notpolian

McDermott will be calling that soft zone in the old folks home. Injury to Hoecht is bad.

It's who he is.

It's a darn good thing McDermott called that defensive timeout. Talk about dumb and coaching scared.

As I suspected, offensive game plan is more of the same. Double down on the heavy stuff. A shock to KC I'm sure.

As others have said, we really need the MVP version of Allen today.

The chances of both of them playing the whole game has to be less than 25%. Buffalo Joe may see the field. I like the guy but I don't look forward to him in coverage against KC.

First, they are only young once. Don't miss anything. They'll be out of the house before you know it. Second, who is the scheduler here? Clearly this party should have been during the early game 1-4pm window. However it's too late for that so, Third, Bills theme, game is on. Have a good time. Worst case stream it on your phone discreetly.

Don't forget about J.D. Hill, and they had a young Ahmad Rashad for a season. That offense could score some points (30 ppg in 1975).

I think it'll be either a close Bills win or a decisive Chiefs win. So I'll give optimism a try and go with: Bills 27 Chiefs 24

To me this game is the litmus test for the Bills.. Are they a good team or not?

Yes, that front office could evaluate talent. Then Polian left to Indianapolis to win a SB. I'm naturally pessimistic, driven a lot by the 90s Bills. This could be the year, but I doubt it. We had a far better shot the 13 second year. Not enough difference makers and poor schemes. This team has a QB good enough to win it all. But the offense has a poor WR situation other than Shakir, who is a good slot guy. The offensive design / philosophy (which I think is as desired by McDermott) is fine if they can run, but lacks downfield explosiveness. That's a big problem when you can't run or get behind. The defense lacks size and difference makers, but honestly might be better now than they've been all year: 1) Teams can clearly run on Oliver and Jones / Milano and Bernard / Rapp and Bishop. I am perhaps irrationally hopeful that Hoecht, Oj-wan, and Walker will be as good or better. I think Thompson is our best LB right now. Heck, maybe Hancock and/or Poyer can work out next to Bishop. 2) The passing defense could also be trending up. Rousseau, Hoecht, Walker, and Bosa might be able to generate pressure (it's really unknown, Carolina's OL had major injury issues). Hairston can play man to man. We'll know more later Sunday, because that's how we can beat the Chiefs as Philly proved in the SB. Pressure and contain Mahomes and play tight / confusing coverage behind that.

I'll go with size, pash rush, and the ability to shed blocks. But if you can't do that, turnovers are always good.

I expect a couple rookie mistakes from Hairston if he gets in the game. But it's definitely worth it as a possible upgrade over the rest of the season. I would not mind Poyer being in there. He is slower now but can help Hairston. At least he knows where to be and can take good pursuit angles, even if it's harder to get there now.

If he could be had for a decent price (whatever that might be) I'd absolutely take a shot.

Carolina 27 Bills 17 Full pitchfork deployment. I hope to see some changes from Brady but expect doubling down. As for the defense, hope is tough right now.

Very late to this thread due to not spending too much bye week time thinking about the Bills. Not good for my mental health I'm sorry to say. I am in complete agreement with the basic premise however. The issue is talent and that is the GM's job. I don't think McDermott is a great game day coach, but he's better than many coaches overall. The coordinators are below average and I don't know enough to comment on the position coaches. I think Beane got the Allen pick right and not nearly enough other than that. This fact has finally really come to roost this year, and now the coaches have got to dig us out somehow. I'm a little hopeful but not very optimistic. One thing that I've considered is Beane should turn over drafting to someone else. His cap management is ok, I'm not a big fan of locking up mediocrity long term but some of the contracts are defendable. His free agent signings lately have been mixed at best but a while ago were good (Poyer and Hyde great examples). But his drafting has been a big problem. Maybe some is bad luck but eventually luck settles out and we have plenty of data now.

It kills me when the Bills go to 13 (or 22 with Gilliam but whatever) and have Coleman as the only WR. The defense only has to commit one guy to cover Coleman and his route tree looks like a short stick. If you must have him on the field at least get him to run some different routes. But the better solution is anyone else out there.

I haven't posted all evening. I haven't seen the Bills with both coordinators hurting them this bad. Defense is actually not that bad. Offense is bad. Brady is not up to the job.

Statement game. Referendum game. Got to see innovation and execution by coaches and players. Colts are probably real. KC is back in the house. Pats cannot be ignored. Work has to be done. #1 seed or bust.

This this this!!! A perfect analogy. I was a big Bulls fan in the day as well. Another basketball example is the Warriors. Almost got there with Jackson as the coach, changed to Kerr and the rest is history.

I admit I really enjoyed having Daboll as OC. Last night watching the Giants deal with the Eagles really made me nostalgic for 5 Wide formations. It was high variance but no 3rd down was too long. I wish they'd bring out a bit of that at times but I expect more of "just execute better". This bye week is gonna suck if the Bills barf up another one.

ATL 23 BUF 17 Trying some reverse juju. If Bills lose, it's full-on fraud watch as far as I'm concerned.

The defense played ok yesterday. Not perfect, but acceptable especially given turnover/ field position issues I'd like to open up the offense a bit earlier. It's like we are playing with one arm tied behind the back for way too long. So many play per drive leads to more opportunities for mistakes. It isn't easy given this WR group, but a few RB wheel routes or whatever to Johnson or Cook would be nice. I'm not overly optimistic we'll see any changes however, this offense is exactly what McDermott wants IMO.

Diggs can still play. White not so much.

Diggs is a professional WR