dave mcbride

QB stats in the 1970s were different in relative terms from what they are now. You need to look at context, and PFR's adjusted passer rating provides that. Between 1974 and 1980 - the prime of his career - he finished above 100 (with 100 being league average) six out of seven years: https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/F/FergJo00.htm. Also, @eball, if you look at the adjusted passer ratings for Kemp, he wasn't great, but he wasn't horrible relative to the rest of the league. In 1964 (a year in which the Bills won the AFL championship with an 11-2 record), he only completed 44.2 percent of his passes and had 13 TDs against 26 INTs. Yet he also led the league in YPA (hard to believe given his completion rate) at 8.5 ypa (extremely high by today's standards, even; Josh Allen's career high is 7.9, although he's at 8.1 this season). The reason? The average completed catch was 19.2 yards! That would never happen now, and I suspect as a consequence that many of those 26 INTs were 45-yard arm punts. It was truly bombs away back then. Anyway, you simply can't take 1960s and 1970s stats and draw convincing conclusions unless you place them in the proper context. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/K/KempJa00.htm

How do we know they're out this week?

I think there's a decent chance the Bills will be 8-6 in two weeks, so KC winning is definitely in the Bills' interest. Cincy is coming off a mini-bye and Burrow has never lost to the Bills, and the Pats will be coming off a full bye and playing at home. They are also a better coached team than the Bills with probably a better roster overall. Of course, the Bills are capable of winning both of those games, but hope is not a plan. The Bills have the head to head vs KC; they don't vs Houston. Seems like an easy decision to me.

I think the fact that the Pats will be coming off a bye and at home makes them a prohibitive favorite. The Bills are likely to be playing a tense game on Sunday vs Burrow/Cincy too. And god know what injuries they'll accumulate. There is always something in that regard.

No he didn’t!! That was Robinson, the GM. Vrabel was opposed to that trade.

I certainly suspect so.

This is gonna be a blowout. The coaching differential between the two teams is so vast.

Prater is making 89.5 percent of his FG attempts this year, which is better than any season of Bass's: https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/B/BassTy00.htm. As for XPs, Prater is at 91.9 percent this year (low for him, but a couple of doinked uprights), while Bass was at 92.2 percent last year. Indistinguishable on that front, really, and if Prater makes his next two XPs, he'll be better than Bass was last year.

It's not a volume stat at all. It's all about efficiency. The key metrics are ypa, completion pct, INT rate, and TD rate. If a QB goes 8-11 in a game for 94 yards, 1 TD, and 0 INTs, his passer rating is 128.6.

As mentioned above, passer rating differential is the God stat in the NFL, and the Bills D's passer rating against is very good: 80.9. https://www.si.com/more-sports/2011/06/23/most-importantstatpasserratingdifferential

The Bills are 6th in team defense in the passing game: https://www.nfl.com/stats/team-stats/defense/passing/2025/reg/all. Sort by passer rating. Passer rating differential is the most predictive of all NFL stats in determining winning and losing. Here is the top 10: The Bills team passer rating on offense is 99.5, and the +18.6 differential is reflected in their 8-4 record.

We don't know that. According to Joe Marino, reporters said immediately after the Houston game that he seemed a bit off in the postgame interviews.

I guess I’d say that while every team has injuries, some teams really do have it worse than others and it legitimately explains won-loss records. Sure, it’s an excuse at times, but at other times it’s just a reasonable explanation.

The two are not the same players.

My understanding based on past comments from @GunnerBill is that Bills are pretty high on Grable. As I understand it, he’s pretty athletic for an OT.