finn

I hear that. Trading up for Jordan Addison or Bryan Thomas (or both) might have put us over the top, even at the expense of not drafting Bishop and/or Bernard. Allen with an elite line, WR corps, tight ends, and running backs? Who needs a defense?

Am I the only one more confident in White than Trubinsky as the primary backup?

Is it lack of talent or poor coaching? I don't really pay attention to other teams, so it's hard to be objective about the Bills. Or was the Rams game an anomaly?

Please please please be right. I want to enjoy my afternoon and evening. And week.

Before you read on, keep in mind the big picture: The Bills will beat NE (twice) and the Jets and still may go all the way, depending on a number of factors. Let's regroup Wednesday or Thursday, after we've digested this debacle of a game on national TV. Because I'm afraid that is what it will be. At home with extra days' rest, key players returning, and just feeling the mojo, the Lions will put on a clinic, scoring at will, mixing up lightning scoring strikes with long, demoralizing drives that eat third and fourth downs like candy. Two 100-yard runners, no pass rush, the secondary exposed... the works. On the other side, with an assigned spy on him all game and a rusty Kincaid and Coleman dropping balls, Allen will look mortal (he's due), throwing at least one pick as he tries to carry the Bills single-handedly. Special teams, with that shining paragon of a coach, Matthew Smiley, will lay an egg, too, just to put a bow on the afternoon. The predictable narrative will follow: America's Team wins, Buffalo exposed, Allen comes down to earth, MVP in question, yada yada. It will be a nightmare. But after a few days, we'll realize the new reality is actually not bad: the second seed (third at the worst), and a healthy team going into the playoffs on a three-game winning streak. If they go all the way, everyone will look back at this game and see it for what it was: a bump in the road to glory. Detroit 53-17.

You might check your emotions before you post; they're degrading your persuasiveness and clouding your thinking. I acknowledged that McDermott is doing a good job on offensive fourth downs. And, yes, I do think that, for the Rams, 4th and 7 just after making a big mistake is a very different situation than 4th and 5 just after making a big play. An intuitive coach would have recognized that and declined the penalty. That call might not have changed anything, but it would have shown me something that I just haven't seen from McDermott.

Taron with the big interception against the Ravens in 2021 comes to mind. Hyde's incredible 2022 interception of Mac Jones in the end zone. That was the Wildcard round.

Fair. I do appreciate McDermott's aggressiveness on fourth down, which ranks among the highest among coaches. But I'm still looking for those calls on his part where, afterwards, I think, "Damn, he nailed it and helped the team." I think those would be as salient as the ones he screws up. The only two examples I can think of were the last two fake punts he called, which I thought were great calls, even though one of them (relying inexplicably on the glacial Hamlin) failed. Be honest: Wouldn't you have been impressed and astonished in equal measures if McDermott had declined that Rams penalty in the fourth quarter, likely leading the Rams to try a field goal instead of going for it (and ultimately scoring a TD)? It would have been counter-intuitive, fast-thinking, and correct. Does that sound like the Bills head coach?

If this is the case, maybe it's opportune that Bishop may be replacing Hamlin, who plays really far back. A faster, more athletic free safety playing more aggressively in tandem with Rapp (if he plays), Bernard and Milano against the middle-field routes Goff prefers might slow the Lions down. Could be vulnerable deep, but if that's really a Goff weakness, it might be where they roll the dice. I'm most worried about their play action after a few successful run gains. Frankly, the only way I see the Bills stopping the Lions' offense is via tipped passes, forced fumbles, and calculated gambles that lead to interceptions. Taron is pretty much their only big-play guy, so I'm hoping he makes the difference. They might need to stop them just a few times to allow Allen to do his thing and pull this thing off. Of course, that still leaves special teams and McDermott's game management....

Saddled with a coach who chokes in the clutch. As I've said elsewhere, I don't hold McDermott's weaknesses against him, but I do think he needs to recognize and address them. He brought in an expert to help him decide when to challenge plays. That was admirable. Now he needs to bring in an expert to help him in other high-pressure situations. Allen can't do it alone. He needs the other in-game units--defense, special teams, and coaching/game management--to at least not be liabilities. In the Rams game, all three of these units let him down. All three. And he still almost pulled off a victory. In my view, the team and coaches need to meet apart from Allen and talk things over. They need to recognize what they have, how rare it is, and how important it is to not blow it.

I wish I had a name like Belinda. I would have gone far.

Ball control, anyone?

Oh, please no DJ Reader. He destroyed the Bills when he played for Cincinnati. He and Melvin Ingram have been the bane of the Bills for years, it seems.

Sorry about that. I thought it was Nacua who blocked him in the back and realized only when I looked closely that it was the other WR. By then, I forgot what I was responding to.

Maybe. But check out the play at the 30 second mark of the highlights. Taron goes into the hole beautifully to stuff the run, but Number 88 on the Rams (Whittington) follows behind him and shoves him in the back, a blatant penalty, knocking him out of the play. Not saying this happened all the time, but add it to the list of times the Rams got away with a blatant transgression to make a big play. In a close game like this, they mattered.

Agree. The Rams game was pretty disheartening. It had more the feeling of a defense exposed as opposed to one having a bad day. If that's the case, inspired play won't help much. The only path forward is to outscore everyone from here on. I think Allen was sincere in his presser when he said he had to do better. With the book written on this defense, he will need to score on every drive, at least against good teams.

Exactly. Oliver is like a different player this year. Jones is just average, and Epenesa this season is one of the worst players I've ever seen play the position. Watch him closely and you'll see what I mean. At least Oliver and Jones are double-teamed; Epenesa seems to play with his head down and looks up only to see the play going past him. Miller and Rousseau are playing well, as far as I can tell. Jefferson is just a body. I hope Carter and Solomon can add some juice. I don't see how they could do worse than Oliver and Epenesa.

I like the addition of Cooper a lot. He's big but so smooth. Radiates calm, makes the clutch catches. A real professional. If Coleman starts drawing attention, the two of them could complement each other very well.

But if that is really your only job--just swinging your leg a few times a game--wouldn't you be prone to overthinking it, especially with the stakes so high and everyone depending on you to do that one job? Me, I couldn't sleep at night.

Just looking at the highlights of the first series by Rams. First play was beautifully blocked by LA. Stafford tossed it over the head of a charging Miller to Nacua, with their WRs taking out Taron and Benford and a lineman on Bernard. Next play, double team on Rousseau and Oliver, Miller is turned inside and Stafford steps outside, has Oliver bearing down but throws to an open Nacua behind Bernard and in front of Rapp and Hamlin, who are both way back. At the 30 second mark of the highlights, Taron was in the hole to stuff the run by Williams, but Nacua followed him and blocked him illegally in the back to take him out. Third and one, Epenesa perfectly placed to stuff the run but goes off the wrong direction, chasing phantoms. Looks even more foolish on the touchdown run, where he once again was perfectly placed to stuff the run and this time whiffed on the tackle. Taron would have stopped that drive but for the illegal block in the back. Otherwise, it looks like the Epenesa was the only glaring screw up. He looked awful on those last two plays. Edit: Wow, I urge anyone interested in the DE play in this game to watch Epenesa. He is a real liability, whiffing, charging in the wrong direction, being blocked easily, and just generally looking gormless. I can't see how a defensive end could play worse.

Agreed. But the Bills' situation might be unique: A HC who is elite in two key respects (culture and teaching) but deficient in game management. Do you fire him and risk all that he's built? Or do you find a way to deal with the logistics you describe? It would mean McDermott swallowing his pride, that's for sure. He'd be the first HC in league history standing on the sidelines with nothing much to do except clap.

It's possible that Bishop is close, and a three-game tune-up is all he needs to be more effective than Hamlin. Frankly, I don't see the Bills winning the Super Bowl with Hamlin. The elite coaches in the playoffs will figure out how to exploit him the same way McVay did. He's not only slow, but he plays way back and hesitates to boot. Yes, he's a reliable tackler and he gets to the right spot eventually, but if you have a "C" grade free safety, you're putting a lot of pressure on the rest of the team. It's no wonder the pass rush isn't getting home. As for Hyde, I'm inclined to take McDermott and Hyde at their word that their expectations are very low. As mediocre as Hamlin is, Hyde isn't much better at this point in his career. He's a welcome locker-room presence and a very useful player-coach for Bishop and Hamlin, but he may never see the field. I hope they give Bishop a try. Does anyone remember the 1992 Super Bowl? Marv Levy went with the slow veteran safety Leonard Smith instead of the fast, athletic rookie Henry Jones, who went to the Pro Bowl the very next season. Result: Smith was torched all game. Levy also kept rookie run stuffers James Patton and Frank Kmet on the bench the next Super Bowl, preferring to let Emmitt Smith run over the lightweight veteran Jeff Wright all game long than play rookies. McDermott has played rookies (Cook, Rousseau, Oliver), but I can see him sticking with Hamlin all through the playoffs even as he continues to be the weakest link on the defense.

Yeah, but look at this way: McDermott is doing an excellent job (I think) developing the players and a creating a successful team culture. In fact, he might be elite in these respects. However, he sucks at time management. If a specialist can convert just one loss into a win, isn't it worth their salary? The Bills have already brought in an an expert on challenges; bring in an expert on clock management and let McDermott continue what he does well. In fact, I wonder if in a few years hiring specialists for play challenges and clock management will be a league-wide practice. It's only "a major part of the job description" if the Bills want it that way. Besides, the final decision is still McDermott's. But this way, he doesn't have to rely on his piss-poor judgment in crunch time.

Someone else called him a "centaur." I liked that one.

He was brilliant. I don't think any defense in the league would have held up against Stafford and Nakua yesterday. You could count their offense's mistakes on one hand. The Bills defense is built to capitalize on their opponents' mistakes: penalties, bad routes, dropped balls, etc. Without them, they were (and are) easy pickings. The good news is that it will be hard for other teams to replicate that level of execution. And you may be referring to past versions of Mahomes, not this year's. I would pick Stafford any day at this point. Didn't see him over- and underthrowing receivers every other play. Stafford may be a statue, but, at least yesterday, he played as Mahomes ever has. One last thought: As brilliant as Stafford was Sunday, Allen was even better. What a display of fine quarterbacking we saw yesterday! I don't recall better offhand. Even the famous Kelly-Young dual wasn't as high level. In the downer of the loss, it's easy to not take in how lucky we were to witness that game as it unfolded. Reminds me of the 13-second game in both respects: rare brilliance tarnished by inept coaching.