finn

I agree. It's hard and very risky to conspire with refs, much easier to do the "little" things we're talking about here. It's working because the other teams are naive, or so it appears. McDermott catches Belichick's son closely watching the Bills' punt unit warming up before the first game, when the Patriots block a punt and score a few plays later, the difference in the game. It works to cheat. And it's certainly worth the risk. This Bengals taping episode, for instance: it looks like they're going to get away with it. McDermott "shoos" Belichick Jr. away. Wow, what a penalty for transgressing an unspoken rule. Once you cross that ethical boundary and persuade yourself that it's fine to cheat ("it's only cheating if you're caught"; "if you're not cheating you're losing" etc.) you're only limited by your nerve and resources, and Belichick has plenty of both.

The Patriots got caught cheating twice, with Spygate in 2007 and the inflated balls in 2014, and maybe again this season with the "innocent" filming of the Bengals sideline. So it's not unreasonable to assume they will cheat when and where they think they can get away with it. Yet I don't see any speculation along these lines anywhere. For instance, what's to stop them from installing microphones in the visitors' locker room at Gillette? Or eavesdropping on opposing teams' communications during a game? Or recruiting spies to report on other teams' practices? If you have the will and resources to cheat, the possibilities are endless. Someone here said Madden assumed his opponent was spying on the Raiders' practice before a playoff game and had his team stay after to install different plays. You don't want to get paranoid, but if I'm McDermott I might want to do the same thing, and more.

I think this is right, although I don't think the improvement needs to be dramatic. Steady improvement over the next two-three years will be sufficient with his other qualities--and with the better weapons he will presumably having going forward.

The cliche is that a great quarterback makes the players around him better. Both Brown and Beasley are having career years--with a QB in only his second year. People criticizing Allen are going to feeling foolish real soon.

I'd like to buy an authentic Josh Allen jersey for my nephew, but the websites are all over the place and it's tough to figure out what is good quality and a good price. Can anyone guide me? It would be an adult jersey. Thanks!

I second this. I'm not looking for Kumbaya, but the Pats fans really do suck overall. (I live in New England.) You hear a lot of sexual references like "The Bills are our b**ch," including in front of kids. The culture of Boston/Eastern Massachusetts has some admirable qualities, but it appears to breed males who are insecure about their masculinity. Could be they're genetically.... how to this delicately?... under-endowed? Their crude insults smack of compensation. An anthropologist should do a study, talk to their poor wives and girlfriends, check the demand for penile-enhancement equipment in the area. Sad, if you think about it. The Pats are their Viagra.

Well said. He has the ferocious will to win that Kelly had, with a better arm, size and running ability. Even his fiercest critics admit he is likely to improve, maybe a lot. Think about what that means. As a second-year player, with smurf receivers, he took the Ravens and Pats (and Browns) to the final possession with time running out. And people here want to give up on him now?

Yeah, Allen alluded to this in his press conference. He acknowledge a pattern of slow starts, said he needs maybe to throw more before the game. Strange. It's like he has to adjust to the opponent or the climate or something. If we had the fourth-quarter Allen all four quarters they'd be going to the Super Bowl.

Well, building a defense that doesn't allow big plays and forces you to make long drives is smart and pays off long term, but there's one obvious downside: on occasion a team WILL make long drives and score enough to win, especially if its defense is strong so "enough" isn't much. When that happens, I think you have to gamble a bit, like going for fourth down at midfield, trying an onside kick or a fake punt. It's tough to out-conservative Belichick. That said, it was anyone's game if Allen had hit Knox. So maybe I'm wrong and McDermott and Daboll were right.

I agree. Brady was on the bench his second year. Kelly was learning in the USFL There are exceptions, almost all surrounded by exceptional talent, but they're not going to include a raw prospect who had received zero quality coaching in college. Allen has done great in a short time with limited weapons to work with. If the Bills win no more games this season still has been a success.

I had the same thought. If we noticed that special teams have won them at least two games this year (that is, two blocked punts, not just field goals), the Bills certainly have. And it has to be tempting to beat them the same way. I was thinking an onside kick myself. Not that this is a trick play, but we haven't seen the jet sweep in a long time, or a direct snap to the RB at all. The counter trey, reverses, the tricks you mentioned, I'd like to see them try all sorts of stuff, all the while praying that they deal with the punt blocking on the other side.

I live in New England, and I agree that Pats fans can be brutal. This year is indeed different. The sneers and insults aren't carrying the same conviction, and you can detect fear and resignation in their smug boasting about how many Super Bowls Brady has been to. Like us, they sense a changing of the guard, and they don't like it one bit.

Lining up the excuses in case the Bills win.

I'm one of those here who were born into the Bills and never considered another team, never even considered considering. I remember OJ stuffing the snowball into the camera in tribute to the fans sitting in their warm living rooms. Been some hard times since then, a lot of shouting at the TV and long periods of mourning. The only time I was truly disgusted was during the Rex Ryan. I could stomach the incompetence--god knows we're used to that--but that blowhard personality... That was not Buffalo and not the Bills. This team does feel right. I'll take the winning, too! ?

I suspect that Beane and McDermott are surprised that the Bills have done this well at this early stage of the rebuilding process. I wonder if Beane is kicking himself for not bringing another RB and WR. In a sense, it's all gravy from here on. Allen really has been clutch. As we've seen, he is one of the best in the league in the red zone, in third and long situations, and, as Shaw says, come back wins. He would have had two more if Hauschka had connected in Cleveland and Brown had sold his route against Baltimore. And maybe one more if he hadn't been knocked out of the Pats* game.

What bothered me more was the drivel about the Steelers coaching legacy, the glory of the Rooney family, and meandering reminisces about days gone by--during the action! Forget analysis of the play that just happened and the one coming up, let's just have a cozy chat about the old days. Why is he considered a top analyst? Give me Romo any day.

"Just ok," eh? Maybe their offense without Big Ben. But as many people are saying here, this defense is about as scary as they come, and they're a particular bad matchup for the Bills offense. Look at the patterns: A QB who holds the ball longer than anyone else in the league against one of the best pass rushing and blitzing teams, if not the best; a QB who can't hit the long ball to keep the defense from sitting on the short passes. A QB who has a fumbling problem against a defense known for creating turnovers. I hope Daboll comes up with an answer, but I don't see what it will be with Allen. He's talented, but his talents--a powerful arm and scrambling abilities--don't work very well against an effective blitz/pass rush. Essentially he needs to learn how to be a Brady-type rhythm passer overnight.

Yep. This looks like a 6-3-type game, unless there are turnovers, which the Steelers defense excels at, incidentally. It's a real test of the offense. The book on Allen, written by the Pats* and reinscribed by the Ravens, is open for anyone to read. Cheat the safeties in close to the LOS, since Allen can't hit the deep routes, and mix up the constant blitzes. I hope Daboll has them practicing screens and hot reads.

Agree. Chandler#81 is out of line. Hang up your moderator spurs if you can't be civil. This isn't the Browns forum.

Thurman. In any event, I wish Daboll would give it the rock more. Let him run 24-30 times a game. For every two times he gets stuffed he breaks free for ten or more.

Will be interesting to see how the Bills adjust on offense now that two teams--the Pats and Ravens--have shown the league that the way to beat Josh Allen is to be in his face all game long. He can be effective given time (most QBs are), but he doesn't make good decisions when rushed. In both games he or Daboll went for long balls in the face of the blitz instead of his short hot read (if he had one). The Steelers will be bringing the heat. Will Daboll adjust or not?

Of course moral victories are important. They're key to coming back strong. The Bills defense was the best the Ravens faced all year, and they're arguably the best in the league now. Everyone is harping on what the offense did wrong, which is fine and normal, but this game could have gone either way. They're ready to meet the Ravens again, and they showed how to shut down Jackson. Someone on the Ravens fan board said that for the first time the Ravens looked like they had a gimmick offense and that thank god other teams don't have the athleticism the Bills have.

I don't understand why Daboll doesn't use him even more than he does. Yes, they were stacking the box, but his forte is making people miss and turning nothing into something. People here are saying we need a bigger back, but why? Singletary routinely moves piles. Surprising but true. Bigger, upright backs (remember Carwell Gardner?) often can't do that. I've said this elsewhere, but he reminds me of Thurman Thomas in his first year, when he too was underutilized but had a high average and showed he could catch the ball. Sure, find Singletary a Kenny Davis type to back him up, but I'm fine with him as a feature back. Look at it this way: he hasn't been shut down yet, except by Daboll. Which is more likely to succeed on third and three: a long bomb by a QB who may be historically inaccurate on throws over 30 yards, or a run by Singletary, who averages five yards a carry? Give him some sweeps and screens--remember those?--and ride him, not Allen.

The O-line played better than people are saying here. If a team blitzes it's on the quarterback to get the ball out quickly, and Allen often didn't. When he did, he overthrew his receivers or they dropped the ball (Singletary, Beasley, Knox). The Ravens came up with a good defense against Allen: Blitz hard, make him think fast and hit him hard every chance you get. It's easy to fault Daboll, but he did ok. I like how he put Singletary at receiver, and he tried to take what they were giving him. But where were the screens against the blitz? And why not more intermediate routes for the tight ends? Not a bad loss, all things considered. They never quit, the defense showed that it's elite. We're still a tackle and WR away on offense, and Allen needs to keep developing. Amazing he's come along this far already. Been a fun season. Go KC!

This is the turning point in the game. If they score a TD, it's over. A field goal or nothing and it's still a contest.