dave mcbride

Who or what is "ION"?

This is interesting: https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2023/03/09/calvin-ridley-says-he-needed-painkillers-to-play-through-misdiagnosed-foot-injury/

The Commanders remain a possibility, I think.

This is all true, but I really do believe that Jones has genuine physical upside and the intelligence to play the position well. Is he Josh Allen or Herbert or Mahomes? No. But he could also evolve into a player as good as Hurts and Prescott. He really needs weapons at the WR position, though. That's where the Giants should be focusing their energies on offense.

Pretty sure beating the hated Steelers in the 2020 playoffs ranks higher for Browns fans …

They released Clark because they got what they needed out of him and his play has declined (although he has been very good for them in the postseason, which matters). Not the trajectory of his AV over the last four years: https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/C/ClarFr01.htm. You can say they're releasing him because of money, but the better way to look at it is as follows: he is overpaid relative to his production now, and he's not going to get any better.

So much of the cap jail concept relates to the QB. Teams that find themselves in a bad spot are typically teams with mid-tier QBs earning massive salaries who are also completely dependent on elite talent around them to have any success (the Kirk Cousinses, Derek Carrs, and Jimmy Gs of the world). NO always got away with their cap situation in the past because they had a QB who could make any receiver look terrific and who raised the play of everyone around him. Bad QB contracts are the real problem. I look at teams like Baltimore, Cleveland, the Giants, and Minnesota and see problems given the money involved with the QB position. And if I'm Miami I don't know what to do with Tua. I also don't know what Baltimore will do. With regard to Minnesota, I say this even though the Vikings went 13-4. That was the most bogus 13-win season since the Bears in 2003, who also had a bunch of miracle victories. When a Dalvin Cook leaves on a team with Tom Brady on it, it simply doesn't matter much because the team would always be fine on offense no matter who the back was. A mediocre talent like Cousins needs Dalvin Cook, however. Josh Allen is the opposite of Kirk Cousins, so I generally feel very good about the Bills cap situation in future years. Yeah, guys will leave but the core will remain and the Bills should be in good shape. Same with KC.

... yet he had seven sacks in seven postseason games under Frazier.

Kendricks was not good this season, and the Vikings defense was horrible. He is past his prime. I'd pass.

Kendricks was a very mediocre player this year for a horrible defense. He is 31 and slowing down. He is definitely not the same player as the all pro from 2019. QBs had a rating against him of 82 in 2019 and 59 in 2020. In both 2021 and 2022, QBs have had a passer rating of over 100 against him. And if one pays any attention to PFF, he was rated 61.1 this year, which is below average. You have to factor that into your assessment. It's less about going into cap jail and more about paying outsized money for past production that ain't gonna return.

I think it's less about spin than seeing that teams with the likes of Ndamukong Suh, Chris Jones, and Frank Clark get to Super Bowls. The Bills don't have that sort of guy, and McDermott DID have guys like that in Carolina in 2013 (his best defense ever). The problem is that Greg Hardy was a violent criminal. But the Carolina defense that year was utterly awesome. I honestly think that the Carolina folks were traumatized by that event and have tried to avoid guys like that. That may be going out the window now. It brings benefits, but there are real risks too.

I was thinking about this very issue the other day:

The performance against Cincy was bad, but I honestly get the sense that way way too many posters on this site are unaware of how crucial DaQuon Jones was to the Bills this season. Him being out that game along with Miller, Hyde, and Hamlin down for the count put the Bills at a real disadvantage, personnel wise.

It’s like you don’t even look at the drive charts and the stats. I am questioning whether you watched the game. Every team has botched plays on offense (looking at you, Shakir). Look at the numbers and the drive charts. This is a bad hill to die on. Focus on the Cincy game and take the easy W.

Yeah, Keenum looks pretty bad out there now. He does have that connection with Diggs, though ...

This is changing the subject. You said they scored at will; they did not.

Probably. Skyler Thompson sucks. But then again with a healthy Tua, Miami's offense is legit good. They have the best receiver pairing in the NFL. Both of those guys are pretty much uncoverable. And McDaniel is a good offensive coach.

I didn't say anything of the sort. I was just pointing out a factual error. The Bills D played well versus Miami. They gave up some plays, but all defenses do. They got obliterated vs. Cincy. They've been up and down in the playoffs overall in this regime -- great against Jax (who scored 45 on Pitt the following week), good against Houston, bad against Indy, great against Baltimore, bad against KC, great against NE, bad against KC (again), good against Miami, and bad against Cincy. Not surprisingly, they struggled the most vs. the best offenses. Not many can stop KC assuming the o-line isn't in a shambles (which it was in the SB vs TB; both OTs got hurt in the afc championship game vs the Bills).

Miami's offense was responsible for 15 points. The other 16 were gifted by the Bills' offense and STs. The team passer rating for Miami was 41.8 on 18-45 passing. They averaged 3.3 yards per play, turned it over twice, had a yards-per-rush average of 2.1 yards, and put up a measly 231 yards. Miami scored 31 points because Allen got really sloppy and turned it over three times and because the STs had a botched kickoff and gave up a big punt return. Holding a playoff team to 15 points and very little yardage is good, not bad. In fact, the Bills' D saved the team; they intercepted the ball twice in Miami territory and both INTs led to Bills TDs.

I hear you, but 3.3 yards per play, a passer rating of 41.8, and rushing ypc of 2.1 is very good even factoring in who was playing QB. Allen made some great plays in that game, but he was REALLY sloppy with the ball after they took a big lead and it almost came back to bite them. Plus a couple of bad special teams plays too.

The way I look at points given up is as follows: if a defense forces a turnover in the opponent's end and is automatically in FG range, holding them to a FG is giving up 0 points. The FG is basically automatic and the defense had nothing to do with the team being in FG position. If they give up a 2 point conversion, that's on the D (Miami had one of those). I did not assign the 3 given up by the Bills on the drive where Miami started from the Bills 48 after the pick. That's a judgment call, but they only gave up 18 yards on 7 plays (yes, I realize they gave up a fourth, but Miami is never going for it on fourth and 8 unless they're gifted a possession in the Bills end--another contextual factor). They had one legit TD drive, a TD after a TO in FG range plus a 2 pt conversion (5 points), and a legit FG drive (although they were gifted a possession at the 40 because of a terrible kickoff). It boils down to how you view the turnover that put Miami at the Bills 48, but if you hold an offense to 18 yards and one first down on 7 plays, that's not bad D. And the D was put in a possession where Miami going for it on 4th and 8 was a plausible option. Actually, I have them giving up 15, not 16: the FG drive that began at the Miami 40, the 5 points on the TD after the turnover that put them inside the Bills' 30, and the 75 yard TD drive in the second half. 16 were basically gifted to Miami by the Bills offense and ST. As for the Bills' D not playing well: Miami had 231 total yards, averaged 3.3 yards per play, and turned it over twice. The team QB rating for Miami factoring in sacks was 41.8, which is miserable. They averaged 2.1 yards rushing and 3.9 yards per pass play. Collectively, those numbers point to a dominant performance by the Bills D, which basically saved the team given all of the miscues by Allen and the ST.

Re: Todd Collins -- unfathomably, he had a 16-year career and the final game he played in was the January 2011 NFC championship game for the Bears (replacing an injured Jay Cutler).

No, they gave up 16 points. 15 points were the result of offensive turnovers and bad ST play.

Great take. My big question is whether McDermott / Beane are willing to go after the super-talented miscreants who can put a D-line over the top or if they're permanently scarred by the Greg Hardy experience (https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/H/HardGr99.htm). I suspect it's the latter, although I certainly don't hold that against them given the particulars of that unfortunate episode. I just don't see them going after the Frank Clarks (13.5 sacks in 17 postseason games) of the world. I hate to say it, but crazy d-linemen often do bring a sharper edge to big games than most. Just think of Leon Lett and Charles Haley ... Edit: Also, Chris Jones, in an interesting scouting report: https://www.arrowheadpride.com/2016/6/13/11744026/what-those-anonymous-scouts-said-about-chiefs-chris-jones-before-the

No, he got an offer after the Panthers went 6-10 and the defense stunk: https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/car/2016.htm. He was given a job not because of 2015 but because of the overall body of work. I won't deny that the Super Bowl year helped his case, of course - they had a good D that year. But they were better in 2013.