dave mcbride

Given the injury situation for the two teams, the Bills have no business losing this game. I did not expect to beat the Colts, and I can be overly pessimistic in the run-up to games, but I think they win this one with ease if they take care of the football.

Enh ... that 2013 team that went 12-4 and established them as a real power had a bunch of first rounders on offense: Greg Olsen, both running backs (Jonathan Stewart and DeAngelo Williams) and Jordan Gross. Plus they had a superstar receiver who retrospectively would have been a top 15 pick if there was a do-over draft (similar to Diggs): Steve Smith.

Not really. He took over a 1-15 Pats team and had them in the playoffs by 1994; BB joined in 1996. He took over a 1-15 Jets team and got them 9-7 his first season there. BB followed him there too. And bear in mind that he RESCUED Belichick from the scrap heap after the epic flameout in Cleveland. He also took over a 5-11 (three years running) Cowboys team and got them 10-6 his first year with Quincy Freaking Carter. And he took over a 1-15 Dolphins team, hired Sparano, and get them to 11-5 in his first season there. And he also gave Charlie Weis his first OC job in 1997 with the Jets. It's pretty remarkable. I do think it's pretty great that Belichick is 0-2 in SBs against the "other" Parcells assistant, Coughlin.

Good points, but I'd add that job #1 of a coach is hiring a good staff. It's why I'll always place Parcells as my number one: he promoted BB to DC and brought him nearly everywhere he went, hired Tom Coughlin, and revived Sean Payton's career after being dumped unfairly by Jim Fassel (the reason, I think, why the latter never got a NFL head coaching job again).

Good link - thanks. Diggs is regarded by pretty much everyone as one of the best and most precise route runners in the league. Who knows who did the miscommunicating there. Regardless of who was at fault, they gotta clean stuff up.

They were talented on D, sure, but every team has talented players. Their offense was very low-talent, though, and the QB was a dump-off artist game manager. Their RB was a relatively slow-footed but big Bills cast off. Their most talented skill player was Troy Freaking Brown, a guy who had a great career but who probably wouldn't have started for most teams given his physical talent level.

Do you honestly believe that Bill Belichick's coaching job was better last season than in 2001, a year in which they had a miraculous SB run with a completely inexperienced QB?

If you read the Buffalo News analysis today, Vernon Butler--who played nearly 70 percent of the snaps--was getting moved backwards on virtually every play, and Phillips didn't play well either. Maybe their scheme wasn't great, but this was more of a jimmies and joes problem than an x's and o's problem. Star's absence was really bad for them.

The talent level was higher, but not that much higher. And they had a top 10 defense in 2001 because of ... coaching. Plus they ranked seventh in yardage on defense last season, partly because their secondary was still very good! In the 2001 season, they won the SB against a vastly more talented team. Last year's team started 6-6 and went 1-3 down the stretch, getting blown out a couple of times before beating a terrible Jets team in a run-for-the-bus game. I will never not challenge Pats fans who claim that last season was some sort of miracle job. Gimme a break. They went 7-9. That's hardly his best coaching season. More than talent, they were extremely well coached. It's why it was his best coaching job. Their defense was fine last year too - better than league average.

I actually forgot the McKenzie fumble! I'll add that to the list.

That is true, but I also wouldn't be surprised if this sort of sentiment exists among some Bills players who have better ensured their week-to-week availability by getting vaccinated: https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2021/11/23/michael-irvin-is-hot-about-amari-coopers-unvaccinated-status/. I often find Irvin highly annoying, but his point about the money is a good one -- players care a LOT about that. I can't put myself in other people's shoes, but if a guy like Star gets paid a very high salary to sit out a full season and gets paid again to sit out a couple of weeks because he wouldn't get vaxxed, some of his teammates might not be so happy with his life choice. But your larger point is right; other teams are dealing with the same issue (as evidenced by the link!), although I do think the Bills are definitely on the high end of unvaxxed status.

He actually hasn't been that good, but Williams for whatever reason has been AWFUL at RT. I don't get it; he was a truly solid player last year. Just getting average play at that position makes a huge difference.

How could you say this after 2002? His QB went down and he went with a completely inexperienced late round pick. And he outschemed everyone on his way to a SB victory. They were not that talented at all. With regard to last year's team, they were probably as or more talented than the 2017 Bills, which went 9-7. My point is, doing a great job with poor talent requires that you at least get to .500.

My sense is that he has been hampered by a lot of small-to-moderate injuries the last couple of seasons. He might not be 100 percent at all right now.

I'm not saying the D played well at all, but the Colts did get two scores on short fields because of turnovers. On the other hand, in the past three games Allen has 5 interceptions and 8 interception-worthy throws along with 2 fumbles and what should have been a third (vs. Jax at the end of the game; that was absolutely a fumble). The backs fumbled it twice vs. the Jets, Sweeney fumbled it once vs. Jax, and McKenzie fumbled it vs. Indy too. That is 17 turnover-worthy plays in 3 games (5.67 per game), which is terrible. No matter how the D plays, you're not going to win when you have that level of carelessness with the football.

?? — that’s not wrong and it is directed at his qb for forcing throws he shouldn’t. Daboll gave Allen shorter options on all of those plays. Basically, Daboll is speaking the truth. Allen had a turnover-worthy play on the second drive on yet another forced pass. They were lucky it wasn’t a turnover. When analyzing performance, you have to factor that in.

This is a ridiculous thing to do because you’re taking the plays away that make them special (ie, game changing plays), but if you ARE going to insist on doing it, at least give them 25 yard carries on those plays and don’t wipe them out entirely. But again, getting read of the big time explosive plays kinda misses the point of football.

Re: Mularkey being unable and unwilling to adapt: https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2021/11/18/22788563/mac-jones-bill-belichick-young-quarterback-master-class ’Geography is destiny when it comes to quarterbacks. I’ll never forget a talk I had with former Titans head coach Mike Mularkey early in Marcus Mariota’s career, when he said that anyone who thinks Mariota should run the spread in the pros “don’t understand the NFL.” “I’m going to do the things that I’ve had success with since 2001, and I will continue to do that until someone stops us,” he said. “I know people say this is a passing league. I’ll argue with that.” He argued it until he lost his job a year and a half later. Mariota, obviously, did not get off to a hot start in his career and is now a backup. It’s easy to fail quarterbacks. The Patriots aren’t doing that. They’ve got a plan and Mac Jones knows how to use it.’

I hate to bring this up given the epic threads about him, but Ertz would have been really helpful to this team ...

This seems relevant. Who is going to play QB for the Saints on Thursday?? https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2021/11/22/taysom-hill-lands-four-year-extension-salary-tied-to-position-he-plays/ Last time Siemian started vs. the Bills: 58.2 rating, 2 picks, and 3 sacks. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/201709240buf.htm

Williams to my eye looked pretty bad yesterday. Man, he has really regressed as a RT. He was a solid player last season.

Yeah, he is really good. Unblockable yesterday.

I honestly think he throws it too hard in rain games. Wet balls are harder to catch, and he's not taking anything off of it.

I actually mentioned this in the second paragraph!