona after @ Seattle, so Dallas knows that they may have to win out to win their division. We'll need to play much better than we did yesterday if we want to win that one, even at home. Yesterday in the 2nd-half we didn't even average 3 yards-per-play.

Gotta make better halftime adjustments however. And that four-man rush of theirs made it seem as if they were blitzing a lot but they weren't. I have to look at the numbers later. On the offensive side anyway, "complimentary football" kept popping up in my head.

The 2nd half was not good for us at all. Great starting field position helped us a lot in the first half.

Nicely written, fantastic account!!! Thx for using paragraphs! LOL.

Thanks for the info. I'll validate it. Appreciate it.

@Rico Well, do you? A laugh emoji doesn't answer that question.

This would suggest that it wasn't out of proportion, that it was merely covered up prior to the season starting in the interests of team goals. That happens too. We'll see, but many of us have a strong hunch that those of you still defending McD are in for a suprise over the next five weeks. Nothing I or any of us say or do, we have no control. Let's see. Who knows, maybe we rise from the proverbial ashes to win the SB.

Well, exactly, what are Josh's goals. He's set financially.

Keep in mind though that +84 of that PD came from our first four games. Over the last 8 we're only +17. We're -9 over the past 8 apart from that Jets game. Let's see what tomorrow brings. If ever there's a time for McD to demonstrate his ability to bring the team together, tomorrow is it. If not, then that should clearly make its own statement. LOL I'm gettin' better! See, the pieces are getting smaller.

I have a little bit of knowledge with the situation, unless I missed something, he was incredibly popular so he decided to break from there to attempt to make some money for his work, as he should do, like anyone. Do you have some info that they banned him and told him not to return? Well, the article was actually three lengthy pieces.

Did you actually read the three pieces? Here's another angle. Players typically don't say a whole lot of negative things about former coaches and teammates, because they want continued employement. So the question why they'd do it here springs up. Buffalo is a special place with a special set of fans. The region itself is unlike any other in the league. That seems to translate itself to the players (and coaches) on the team. It's clear from having read all three parts of that series that even the ex-players here have formed strong friendships with some of the current players and keep in touch, and given Allen, really want them to ultimately succeed under Allen. A good many of the interviews seem to be from the angle of it's not fair to the players that their own coach is holding them down. They want to see their friends and former teammates that they're close with win one, AND feel the same for us Bills fans. Hence, their speaking up. Just sayin'.

His position on the Defense uber alles also explains perfectly why precious few top personnel resources have been spent to address our offense after Allen got here.

This kind of stuff is divisive too. It definitely doesn't shout out great leadership. BTW, "too much time" being 13 whopping seconds. Most good head coaches would have been tickled and jubilant. Most know exactly when the McDermott Era broke: Jan. 22, 2022 at Arrowhead Stadium. Adversity reveals character in any field. Not only did McDermott insult the public by writing off 13 Seconds as an “execution” error. He never owned the defeat privately. He allowed it to linger, and that’s the danger with any trauma. There’s no way for anyone involved to move on unless it’s dealt with head-on. Unless the guilty party takes accountability. McDermott, as Go Long detailed, was the culprit. Yet when his decision to kick a touchback and his defense doomed Buffalo against the Kansas City Chiefs in the divisional round of the playoffs, there was zero accountability. To delusional proportions. One assistant coach remembers McDermott saying in the locker room that the offense scored too fast and left the Chiefs too much time. “It was such a ludicrous statement,” the coach said, “that it didn’t move the needle.” The next day, McDermott continued to point the finger. “You guys need to get away,” the assistant recalled the boss saying. “Recharge, reflect, and figure out what you can do better to avoid that happening again.” With that, he walked out of the room. That's funny, but keep in mind that his point was that they still had a relationship between them on the field towards the goal of winning. It's pretty clear that McD has deliberately distanced himself from our offense, which I attribute to him acknowledgingly not knowing much about offense, Cowherd's point was that you cannot do that and be an effective head coach.

@CaliBills You posted a red-x of disagreement with the above. Just curious, what do you disagree with? Did I miss unequivocal statements by Allen, Diggs, Dawkins, Morse, Davis, Knox, Cook, Kincaid, etc. downplaying it?

It's hardly been a wellspring of support. Again, the silence from the big name offensive players is deafening.

Floyd was a great signing, obviously. LOL

Both coaches were overrated due to the presence of Allen. Daboll's done absolutely nothing to distinguish himself apart from two seasons with Allen at his best. The same for our current coach. McD at least has a chance to prove differently and what a great leader he is over the last five games. Daboll at 4-8 and 7-14-1 in his last 22 games not so much.