BillsVet

Two divided Americas continue to form and it's not surprising because the US has been on this road for decades. People keep getting dragged into this maelstrom via the cancel culture intended to force compliance to an ideology. And Corporate America is right in the middle of it, knowing if they don't embrace certain movements, they'll be hurt financially. Wall Street or in this case a private business like the NFL don't want to run this risk so they acquiesce in hopes of being spared from additional wrath. It is basic human nature to want to be liked and many weak minded companies/people go that route even if it means giving up your principles and values. That's what the NFL is doing as are many others. On the other end of the spectrum are the fans, many of whom do not believe what is being perpetuated in the media. Question now is whether they'll end up leaving and reducing their time and financial investment in the NFL. We saw that happen in the wake of things a few years ago when attendance was reduced as players kneeled for the National Anthem. If that happens again, where does the NFL go? They'll give into the mob, but risk losing a fair amount of fan support. There's no real middle ground in this anymore.

There will always be the poor... Because this is TBD 2020 and people with any fleeting thought that comes into their mind need to start a thread about it.

Let's be clear that there is no indication as of yet that McD persuaded her to have a listen. Second, she can do whatever she wants but that doesn't mean she's good at it. Thankfully, the Pegula's seem to have caught lightning in a bottle hiring McD and then Beane. Just like RW promoting Polian in the mid-80s. Thing with T/K Pegs is after retaining Whaley and hiring/firing Rex they finally found competent people at OBD. That said, Kim has seemingly no idea what she's doing as team president. That story about her talking about lifestyle in an employee presentation really tells me how tone deaf they are. If the Sabres don't improve next season the torches and pitchforks will be out for the Pegulas. Fortunately, I think the Bills are trending in a better direction.

This isn't hard. Every aspect of life has been politicized to include the sports media. And stories like this are shaded to fit a certain political persuasion that is largely based in emotion and less on objectivity and reason. So when people on ESPN and Twitter run out to be the lead virtue signaler, it's not hard to understand why. There are plenty of people who love nothing more than dividing people. And for those who got this all wrong, they've been left to rationalize why they're not wrong for judging this totally wrong. See below. This isn't hard either. Three words will suffice..."I was wrong." Deflecting, conflating, and distorting the story only become necessary when one's ego cannot say those three words I put in quotes here.

It speaks volumes about his team-building strategy that, in his first off-season as a HC, he signed 2 UFA safeties and drafted a CB in the first. I know having these players allows McD to run his defense and there are some benefits to that. Thing is, the cost to retain these 3 is going to rise exponentially. Tre will want a huge extension, Poyer just re-signed a 2 year 20.5M extension, although Hyde's contract expires after the 2021 season. It's not as wise an investment given what we know about how difficult it is to keep a defense together and that side of the ball's impact on the W column.

We're not discussing Beane. The HC is the power in the organization and it was his strategic decision to focus on building his defense. From a cost benefit perspective, investment in the defense means something else will suffer. And that something else was the offense. This is something that most people on the board do not understand. In any place, be it the private sector, military, sports, etc. People are promoted not based on what they've done, but their potential to successfully operate at a higher level. A newly promoted general or admiral in the military has never commanded at that level, but they're expected to succeed. Same can be said for CEO's and corporate executives. You build on the experience gained from lower roles and have to be ready in positions of more responsibility. Same principle holds for coordinators moving up to be a HC.

I'm constantly amazed at people who bring up Belichick when defensive versus offensive HC hires are discussed. It's a grand attempt at using the exception to prove the rule, in large part because BB indeed hails from the same side of the ball as McD does. And yet, BB is the man who, after the 2006 AFC Championship game when NE struggled against the high-octane Colts, recognized the league was changing toward offense. Gone were the days of Seymour, Vrabel, Bruschi and Harrison leading a defense paired with a conservative offense. In 2007, it became Brady, Randy Moss, and Wes Welker. When that ended, it became the 2 TE scheme. Point is, Belichick evolved because he understands the next thing most coaches do not. He's a NFL savant. One cannot make that claim about McD, despite his 20+ years in the league. Where Belichick is brilliant is his ability to set trends that other coaches copy. Their SB appearances in '14, '16, '17, and '18 were built on teams that could score and weren't dominant defenses. This occurred because teams do not win with defense anymore, particularly between the 20s. I see little evidence to suggest McD gets offense, understands offensive talent, and can scheme one to score consistently. And I think he's hard-headed enough to think he can win without evolving like Belichick did. We're going to find out now for sure in 2020.

There's a significant emphasis at OBD to build culture and keeping people motivated. Nothing wrong with that approach. It's the strategic decision to focus on defense heavily in years 1-3 of this rebuild that needs to be scrutinized. Solid defensive teams with an average or slightly below offense do not succeed in the long run during this era of offense. It's why more than 20 teams have hired offensive minded HC's. That does not guarantee success, but there's a reason behind that trend. I suspect McD wanted to live up to the mantra of winning now and later going defense first. Using this formula, he was able to pull of a 9 win season in 2017 despite being outscored by more 57 points. This last season the offense struggled to score points and, while some of that is on QB/OC, it's a HC who keeps going conservative at key moments. Regardless, we're going to find out if McD will use the weapons they've acquired on offense or continue to game-plan around that defense and limiting opponents. If not, as @All_Pro_Bills said, his tenure as a HC will be short and he'll return to being a DC.

When McD took the job he had 15+ seasons of NFL experience. New HC's should not be learning on the job, but building on what they've learned as position coaches and coordinators (if applicable). There shouldn't be a learning curve.

Well. That Pegula vote of confidence was essentially Michael Corleone kissing his brother Fredo (not a reference to a media member).

Whenever in doubt, deflect and use red herrings to avoid answering questions that undermine your argument. Got it. Have a nice day.

I will answer your questions when you begin answering mine. Until then, there's nothing left to discuss.

Context is king with this situation. We do not have enough information to confirm/deny many of the news. But I can say, an Emergency Response Team does not have the responsibility of de-escalating. They're a specialized unit to handle high risk situations, hence their gear. Anyone with military/police experience understands communications are critical to responsiveness and mission completion. Knowing what your fellow soldier/officer/other friendly units are doing is key in high-risk situations. I know this is hard to believe, but protestors/rioters are a very coordinated movement and the first thing any organized group wants to do is inhibit communications. There is no reason to have a cell phone out in front of an ERT team other than to take a video or attempt to impede the police's communications. And the former is unlikely given that he's not even trying to take a picture. Either way, he was not a peace activist as has been suggested. Peace activists do not approach ERT teams clad in that gear with their arms out. Not safe, unless of course you're looking for a reaction. It is also convenient that, due to HIPAA regulations, we will never know what hospital staff encountered when he arrived. I have seen an image of him sitting up and talking on his phone before placement into the ambulance. With a major head wound, I would expect EMT personnel to rush him to the nearest hospital. I'll ask a question unlikely to receive an answer: Why? Something is amiss with this situation and we may never know the full story.

It used to be the time period between the draft and training camp was pretty quiet. People talked football, but in a limited way unless Marshawn got in trouble. I have no idea why someone opens a thread about some random dude wearing an old jersey. The SNL sketch where Shatner addressed the Star Trek convention applies here.

And what happened in that game from November 2011? NYJ pressed BUF's WRs at the LOS to disrupt their timing. It forced Buffalo to have Fitz throw downfield and exposed his lack of arm strength as RR planned for. After that game it was straight downhill and a blueprint established on how to defeat Buffalo's offense. The Bills managed to score only 140 points in the next 9 games on their way to a 1-8 finish after that 5-2 start. But not before Buddy "The Genius" Nix bowed to pressure and signed Fitz to a significant contract extension that he complained to former Bucs GM Mark Dominik about in a leaked conversation. Buddy Nix was not suited to the GM job and the game had passed him by. And I think Chan wanted to go with unheralded types as if to prove he could scheme lesser talent. 16-32 after 3 seasons says they were both incapable. Of course, this was after they used the 9th overall pick on a RB and used significant resources to transition in 1 offseason from a Cover 2 defense to a 3-4. That didn't work, but it gobbled up resources which should have been used to add talent on offense.

It's not that simple. Good teams frequently replace their higher (or soon to be) priced veterans with lower cost rookies and the draft is the predominant method for that. Especially at safety, LB, G, RB, and perhaps DT. The draft is also where you find talent at the elite positions: QB, WR, LT, DE, and CB because it's rare to pick up someone in UFA on a team friendly contract at those positions. There is risk inherent to any process and mitigating that on draft day is impossible. But compared to the reward, draft picks used by competent front offices tend to work out at a higher rate.

Main complaint with Daboll is how he calls a game. It lacks vision to me as evidenced in the WC game. That said, the offense is complex, which just seems like another coach who wants to run his system. It's not like what Baltimore did with Lamar Jackson identifying a scheme that he could run at this point in his career. All of this is why I suspect Buffalo loaded up with UFA offensive types last year. Of course the QB has to grasp the concepts, but the majority of their OL and top 2 WRs were guys with plenty of NFL experience and a RB who is the NFL's version of Methuselah (and I say this as a positive). Doesn't bode well if they're trying to involve younger players into the scheme.

This thread was about top 100 players according to one NFL writer. Buffalo features 2 players, one drafted and one acquired via trade. Both happen to play on the outside at the premier positions. There are a few issues intersecting here. First is that you need elite talent at those premier positions: QB, LT, WR, DE, and CB. There's hope for Allen, Diggs, Tre, but then who at those positions on this roster is in-place as Pro Bowl/All-Pro worthy? Second, they have a lot of nice players, but no one that stands out aside from the 2 mentioned on Prisco's list. We can debate individual players ad nauseam. Point is that the 2019 Bills featured 1 starting Pro Bowl player and 1 alternate and they need a lot more than that to be successful in the post-season. And who's all of a sudden talking about quality of play on national TV? That isn't part of this specific conversation.

You do know the Rams were in the Super Bowl the second year McVay was HC, right? Buffalo hasn't won a playoff game under McBeane. LAR may have some issues, but it's clear their HC understands offense in a way that McDermott/Daboll haven't demonstrated.

Average or slightly above average overall talent typically delivers similar results. One can say there are no weaknesses, but what are the strengths? I would say the secondary is strong and the front 7 is stout. On offense, the receivers from 1-3 are very good, but the OL is relatively average or slightly above. I'm not concerned right now about the cap situation in 2021 and beyond. They will be handing out large contracts if their home-grown players can shed their label of having "potential" to those regarded as legit outstanding talent. Who really cares what their cap hit is anyway? It's not like the league is rewarding teams for saving.

Buffalo has accomplished this by: 1. Not pursuing big name UFA's (nothing wrong with that) and 2. Not finalizing a contract with a player they drafted. The first likely will not happen under this regime and the second is almost guaranteed to occur multiple times over the next 2-3 seasons. There's still a lot of book to write about McBeane and whether they'll re-sign players to contract exceeding 12M per. Bottom line is that cap dollars saved is not a metric that should be lauded too much. No one gets extra draft picks or wins by saving there.

The roster has been built to fit the coach’s strategy, vision, and to ensure a solid culture. I like that they’ve improved depth and probably better able to withstand injuries. My concern is their lack of top end talent will show up against better opponents. Depth is nice, but over the season those players will not consistently provide a matchup disadvantage. A good scheme and better in-game decisions may help offset this, but it’s a long season and their schedule likely will be more challenging in 2020. It comes down to Allen’s improvement to be a force multiplier on offense. Hopefully he is up to the task and can get the ball to Diggs and others to improve that side of the ball. I hope McD isn’t going to just expect the defense and a conservative offense will get them deep into the playoffs.

TBD discussion that casts a player negatively for on or off field matters quickly becomes doctoral thesis level quibbling. Never fails to happen.

Gotta believe Whaley's grammar was better. And that's considering his choice of words sometimes was underwhelming.

I see a lot of Kelvin Benjamin, Invizayble Jones, Isaiah McKenzie, Robert Foster, Deonte Thompson, and a cast of several fringe NFL types in these lowlights. Good to see after 2+ years prioritizing more defense, they finally figured out those receivers were not starting quality. The 2017 and 2018 WR groups were among the worst in the NFL. The price to McD getting to build his defense first in order to steal some games by keeping them close was found on the offensive side of the ball. The OL and WR groups especially.