folz

Thanks NFL. I'm sure that will solve the problem, sacking a 1st-year, 2nd-year, and 3rd-year ref, none of whom reffed in the post-season. Now, these guys are all young in their careers, so maybe they do need more experience (weren't quite ready for the NFL/made mistakes), but I hope the NFL isn't doing this, putting this out there to try and convince us that they have somehow solved the ref problem or at least are actually trying to do so. The problems with NFL reffing goes back a lot further than three years and has little to do with inexperienced referees. The change needs to happen at the top, not the bottom.

So, if Cleveland can't get out of any of the contract and Deshaun never plays another snap for Cleveland: The Browns will have paid Watson approx. $410,000.00 per snap. Almost half a million per snap! For comparison, the Bills have paid Josh (over the same 3-year stretch), approx. $65,000.00 per snap. (that's on his second <big> contract---6-yrs, $258 million) So, for every single Watson snap (money-wise), we got 6.31 Josh Allen snaps. And obviously, Josh already has better per snap stats, but now times that by 6.31. Tough to be a Browns fan.

Great Number Eights in Sports Kobe Bryant Cal Ripken, Jr. Alex Overchkin Carl Yastrzemski Yogi Berra Willie Stargell Joe Morgan Troy Aikman Steve Young Andres Iniesta Gary Carter Ray Guy Steve Smith Cam Neely Andre Dawson Teemu Selanne Bill Dickey Archie Manning Albert Belle Dale Earnhardt, Jr. It's like when Trump wanted to trademark, "You're fired!" You should not be able to trademark common phrases, letters, or numbers. BTW, Ranker had Jackson as the 9th best athlete to wear #8. Another site ranking athletes who wore number 8 didn't have Lamar in their top 10. He was in the honorable mentions with 28 other guys. I mean, can no other American athletes wear the number again if Jackson gets a trademark? And don't they actually say, possession is 9/10ths of the law? Considering all of those guys on the list above were older than Lamar, had the number first, and many of them were even more prolific in their sport than Lamar has been thus far (though he still has time), shouldn't their claims on the number supersede his later claim, if thinking about this lunacy logically?

As far as I can tell, we know what Josh got his linemen for Christmas for 4 out of the 7 seasons that Josh has played. Yeah, no word on what he got them this year (as far as I can tell). I assume the story of what they got him overshadowed any need to report what he got them. 2018: ipads 2019: Traeger Ironwood Grills and steaks 2020: A set of Callaway golf clubs, customized golf bags, and golf lessons 2021: ?????? 2022: Customized scooters 2023: ?????? 2024: ??????

Thanks for the correction guys. I forgot that he slipped to the 2nd round. But yeah, that's one more reason why he could have quit...or one more hurdle that he had to jump---the humiliation of expecting to go round one, being in the green room with the cameras on you, and your name not getting called.

Good for Geno. A first round pick, two rough years to start, horrible franchise, the whole punched in the jaw episode, which led to him losing his starting job to Fitzpatrick. Then served 2 years as backup with Jets, 1 year backup with Giants, 1 year backup with Chargers, 3 years backup in Seattle. That was his first 9 years in the league. A lot of guys with his draft status and those circumstances would have quit or been run out of the league for not working hard, attitude, or not fulfilling the role of a backup well (ego), etc. In his first 10 years in the league, he made just shy of $15,000,000 total. In 2019, his salary was only $805,000. In 2022, it was still only $3,500,000. He has now been a starter for the last three years, and it appears that he will have at least one or two more years in that role. And in the last 2.5 years now, he has earned contracts worth approx. $125,000,000. I give him a lot of credit for sticking with it, obviously continuing to work hard and to believe in himself. He obviously loves the game and/or still wanted to prove himself. He will now have carved out a 13+-year career and have generational wealth, when he could have just been a footnote in the league (based only on his draft position), like a lot of other guys. I wouldn't want him as my QB, but ya gotta give him credit for his work ethic and perseverance.

Looking at the draft value chart that ddaryl linked: Our entire draft (all 10 picks) = 1,468.6 points. That equates to about the 7th or 8th overall pick in the draft. [Obviously Beane is not going to sell the entire draft.] If we traded our first and both seconds to move up, we could get to about the 11th pick. After that, the points for picks in the 4th-7th round drop significantly. For instance, even if we added our two 4th round picks (along with our first and seconds), we could only get up two more spots (to about 9th). And as ddaryl pointed out, answering the OP's original question, our first-round pick and (first) second-round pick could get us up to about the 17th pick. Not sure what Beane and McD are thinking, or if they feel there is a player worth moving up that high for. But, it is feasible to move up into the teens (11-17) without giving up any 2026 picks. And he would still have enough ammo (two 4s, three 5s, two 6s, and possibly a 2nd, depending how high they go) to even sneak back into the end of the third round if he wanted to (with some picks to spare). So, one possible scenario could look like this: Rd 1: 17th overall pick Rd 2: 62nd overall Rd 3: 90th overall Rd 5: 170th and 173rd overall Rd 6: 177th and 206th overall (and he could even then package one 5th and one 6th to move back into the end of the fourth round and come away with 6 picks, one in each of the first 6 rounds...so many possibilities.) As Beane said, he has a lot of ammo (without even any 2026 picks involved), so I definitely wouldn't be surprised to see BBer-Beane moving around the board a good bit this year to find the pieces they need. Just not sure if there is anyone in that 1st-round range (11-17) that they deem worthy of going up to get. I'll let the draftniks dig into that one.

To be fair, it was one preseason game and one regular season game (not against scrubs) for Rob Johnson. In 1997 Mark Brunell (QB of the Jags) injured his knee in the 2nd preseason game. Rob Johnson was the starter for the third preseason game. Couldn't find any stats for the 4th pre-season game, but assume he didn't play (cause back then only 3rd-5th stringers usually played the 4th preseason game). Johnson would then go on to start the first game of the year for the Jags---Week 1 of the regular season vs. the Baltimore Ravens (as Brunell was still recovering). It wasn't a very good Baltimore team (they would finish 6-9-1 with Vinny Testeverde as their QB), but it was their starting line-up, on opening day, in Baltimore. Rob Johnson's stats for those two games in 1997 (before becoming a Bill in 1998): Preseason week 3 vs. 49ers: 22 of 29 for 241 yards, 1 TD (passing), 0 INTs, 16 Rushing yards, 1 TD (rushing)---in a 28-20 Jax win (albeit preseason). [SF did go 13-3 that year, but not sure how they managed this preseason game, i.e., how many starters played and for how long, etc.] Regular season week 1 vs. Ravens: 20 of 24 for 294 yards, 2 TDs (passing), 0 INTs, 31 Rushing yards, 1 TD (rushing)---and a 28-27 Jax win. But, your point of possible fool's gold (with Milton, in relation to Johnson) still stands. And interesting to note, Johnson only saw 13 more snaps total the rest of that year (1997). He went: 2 for 4 for 50 yards, 0 TDs, 2 INTs, 3 sacks, 3 Rushing yards (on 9 attempts), 0 TDs [Not quite so pretty, but I guess it was tough to knock a guy for those stats too much when it was across 4 games---basically coming in and playing 2-5 snaps in each of those games.}

And that would still be better than Schottenheimer's record. 😆 But, yes, let's re-write history and subtract games from a coaches record to prove a point. I'll give a shot at rewriting history too: If from 2020 on we were still in the old playoff format, the Bills would have had a first-round BYE in each of those 4 seasons. We would have been more rested (like K.C.) and have played one less game before facing K.C. Considering that injuries have been an issue for us in a few of those seasons, playing one fewer playoff games and having an extra week of rest would have helped a lot. And considering three of those games against K.C. were in OT, loss by 3 points, and loss by 3 points---maybe we win one or more of those games (being better rested/healthier) and instead of a .300 playoff record as you surmised, we are talking about a coach who made one or more Super Bowl appearances (possibly a SB win). Plus, saying 7 seeds who wouldn't have even made the playoffs previously makes it sound like those 7 seeds were trash teams or were easier wins, so they almost shouldn't count for McD anyhow. As if maybe we would have had a harder time against 6-seeds than we did 7-seeds, if say we were the 3-seed instead of the 2-seed. But first of all, for that to happen, you would already have to take away a couple of regular-season wins from the Bills in that scenario (to knock us down to a 3-seed), which again would be changing history, but...how much worse were those 7 seeds (compared to say a 6-seed)? Could we have not beat these superior 6-seeds if needed? for the years in question: 2020-2021: We played the 7th-seeded Colts (11-5). The Steelers were the 6-seed (12-4). That's the Pitt team that limped down the stretch, losing 4 of their last 5. And who lost to Buffalo in week 14 of the regular season 26-15. Steelers lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Browns. 2022-2023: We played the 7th-seeded Dolphins (9-8). The Ravens (10-7) were the 6-seed. Again the Ravens were a floundering team, losing 4 of their last 7 down the stretch. They lost to Cincy in the first round of the playoffs and again, the Bills had beat them in the regular season that year. 2023-2024: We played the 7th-seeded Steelers (10-7). The Dolphins (11-6) were the 6-seed. Dolphins lost to K.C. in the first round 26-7. The Bills had beaten the Dolphins twice during that regular season. 2024-2025: We played the 7th seeded Broncos (10-7). The Steelers were the 6-seed, also at 10-7. Steelers lost to Baltimore (who we would go on to beat) in the first round of the playoffs 28-14. We did not play the Steelers during the regular season. But, I think most people would agree that by the end of last year, the Broncos were a much better team than the Steelers were. I would say in at least two, if not three of those seasons, the 7-seed was a better team than the 6-seed. But either way, the Bills would have beaten any of those 6-seeds, no problem.

I see what you are going for, but why would you compare Sean (.500 career playoff win %) with Marty (.278 career playoff win %). Wouldn't coaches like Mike McCarthy, Pete Carroll, Sean Peyton, Mike Ditka, Dan Campbell, Demeco Ryans, Lou Saban, Chuck Pagano, and Lovie Smith be better comparisons since they all also have .500 career playoff records? Heck, Don Shula's playoff record was only.528. And out of those 10 coaches, 7 appeared in a Championship game, and 6 have won it all---with two of them (Ryans and Campbell) only having a combined 6 seasons of coaching thus far. So, tell me again how bringing up Schottenheimer somehow equates to McDermott can never reach or win a Super Bowl? And obviously Marty had a longer career, and Sean has Josh, but here are some of their career percentages in comparison: Reg. Season Win% Playoffs Win% % of yrs in Playoffs % of Winning seasons Top-5 rank points scored% Top-5 rank in Pts allowed% Marty .613 .278 61.9 66.6 28.5 19.0 Sean .656 .500 87.5 87.5 62.5 50.0

You forgot one: Chiefs are dynasty Injuries Bad luck NFL/refs Or you could go with the other side: McD sucks (and I know for a fact that he can never win a SB) Beane sucks Defense sucks No talent on the team besides Josh (i.e., everyone sucks but Josh) Ok, I know I'm exaggerating, but that's what it feels like sometimes from some posters. To me, it's just more fun being a fan in the first category. To each his own, I guess. Just to note, since 2020 (last 5 years): -The Chiefs win percentage vs. the Bills is 54.5% (50% even since 2021, last 4 years). The Chiefs win percentage vs. the rest of the league over that span is 86.8%. -The Bills are 4-5 vs. the Chiefs in that span. The combined point totals of each team in those 9 games is Chiefs 243 points; Bills 242 points. -At the end of regulation in the last three playoff matchups with the Chiefs, K.C. had a combined 6 points more than the Bills (across 3 games). So we are literally talking about one kick, one play, one coin toss, one call, one bounce of the ball going the other way to change the outcomes of any of those games. -The Chiefs appeared in 5 of the last 6 SBs, winning 3 (and don't discount the whole Taylor Swift marketing stuff). -Also, did we not have injuries, bad luck, and bad refereeing at times/certain seasons? It's not like people are making those things up. It's just hard for me to buy the idea that McD has been so severely out-coached (or he's the sole reason for our failures) or that we are so far inferior in talent to the other top teams when the margin is that razor-thin (and with the circumstances noted above added---inuries/bad luck/bad refs). Could we improve, get better, get another elite player or two, of course...but we actually have been good enough coaching- and personnel-wise to make a SB, it just hasn't happened. Not to mention that the Bills have been #1 in points scored, #3 in total yards, #1 in points allowed, #1 in TDs allowed, #1 in defensive takeaways, and #2 in total wins over the last 5 years. You don't do that with poor coaching, bad defense, and no talent, no matter how good your QB is (I know, I know...regular season). Anyhow, as to the OP's post, I think everyone knows not to go to OBL for anything overly-critical or controversial about the team. As an owner, why would you have a show that talks ill of your own product? But, what OBL is good for, imo, is: 1. in-season recapping games and then later in the week prepping for the next game; 2. Right after free agency and the draft, and during training camp (recaps and interviews with new players, etc.); 3. Sometimes they have on good guests and often have player interviews (pre-season, in-season, or say after they signed a contract or whatever). I just pick and choose with OBL. Off-season OBL (not around FA, the draft, or training camp) can be a bit of a slog, so I rarely listen during those periods.

My takeaways (kind of rewatching the offense and looking forward a bit): -We are indeed very lucky to have Josh as our QB. A match made in heaven. Couldn't be more right for Buffalo. The fates/football gods will not allow him to retire without a ring here (keep the faith). Josh is like the ultimate football player. His game is both modern and throwback at the same time. He doesn't just run the ball as a QB (with speed and shiftiness), he is an old-school, cloud-of-dust runner, not afraid to mix it up, run a guy over, leap, or carry a pile. And in arm-strength and ability to extend plays, he's up there with the best to ever do it. His intelligence and instincts are elite. And his accuracy and timing have improved to a very high level. There really are no holes in his game. Just a football player through and through. And he still plays the game like he's in the backyard with his friends, he has fun (which, of course, makes it more fun for us too). -Shakir is a beast. I don't care what his stats are, or how they compare to other WRs, or what "position" he plays, or what his yards/rec numbers are, etc. Dude just catches everything, always gets extra yards, tough to bring down, shifty, is always available for Josh, is versatile (can play multiple positions, screen plays, run the jet sweep, line up in the backfield). Just a stud. Again, total football player. -Not sure how I can be so angry at a player I love so much. Yes, I'm talking to you Jordan Poyer. I think that hit really shook Keon. Made him a bit skittish, etc. That, plus the offense changing a bit while he was out---going more to Hollins, Samuel, Cooper, the backs---stunted the second half of Coleman's rookie year. But, he seemed to be getting right again towards the end-of-the-year, made a couple of big plays down the stretch. I really think Keon is going to attack the off-season and come back to have a really good sophomore season. Remember, in the two games just before the injury, he had just gone for 170 yards and 1 TD (first 100-yard game). -Man, I forgot until I saw it again that in the Jacksonville game, the Bills scored a TD on all five first half possessions. And each TD was scored by a different Bills player. That is still just crazy. -I'm not counting on it, but man do I hope Curtis Samuel stays healthy and has a great year next year (almost more for the player than the team). I think he still has it in him, so I'm not counting him out yet either. 🤞 -Hot "Homer" take: I think we could have one of the better TE rooms in the league next year. I expect Kincaid to have a bounce back year (plus he's going into year three---a year that many receivers take that next step), Knox will be Knox (which is pretty good), and I really think Davidson is going to be a player. A few interesting notes on Davidson. He was a fifth-round pick by the Vikings in 2021 (opted to forego his redshirt senior year due to changes because of COVID). So, he's a guy that got a bit screwed/set back by the COVID years. He didn't start playing Tight End until his 3rd year in college. He was redshirted his true freshman year (as a punter), and in his redshirt freshman year, was also only a punter (earning 2nd-team All-MIAA conference at the position). The next year he served as punter and backup TE. HIs last year in college (his redshirt junior year), he was named first-team All-MIAA conference at both punter and TE. [So, we have a backup punter on the team at least.] After one year in Minnesota, the Bills have now had three years to groom him as a TE in their system (and with Josh). He looked very good in pre-season last year, and they let Quinton Morris walk. -I will definitely miss Mack Hollins a lot. He was so much fun last year. But, we will probably miss him more than the team does (on the field that is). I expect Coleman to step up next year, hoping Samuel will too, the addition of Palmer, Shakir---there just wouldn't be that many snaps/receptions for Hollins to get (and for the price we would have had to pay---double his last year's salary). 55% of Mack's yards and 60% of his TDs came in the 5 games that Keon was out injured. So, almost 60% of his production came in that 29% (5 games ) of the season. Of course, he did have the big game against KC in the playoffs, was a great blocker in the run game, a spark plug, a character, and just fun to watch. So, he'll definitely be missed, but his production is not irreplaceable by other guys. -I do think we have one of the better RB rooms in the league (overall) currently. I really hope the Bills and James can find a number that works for both of them. Despite having some weaknesses in his game (pass blocking/blitz pickup), it's not every player that can consistently take dump-off passes for 20-30 yards or score 16 TDs. Definitely don't want them to overpay for him, but would love to see him stay in a Bills uni for the next handful of years, if possible (alongside Davis and Johnson). What a fun season it was and it's nice to know we have more of the same coming (hopefully ending on top one of these years).

These posts made me think about how coaching staffs in the NFL have changed over the years. It was hard to find complete information for all coaching staffs over the years (apparently it is hard to find who all the assistant coaches were back in the day, even into the 1970s---just didn't get their due I guess), but here is some information I found that gives a good overview of things. Per how things are listed, these are coaching staffs only and do not include Strength & Conditioning, trainers, medical staffs, etc. (which have all seen a sizable increase in staffs over the years too). -In the current NFL, teams average 23.7 coaches per team. The 2025 Buffalo Bills have 24 coaches on their staff currently. -In 1958, the two NFL Championship Game teams, the New York Giants and the Baltimore Colts had coaching staffs of 4 and 3 coaches respectively. So, a head coach and 2-3 assistants. -By the merger in 1960, staffs started to grow a bit. The 1960 Packers had 7 coaches total. -George Allen was the first coach to add a Special Teams Coordinator (hiring Dick Vermeil for the post in 1969). -There were no Offensive and Defensive Coordinators until sometime into the 1970s. It was a gradual process. For instance, the 1975 Steelers had a Defensive Coordinator, but no Offensive Coordinator. I wonder if maybe this started with say an offensive head coach (or vise versa), hiring a coordinator for the opposite side of the ball (once coaches started to specialize on one side of the ball or the other). But, not all teams had both OCs and DCs until the late 70s, early 80s. Using the Bills, here is a look at the size of their coaching staffs (as best as I could gather) over the decades (numbers include the head coach, but again no Training/Strength & Conditioning guys): 1960: 4 1970: 6 1980: 11 1990: 12 2000: 14 2010: 18 2020: 26 So, it looks like there was a big bump up in staff sizes in the 1970s, a small bump in the early 2000s, and the largest jump coming in the last 10-15 years.

Fair enough.

Yes, of course Josh influences everything. He makes everyone around him (other players, coaches, FO) better (or at least seem better). No question. But, as you said, how much so is almost unquantifiable. It's why the debate still goes on about whether the Patriots success was more Brady or Belichick, etc. But, as I have also pointed out in other threads before, just having an elite QB (or even a top 10 All-Time QB) does not automatically equate to playoff berths every year, let alone, say, bi-annual Super Bowl appearances or whatever. Just ask Drew Brees, Dan Marino, Aaron Rodgers, and Peyton Manning. Combined, they played 74 NFL seasons, missing the playoffs in 27 of those years, with 7 Super Bowl appearances, and 4 Super Bowl wins. That means these all-time QBs missed the playoffs for 36% of their careers and did not appear in a Super Bowl for 90.5% of their careers. No matter how good your Quarterback/Coach combo is (and those guys all had excellent coaches), you still need a lot of talent around them to win consistently. Drew Brees and Sean Payton will both be HOFers, yet in 15 seasons together, they missed the playoffs 6 times and only reached the Super Bowl once (and won). As good as Josh is, he is not doing it on his own, as some like to think. As to Free Agency...I agree that Brandon has had a lot of misses over the years, guys that barely ended up even seeing the field sometimes. But, again, we'd have to look at all of his hits and misses (and their contracts, playing time, stats, etc.) and then compare that to other GMs to get an idea of how he's doing overall. I actually have no idea where Brandon would rank if looking only at a GM's free agent success right now. But, I do agree that there is still room for improvement in that department, for sure. But again, sometimes you just get unlucky too (Von's injury). Beane has drafted in the top 10 twice. He picked Josh Allen (at 7) and Ed Oliver (at 9). So, a grand-slam homerun and a solid double or triple. Don't think you can knock those picks too harshly as a pair (though we all wish that Ed had maybe one more level to his game). For reference: according to an article I found, the bust rate for 1st round picks 6-10 is about 35%. And the positive 65% doesn't necessarily mean that they are all All-Pro studs, just that they are at least say solid 5-year starters (per the article's standards). Not sure what the division of studs vs. solid players is in that percentage, but Ed is probably at least somewhere in the middle. So, not a bad pick, just not a home run pick. But how many of that percentage are actually home runs (All-Pros/HOFers) even in that range? I'm guessing here, maybe 10%, 20%? It won't be a high number. So, Ed isn't as bad a pick at 9 as some think, just not the jackpot that you hope for. https://theriotreport.com/more-than-50-of-first-round-picks-are-busts-and-other-terrifying-draft-statistics/