thurst44

That's a bit of a hot take. He was the best of times, he was the blurst of times, basically. He had some breathtaking punts and was one of the best at landing his punts within the 20. He also shanked some to an embarrassing degree -- in some cases, this happened back-to-back (pretty sure the first two punts of the Ravens game played out that way). Seriously, I'd be texting a friend -- "see, that's why they keep Bojorquez" and within ten minutes he'd hit one off the side of his foot and we'd be defending within our own territory and I'd look foolish. We'll see, or maybe we won't. While we clearly know Vedvik was a disaster as a placekicker, but he had some upside as a punter at one point. At least Bojorquez is being pushed this off-season.

Oy, really?! Or, as is more likely, Allen and Darnold (as young quarterbacks with promise) are young QBs on the rise. I agree that the AFC East at start is probably the lowest on QBs going into the season. But you're acting like quarterbacks' QBR never improves, just ask Lamar Jackson and his 46.3 or whatever Drew Brees' would have been in his second and third seasons (not calculated, but his Rating was 9 and 19 pts worse than Allen's in 2019, so can't imagine it could be much better). And there's a lot of examples. By the way, according to ESPN, Allen was 24th -- not great, but again SECOND YEAR, same for Darnold. Also, this acts as if the fact Allen can beat you with his legs and had as many rushing TDs as the #2 picked-RB last year. It's funny how the league's QB-style has evolved, but our notions of measuring them hasn't. Allen had two more rushing TDs than the league MVP who is known for his rushing skills. Allen could still go either the Trubisky way or the Brees way, but to act like he (or Darnold for that matter, and I know what I have said here about Darnold) is clearly destined for a career of mediocrity does not hold water. They both have high ceilings and have shown progress (Allen IMO more than Darnold) -- including being better in the last 10+ games of the last season. But, have fun with your "Let's Bash Our QB Who Just Led Us To A 10-6 Record And The Playoffs In His Second Year" Party. I feel he's already proven me wrong that he should not have been the pick in 2018 (in fairness, i fell behind him shortly after he was drafted).

They lost a lot of key players on that #1 defense as well (Van Noy, Collins, etc.). I agree we're being premature in declaring the Patriots dead-in-the-water, but there are reasons to believe they won't be as good, but given the last few years, even as positive as I tend to be, I would not be shocked if they beat us both times this year and were still a decent team. I also would not be surprised if after playing them very close both times last year, the dam burst and our up arrow team destroys their down arrow team twice.

Sorry, but, yes, based on the recent history of rookie QBs, especially one coming off an injury, yes, presuming he will be better than an average QB is ridiculous. This should not even be a debate. And, I'm sorry, but, no, 22 TDs to 3 INT in last three quarters of second year is not "proven himself to be an average starting QB... at best" He's got flaws, but there would be similar reason to believe his arrow is pointed upwards, so if you're going to presume for Tua, who has not taken one snap in the NFL yet, I'm sorry, but you have to do the same for Josh Allen who has looked better as time goes by. Why we go so out of our way to diminish our own players is beyond me sometimes. I'm not saying Josh Allen is Top Ten right now, just that he's maybe earned enough respect to be considered better than a raw rookie before he comes in the league.

Ranking a QB who led his team to the playoffs and had 22 TDs and 3 INTs in the last 13 games should rank behind a QB who was injury prone in college and has not played a down in the NFL is reasonable? Well, you have a right to YO.

I may be wrong, but I think you are waaaaay far away from what the team thinks of those players. I'd be surprised if at least one of them was not extended this off-season.

Who himself was no Ethan Albright, but probably better than Jon Dorenbos at everything but magic. I dunno, made me laugh.

Barnett was solid as a Bill, but given how heartily he embraced the city and the fanbase, would have loved if he had been able to play longer as a Bill. I hadn't realized (or had forgotten) that he was already around 30 when he got there. Always liked him for no particular reason from fantasy football and when he was cut (if memory serves, he was post-FA release, but memory does not always serve me ideally), I was eager for Bills to sign him, and so happy when they did.

It's a fair point, but for the record, I could really use the distraction of football, plus this being the season football is not played would be such a Bills thing. Also, I'd really love to go to a game, either near me when they come to play the Jets, or going up to Buffalo to meet up with old friends. That being said, I want them to go as slow as they have to in order to ensure safety. The Spanish flu flared up when people thought they were in the clear too fast and much of the resurgence can be tracked to one parade in Philadelphia. There's precedent for playing during a Pandemic, yes, but if you want to look at one of the bad outcomes, look at the 1919 Stanley Cup, where the flu ravaged the Montreal Canadiens, killing player Joe Hall 4 days after they canceled the deciding game, and manager George Kennedy two years later after never he never truly recovered, ending the year with no champion declared.

And interestingly, the Poyer extension may be the best example of why most of us fans are atypically hopeful right now. There's a very clear (appearance at least) of a plan, and of players who want to be there (although Spain is a great example of that too).

How is Darnold definitively the better passer? If you extrapolated his numbers to 16 games, you'd have Darnold with a couple more TDs, but about twice as many INTs. Allen has a slightly higher rating, and both fumble a lot. Darnold's completion rate is slightly higher, but that's not the only metric there is. The eye test is subjective, but I'm in NYC and see a lot of Darnold and he clearly does not have the leadership of Allen yet -- he probably will, but he just had a rocky season. Darnold has a lot of potential, but has not quite put it together yet. My sense is he's more likely to have a very good season than a bad season, but he also has far fewer receivers than Allen. Allen's slightly closer. Both showed improvement over the course of the season. Ha, I saw this on Twitter earlier today and the thread was full of Jets fans making fun of this post.

I know it's a joke, but Gov Murphy will probably just do whatever Cuomo does -- that's been his M.O. so far. (and i'm fine with it)

This sucks. Fwiw, Bills greatest defensive player of all time was suspended for cocaine (if memory serves) and that was a few years into his career, and still had a HoF career with team. Hopefully this is a blip/wake up call for Oliver.

This is why I'm so excited about this team's defense in 2020. Every time I try to remember everyone who is on the D-line, I get excited by the talent, but every time, a few minutes later, I think "oh, right, I forgot we got Addison" or "man, and what about Quinton Jefferson. he could have a breakout year." I never fail to forget at least one player. It's fun to have such abundance on this team.

Yes, let's just take one statistic and say that that's definitive. That's just as, if not more, insane. Also, let's just pretend he doesn't make things happen with his legs to the tune of as many rushing TDs as some of the best running backs over the last two years. Look, I'm not saying he's a sure thing, by any means or does not need to improve. But to act like he hasn't started to improve (17 TDs plus 6 rushing TDs and a receiving TD against 3 INTs in his last 13 games is pretty damn impressive) is a problem. Right now, I'd aver he is at a tipping point. Does he go in the Trubisky/Mariota/Bortles direction (all of whom were top 10 picks and had a run that inspired confidence, but I don't think anyone ever believed they had as high a ceiling as Allen) or does he go in the direction of, say, Brees or others who took a couple years to reach potential, but got there. Check out Drew's second full season stats (and that completion pct). I like Josh's chances given his attitude, leadership ability, intelligence both on and off field, work ethic, and the fact that he's already shown improvement in one part of his game that was supposed to be his weakness (short passing accuracy) -- not to mention the fact he'll be playing behind an intact line with two young promising RBs and one of the best WR corps. Finally, why get so up in arms for people actually having hope for their team after a 10-6 season with a young team filled with promising players -- especially during such a depressing time.

Given that they are 47 & 57 years old, I'd have to agree.

I had been considering dropping it before COVID due to finances, but now am likely to renew. I'm in the NYC metro and was in the hospital in 2017 for over a week with serious lung issues (they were debating a ventilator at one point, but thankfully took an upturn) so unless something changes big time, I'm not going to chance going into the city to watch the games at a bar, and I don't like to miss any games. Plus, while I used to be a Bills fan more than a football fan, I've become more interested in the league at large lately.

If people are filling the hospitals and dying in the streets, that's not exactly great for the economy either. You don't get to pick and choose with this virus. It is happening. If you have a business near a shore as a tsunami was about to hit, you get to higher ground. You can say, "well, I don't want to lose business so I'm staying here" all you want, but that won't make you any less dead and your business any less defunct when the waves hit.

That's the point though. Playing for the Bills, he... has... not... sucked. But I'll just believe my eyes. I just don't like it when a player has a rep, performs well, but people still lazily go with the reps. You honestly think he's worse than those guys I mentioned even though he has played better than them as a Bill.

I'm never gonna get the Barkley hate here (although i'm relieved that it's not going the other way and no one's calling for him to start -- as much as i loved reich, that got old fast). Yes, he's never been great in the NFL, but as a Bill, he's started one game, on the road, against a defense that was having a good year up to that point and put up 41 pts and a 117.4 rtg. He wasn't great in his two games last year, but one was coming in cold against a defense that was having one of the better first halves in NFL history (and frankly, his numbers were comparable to Allen's in that game) and a mop-up meaningless game for us that the other team was trying to win. He's certainly replaceable, but hardly a concern or terrible and I definitely prefer him to A.J. McCarron, Ryan Finley, Jeff Driscoll or Joshua friggin' Dobbs (smart guy, mediocre quarterback).

One, this doesn't affect that. Two, we have at least two back-ups at RT who have starting experience in the NFL, including one who was very recently an All Pro (and his three career penalties may be one of my favorite stats ever). That being said: I love what they seem to be doing in trying to keep consistency on a line of relatively young starters. Ideally, Ford-Feliciano-Morse-Spain-Dawkins works out and benefits from being in their second year working as a unit.

It's fair. But arguably that's also numbers one and two in the whole league -- depending on how Wallace plays, if Norman has a '15-style renaissance, Gaines fits in like he did a few years ago, and/or Taron Johnson stays healthy.

Don't get me wrong; I love Hughes -- he was a great acquisition and I want him in Buffalo if we have a SB run, and getting his finishing move back in the playoff game might be a good omen. It's just a weird feeling I have that with all the potential 8-12 sack level rushers and Beane's ability to get higher draft picks than one would suspect, that they might consider him expendable. I hope I'm wrong. Again, I also have a bit of a suspicion that they will keep an absurd number of defensive linemen.

Maybe, especially if they need money. However, I would not be surprised if he's more of a lock than people think. Re-watching the season: he was a beast in the last few games. I'd almost suggest Hughes might be on the block if they could get a decent return for him. However, I could also see them keeping 9, or even 10 players technically designated as defensive line and doing a ton of rotating and mixing up formations.

I'd also have to say 1999/2000 is one of them. The way the feel-good season crash landed into the mess with whole Flutie/Johnson divisive nonsense. It stung extra as I had been a Flutie fan since I was a kid and saw the Hail Mary pass and was so overjoyed he had not only come to the Bills but was winning with them, and did not care for Rob Johnson's blase attitude from the beginning. Even if I liked Johnson and hated Flutie, the move would have rubbed me the wrong way, because it just seemed all kinds of football wrong (never be fooled by a game against competition that's not trying). The last thing I want to do is open up that Pandora's Box, but that was my perspective and why it was an especially rough season from my perspective. Then a few weeks later was the cuts of the last remnants of the glory years and it was just salt in the wounds. Also, 2011: I just remember being in a bar in NY's Port Authority the day after the third of their three straight post-5-2 start blowouts, meeting up with a friend who couldn't care less about football. Before my friend arrived, I sat there musing about how it always falls apart for the Bills but had a bit of a joyful epiphany while thinking at least we can follow Fred Jackson's historic season as he was on pace for 1700 yards and well over 2000 from scrimmage at the age of 30 and what a fun underdog story that it was that an undrafted running back who had been through every other minor football league, after a couple training camps, caught on with the Bills and now was one of the best players in the league. What an amazing story. That will at least give this season some purpose. Then a few moments after my friend came in, I looked up at a TV screen tuned to ESPN and "Fred Jackson out for season" came across the crawl, and I just shook my head "Bleep football!"