finn

You're making the case against your own position here. You admit that you might be wrong ("rightly or wrongly") and that Kelly and Marino might be better, but that winning "matters" somehow. Why? If I flip a coin and win, am I better than you because winning matters and you're a loser? Marino ends up on a team that sucks except for him, so he's not as good as Montana? Brady goes to the Bills under Dick Jauron and so he'll never be GOAT? You can't separate the QB from their team and coaches, even if "folks" believe otherwise. "Folks" are also sexist, racist, and deeply ignorant. That doesn't mean they're right.

Me, 'm trying to remember the first playoff game against the Chiefs. I recall vaguely that McDermott punted on our 4th and short when we really needed to score and went for a field goal at least once in a game we needed touchdowns. Yes, Allen was a little out of sorts that game, but McDermott made sure to take away the slim chance they had to win it, by being uber-aggressive. You don't always want to be aggressive, obviously, but McDermott's judgment is way off. It's like, to him, close losses are worth as much as wins.

The beginning has started and the end is near. 😄

The beginning of the end of NFL football. In ten years, it will be an unrecognizable mess, an object lesson in greed.

Yes, those are two examples of what I mean by Allen's "doing more with less." Another example is Gabe Davis, whom Allen hits right in the hands and in stride most of the time. Davis' catch rate is still abysmal, but it's probably as good as it will ever be, unless Allen walks down the field and gently hands the ball to him.

The miss by Jordan Phillips was the most egregious.

I had a heretic thought this morning: What about trading Milano for a first-round pick? The Bills have to find some way out of cap hell next year without gutting the roster. They need a WR and a safety at the very least. If Williams can replace Milano, the pick could go to one of these two needs, while our our pick could go to the other. Meanwhile, the caps saving might possibly be enough to re-sign Jones or Floyd. As long as he's healthy, Milano is top-ten player in the entire league. He should warrant a first-rounder.

Imagine if it was Marino throwing to Jerry Rice. Filthy.

But but but... Mahomes is the Annointed One! He's better than Allen and everyone else because he wins championships, no matter who he has around him! Isn't that what everyone is always saying?

You're articulating a position most NFL fans agree with, so I'm not going to dismiss you. But I disagree. Your premise if that the quality of a given QB is determined mostly, if not exclusively, by the number of championships he wins. I get it: winners win. But put Mahomes on a lousy team with lousy coaches. Does he win championships? No. Does that mean that exactly the same player is suddenly no longer the best? In your calculus, yes, it does. It follows, then, that Mahomes is in large part a product of the organization around him. You could argue that a godlike figure like Mahomes would lift the others around him, so he would win championships even with the Giants O-line, the Bears' receivers, the Cardinals defense, and Rex Ryan as head coach. I don't buy it. A stellar talent could take a B or B+ team all the way, sure, just as an average QB on an otherwise excellent team could win Super Bowls. But you can't judge a QB with a single metric, even championships. That's not a trump card, no matter how triumphantly you play it. Also, to say Allen doesn't play the same sport as Mahomes is, well, are you trying to be provocative? Let me be provocative right back: Allen is better than Mahomes. He's objectively bigger, faster, stronger, and more athletic, and he does more with less. The only counter-argument you have is the championships point, which, again, is just one criteria that's outweighed, I think, by the impact of the respective head coaches alone. The 13-seconds game is a perfect illustration. No, give me a choice of QBs to build a team around, and I'd take Allen every time.

Well, it does suggest that at least some of the adulation Mahomes receives might be hype, or lack of critical thinking on the part of media and fans. Facts don't play a big a role in determining quality of play as one would think they would. The NFL, microcosm of the world...

Could be the reason the team keeps finding itself in one-score games, leaving McDermott to dip deep into his prevent "maybe they'll miss the field goal if we let them go down the field on us in 30 seconds" defense. The other team adjusts, we don't. I have high hopes for Brady to adapt on the fly, very little hope for McDermott.

I think Allen is the best player in the league, and I'm not a moron. He and Mahomes are a cut above every other quarterback. Allen is being let down by his coaches and both are held back by their surrounding cast, but they're easily among the most talented, productive players the league has ever seen. Allen does it all, week after week. What, are you buying the Narrative? Allen the turnover machine who can't win in the clutch?

I give McDermott credit for doing his part to helping the Bills do so well since he was hired. But I think he's a liability in close games, and the evidence bears me out. His prevent defense, lack of aggression in key spots, and baffling use of time-outs add up to a "play not to lose" attitude that I believe has contributed heavily to the Bills' poor record in one-score losses over the past several years. So, yes, he played a key role in building the team's culture, but at this point he's holding the team back.

You don't think the winning culture has to do with having the most talented player in NFL history as your QB?

Nick Wright sneered at the Bills' victories early in the season, saying they're a "September team."

Agree. It would have taken real leadership to fire Dorsey in the offseason, since the late-season problems could be (and were) tied to so many other factors. Plus, the offense put together a good year statistically. Still, a great coach would have seen the root of the issues and made the move. Of course, if McDermott had that kind of perspicacity and courage, he wouldn't have hired Dorsey in the first place.

Josh Allen's fault! Why didn't he stop them? He's a flawed player.

Would someone mind updating me on whether the Bills playoff hopes have gone up or down based on the game results today so far? I haven't had a chance to watch.

I despise that term, "zero percent chance." Imprecise, lazy, hyperbolic, self-indulgent, attention-getting tripe. The chances of McDermott being fired is nowhere near zero percent, even putting aside unlikely scenarios like him being arrested or whatever. If the team lost out, for example, or the team rebelled (as they might, if they lose out), he's gone. Not exactly a "zero percent chance."

It's like insult to injury. He plays the best football of any QB that week despite the refs doing all they could to stop him, and all you hear is that he's 0-6 in overtime and a turnover machine. The only answer is to blow out every remaining team so the refs (and McDermott) aren't a factor. It's doable if even a few more layers match Allen's excellence.

What a job. You get paid a boatload for to speculate without evidence, repeat the latest narrative, and indulge in your biases. This question might be worth its own thread: Which talking heads do know what they're talking about and are worth listening to? Greg Cosell and Chris Simms come to mind. Kurt Warner, Dan Orlovsky, Tony Romo, Desmond Ritter, the guy who pours himself a Scotch during his analysis. Anyone else?

First, of course refs are biased; they're human and respond to all sorts of unconsciously perceived factors, especially crowd noise and expectations. Read Scorecasting if you want a real eye-opener. I have no doubt that the bias is deliberate, too, like Hochuli and his gang in the Philly game. That kind of bias can spread rapidly if there are no consequences, which appears to be the case. The NFL reflexively protects the refs--fines for players and coaches who criticize them, always defending their decisions, etc. Maybe if the refs get out of hand, they're reined in a bit; I doubt it's a coincidence that the cascade of flags stopped at halftime. But otherwise, it looks like the league doesn't care much on that level. Then there's the money factor. I have no evidence whatsoever for corruption, but it seems pretty naïve to think that gamblers with everything at stake wouldn't find a way to influence people in such a powerful position to change the outcome of games. So so easy to do, so easy to cover up. If I represented WNY in Congress, I would call for an investigation. Then I would watch all the powerful players jump into action to derail it. On the macro level... Not sure. Seems way too risky. A scandal is one of the only developments that could kill the Golden Goose.

Hey, I don't let facts get in the way of my cherished narratives, ok? 😉

McDermott seems to be thinking, "Ok, we'll let them get into field goal range because, hey, they may miss!" I really can't remember the last time the defense had to hold and did. (I'm certainly not including the shameful Giants game.) Maybe the playoff game against the Ravens when Taron had the pick? McDermott plays not to lose. He simply has to go. But by the time it's blindingly obvious--likely after next season--we'll have lost yet another year of Allen's prime.