finn

Of course they are. Do you think the football gods are going to let us off that easily? Get ready for a heavy dose of "This is the team no one wants to face" and "They're a different team in the playoffs" and similar garbage.

And the Bengals minus Burrow and Chase.

I'm with you. I've seen Marino, Manning, Brady, Burrow, and others throw gorgeous, perfect balls. But I've never seen anyone make physics-bending throws like Allen makes every season. Think of his sideline collection alone. Mahomes makes his falling-down and no-look throws that give Collinsworth and Nick Collins shivers, but Allen is another level for the truly impossible throws. Oddly, he's not as accurate overall as any of these quarterbacks.

How about the cross-body throw to Cook (I think) when Allen was running one way and Cook the other? In traffic!

The Pats* have a lot of injuries. Not as many as the Bills, but they'll be missing Stevenson, Ellis, Boutte, Milton Williams, Campbell, and possibly Gonzalez, according to Google. Anyone have a more reliable source? The sad thing is that it doesn't matter that they're missing their left tackle and best cornerback since we're missing Bosa and have no wide receivers worthy of the name. I'm glad not to face Milton Williams, though.

Has Maye been challenged by a tough defense yet, like Allen was by Houston and Atlanta? I don't watch their games on principle, but I do wonder how Maye would hold up against a ferocious rush. Not that we have that. I think you're right that McDermott likely to play more soft zones and hope for the best.

Their luck continues. Reminds me of KC last year with all the breaks they got.

Agree. I'm expecting him to make wide receiver his top priority. I just hope he gives it the same attention he annually gives the defensive line--and has better results. For example, I would love to see picking WR with the first pick AND going after a top free agent AND finding two more receivers later in the draft or free agency. That's how empty the cupboards are now. Yes, we need a starting linebacker and, as always pass rushers, but it's time to see what Josh Allen in his absolute prime can do with the caliber of receivers all his top peers have as a matter of course, instead of the collection of retreads, busts, no-shows and JAGS he has to work with now.

I noticed DaQuan, too, ironically because I expect not to notice him. It's like, "Wow, nice play. Oh, it's DaQuan--again." He's playing with so much energy, I keep thinking it's Walker, a much younger guy.

It says something about how narrow the margins are that not having Strong, a sixth-round pick, on the roster could have had a major impact on the team's playoff chances, given how well he was playing and how much Taron's play has diminished. That was a nice draft by Beane, netting Hairston, Sanders, Walker, Hawes, Strong, Hancock, and Lundt.

Sorry, I can be tone deaf sometimes.

How so? If I'm a Bills opponent, I see red meat.

Then why am I smiling?

I focus on the negatives, too, but give Beane credit for giving us, in no particular order, Oliver, Bishop, Walker, Hoecht, Bosa, Thompson, Hairston, Kincaid, Hawes, Shakir, Cook, Benford, the entire offensive line, and of course number 17. Most teams would snap these players up in a heartbeat. He's also provided quality role players, filled holes deftly (Prater, Wishnowsky), and, as GunnerBill pointed out, over time built a deep roster, with players like Trubinsky, Knox, Ty Johnson, VDM, Hancock, and the many recycled oldsters on the team. Picking very late in the draft every year (late on the waiver wire doesn't help, either) it's not surprising he's found it hard to find impact players, but he has done an admirable job filling out the roster, overall. The glaring, neon-blinking, jaw-dropping, almost unforgiveable exception of course is wide receiver. That's the big hole on his resume. If he turned out right on either Coleman or Palmer, we would be the Super Bowl favorite, hands down. But he wasn't right. He could not have been more wrong. It's not much of an exaggeration to say he is asking Allen to play with a nice line, quality RBs and TEs--and NO wide receivers at all, aside from Shakir, who is like a little 12-year old asked to support his five younger siblings. Put it this way: The Bills might have the worst set of wide receivers in the league--and still be the best team. That's both a testament to Beane's work as GM and an indictment.

The transition is continuing in real time.