BillsVet

All of the "conservative coaches" named in this thread have been out of the league 30+ years. (OK, Noll retired after '91). Come on people, the game has changed dramatically over that time. Phil, your takes are not thrilling. If fact, I'd characterize them as poorly researched and vapid. Let's go back to McD's first comments to the media at the Combine in February. I distinctly remember hearing him say they needed to score 21 points per to have a shot at winning games. It was his way of blunting criticism about the anemic 2018 offense that was downright horrible the first half of the season and rallied somewhat in the second. (Cue the people who said they didn't have enough cap room to spend on offense last off-season). Yet, here we are in 2019 and In only 6 of their 15 games have they reached or exceeded that mark: at NYG, vs CIN, vs MIA, vs WAS, at MIA, and at DAL. I don't see the offense as really improving much from the start of the season to now.

McD is who he is and not about to change his spots. This is how he's obtained a HC job and acquired the power at OBD to implement his vision for this franchise. It's not new that he's a defense-first coach who, I surmise, wants to win with great defense and a safe offense. The off-season personnel and in-game decisions illustrate that so often it can no longer be ignored. I don't care what he says before and after games. If he doesn't acclimate to a rapidly changing NFL and begin to surround that QB with better talent they're not going to be a top AFC team. Because every time they play a top echelon team this is going to be the result.

The award is apparently handed out on Feb. 1. I don't think McD will be able to attend because he'll be game-planning for the SB on Feb 2.

It should be patently obvious by now that the Buffalo Bills miss having a starting WR with some size who can separate and win contested throws. Particularly when the QB isn't the most accurate and needs a WR to adjust to an off the mark throw. One thing about McBeane I don't understand has been this either/or mentality with regard to receivers. In 17-18 they pursued some guys with size like Z. Jones, Kelvin Benjamin, and Andre Holmes. By late 2018 they went away from that toward smaller types like McKenzie, followed by Brown and Beasley in '19 UFA. Gotta have some more balance and it's something I wish they'd be proactive rather than what I presume is reactive in the 2020 off-season.

Rank the top 5 UFA's Beane has signed regardless of contract terms. Then, compare that group to the number of UFAs signed (or players traded for) since 2017. That exercise should clarify the results have been underwhelming and Simon's point stands: pro personnel decision making, particularly on offense, has not provided this QB with the players around him to have a better shot at success. This was on display Sunday.

That doesn't change that their evaluation was off when they moved up to take someone who couldn't play the position they drafted him for.

Hard to understand how this regime traded up to take someone who continues to show he can't play the position they drafted him for. Then again, the entire OL was not good today, so that likely means less negative attention on Ford.

They need more talent at WR, all along the OL, and next year at draft time I hope fans remember this game when the decision is there to select offense or defense. A team predicated on playing strong defense without a top notch offense will struggle against more well-rounded teams like Baltimore.

I still remember one Saturday morning in March 2018 when so many TBD'ers went ape-sh** after NYJ sent 3 second rounders to Indianapolis to move up to take Darnold. The demand from a lot of fans that day was Beane "do something" and for some that meant trading from 12 to 2 no matter the cost. Funny how things play out. Reminds me of Marv Levy's comment about not listening to the fans because you'll wind up next to them if you do.

Both the Brown and Beasley deals are at their market value and I wouldn't consider them team-friendly or, for lack of a better term, unfriendly. I'm concerned with McD's overall personnel decision strategy, as evidenced by their move to take Cody Ford over D.K. Metcalf. If you've got a chance to get a skill type who can demand defensive attention, that's more important than plodding interior OL types like Ford. You can find those guys later or in UFA on team friendly contracts. You don't find top skill types there. Not quite. He is a guy who plays in any system, but has been used as a decoy in many respects by a HC who is not up to par for the NFL. There aren't many learned Bills fans who would say no to OBJ because he makes plays. Sometimes HC's have to learn how to manage personalities and not avoid them. High performing people in any environment make the difference and in a results oriented environment they can be the difference between winning and losing.

There are several chapters yet to be written about Beane and McDermott and this season alone neither proves or disproves their competence at team building. Early signs are encouraging though. Still, teams do not win without elite talent in the NFL and the HC and GM need better offensive talent for the long haul, particularly at WR because Buffalo has no depth there after Brown and Beasley. Speaking of those two, Brown turns 30 in April and Beasley will be 31 that month so they need talent there. The point is that coaches or GMs who eschew star players so as to have an easier way with building their culture are doing themselves a disservice. OBJ is a #1 receiver in a league with few of them. He's on a team with internal strife at every level and his production cannot be isolated down himself alone. He's a far better receiver that what one season's stats say and just because he hasn't lived up to the hype of that move doesn't mean he won't.

I would argue it starts when the teams run onto the field. Or, when they arrive for the game and go into the locker room. It could even be construed as beginning when the Ravens arrive on Saturday afternoon. One thing that's pretty likely is it's the beginning. Now, whether it's the beginning of the end or end of the beginning is a debatable point.

Bills win on Thanksgiving, move to 9-3, and some fans are anxious over WR options that won't be known for months. It ain't healthy to worry so much. Everything will be fine.

Deacon Jones would have something to say there.

The coach's game-plan yesterday was anything but Jauron-esque, particularly on offense. And on defense, they stopped an offense that had multiple top weapons. I really don't care that Prescott threw for 355 on 49 attempts or that Dallas has struggled. Buffalo's coaches had a solid plan. I expect McD to craft a defensive game-plan that limits opponents, but what they did on offense was more impressive and yes, unexpected. I haven't seen Buffalo run a play like the Brown TD pass to Singletary that well in years. A coaching staff, particularly the HC, has the responsibility of putting the players into a position to succeed yesterday. This staff more than met that standard yesterday on a big stage.

My definition of an attack is those times when someone, fan or media type, documents objective criticism of a personnel decision, game result, etc. and then are criticized for not being supportive of the team. It's as if their analysis is tossed out because it's not "pro-team." Much of the time, the individual is marginalized, particularly with media types. Numerous times over the years I've seen more objective fans who aren't in lock step with the team simply leave or just post a lot less. My memory is good, but I cannot summarize years of experiences here in a single post. We both know that it happens and the discussion about this team has suffered from it.

It's amazing how many people here demand that the media align their coverage with the opinions of hardcore fans. And if they don't, they are attacked relentlessly. Objectivity and differing opinions are not a bad thing.

Sean McVay reading defenses for the QB was an attempt to hasten their rebuild off the Jeff Fischer years. Most HC's want to win right away and perhaps the Rams' HC made a judgement call that helping his QB early would ease the transition and win some games. That worked, but now they're floundering.

I don't think he's a sub-par writer, but he's definitely got an axe to grind about a lot of things and it's spilled over into coverage of the Bills and perhaps Sabres. It's tiresome to see people making stuff up to validate their own opinion. To me that's journalistic malpractice, even if it comes down to distorting what the team did for the media. Besides, who the heck complains about free food at a game? And, I highly doubt anything's changed under the Pegula's in this regard all of a sudden for Sullivan to report on Twitter.

Sullivan tweeted this morning that the food offered to media to OBD was very thin. Someone followed up by showing that the food for media was quite substantial. In the past I've taken Sullivan's criticism of the team as true, but this type of distortion calls into question what his agenda is. I'll keep an open mind on this situation and not conclude anything.

There's a lot to unpack from that podcast and not enough space here to adequately discuss. I'll say this. If McD did to Fairburn what Sullivan said, he's inconsistent with the persona he seeks to impress on the public. It's one thing to become angry at the media, but to physically intimidate and drop F bombs is another level. I'm not asking for the HC to be a choir boy, but he's crafted an image that says he is. And then there's McD's "play fearless" message Josh Allen told Chris Brown the HC gave them after the Cleveland game. Anyone who thinks McD doesn't have his hand on the PR aspect of this team is deluding themselves and that was the narrative the team (i.e. McD) wanted getting out the public. Remember, this happened after the HC and his staff were rightly criticized for not trying to win at the end. In this way, McD flipped the narrative off him and the staff. It's what one thing to want pro-team coverage. It's another for McD or anyone to expect complete loyalty to the team and no criticism from the media. That borders on megalomania.

Garrett's attorney has nothing, and, barring a revelation from someone on the field last week, simply conjured something to use in defense of his client. I'm sure he expects a sympathetic response given the seriousness of the allegation. That it took 6 full days for this to come out is questionable at best.

Speaking as former military, it's AWOL. Maybe Bob is tired of Goff not being able to read a defense. He's had 5 games with less than 50 yards receiving this year compared to only 2 stat lines last year.

Changing the spelling of his name for the 2rd time probably.

The more important question needs to be which GM that franchise would rather have. Elway isn't getting it done and his QB decisions post P. Manning are the lead reason why.