Ballhawk

I too think there must be something that happened we don't know about. Allen can "I still love that guy..." until the cows come home but between Diggs going off on Allen on the sideline in last years opener against the Jets and the "You sure?" bull#### at the end of year; even saint Allen couldn't have been happy. I think Diggs is right, he's better than his numbers showed in the last ten games of last year. Problem is, once it became Josh vs. Stef, no GM in the league is picking picking him over Allen. I think he's probably not as good as he thinks he is and not bad as we'd like to believe, but for Josh's sake I'm glad he's gone.

I think it's combination of the difference between how regular season and playoff games are officiated vis-à-vis the type of bend but don't break defense we've fielded. The officiating issue should not account for the difference in the stats (in the playoffs) between Buffalo and its rivals against KC, but we don't know that for sure. The style of defense though pretty clearly produces results over time in the regular season but is highly fallible in key moments in the playoffs. In general the nickel base set we run will be more vulnerable to higher caliber QB play in the playoffs. If you allow for refs, given offense's more 'flexibility' in the playoffs you have a recipe for some pretty big letdowns. I was happy to see McDermott try to evolve the defense last year into a more aggressive style defense, it remains to be seen if his defense can hold up in key moments where by design we give up the underneath stuff to highly patient, and competent offensive play, in an NFL that wants to see points.

I recognize that Hyde and Poyer were new entities in Buffalo in 2017, but they were established vets in the league. With Cole Bishop we have no idea (Rapp compares similarly to 2017 Hyde and Poyer). Nonetheless, I think there are a lot more question marks about our safeties in 2024 than there were in 2017. The good news, I think this is one of McDermott's strengths, but am still expecting a drop off from this unit.

"Greed is good." It was true in the movie Wall Street in 1987 and it has become the mantra for north American society in the 21st century. NFL owners, individual players, celebrities in commercials all trying to fill their pockets with gambling money. When is enough money...enough? Unfortunately our society seems to be promoting that there is no limit to amount we should seek and the NFL pro sports partnerships with legalized gambling is simply and extension of that. The NBA recently lambasted Jontay Porter with a lifetime ban, Pete Rose is still waiting for his HOF call...but let's keep pushing this drug of choice so the rich can get richer. It is actually kind of scary to see how far people will go to justify their own interests. The hypocrisy is very real and is likely only to worsen.

I'm sorry but a roast without Lisa Lampanelli is just meh. She's the real Queen of the Roast (OMG Ross is so tacky)

I'm surprised to see Odunze jump Nabers as recent trends have Nabers climbing. Guess we'll see, great job overall.

He knows about some super-duper secret appeal regarding the compensation pick? (Lol)

To me, I don't think it will be an issue. Think of when he joined the Bills from the Vikings. There was a solid 2 year honeymoon period. My guess is that his issues are less about touches than they are about winning and him contribution to winning. All this to say, if the Texans are successful, and it looks promising, I don't see a problem. Also, by the time the honeymoon period wears off, Diggs will be an over the hill 32-33 . If he doesn't adjust his attitude/expectations, Houston can simply cut him then.

Well, we know from Beane's interview that he informed Josh of trade discussions prior to the trade itself. Not sure if you consider informing 'involved', but yes, I agree we are both speculating about the degree to which Josh Allen was involved in this decision.

Maybe in 1982, in 2024 modern professional organizations often consult superstars in personnel decisions. As for the role of professional athletes...that is changing in a lot of ways, hell top athletes are more powerful than ever. Josh might have wanted to be at arm's length of the process to protect his position, but I'm sure he was involved.

I was really hoping someone would ask Brandon about cap management and if he's learned the dangers of extending players that are unstable. While Diggs' performance made the extension make sense the gamble is that he will be on the roster for the length of the extension and that is about more than just performance. Also, when he talked about timing, he cleverly made it about the offer and return only. The reality is the extension clearly suggests the timing the Bills were hoping to have to do this was next year. I hate to agree with all the journalists and media people that simply guess at these things, but it's pretty obvious that the only thing that would make the timing right this year is some pretty dramatic "in-house" drama. I would have loved for him to respond to the question about taking a step back this year with "You sure?"

All I kept thinking was how the "You sure" comment on twitter would feel if I were his quarterback. Contrast that against the famous T. Owens interview where he teared up and said "that's my quarterback!"Online comments are always open to interpretation, but how could Josh not see that "You sure" comment and not feel somewhat salty. QB/WR relationships are delicate, even Diva WR's usually know they have to maintain them. Once a WR starts thinking he is the cause of the success and is carrying the QB you have a serious problem. The good news is that any WR Diva's that join the Bills moving forward will be joining a team with a mature established elite QB. These types of QB's set the tone (even with Diva WR's), moreover they win with only average to good one's (see most Tom Brady's NE years and Patrick Mahones in 2023). I think we'll see a fired up Josh Allen next year. The league should be afraid of JA out to prove he didn't need Diggs.

It sure looks like this is going to be a let's be as competitive as we can be this year and re-tool for next year. As much as I get that trading Diggs was the right (and perhaps only) move given his apparent discontent I'm still sad to see him go. I think he's actually one of, if not, the best route runners we've ever had. Can't wait to hear Josh's take on this, I can't help but remember his repeated interviews where he said the Diggs stuff was nonsense driven by the media. Guess he was wrong.

I don't want to sound petty, but I'm so glad he didn't go the Dolphins (or in the division for that matter). Now I can wish him well!

What scares me is that while we've certainly had our fare share of bad luck with injuries, Allen has been remarkably durable. I keep waiting for the (seemingly) inevitable injury that is coming... As bad as our injuries have been we haven't had QB1 go down (like the Bengals last year). With his style of football it seems a matter of when not if. If it happens, we might miss the days when all we did was win the division and lose in the divisional round under McDermott and Allen.

As others have suggested, I'm really happy with what Beane as done. Resigning Daquan was huge, literally. I'm nervous about losing Hyde and Poyer in the same year, I would have preferred to stagger that loss, keeping Poyer for one more year. To me it's not the talent on the field but the experience and leadership in the secondary. I think that's a lot to overcome at the same time and expect we will get burned deep more this year. Even a talented high draft pick, it that's what Beane does, will not instantly rebuild 8 years of experience and chemistry.

I think it's ok, but anyone that has played Defense in the last 100 years was told Defense was "read and react". Increasingly defenses are having to adjust on the fly, literally. I don't know how a defender can play while not trusting his instincts to react. I suspect we are going to see a lot of offensive players take advantage of that initiative. Even the (alleged) "fake slide" by Allen against Pittsburgh. While I happen to not think it was a fake slide, it is a good example of how defenses are screwed as you can't lay off a hit once you've committed, so you have to do it early enough for the offensive player to see it and still react. The net result of adjusting to new rules is that talented offensive players will take advantage of that indecision.

I answered no, not because of the talent in this draft of the risks as I have no idea of there's a WR that will pan out. I'm simply looking at it from a cap management perspective, Beane needs to keep his picks and hit on many of them, this is simply the reality of having Allen on his mega contract. I'm just hoping we can follow the Patriots model of using the extra draft capital of never having to draft a QB on ever shifting complementary pieces around him.

Trevor Lawrence must be thanking the gods he was drafted 1st overall and avoided the Jets. I'm actually starting to feel bad for this kid. This is just Woody unable to accept that much draft capital going to waste in 3-year span. Somebody needs to take him aside and tell him to suck it up and do right by this kid and let him have a fresh start elsewhere. Instead Woody's going to hold this kid's future ransom because he can't accept the loss.

Honestly, in the modern day NFL I don't think any defense can be counted on to win a championship. The rules continue to favor the offenses. If anything I thought the adjustments McDermott and Beane made halfway through last year to improve the defense gave the Bills a real chance. People forget there were plenty of games (like the first game of the year against the Jets) where the defense kept a woeful (and healthy) offense in the game. Come crunch time on the modern NFL, the best offenses are unstoppable. When the Chiefs took over in the SB, needing a touchdown in overtime, with 4 downs, plenty of time and modern NFL rules to protect them, it didn't matter what defense would have been out there. The 85 Bears could have played that series and they would have been scored on (and have committed about 10 fouls!). I always find it funny when people blame one side of the team as though the performance of the O and D are not connected. McDermott still has to prove his team can finish and win the Superbowl, but he's proven he's a capable leader and coach.

That'll really suck if they don't make the playoffs! 😁

It think it's because they wanted to use quick screens to get Diggs involved to get him going. If I have to watch him curl up in the fetal position after gaining three yards next year I think I 'm going to have to change the channel...

Appreciate the perspective Shaw, I too have been a longtime fan. Most of my friends expected me to howl at the moon after the game (and on Monday too). I could see their sheepish, furtive glances as they knowingly approached me. Instead all I felt was proud of the Bills and Josh. After the victory over the Steelers I turned to my son and said, god help us marching this bedraggled defense out in front of Mahones and Kelce next week. I honestly expected to get clobbered, the coaching staff knew it too it seems, and their Payton Manning-esque ball control strategy almost allowed us to steal a game we probably didn't deserve to win with the roster we marched out there with against KC. I hope our injury luck will even out with the years we have left with Josh, (man he was unbelievable), but I guess I'm more proud about the Bills performance given their injuries than I am bitter about circumstance. Also, my dog doesn't have to hide in the bedroom from all the shouting at the TV now that I'm starting to mellow out with old age!

What surprised me the most was how effectively the Chiefs loaded up the box and stopped our running game, on first down especially. We stopped getting 7 to 8 yards on first down and instead got 1-2 yards. The easy answer would seem to have been to throw the ball more, but given : a) the fact we needed to control the clock to protect our defense b) Our receiving corps was inconsistent with drops c) we had , as usual, a terrible screen game that we were going to keep running into 9 and 10 man boxes. Hindsight is 20/20, but Brady and McDermott should've adjusted to the fact the Oline was increasingly losing battles as the game wore on. Even the 4th and short plays were getting less push and Josh was barely making 1st downs that he easily made in the 1st half. They dared us to pass, and we proved that while we are a much improved running team, we are not a team that can run effectively when the D commits to taking away your running game.

Great, I won't have to watch that old man vertical leap on hail marys next year!