BillsVet

I see the merits in these arguments. In effect, get the stop on a crucial 4th quarter drive, as Minnesota did against Dallas, and the game is won. It's still a four quarter game and what you do before that final drive matters. The Bills have such a small margin of error that it means one side of the ball needs to come up big late. Against the Jets, and Titans it was the offense making plays to win. Against the Bengals and perhaps Washington it was the defense. This time, neither side made the big play to win the game. I'd say in the NFL of 2019 that limiting a talented offense to 19 points is good. Not great, but good. The same cannot be said about the offense. Scoring 14 points is mediocre to poor. McD himself has talked about needing to score 21 points per and I'm sure analytics combined with his defense first mentality means he's going to win those types of games. That said, I don't see there being elite defenses anymore. Not ones that week in and week out are going to suffocate opponents like some in the past before the league opened up the passing game.

There is no one side of the ball at fault, but we're debating how much to blame one side of the ball or the other. That can be tricky because nuance doesn't work on message boards. Still, the offense should be expected to do more against that defense. And Buffalo's defense, despite some issues stopping the run, shouldn't be expected to keep that offense to less than 16 points. There's too much talent over there, despite the record.

I want to think that their game-planning process requires the offense and defense to complement their strategy. As a result, I'd like to think the offense would run the ball to maintain possession, keep Cleveland's offense off the field, and keep the defense rested. But no (in John Belushi voice) the OC chose to attack Cleveland's 6th ranked pass defense and held off on going at their 30th ranked run defense. McD strikes me as a guy who wants to be the defensive version of Chan Gailey. As in, abdicate responsibility for the side opposite what he knows and trust it'll work out. Then it doesn't and he's left to explain what went wrong. You'd think something has to give by now, but beating lower echelon teams probably has delayed the HC demanding the OC make some play-calling changes.

How many people on this board do not know how to spell the OC's name correctly? D-A-B-O-L-L The defense was good enough to win today. When you hold your opponent to 19 points and the offense can't score more, it's not a defensive issue. NFL defenses are not going to be the '85 Bears, '00 Ravens, or '02 Buccaneers and consistently hold teams to 10 points per. Not happening.

It may be prudent to get Ed Oliver on a milk carton. He's been MIA for a while now and did not appear in the box score.

I'm not as concerned with McD's decisions in-game as I am with his personnel decisions. He's not the guy I want with final say on players. For example, the defense he's sunk plenty of UFA dollars and high picks into can't seem to stop the run. After 3 off-seasons acquiring players to build his defense that's not good enough. And let's not even get into offensive philosophy. I haven't seen anything there which makes me believe they'll start scoring the 21 points per game he talked about needing to achieve at a Combine interview in February.

What talented offensive coach will want to be the third OC to work for McD?

What about James?

Something about McD and a jacket...not sure though.

What is it with these Air Force commercials...SMH. Oh, and there's a game today.

A team of unknown players...that's likely how McD wants it. He's built this team in his image. How it works against teams in the playoffs is yet to be determined.

It's transactions like this that are going to make the next CBA talks after 2020 all the more confrontational.

These next 8 games will provide some illumination on McD, Allen, et al. I further suspect we'll be able to make some real conclusions about the Bills at the end of this season which we cannot today. I think it's time to watch and wait.

I'm thinking the game-plan has been to reduce visibility and, as you say, not throw picks. It's a poor development strategy for a guy they invested the so many draft picks to acquire. I'll applaud them for getting the QB, but the hard part continues to put him into positions to succeed. Or, perhaps McD and crew want him to be more of an offensive care-taker than offensive weapon. We're going to find out these next 8 weeks. BB is 5-0 versus McD. Just sayin'.

Will never forget it. And to think, Bills marketing then sent ST holders a picture of the scoreboard with their names out of it. As Moorman punted out of it. Those were dark days for being a Bills fan.

Always with the negative waves Moriarty...always with the negative waves. (Credit to Kelly's Heroes, 1970)

My first job was as a FDO.

13F, 13D, or 13B?

You forgot to mention that both the Patriots and 49ers have very good and above QB play. Their offenses are better than "more than capable." The problem with so called "elite defenses" are that they are almost impossible to keep together. Remember those Seahawks teams with the Legion of Boom? Most of those guys are on other teams or retired. Those guys eventually want to get paid (see Thomas, Earl). There aren't many teams with top defenses over 4 or more seasons for exactly this reason. The fastest way to being a great team is getting the QB, putting players around him, and having a good enough defense. You don't stack up the defense and have just a "more than capable" offense as your rebuilding strategy.

It's worked on one solid opponent this season - the Patriots. Really what we're talking about is a subject that people struggle to understand here - strategy. I contend that rebuilding the defense first and continuing to use resources there, particularly the secondary, is an exercise in futility. Modern NFL strategy is about having a good or better offense and a sufficient defense to get stops. And, the rules clearly favor the offense with RTP and PI calls. We're also starting to see teams attack Buffalo's weakness up the middle of that defense, which seems more suited for defending the pass and a lot less so on the run. There's a ceiling that defense first teams have in the NFL of 2019: 10-6. That may be good for long suffering Bills fans who haven't seen double digit wins since 1999, but it's only going to carry a team until they play against a dynamic offense.

Rebuilding the defense has been exposed as a flawed strategy, particularly these last 2 games. Buffalo puts on the field 3 1st round picks, multiple moderate to high priced UFAs, and some value type players and still gives up 52 points in the past 2 games. The best teams are focusing on offense while having a good enough defense, but McD bucked that trend. Not surprisingly, we're now hearing from the HC and fans this narrative how the offensive turnover is to blame for their lack of production. No one talks about how the same OC has been here for a 2nd season with the starting QB. Nor do they talk about why the offensive turnover was necessary...because last year's Bills offense flirted with being among the league's worst since passing rules were changed in 1978. Of course they had to improve the OL, WR, TE, and RB positions this off-season. The more I see him, the more McDermott comes off as a latter day Dick Jauron. No feel for offense, unable to hire a decent OC, and choosing to go with player who buy into his system than better talent that may not. I see McD as the guy who always is planning and trying to be in control. But then the proverbial bullets start going overhead and he's not adjusting. The guy works his tail off, but sweat doesn't count in this league without results.

The live in the moment fans who point to the team's record as evidence the future is bright remind me of some in 2008 who shouted down anyone who predicted a change coming. This even occurred as the Bills went from 5-1 to 5-5 in 4 weeks. The same people who celebrated the KC win by saying things were great as they went to 6-5. It's kinda like Kevin Bacon in Animal House saying all is well. They didn't pass the eye test then and they don't this year. Perhaps that's why McD was especially testy at the press conference the other day. The similarities to that 2008 team are numerous: third year of a new regime under a defensive minded HC, 5-1 start against a weak schedule, pedestrian offense built to run, not so much to pass, offensive skill position talent (Evans, Marshawn, Fred) good in defense against the pass, and faltered down the stretch against the run (surrendered 150 yards or more rushing 5 times).

Not sure how unused cap space became a key performance metric for some to indicate success. The Bills have 26.7M left in 2019 and 90M in 2020. They're also the second oldest team in the NFL next to New England. https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/cap/ Schopp is correct though about McBeane. Buffalo is 20-20 (including playoffs) the new regime took over in 2017, having been outscored by 157 points over that time. Not anything to hang your hat on.

Does this not include signing Star in 2018 to a 5 year 50M contract with 24.6M guaranteed? Or Mitch Morse to a 4 year 44.5M contract with 26M guaranteed?

"The process" has changed over so many times since McD (the real power at OBD) took over almost 3 years ago it's hard to make sense of this sentiment. Why does Beane go after Antonio Brown after Buffalo had made a practice of finding guys who'd buy in to McD's "process?" I'm beginning to see that McD's words at the combine 8 months ago were nothing more than rhetoric to appease though who saw a terrible offense in year 2 of "the process." He went so far as to say they needed to score 21 points per. Or, how they didn't want to be a team that grinded things out. After almost half of season 3, it sure seems like "the process" is really all about playing tough D, being a ball-control offense, and not taking risks. It's similar to what previous coaches have attempted. And who traded down with his first pick to draft a...DB!