BillsVet

Some fans will never understand that their vantage point to analyzing the team is vastly different than an owner's, particularly as it relates to ROI. I highly doubt the Pegula's will be happy with an 8 or 9 win season after McBeane spent 3 off-seasons spending their money and making all these draft picks.

Understood manic. In an era of offense, that side of the ball can take a little longer to get up to speed. That said, yes, he cannot have games like that. The NFL continues to be more risk averse each season and HC's are in survival mode now more than ever. I understand where Nagy was coming from resting starters, especially with all the criticism leveled over the years at HC's who lost starters in the pre-season. But it's one game and they'll need to recover for week 2.

Trubisky is a bum after one game? This instant analysis from 1,000 different angles is killing sports. I've never observed so many asinine threads in such a short timeframe...and it's only week 1.

I've always thought, given the haircut, Mark Davis woulda fit in well with Harry and Lloyd in another Dumb and Dumber movie.

Why does anyone take personal what media personalities say? Who cares? Maybe they're right and maybe they're wrong.

I agree, so long as Foster is healed enough with that turf toe. He gives them a capability Jones never will.

A pre-emptive getting screwed by the refs thread 3 days before the opener. And I thought I'd seen everything on TBD. Wow.

Last year Allen was faced with throwing the ball to possession guys who couldn't/don't separate well. I liked the signing because In limited reps I see Allen having some chemistry with Brown. The concern has to be how defenses will cover Brown. He's going to get plenty of coverage rolled his way and that will require someone to step up on the other side. Beasley will get some looks but someone needs to establish themselves in the longer distance situations. It'd be nice for one of the TE's to be that target, but odds are that won't happen.

Please provide a source for the above bolded and italicized statement. Because I can't find one example that McD or Beane ever said this.

Don't mind him. He's usually good for just an emoticon, so this marks as much as a response as you'll get.

This is some major league quibbling. 4 teams each hired a new HC. Each HC acquired a new QB within those first three seasons on the job. Each had multiple playoff appearances AND won a post-season game in those first 3 seasons. Each have sustained their winning and/or show no signs of a steep decline. Yet, Buffalo should not be expected to live up to this level after year 3.

Yes, every coach with a stud QB is on the Bill Belichick level. The conflations on here get more wild every year. From 2000-present, New England has had 31 players (excluding special teams and Brady) earn 60 Pro Bowl selections. 15 players were 1st team All-Pros a combined 20 times. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/nwe/all-pros.htm And for the record, how would you define "average talent?"

Going after Antonio Brown was an acknowledgement they didn't have the play-makers at the skill positions. This attempt signaled they'd go outside the process to give Allen a real vertical weapon. Gore and Singletary aren't burner types at RB. The TE position is a huge question mark with one guy not having practiced since May and another a 3rd round rookie. The WR who'll get down field is Brown and after him no one is proven at that role. Foster is a nice story, but not proven by a long shot. Speed is going to be an issue for this offense.

Now tell me you have some friends who participated in Wild West shoot-outs back in the day.

No, the only performance metric is the win column. That's it. Not even profitability and culture supersede how the team does on the field and while McBeane aren't on the hot-seat in 2019, not making the playoffs puts them squarely on it for 2020. McBeane set the bar pretty high after they did a complete tear-down of the roster in 2017 and 2018. You simply don't go through what the fan base went through in years 1 and 2 for a 7-9 win season in year 3. The main issue is that for whatever reason, some are a lot more accepting of mediocre to average football. It's like a fan stockholm syndrome. You win in the NFL by having elite talent at the major positions and winning those match-up battles. Average talent does not win enough in the regular season, even those who fit the HC's culture. As for the sustainability of rebuilding, would you say the 2-3 years it took the Rams, Chiefs, Eagles, and Seattle to rebuild his past decade were not for the long haul as well? A longer rebuild may portend one that was poorly conceived and eventually ineffective. After all, some teams have gone about rebuilding and topped out at average.

I sense they'd want to pay their own first, meaning Tre, Dawkins, and Milano extensions. Or, they could see if Chris Kelsay is willing to come back and needlessly extend him like OBD did in 2010. No doubt he'd be a big "process" guy.

With all due respect, I'm guessing you've never seen a real two-way live fire. That being the case, using military terminology is more like hyperbole to get clicks than anything else. In terms of expectations, I really don't know what to say to the results-optional crowd at this point. I don't understand why people aren't willing to have big expectations for a team that's been in rebuild mode for 3 off-seasons. If Buffalo is a 7 to 9 win team this season, how does anyone reconcile this when several NFL franchises have gone from starting a rebuild to going deep into the playoffs in 2-3 seasons? The only answer is the strategy was too heavy a lift and removing talent to meet the HC's needs was a net loss. They should be expected to win 10 or more games this deep into the rebuild. Only certain fans are demanding less results. I'm sure ownership, GM, HC, players, assistants, and all the way down to the kid who gets the tee after the opening kickoff are expecting playoffs.

There's no need to employ phrases like when the "shooting starts" to describe a team's season. I laugh when fans start talking about football as a battle because real shooting isn't anything like football. This reminds me of a Marv Levy quote when someone asked him (and I'm paraphrasing) if a certain game was must-win. Marv responded by saying no, World War II was a must-win. Second, anyone who mentions 2020 at this point is hedging their bets and not fully confident the off-season was productive enough. All commentary will stop short of having a defined expectation as a result. Additionally, there is no indication at this early point what the talent level will be next year...in large part because players are constantly leaving, injured, and/or aging. Bottom line, the Bills need to be in the discussion to win the division this year, and short of that, win 10 or more games.

It's mind-numbing how a NFL HC thought he would be their guy for 2018 not only to win games, but to teach their first round QB the game. The same NP who had all of 1 season of NFL experience. It's decisions like that which give me pause about McD. The NFL isn't a league where people have much time to learn on the job and from their mistakes.

How do you a troll an organization that goes 3-13, 8-8, 6-10, 9-7, 5-11, 7-9, 7-9, 7-9, 6-10, 4-12, 6-10, 6-10, 6-10, 9-7, 8-8, 7-9, 9-7, 6-10 from 2001-2018? They barely won 41% of their games during those years. I guess Jerry shoulda had more unicorns, fairys, and leprechauns for everyone to feel happy during that stretch.

O'Brien's Belichick impression as combined GM and HC may not work out. Still, with Luck gone, that division is wide-open and BOB probably figures he's got a window to go for the SB. It's a big gamble to deal first round picks, but given that Watson was hit as much as he was, QB protection was an impediment to the team moving beyond 9-7. I also like that the team values WR and providing their young QB with more options in the passing game. There's more strategy behind these moves than what appears on the surface.

Agreed that McBeane have really made some questionable personnel and on-field decisions these first 2 seasons and now into the third off-season on offense. 1. WR Management: Trading Watkins and letting Woods go in UFA and still, 2 years later, have not found replacements outside of perhaps John Brown 2. Trading a 3 and 7 for Benjamin 3. Starting Peterman at LAC, seeing him toss 5 INTs and having to put TT back in for the second half 4. Expecting Peterman to be the starter for 2018 - he was benched after 1 ineffective start leading to Allen needing to play before he was ready 5. Not acquiring a veteran backup QB for weeks after Peterman was benched 6. The approach to the OL and bargain bin signings/late picks there in 2017-18: Bodine, Ducasse, Newhouse, and Teller. This after Wood retired. 7. Entering 2017 and 18 with big receivers who couldn't separate, then turning around and finally embracing the speed trend for smaller WR's by the time 2018 was almost over. 8. Other 2017-18 offense UFA's not mentioned: Andre Holmes, Jeremy Kerley, AJ McCarron, and Tolbert. This, and spending more on the defense at the expense of the offense. 9. Cody Ford: they moved up in the 2nd to take him as an OT and already has been kicked inside. May do well, but the value in taking a RG at 38 is not good. 10. Signing Mitch Morse to the largest UFA contract for a C who had a fairly sizable concussion history. Big gamble that he'll remain healthy for the duration of the contract.

Offensive rebuilding in year 3 of the overall rebuild? Not quite. The reality is, contracts end, players age, and injuries happen. You don't wait to pass the line of departure, i.e. go for the SB, because you're a little weak at WR or LB. You make the moves to win now (at year 3 of a rebuild) and try to win it all. Look at what Houston did today. They're going for it, and while they might fail, O'Brien's gotta win now.

I understand that as both the GM and HC contribute to organizational success in different ways. If Beane is not a part of the success, as with any GM, he will be held accountable. And if he is not building the roster, he could be let go, as Dave Gettleman was in Carolina, before the HC was.

If his duties are completely exclusive of winning games, what then does he do? Make coffee for Kim and Terry? Set up the draft board for McCoach? Teach personnel assistants how to write scouting reports? I think you waited about 3 minutes BTW. (EDIT: Sorry, 7 minutes)