Thurman#1

Great coach. Great GM. Bad drafting the last 3 - 4 years, though. Was Brady the more important piece than Belichick? I've always thought so and said so. Not enough info yet for proof, but it's certainly looking that way. But there's no such thing as the GOAT, at QB or head coach. It's too hard to compare across eras and there are too many terrific candidates. But Belichick is certainly one of the best. Yeah, I think Brady was more important than Belichick to the overall success of that team, but having Belichick was also huge. Look at all the many coaches who had great QBs and never won one championship, never mind six.

I respectfully disagree. You're certainly right that there are huge physical differences there. But as far as performance, both were really pretty bad their first few games in the league. Bills fans remember some hopeful moments that year, and there were some. Most came in the second half of the year. His first few games he ran a lot but was pretty awful passing. The thing that made me more hopeful with Allen was that he had less experience than Wilson has. But it's so so very early. Do people remember how absolutely awful Peyton Manning was early? In his first four games, Manning had 3 TDs and 11 INTs. Only one of his passer ratings for those four games got up into the 60s (63.2). He was awful. And yes, the Colts were a tire fire, but same with the Bills offense that first year and the Jets offense this year. And yeah, Darnold looks like he's going to be for real.

Ah, thanks for pointing that out to me, I misread what he said. 'Preciate it. So in that case it's only the part about not being worth what Schobert gets that was so completely nuts about that post. I do get that you and he seriously think that. But again, you are among very very few, and the Bills don't agree, nor do the pundits, nor does anybody but the few folks on here who have picked this guy as a scapegoat from early on because they don't like his style of play. Um, yeah, I guess we can indeed say that that is what my post says to you. I find it hard to imagine anyone taking what I said to mean that nobody has ever been overpaid. But you have a history of what I consider to be pretty wacky takes and this appears to be another one. So, fair enough, this is indeed what it says to you.

Well, I'm no expert. But clearly the Bills GM thinks he's worth $12.716M totally guaranteed for next year, in a year when they do not have a lot of money lying around. I'm guessing somewhere between $13M and $15M. Maybe a hometown discount, maybe he goes elsewhere and gets quite a bit more. Spotrac has him at $14.0M after seeing 3 years of him. Seems a reasonable guess so far. And in 2023 they have a ton of money available so far. Again, except for the first half of the year last year when he was injured, this has been a consistently very good to excellent defense he has been calling the signals for and playing in the middle of. And no, that's not an overpay based on what he does on the field. If they didn't think he was worth the $12.7M, they wouldn't have paid him. The pitchfork crowd here doesn't think he's worth it. The Bills do. So does nearly everyone else around the league. It was widely accepted that the Bills would be nuts not to pick up the option, everywhere but among a few nutsy Bills fans. It's early in the season to judge anything, but he's playing well and the defense as a whole is dominant. He's a part of that. We'll have to see what happens this year, but if results are as positive as they've been so far, I'd expect to see the Bills do their best to bring him back

Yup, he is indeed a top 10 - 12 MLB in the NFL. He very easily clears that bar. He's also a top 6 or 7 ILB in the NFL for nearly every pundit out there who's weighed in. Which is why he has made the Pro Bowl there two years in a row. You're right that his fit in this system does indeed make him a better player. Same with just about any player, of course, but it's certainly true. Look at how pedestrian Ray Lewis was the years in the middle of his career when they didn't have a great nose tackle in front of him. Then they drafted Ngata and all of a sudden he was all-world again. But again, yes, his fit here is indeed part of why Buffalo chose him and why he's so valuable to them. And as for not getting half what Leonard signed for, that is utterly laughable. Of course he will, barring injury. Leonard is getting $19.7M per year. Care to bet Edmunds doesn't get $9.85M per year in his next contract? Loser sends a certified check/money order for $100 to the Patricia Allen Fund at Oishei Hospital, through one of the mods who volunteers to verify the transaction? Schobert makes more than that, at $10.75M/year and barring injury Edmunds will make far more than that as well.

Nonsense. He'll get paid what he deserves, perhaps a bit more if he goes elsewhere. After that you just don't know. And he doesn't have to improves drastically. He's already damn good. He does need to get better - McDermott would argue that's true of every Bill, and I agree - but as long as he improves significantly, which is far from unlikely in his fourth year and in a defense that's kicking ass around him.

Yet. That could extend into ever but it's too early to know.

So, you're saying he's missed a game? Wow, that's really shocking. I know no other players miss a game, so we should really be deeply concerned about this. Also critical and hateful. I personally am sharpening the tines of my pitchfork as I write.

Too early to mean much. Still, good for Milano.

Nope. Not buying this at all.

He hasn't played poorly yet. He certainly hasn't played up to his last year's standard, but he also has not played poorly, he just hasn't. If he did play poorly this game? It's always a bit concerning when there's a game like that, but no long-term concerns over one game against an excellent defense, no.

I hope not. Before the shoulder injuries, Pennington looked like he was rounding into hall of fame form. His first year he only had 5 attempts. His second year, only 20. His first year as a consistent starter, he had a passer rating of 104, back when that was top two or three in the league. I'd just say that a bunch of that YAC is coming because he's hitting guys in stride and putting them in position to run. He's accurate as hell.

But again, that schedule they played that year was really really easy. Our division's schedules that year were really lucky. Easy enough to make the Dolphins look really good, winning eleven games when the year before they won one and the year after they went 7-9. Yes, some of that was the wildcat, but a lot more was the schedule. Jones is pretty athletic, and can throw long with accuracy, as he showed at Alabama. Yeah, I'm a little worried, but I always am till guys show they're just not good enough over time.

It's a bit weird to call a team that scored 35 points in a "slump." 685 yards over two games against PIttsburgh and Miami. It really is. Perhaps, "not hitting on all cylinders." Or "not playing at peak efficiency." Something along those lines. Again, these are two terrific defenses we played, and they're doing their best to take away chunk plays. We're still putting up a few, and moving the ball. They can do better. They could get more efficient and smoother. But it was easier last year, as teams didn't have video. This year opponents've spent the offseason poring over it. If they can get the passing game going as consistently as they probably can, they can force teams to play up further. I suspect at that point the chunk plays will start to happen more consistently again in the passing game.

I would argue that says more about your memory and what you are looking for than it does about his performance. One comes immediately to mind. On the play when he stoned the guy at the goal line on third and goal last year, he absolutely imposed his will. Most times when he makes a tackle, really. The ball carrier would rather stay up. Tremaine tackles him. What you and many others seem to want is the train wreck Brandon Spikes or Dick Butkus kind of play. That's not the kind of player he is. And there really aren't many more Brandon Spikes / Dick Butkus players in the NFL anymore. The league has changed. McDermott wants a guy with speed, height and length in the middle. He doesn't need a guy to blow people up. He need someone to make tackles, to go sideline to sideline, to be very strong in pass coverage and Tremaine does that.

No. One win counts as much as another. They in no way took that Pittsburgh game for granted enough to do anything deliberately that might have hurt their chances. Just matchups, tactics, play-calling and how they performed on the day.

Their defense may well still be one of the best in the league. Derek Carr and the Raiders have come out on fire this year, and as stated above, they had a few guys missing against Vegas. And they destroyed our OL in that game. Allen had no time. This week he had some time but the Fins secondary played really well. Allen has been mediocre, far from very bad. It's just that last year's Allen was so very good. And best guess this early is that those were two good defenses we played. Bottom line is that we'll have to see if he gets his rhythm or not. Too early to say very much.

You don't think the Baltimore, Kansas City, Pittsburgh and Miami defenses had anything to do with this? Those were last year's #2, #3, #6 and #11 defenses. This year's opponents were #3 and #6. That's a very high level pair we've faced so far this year. IMO the answers are simple, but not easy, to steal from Marv. Stop killing yourself with penalties. Figure out how to adapt to what they're doing to us. Play with discipline and attention to detail.

It's not, because he hasn't played all that bad. He's been fairly mediocre. And what's rare is that a guy this quickly becomes the kind of QB in three years that people call him a "top level" QB and are surprised when he doesn't play great in two playoff games against very good defenses in January and two games to start the season the next year. During those four games he's thrown 5 TDs and 1 INT, thrown for more than 250 YPG and put up a passer rating of 81.25. Just for comparison, in the first four games of Tom Brady's fourth year, he managed 5 TDs, 7 INTs, 848 yards, for a passer rating of 70.85. And I find it weird for you to say the offense played like ***** today. They did not. They just didn't. They weren't great, but they were solid at least.

Seems pretty weird to me. I feel terrific. The offense isn't hitting on all cylinders, but they're certainly still playing very solid, and the D is taking up the slack. I feel terrific. Maybe after a few days I'll feel a bit less thrilled.

Nice! Thanks.

We might easily be elite right now. We were in 2019 with Edmunds.

Non Oh, please. This defense is playing extremely well, and he's part of it. In seasons when he's not injured, he has graded out very well in coverage. He does make a good scapegoat, though. Maybe next you could complain about Star or Oliver. They're the other two that people desperate to attack somebody generally target. He's still got some things to prove, but you're way off.

And he could also return kicks, because he's obviously a good runner and he could throw laterals across the field hard and fast. Yeah, we're really onto something here. Maybe even play some linebacker.

Any team losing its #1 is going to take a major hit. But no, mediocre is absolutely overstating it. Even without Diggs our group is strong. Sanders, Beasley and Davis is a good trio. Kumerow is solid for a #4. Take away everyone's top #1 and this group would be top ten in what's left. Probably well inside it. It's true they don't have a lot of pure speed there, but they have gone with great route-running in the belief it fits Allen's skillset. They've still got that with this group. Allen would be just fine throwing to them.