BillsVet

The Bills season has become anti-climactic and the only thing left to watch for is how Allen does. Other than that it's devolved into a question of potential UFA signings and where they will draft in April. The Sabres are exciting, have loads of young talent, and are winning.

To me it's better to invest in WR's and OL than the RB to support Allen. It's a nice to have thing that Bell would give them some offensive production, but still not worth the cost. I don't assume that even with huge cap space the Bills are going to be in on UFAs like some believe. If they are, it'll take a premium and that cap space will dwindle quickly. Spending 15M+ a season on a RB seems like a poor investment.

I'd make the move to add him...if this were fantasy football which is what I believe prompts observations like this. From a resource allocation perspective I wouldn't consider sinking so much into the RB position. The positional value, even for a currently top level back, is not sufficient to warrant the investment.

One of the Pegula owned teams is good. The other will have another top 10 draft pick. Football season was over a few weeks ago for Bills fans. Unless they play fantasy football.

An NFL HC/GM who needs a season plus to learn this has one foot out the door. For what they're getting paid, it is expected they will know from the outset what to do, not learn on the job. These guys are hired on their potential to win, innovate, and get the team in a position to win, not slog it out through a season and a half trying to invent the light bulb.

Al Davis had it out for Marcus back then. But what a combo at RB. It probably extended Allen's career. The best way I ever heard Bo described was someone saying when God made him, He broke the mold. Buffalo played on Thanksgiving 1994. A 35-21 loss the Lions, who were QB'd by none other than Dave Krieg: https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/199411240det.htm

You gotta trust the process...even when the process repeatedly changes. How many iterations of the process have they been through after a season and a half?

By which metric? http://www.espn.com/nfl/statistics/team/_/stat/total/position/defense/year/2017 29th in yards allowed / 30th in yards passing allowed / 20th in rushing yards allowed / 5th in points allowed / 11th in turnover differential (+7) / t-18th in sacks (35) / t-28th in INTs (8) / 29th in fumble recoveries (4) So yes, by points allowed they were up there. I guess their RZ defense was better than I thought given the yards allowed. Especially considering they weren't adept at creating turnovers.

Belichick is a master of adaptability and around 2006-07 began seeing a need for his teams to be more offensive focused. No one has been more flexible about de-prioritizing defense and getting players on the offensive side of the ball.

The Red Sox claim to be "small market." Buffalo is a small market. McD would do well to avoid using the Red Sox adversity card ever again. Too many Yankees fans in WNY!

I can see McD sitting at home convincing himself that his defense would shut these teams down. And of course how the Bills still need more defensive players.

Vontae Davis' impact is nothing more than the answer to a trivia question. No one will remember him for anything but quitting mid-game. He owns it.

That is one heck of a run on sentence.

If Oliver is on the board when Buffalo picks and is the pick there are bigger issues whether or not the player had issues with a coach. This team can ill-afford to use another top pick on defense.

Teller just started his first game. Edmunds was a guy they traded up for. Milano has played well at times, Dawkins lately is not playing really well, White is good, but another first round pick. Johnson is banged up every game, and Phillips is coming along. The key isn't just getting good players, it's using your draft resources appropriately and building the whole roster. I see 4 trade ups in 2 drafts and it's yet to be determined if they've been worth it. But, like a lot of fans, you're already counting 1st or 2nd year players as hits. And, it's been a long time since Buffalo could find solid starters for the long haul in rounds 4-6 Go back to 2006-07 when people were saying how great those drafts were because guys started. In the long run, they weren't good drafts even though early returns were there. We don't need an opinion on a player immediately because careers can start out and then flame out. Beane and McDermott have proven nothing after '17 and '18 drafts aside from how to trade up.

It's hard to understand his behavior and how much of it was just immaturity and what was mental health related. Something was wrong, but it's hard to pinpoint what. Major mental illness, if this was the case, can affect someone more than most people could ever know. I hope that in the US we can begin tackling mental illness by encouraging people to talk about it. Then get them the right treatment so they can achieve some balance in their lives. The bottom line is this is a tragic loss, both for the family he leaves behind and for a life cut short.

No, they traded with TB from 12 to 7 for Allen. They traded with BAL from 22 to 16 for Edmunds.

Defensive rankings would be better if this were 30+ years ago when the rules suited that side of the ball. Now, it's practically irrelevant. New England was ranked near the bottom last year in defense among many statistical categories and made it to the Super Bowl. KC this year can't stop anyone and they're perhaps the best team in the AFC.

No argument there and that's really the end goal for this lost season. They have to know what they're working with re: Allen.

No disagreement there. My point is somehow he manages to find a way to win games when he needs it most. That's not to say there aren't examples which go the opposite way.

Coach McD has a strange tendency to win games at crucial junctures of his tenure when criticism hits a high point. Three examples immediately come to mind in his 26 games coached: Last season in Week 12, after 3 straight losses (and 2 blow outs), McD beats Kansas City on the road to put Buffalo over .500. This year, after 2 blow outs to start the season, Buffalo goes to Minnesota and convincingly took down a Vikings team that some talked about as a SB favorite. And now, with their 4th starting QB of the season (who was a street FA signing) an anemic offense, and having lost their last 4 games, the Bills beat go to NY and beat the Jets by 31 points. In each game, I cannot imagine most fans expected a win, particularly considering these were road games. Nor do I believe this team is turning a corner all of a sudden. I'm merely stating that he gets wins when criticism mounts and I'll give credit where credit is due.

Great point. I'll take it a step further and look at his philosophy and how it impacts personnel acquisition and strategy. They've used a bunch of resources on the defensive side of the ball these first 2 seasons to switch to his scheme and yes, improve the talent there. My issue is how much power does Beane have to look at McD and tell him we've got to go offense and he needs to make due on defense? Does Beane have that authority and if not, then we're trusting that the HC acquiesces to the demands a modern game feature more offensive talent than he believes is necessary. That's my question: Does the HC appreciate offense as much as the new NFL demands it? Or, will he revert to what he knows best and keep trying to win games the 1985 method of better defense, running the ball, and throwing less? We don't know after 2 off-seasons.

All part of the process.

I've always thought it funny that with all the attempts to institute parity, there are still the have's and have-nots. You give teams like Cleveland and Buffalo perennial top picks, as much salary cap space as the big market teams and they've largely wasted those resources. No matter how much equality the league wants to establish, there will always be the teams which win consistently. And you'll always have the teams which don't. To me, that comes down to bad management.

It is, but conspiracy theories attract the proverbial moths to the flame. The refs being bought out, McBeane tanking in year 2, etc. I can't believe people actually think these ideas are real. The league demands teams who can be flexible and make changes when necessary. Teams that don't are left behind, especially those who hire rigid management that wants to live in the past. Belichick is a prime example of someone who changed and sure, he's got Brady, but his teams aren't ordered to defense like they were. There's a lot of bad coaches and GMs out there teams are hiring. Finding a good combination is incredibly hard, but the teams who can do it AND find a QB are the ones succeeding.