notpolian

Nothing gets the attention of a team more than firing the HC. Especially early in the season. Jets have a good roster but have been underachievers. Outside of the extra motivation, it remains to be seen whether Rodgers can play better. Monday could get ugly if NY gets a lead.

McBeane are a package deal because McDermott was hired first. Normally the coach answers to the GM and works for the GM. I assume that's not the case here. I should also clarify I think McDermott can make good adjustments at halftime, I just think he is terrible in the moment. Very consistent with what Tyler Dunne published about him getting tight. You cannot get or show nerves as a head coach.

Many years ago I heard someone talking about the concept of a game day coach and a game week coach. He thought Lou Saban was a good game day coach. I was just figuring out what football was when Saban finally figured out to just give the ball to OJ. McDermott is the worst game day coach I can recall, at least for the Bills. Since I also think his entire defensive philosophy is flawed and I don't think Allen listens to him, I think he needs to be replaced. But the risk is really high (there are a lot of bad coaches out there) and he comes as a package deal with Beane, so I don't see it happening anytime soon. So yeah, maybe he needs a strategy advisor.

I remember the giving him the business call well. That was back when you could hit a QB. This is a James Cook game, and then try to figure out how to get the ball to a few wide receivers.

IMO Beane can't evaluate DL well. Many picks used as you say, and we have: Oliver, who is a decent starter who can be run over and "disappears" as many say due to the boom/bust penetration philosophy his tech is assigned Rousseau, episodically good to ok Epenesa, marginal starter, replacement value The Rookie Carter - too early to judge overall, but a doubtful difference maker. Who am I missing? I don't feel like going over all the chaff we've drafted and discarded (hey there Boogie) Pretty weak given how many have been drafted over the last several years.

Chicken Little is practically my avatar and even I think there is almost zero chance Allen leaves Buffalo. I also think B & McD will be here in 3 years. It will be interesting if they flame out this and next year with the new stadium opening however... One thing I like about the current regime is they are willing to move on from players that are no longer performing. The ultimate move would be for McDermott to say "I need to change how we approach building, game planning, and calling our defense" but I doubt that'll ever happen. I wish Pegula would have a conversation like that with them one offseason but I also doubt that'll happen anytime soon.

He started off really well but kinda slowly went downhill later in the season. I thought he looked very good first half of last year too. Hopefully he can get it back together shortly.

Thanks for the breakdown. OL is the hardest position to make the transition from college to pro, outside of QB. Just speculating, but I just don't think Torrence was mentally ready for 17 games+playoffs, and now he's not confident. He's a country kid from a college program that is waaaaay in the wilderness compared to their glory years. Must have been quite the shock to go pro, and he's not outspoken / cocky at all. As much as Brown has his own issues, he's a physical specimen and is not afraid to speak his mind.

Texans 31 Bills 16 Diggs talks extended smack while giving 110% performance. Texans blitz the snot out of us. I want to be wrong.

If I had the $31M of dead cap from the Diggs stupidity, I would give the entire Steelers organization an open bar for a week and then take TJ Watt off their hands. Since that is unlikely, I would have drafted a WR who can get open this year.

I am 99.6% sure it would never happen, but in my opinion if we had Bellichick as a coach (not a GM!!) in the last 4 years or going forward, we would win a super bowl. He is much better on defense. He would kick all the proper backsides. The 2nd biggest challenge behind getting him to agree to not be the GM would be getting him to at least consider hiring better assistants. Obviously Reid and Spags are proven winners too. But this is all just idle amusing talk, McDermott isn't going anywhere for at least 2, and maybe many years. Especially with the new stadium.

Sorry for the late post after the "no more callers" post. 🥴 The two central issues that bother me about the current Bills team are: 1. Not enough talent / game changer players. This is a GM problem. We have good players at many positions but no great ones except for QB. I think this year we have less talent than we've had since probably 2019. Don't give me the injuries excuse BTW, they happen in a collision sport. 2. I think McDermott's basic defensive philosophy is just flat wrong. You can beat bad and mediocre teams, but when the chips are down, especially in the playoffs, we will never get there IMO. Players are just too small, and the penetration objective on the DL can be beaten as we have seen many times over the last few years. I measure success as playoff success. If you are ok with regular season success, fine. Thank goodness the drought is over. But I just don't think you are ever going to get past one playoff victory per year with the current coaching and GM philosophy.

To me this is the "fork in the road" game. If they beat the Texans, anything is possible. If they lose, then I see the snowball loss against the Jets, and we go the mediocre route. Can the coaching staff find a way to pressure Stroud? Can they scheme our receivers open and utilize the one mismatch we might have (Cook as a receiver). I hope the Ravens game was an anomaly is basically what I'm saying.

I watched the entire Jets game with a friend yesterday, and their offense looked bad. First half both QBs were doing poorly in the rain, though Nix looked like he had forgotten how to throw entirely. Second half Rodgers threw several ground balls. If the Jets play like that against the Bills, the Bills will win IMO. But our DT, LB, and safety play really has to improve.

Gotta be available but the metrics are sweet https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-advanced-coverage-grade-week-4

Good writeup. The Jaguars game could not have gone better for the Bills. Point 10 is the key for me. These next 3 games will go a long way towards defining the season. Three big games against good teams. Each team can and has been beaten already, but it probably won't be easy on the road. I think the defense should be able to get some stops this week, we just need the quality offensive game plans and terrific execution from Allen to continue.

Bills 26 - Ravens 20. Make no mistake, Baltimore is a real team unlike our first three opponents. I'm counting on Allen continuing to play almost mistake free. Our offense should be fine if we keep doing like we've been, but it'll get slowed down by the Baltimore defense IMO. Our defense is going to have to load the box to stop the run. The Baltimore crowd cares and it will be an adverse environment.

Man every kick from Bass is a stress test. I was watching Atlanta yesterday and the ball come off Koos foot dead straight

Shakir is the YACmaster general

Ah that's my man Cook with the hands

It's bad enough to have $40-60M tied up in a QB. To have one who is on a 7 game losing streak or whatever it is. Yeesh.

Nice throw Trev

Allen embracing the occasional check down, decent play calling. This team can be dangerous.

Well that went rather nicely

Need some push from the DTs here