BillsVet

I hope McD learns that leaning trusting someone who was a college WR coach the year previous is not a solid way of selecting players. Taking Z. Jones tells me that he had no trust in Whaley or his staff and banked on a coach he hired to help him make decisions. Bad idea. I hope moving forward McD learns his lesson and has the people to advise in personnel to get it right, because this team still needs significant (Edit: WR) help. Still, nice to see a better passing game today.

1. My conclusion is based on the coaching staff moving Ford inside during camp and that he hasn't won the position outright. His snap count at OT has hovered at less than 50%, including the Cincinnati game when he played when Feliciano was injured. It's logical to conclude, based on this evidence, that's he struggling to handle the position. 2. Brandon Beane was effectively here, but there are those who seek to exempt him from decisions in '17 because he wasn't physically in the building until May. I've pointed out (as have others) that Buffalo jumped in front of Carolina to take Dion Dawkins late in the second that year. And guess who Carolina selected immediately after? An offensive tackle. Call it whatever you want, but by that point in the off-season the HC (who always has a plan) had an idea who he wanted to be GM. McD had already made the decision that Whaley would never be his guy and it's logical to conclude Beane was his man. It stands to reason he'd consult on personnel issues before an official announcement.

During the 2006 season plenty of fans were pronouncing that year's draft as a foundational one and a few years later none of the players, save Kyle Williams were close to above average starters. It's why I'm adamant people allow more than a few games to evaluate rookies. The other issue to your argument is that DT, G, RB (along with LB) don't offer the positional value high in the draft unless it's an elite All-Pro type. Oliver may be that guy, but it's early. I like Knox, who plays a position Buffalo has eschewed for years. Re: Ford. It should be concerning that the decision makers thought he could, were willing to trade up for him, and assigned him a 1st round grade. This is a team that traded up for Zay, Dawkins, and declined to take a QB in 2017. Their decision making in the draft and via UFA on offense is at best so-so for '17 and '18 right now.

Still baffles me that Buffalo traded up to 38 for Ford to play OT and found out early in camp he couldn't handle the speed of the position. If they've gotta put a TE next to him, that's one less guy defenses have to respect in the passing game. Because Buffalo doesn't have the horses at RB right now to maintain drives with a run first attack. Teams that trade up for guards aren't using their draft capital efficiently, unless it's the final piece of building their OL. (Edit) And Buffalo's revamp is not the HR some were making it out to be. Nsekhe isn't going to play Sunday if he didn't practice today. It's going to mean someone entirely new will be getting PT. It's decisions like taking Ford that make me question the offensive personnel evaluation OBD has conducted these past couple years.

McD and Beane have admitted their shortcomings in other areas, so it's not surprising from a culture perspective that the OC would as well. It's a good thing. However, at some point this honesty people clamor for now will be met with indignation. He's been in the NFL on the offensive side of the ball for more than 16 seasons now. One expects better by this point.

Nearly successful? I guess that's a definitely maybe. No one player "lost" the game. We're going to find out how Daboll adjusts to opposing defenses now that NE has figured a way to disrupt Allen. Keeping him in the pocket requires the OC to innovate a little more, albeit with perhaps less at the skill positions.

There was a rush to declare that Jones' behavior in that video was attributable to an illegal substance. Yet, police dropping charges just 2 days later made me think it was anything but drug related or, as it was claimed, there was insufficient evidence. https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/prosecutors-drop-charges-against-bills-receiver-zay-jones-following-bloody-arrest/ During this last off-season it was again highlighted how hard he was working out. Hard to understand if a guy is dedicated like that but doesn't want anything to do with games. Something's definitely amiss.

It's times like this when you wonder what is the purpose of human suffering and why people have to go through these tragic and heart-breaking experiences. There is no answer we're going to find out here in this existence. You pray for people like that because they're going through hell. And you do so hoping they can find peace in a sea of pain.

Not long ago people talked about the sports news of the day, the game, player transactions, et al. Yet, I've noticed over the past few years that journalism has trended away from reporting the news and now focuses heavily on analysis. In terms of sports journalism, The Athletic website is built on this. They're not so much writing to cover events, but to review what happened and provide analysis for it. Or, to predict what will happen with use of tools like analytics. People have a desire to know things before they happen so as not to be surprised. And there's a market for it because consumers (the fans) demand a steady stream of content. This is especially so when there's no news like a game, the draft, or free agency signing to cover. It's why various websites put forward stories that begin with a question such as "Why" or "How" something happened. IMO, this trend toward analysis is driving fans to be more ridiculously anxious and speculate wildly on all things sports. A few weeks back someone posted a serious question about what would happen if Matt Barkley was injured when Josh Allen was completely healthy. There are so many threads on TBD now that people initiate which follow this same practice of beginning with a question. Some of it is individual posters who want attention with likes, thanks, etc. But much of it is people who are worried about the team. I guess it's a sign of the times that sports is taking over people's lives.

That's not new. In other news, I need help with my homework.

Think the GM evaluates a player based on the team's overall performance? Doubtful. Yes, individuals contribute, but at what cost are they to the team? Trent Murphy playing the LDE position at his salary may be able to be replaced with someone on a rookie contract and provide similar production. I am using Murphy merely as an example. People want to sign everyone, but there's going to be trade-offs. For example, I doubt if Dawson Knox continues to improve that Kroft is back next season. That said, the Bills haven't once had to make a decision on someone drafted by this regime, but that begins to change this off-season when White, Dawkins, and Milano are eligible for extensions. Not to mention those on 1 year deals.

Former VP's rarely do well after 2 terms under a POTUS, right?

There's a significant amount of psychology to being a great coach. That, and gathering intelligence among other things.

The NE game may well be an isolated event and they hopefully improve moving forward. The concern is a blueprint now exists for defeating the Buffalo offense which opponents will attempt to replicate. Yes, the defense was stellar and a force to be reckoned with for any offense in this league. At the same time, this offense cannot get out of its own way, primarily because Allen and Barkley have holes in their play which opposing DCoord's are going to exploit. Bet on it. If you're not improving, it's regression. McD, Daboll, and especially Allen need to make some huge strides soon to get back on track and prove the offense can score consistently.

He was advertised as having the best hands of the 2017 WR class. Not sure in what activity, because it's definitely not in football.

Most concerned with McD's vision of how to win in the modern NFL because ownership accorded him so much power for a first time HC. They've invested a ton on defense in years 1-3 and waited until off-season 3 to begin doing something real on offense (save for drafting Allen). On draft day or in UFA during off-seasons 1 and 2 they've been real sketchy on picking offensive players. Not going to judge the 2019 guys just yet. The other thing is McD has made some very questionable coaching choices. He fired Dennison after one season, retained then fired Crossman, is on his 3rd WR coach, and of course finally had to fire Juan Castillo. The offensive side of the ball seems out of kilter. Daboll isn't inspiring much at the moment either and a HC only gets so many swings at coordinators before it points back on him. Game-day decisions always get the most attention because you can't miss those moments. The bigger issue is what is happening before the games are played. Bottom line is McD is 18-18 and 5 of those losses have come against NE. He's also only 6-8 in the division now.

With that I'm going to agree to disagree.

I thought the defense was outstanding and there aren't enough superlatives to describe it really. It's extremely hard to play outstanding defense though from game 1 to 16 with the rules in place. Today, the defense was ready to play, but the offense continues to lag far behind for McD coached teams. More concerning is that offense seems to have taken a back seat resource wise and there is a cost for that strategic team-building decision. Yes, holding NE to 16 points was great, but remember it's taken a lot of high draft picks and UFA dollars to build that unit. And we know sustaining great defenses has been impossible over the past 10 years or so when elite players want to get paid. Seattle comes to mind on that topic as they bear little resemblance to what they were just 5 years ago.

I'm sorry if the truth hurts. Reality is a dish best served cold and some people refuse to eat it.

Waving the white flag with the "miserable" claims? That's weak. I'm really happy right now. Yet, far too many fans accept mediocrity and hope to beat up on bad teams and excuse losing to the front runners. Until I see something out of McD against good teams then it's all platitudes and people trying to be a super-fan a la SNL in the early 90s.

Tell me why Buffalo jumped right in front of Carolina to take Dawkins in 2017? Think that was serendipity? Not quite Hondo. If you think Brandon Beane wasn't involved from afar you may as well be an ostrich. As for Zay, well, McD trusted the word of his former college coach over presumably his scouts. Not a solid move for someone who himself had been in scouting. If Ford is a disappointment after 4 games, then chalking up Singletary and Knox isn't yet appropriate either. Can't take credit for plusses without acknowledging the minuses either. They lost for the 5th straight time to NE where their offense was inept. Buffalo has scored 1 offensive TD on NE in those 5 games when the game was on the line. The fact remains that offensive player personnel decisions, either pro or amateur, have been very pedestrian and does not portend greatness down the road. And now I see fans are demanding bigger receivers, which is what they had last year. Guys who couldn't separate. Now they have faster receivers who get out-muscled for balls. The GM and HC frequently are one step behind when it comes to offensive strategy.

You can see what you'd like, but playing NE at home, with that crowd and making the mistakes they did today shows they're still another middle of the road team. Did you know that McD's teams have scored 47 points in 5 games against BB? Or that today marked the first time a McD coached team scored an offensive TD vs. NE with the game competitive? Did you know McD is 1 of 12 in challenges now? https://www.pro-football-reference.com/coaches/McDeSe0.htm The defense was great, but the offense is so far behind in execution that it's going to become an issue real fast between those two units. The opportunity was there today and it was squandered. I see the same old problems under McD: turnovers, poor offense, bad game management decisions, et al. I know some here are claiming that NE is better on defense than the '85 Bears but they're not. If you are trying to be the best (which McD is) then you gotta beat the best...which is what Buffalo has a tendency not to do. The last big win they had was a year ago against the Vikings. Since then it's beating up on also-rans.

You missed a few there. They traded up for Zay, who as of today is officially not approved by almost every Bills fan. Dawkins hasn't been better than average. And now we're seeing that Cody Ford isn't an OT in this league and has to kick inside to a lesser valued position (RG). Edit: They traded up for each of those guys and expended draft resources poorly. They've traded for the likes of Kelvin Benjamin, signed the likes of Ducasse, Bodine, and Newhouse along with other skill types like Andre Holmes, Mike Tolbert, and the oft-injured Tyler Kroft. And let's not forget Mitch Morse has had some troubling concussion issues. One would hope Singletary and Knox are mainstays on this offense, but right now they're unknowns and rookies. I wouldn't classify them as a done deal yet. And it goes without saying that their biggest decision on offense had a very shaky day (cue the "it's NE rhetoric). I see a trend here.

Off the top of my head, the Giants in a couple of games. McD is 0-5 and been outscored by 60 points combined by BB in the course of 5 regular season contests.

I have no doubt the defense was amped to play Brady and company, though after this game, they'll need to sustain that effort. It's not always going to be this good. Still, it was great seeing them force 3 and outs and bail out the offense, but eventually, there's going to be frustration if that side of the ball doesn't improve. There isn't enough rah-rah stuff a coach can provide if one side of the ball is at a disadvantage if the other isn't even close to decent.