finn

Yeah, but that means he might have been number 1 in the league the previous two years.

This sounds right to me. I see Basham and Epenesa turning into quality players. Not stars, though. Oliver is the only one with that potential, it seems to me. But Rousseau... I defer to Bean's judgment, but that pick looks very iffy to me. He just doesn't seem to move very well. No burst or change of direction, not a lot of power, at least compared to Basham and others. A lanky guy who'll hold the edge and get there eventually with his long arms. This draft will have "legs," but I don't think Rousseau is going to make it. I really want to be wrong.

Thought Leif Larsen was a steal and Jamie Nails was going to be an All-Pro.

If you're concerned with correctness, start with your posts: your semi-colon should be a colon, "reread" doesn't take a hyphen ("run-on," from your previous post, does); and your ".." needs to be either an ellipses or period. Face it (note the correct colon here): Your reply to my post was out of line, especially for a moderator. Instead of doubling down, you should apologize.

A personal attack from a moderator. Interesting. And one who no doubt has never posted a sentence with a typo. Chandler#81, the moderator who is doing all that can be done to make posters feel welcome to the board, maintain a civil tone, and advance the dialogue. Nice job. Let's see if you keep up the vigilance, especially in your own posts.

So...why isn't CWade not playing? Or rather, is he playing or not next year, or is he on the team just to host podcasts?

There are many quarterbacks with awful lines and unreliable receivers, starting with Allen his first year, but none of them is defended so vehemently as Mahomes is. Some psychological effect is at work, like the writers are identifying with him or are otherwise tied to his being not just very good but flawless, godlike. They seem threatened by critiques of his play, as though they fear the critiques are about them and their manhood. Weird. We've seen the same with Marcia all these years. Any whisper that he might have played poorly is shouted down.

I don't quite agree (about Edwards and Oliver being just average). Edwards is overrated, by pretty much everyone. Yes, he's fast and can cover, but he misses tackles and can't shed blocks. His instincts have improved, but they're still not elite. He's still above average, but that's not saying much. On the other hand, I think Oliver is terrific. He doesn't show up in the stat line much, but if you read the all-22 analyses, such as the Athletic's, it's clear he's very, very good. He's a major piece of the puzzle, as is Milano. Addison has been no more than adequate, which is fine, but he's pretty expensive. Not sure if it makes money sense for the Bills to cut him, but if they do, Epenesa might be ready to step in.

Not sure I agree. He's has a big wingspan, good hands and decent speed, but he lacks quickness and doesn't seem to get open easily. An excellent third or fourth receiver, but I think the Bills need more speed to complement Beasley and Davis and let Diggs do whatever he wants. I do think Davis will improve next year, but I don't see him as an effective number two receiver.

Maybe. From my list of needs, I would settle for a healthy Moss, a healthy Brown/Brown replacement, and a coach with a spine. Not in that order.

Good point. Sure seems there's a lot to work on suddenly, though. We need a running back, at least one guard, a corner, somebody to cover Kelsey, at least one receiver, and a defensive tackle. Oh, and a head coach who doesn't stab his team in the back.

I think so, too. But I think they would have been in the game if McDermott wasn't a sniveling coward on fourth down.

This really does fall on McDermott. He and Frazier came up with nothing to stop Mahomes, but even that you can forgive, sort of. But kicking field goals TWICE from inside the five yard line? The defense might have played better with some hope; same with the offense. You might fail on one fourth down, but you'll make the other one. And if you don't, you're sending a message that you're fighting. Field goals. Such cowardice really makes me sick. He should be ashamed of himself, stabbing this magnificent team in the back like that. If he were fired tomorrow and Daboll promoted, I would cheer.

What I don't understand are the field goals. You're up against the best offense in football scoring at will on your defense and you don't go for fourth and goal from inside the ten... TWICE? Against one of the worst teams in the red zone? That's malpractice. That's not playing not to lose. That's playing straight up to lose. McDermott chokes on the biggest stage.

That was the moment, right there. The defense holds them to a field goal, and we're set to close within five. And...they kick a field goal. Are they thinking they'll now stop an offense they haven't stopped yet?

What happened to the trick plays, the play action? Or how about a fade? A run by Singletary of all people? Why not just take a knee and save time?

Well, I guess Frazier isn't going to Houston. This defensive game plan might have been written by the KC offensive staff.

Or Brown? Like, the second receiver we have?

I agree the teams are extraordinarily evenly matched and the game could come down to a single blown coverage, bad read or ST gaffe. But, getting philosophical for a moment, that doesn't mean it could either way. The outcome will be a product of the unique combination of conditions and people at that precise span of time in that precise space. We really can't say, "The Chiefs/Bills should have won if only..." because that's not true, by definition. If you change the reasons for the blown coverage--a mental lapse by a safety, say, are you making him smarter or more attentive for just that one play? And we're not changing WHY he was dumb or inattentive? In other words, hypotheticals or "would've been/could've been" are all B.S. There is only what happened. And that's what's so great about sports, especially on this big stage: We're all getting together to see what happens. Game on!

That's what I don't get. I mean, commentary is these people's job. They're supposed to be informed. And it's not hard. In fact, it's fun and really interesting to look at the tape and do your research. Yet it seems 3/4 of them just wing it off the top of their head, repeating fluff they heard on the radio driving into work. "Allen has been struggling in the playoffs"; "Mahomes is unstoppable"; "It's going to be the same as the first game, which I didn't watch but I heard a lot about." Lazy, dumb, glib, smug... And then they don't own it when they're wrong.

I can see the Bills not wanting to new players on the offense at once (Sills and either Freeman or Williams). They might have promoted Stills to have him ready to step in for Davis but didn't want the distraction of having Williams and Freeman to think about, too. Singletary and Yeldon are fine. Both are blockers and receivers, and both are reliable.

I'm saturated with opinions, analysis and stats. It's all repetitive now. Taking it all together, it adds up to a Bills win seven times out of ten. It just does.

You're right. The bad memories sort of cohere into a toxic sludge in a part of my mind I try to avoid.

I haven't forgotten it. The Ickey Shuffle, the ball that bounced off of Ronnie Harmon's hands, Sam Wyche having his players fake injuries, the Bickering Bills season that followed.... Bad memories.

I lived in Missouri for four years. The weather changes on a dime. Even at this point, I wouldn't be surprised by heavy rain and 15 mph winds or no rain or wind.