st pete gogolak

Not sure what you mean but I’m a firm believer in innocent until proven guilty.

Please see post from BillsFanForever19 above. Couldn’t put it any better than that. I’ll say it for the third time. There was ZERO chance Bills were keeping Azaria after the allegations came out. And I say that as someone who was very disappointed that it turned out that way. What was the one preseason punt? 82 yards? Kid could have been a valuable weapon for us but it was not to be, cherie.

Tried to do this from memory. If it was consensual, what theory was her attorney pushing? Was she drunk? In any event, a 22 year old having sex with a 17 year old isn’t a great look. I’ll repeat. No way the Bills were going to do anything other than cut him after the allegations came out.

There was ZERO chance Bills were doing anything other than cutting him once the allegations were made. Remember the allegations? Having non consensual sex with a minor? Remember the Bills were consensus favorites to win the Super Bowl going into that year. There was again zero chance of keeping him on the roster and have the daily distractions stemming from having an accused rapist on the team. Was it fair? Of course not. Is it insane that he signed with our arch rival? Of course it is. But it’s the Bills. Another brick in the wall.

Now you’re just making stuff up. New England played mediocre during the regular season and “turning it up” post season? Pal, you came to the wrong forum to peddle that. We watched twenty years of NE pound, not only us, but the whole AFC East during the regular season. Pounded pretty much everyone in the league during the regular season. Maybe they had an off game against KC once but they absolutely did not coast during the regular season. I figured someone would make the pitch that Mahomes “turned it up a notch” in the playoffs. Like game against Ravens (17 points) or regulation against the 49ers (one TD in regulation on a short field)? Look, Mahomes is great. Certainly one of the all time greats. No one is disputing that. The point I’m trying to make is that the Bills defense in the playoffs against KC and the Bengals has been very, very bad. Mahomes and Burrow didn’t have to play Superman in any of those games to come out winners. Proof? Look no further than 13 seconds. Possibly the worst coaching job in the history of the NFL (not exaggerating). First play was a dump off to Hill that literally every QB in the league would have completed. Next play was a seam pass to a wide open Kelce. Nothing extraordinary. Contrast that with Bengals second half D in AFC title game that they won. Brilliant strategy brilliantly executed. Not sure why any of this is up for argument.

Is this supposed to refute my post? Not sure I'm following. Is your point that Bills' D plays really well in the regular season and really well in the post-season against everyone except Mahomes? My point is that the D plays poorly in the post-season in general (except for one game) and especially poorly against the Chiefs. Second point is that Bills D against Chiefs in regular season is pretty decent and in the post-season mind-numbingly bad. Not sure how you can refute that given the regular and post-season stats.

Your entire premise falls apart when you look at the regular season games between Allen and Mahomes: 2020 - Bills D gives up 27 points and 6.4 YPP (2020 Chiefs were CLEARLY superior team - I thought McDermott’s strategy of letting the Chiefs run all over us but don’t let Mahomes beat us was interesting); 2021 - 20 and 5.0; 2022 - 20 and 6.3; 2023 - 17 and 5.6. So what’s your argument? Regular season games are meaningless? Mahomes doesn’t try very hard in regular season games (he sure was crying after this year’s loss)? Injuries? Chiefs didn’t have Pacheco in regular season loss. Bills’ D injuries killed them in the post-season. Or maybe Reid seriously out coaches McDermott in the post-season? Bills’ D has been the team’s Achilles heel in the last four postseason losses (D was awful in loss to Bengals). It hasn’t been terribly good in the wins - giving up over 6 yards per play to Old Man Rivers, beating Thompson and Rudolf (hooray!). The ONE great postseason game from the D was against Jackson. Bills have defended well against him every time we have a played him.

Oliver! Agenda, much?

Many experts were praising Anderson’s physical play in the preseason. If Morse is cut, I think they will give Anderson a shot at starting center.

The link in this thread. Certainly I can be misinterpreting it because $5 million for Jones seems absurd.

Thanks for starting this thread. Went to look at KC’s cap situation. Some crazy stuff there (if I’m reading it right). J. Taylor and Thuney making $10 million more than Kelce (who basically makes the same as Knox - LOL). The biggest thing that jumps out is how the #### did KC get Chris Jones to play for $5 million this season??? He should fire his agent immediately.

Really hate the doom and gloom window is closed BS. Is there a Bills FA you would cry over losing in free agency? Maybe D. Jones. Who else? How successful have the Bills been in signing impact FA’s? After 2024 we can dump Diggs and Miller if that is the right play. Chiefs are under the cap but Chris Jones, Sneed and Gay are FA’s either they sign these guys and there goes their cap or they try to win a SB without one or all of them. Personally, I believe no Chris Jones, no SB for the Chiefs.

I know I shouldn’t get upset by this stuff but Get Up had a segment this morning: which QB will win their first Super Bowl next? Greenberg had his five ranked (5) Herbert; (4) Jackson; (3) Burrow; (2) Purdy; and (1) Love. Why NFC QB’s # 1 and 2? AFC QB’s can’t get by Mahones, maybe an NFC QB will get there and then luck out to a win. The three other panelists had Burrow as their pick. Why? Only Burrow has the mental strength to look across the field at Mahones and say to himself, “ I’m going to win this game”. Paraphrasing but you get the point. How about Allen? This year was his best chance and he couldn’t get it done (said the same about Jackson). Honestly, I’m thinking of switching to being a fan of the Premier League for a couple of years. This stuff is going to be unbearable.8

What are the cap ramifications of an injury settlement?

In looking at the numbers, it appears that it is more terrible luck than gross mismanagement. $30 million for White, Miller and Milano. White signed his contract in his prime when he was one of the very best corners in the league. Nobody’s complaining about Milano’s contract. Yes, Miller was a significant gamble but if he didn’t tear his ACL, I doubt anyone is complaining about it. If all three are 100% healthy, we probably win the SB. But they weren’t and we didn’t. If Greenlaw doesn’t tear his Achilles walking on the field (!), maybe SF beats KC. Nobody wants to admit it but luck does indeed play a big part in all of this.

The problem with this is that if it’s not the SuperBowl or even conference championship, do you really want your team to play a game and a half (or more) and then play another game a week later? I know that they have different rules for regular season OT and playoffs but I assume you at least want a uniform OT rule throughout the playoffs.

I’ll put it this way. If RT was a priority going into 2023, it’s not anymore. I’m a fan and hope he sticks around.

I always thought soccer was weird in not having sudden death when teams go into overtime (sometimes they do - a golden goal, sometimes they don’t). A team gives up a goal and then has a chance to tie or win and it goes to more overtime or penalty kicks (which is an awful way to end a match). Maybe that would be the “fairest” way to go in NFL playoffs - 15 minute overtime. If the game is tied at that point, then moves to sudden death.

Interesting to take a quick look at kicker salaries. Tucker makes $6 million, Bass $5, Butker and Elliot $4. A few mediocre kickers make more than Bass. The real deal is the rookie on Dallas who makes 55 yarders like they are extra points. He makes less than $1. 30 years ago, Jimmy Johnson said that kickers are fungible. Not sure if that is true anymore. These days, you better have someone who you are comfortable putting out there to make 50+ yarders. If you do, you pay him. If you don’t, you don’t ( or shouldn’t).

Are the Chiefs better than the Bills? Clearly yes. It’s silly to argue otherwise. Three time SB champion; 3 - 0 v. Bills in playoffs, etc. What grinds my gears are the several posters who talk about the huge chasm between the two teams. One talked about how the Chiefs are a lock to dominate the next ten years (10 years!). Two arguments there, one looking backward and one forward. Backward. The Bills have played 7 games against the Chiefs the last four years (5 in their building). Record 3 - 4, points 183 - 190; yards over the last five games are essentially a push (1996 - 2038). We win turnover battle 11 - 4. I don’t see how anyone can argue there is some wide gulf between the two teams. I’m firmly convinced that if we don’t suffer the defensive injuries in the Miami and Pittsburgh games (forget about White and Milano), we comfortably beat KC in this year’s divisional round. How about looking forward? Chiefs have cap room, we don’t. But they may lose some combination of Jones, Sneed and Gay. Either that or there goes their cap space. Our offense comes back intact. There isn’t a FA on D I’d shed a tear losing (other than Jones). In fact, I think injecting a bunch of youth on the D will be a huge positive. No team has won three SB’s in a row. Injuries, complacency or just bad luck catches up to the best teams. I’m not going to be doom and gloom about our team. Not as long as Allen is healthy.

It’s been pointed out numerous times here that playoff failures over the last five years are invariably defensive failures (giving up an average of 33 PPG over the last four losses). So really the mystery comes down to why a defense that is typically a top performing regular season defense poops the bed in the postseason. I’m a believer that the bend but don’t break, soft zone defense needs to be revamped. Look to the Rams’ “Greatest Show on Turf” defenses. Super aggressive, built to play with a lead and cause turnovers. Not particularly a good defense. WE NEED TO CHANGE DEFENSIVE PHILOSOPHY! It’s been said many times, what is the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

Well done. What a ####show. It really is essential to have an owner who wants to win above all else (not that that guarantees winning). Just out of curiosity, took quick look at stats from SB 26 and 28 - 26 four INT’s and a lost fumble (six fumbles altogether!); 28 - two lost fumbles and one INT. So in three consecutive SB’s, the Bills turned the ball over 17 times! Average almost six turnovers per game. Incredible.

I think that may be the best pass Allen has thrown with the Bills. Laser.

Dealer’s choice.

My “Mahones Ball Washing Thread” should NOT have been merged into a Mahones v. Brady thread. Totally different topics. Could care less about comparisons between the two. My thread concerned the MEDIA. Specifically how the talking heads judge QB greatness upon the rings to the exclusion of pretty much everything else and give QB’s credit for championships to the exclusion of pretty much anyone else.