finn

Can you specify how he should work on that? Having a future HOF WR and a future HOF TE to throw to behind a line with an-Pro line and a future HOF coach calling his plays,? That kind of work? Yes, he should get right on it! Mahomes has clearly separated himself from Allen.

I don't have an answer for that one. I think Beane is as good as any GM in the game (despite his huge mistake re Gabe Davis). But McDermott is at best a neutral factor. I give him credit for helping to build the Bills, but he's holding them back at this point. He seems afraid to lose, in stark contrast to Allen's attitude, which is all about winning. Allen has the heart of a lion. McDermott has the heart of an accountant.

Agreed. It's like flipping a coin and deciding that three heads in a row is a sign from Satan, or shows that heads is better and will always win. The chest-beaters in KC will feel pretty foolish when Allen ends up with more SB victories than Mahomes.

Well, that status will assert itself anyway, right? If he's the best player on the best team, he'll very likely be a candidate for league MVP. There's no need to give him extra credit for being that person, or, worse, confining the award (in practice) to that person. No one else qualifies? Really?

Not sure I follow. Are you wondering if these are my words? But, no, for the record, I don't think the award should be the most valuable player on a single team. What's the sense of that? Lamar was not the most valuable player in the NFL this year, nor the most talented, nor the most accomplished.

Which puts the lie to the name of the award. It should be "The quarterback on the highest seeded team." That would also serve to highlight the idiocy of the award. The quality of Allen's (or anyone else's) play matters only insofar as it helps his team win the top seed. Stupid award, with its pretense that it recognizes the best player in the league.

I loved Kelly, but I don't think there's any question at all that Allen is a better quarterback in every respect. (I don't count hardware, never have.)

I wonder if McDermott thought Butler didn't do a good job developing Elam. It does seem odd that such a physically talented player couldn't learn to play zone and tackle after two years of professional coaching--and an urgent need for him to contribute.

I need to some time to process this sentence.

Don't forget Dugger from the Patriots. He'd be expensive, and he's a strong safety, which they have in Poyer, but he's a terrific player. From what I remember, McDermott wanted to draft him.

I might watch the highlights, but no way I'm sitting through five hours of Mahomes glazing.

To be fair, Mel Kiper thought he was terrific. He was mocked by his colleagues for that stance, and they've never forgiven him for being right.

That's not saying much. Count me in both camps. I wonder if McDermott realizes he's just not in the front ranks of coaches. Pegula has to decide if it matter or not that he is. In short, is Allen good enough to overcome a middling head coach?

Maybe a thought experiment would help convey my point: If Mahomes--the exact Mahomes who is revered today--were put on the worst team in the NFL and the team, not surprisingly, never made the playoffs, would he still be a HOF player? No way. But it's the same player! Football is a team sport, right? If the Bills had a better kicker, he might be playing Sunday instead of Mahomes. But he, too, would be the same player. So, no, Mahomes is not unquestionably better. He is arguably better. He is unquestionably on a better team.

Along with how many drops, fumbles, and disinterested play when he's not getting the ball? To think he's due almost $28 million next year, same as Von Miller. Yikes.

Get this man a team, Beane!

Don't see how he can complain he isn't getting targets, or that he makes the most of them. Neither are true, nor is the story that Dorsey went to him far more than Brady. The fact is, he dropped passes, fumbled, didn't appear to get open as often in the past despite single coverage, and overall did not perform like a WR1, especially a superstar one. Players do hit the wall. I remember when Lofton was suddenly not effective, and even Moulds and Reed fell off.

I didn't bother to extrapolate the interceptions, but it's yet another stat that indicates Allen and Mahomes are at least on par. I'm working on not letting the idiot narratives that Mahomes is unquestionably better, GOAT, the Messiah, etc., get to me.

By comparison, Mahomes has 39 passing touchdowns in 17 games, which would translate to Allen passing for 23 TDs in ten games. But he has only five rushing touchdowns, which Allen has matched in seven fewer games. Mahomes' playoff rating is 106.3, mostly because he's thrown for only seven interceptions in 17 games compared to Allen's four in 10 games. Put it all together, and I'd take Allen every time. He's more clutch and, with his legs, more dangerous. Plus, looking at Mahomes' stats, you simply have to take into account that he has mostly been throwing to not one but TWO future HOF receivers behind a much better line and with a future HOF head coach, while Allen has had Diggs and a bag of peanuts to throw to behind a sieve line and, well, McDermott as head coach. Anyway, it doesn't matter, really. The bottom line is that Buffalo has one of the best quarterbacks to ever play the game. Now, if only Beane can get him receivers who can get open and catch the ball.

Throwing but not running the most talented running QB in the league not named Lamar.

HIS receiver catches the underthrown pass. That makes him the better quarterback than the one who throws a longer pass more accurately and his receiver drops it.

I wonder if Lamar's performance in this game will affect the MVP vote.

Bernard, Oliver, and Dane Jackson, for sure. Hopefully Elam and Dorian Williams, too. The glaring exception is Gabe Davis.

I think it's both, although I don't think you're giving Beane quite enough credit. Look at the defensive roster he gave McDermott, if injuries hadn't happened: White, Bedford, Poyer, Hyde, Taron, Milano, Bernard, Floyd, Miller, Rousseau, Oliver, Jones. That would arguably have been the best defense in team history, and maybe the best in football. On offense, he gave them what developed into an above-average line, a very good running back trio, two solid TEs, one elite WR, and of course a future HOF QB. I would say his only blunder--and it has turned out to be fatal--was assuming Gabe Davis could be a WR2. But without the injuries on defense, even this WR group might have been adequate. But McDermott.... Can we all agree he's not a great coach? Can we also agree that, with his W-L record, he's not awful? The bottom line is that he might be the Gabe Davis of coaches. Good enough to lose with.

Right. An awkward head coach deterring talented people from sticking around, leaving no one to check his weaknesses, such as shutting down Allen as a runner, benching the star running back because he fumbled, and insisting on ball-control football instead of a scheme that suits the unicorn he has at QB. It's not entirely incontrovertible that he's not suited for head coach, but, if that's the case, by the time it is incontrovertible, it'll be too late. It's very risky to change head coaches. But you hate to look back and realize that's what they should have done.