billsfan89

McD didn’t outright say Milano was not coming back (I think his exact words were “doesn’t look good”) but yeah given that the average recovery time for players with the same injury who have surgery is 8 months it was always a long shot for Milano. Banged up Bills had a good write up about it. Banged up Bills basically said that only 2 players who had the same surgery for the same injury came back before the 6 month mark (those players took about 10 weeks) but those were extreme outliers. So it was always a long shot for Milano unfortunately I like a safety who plays better in coverage, I think while run support for a safety is valuable I think that run support is more so the job of the front 6-7 and slot corner. Whereas a lot of big plays in the passing game can be let up with poor coverage.

Agreed, Star was supposed to be the big time anchor to the middle of the defense who could have some pass rush upside. The only time Star really to me played up to his massive deal was in the back half of 2019. For whatever reason he played well the last 6-7 games of the regular season and the lone playoff game. The run defense was much improved and he was pushing the pocket a bit. But Star opted out during the 2020 season and then came back to play in 2021 and was mediocre again.

San Diego to LA is a three hour or so drive with some traffic. But it takes about 45 minutes to an hour to get out of lots in and around SoFi stadium. So that’s likely 8 how’s hours worth of driving for a game if you live in San Diego. 99% of fans just aren’t doing that. So the Chargers pretty much lost their old fanbase (in terms of live attendance) and the market they moved to cares more about the Rams who have more history in the market and have been more successful on field. And even the Rams are still struggling a bit to gain traction. They should have never left San Diego. I know San Diego wasn’t willing to build a new stadium but they probably could have worked out a deal with the city (similar to what Seattle did with their new hockey/basketball arena) where they could have stayed and gotten the renovations to the stadium they needed

In addition to the obvious upgrades at guard the complete turn around of Brown has massively helped. Brown was one of the worst tackles in the league last year. This season after a shaky start he has become a good RT. Dawkins has also turned in a much better season. Mitch has also been Mitch and that’s a good thing in terms of quality of play.

I think Von has looked better since the bye but he still is far from where he needs to be, if/when the Bills make the playoffs the first game would be mid-January which would give Von 2.5 more weeks may or may not make a difference but it still is possible he can continue to make strides and at the very least be a player worthy of rotational snaps.

Typical late season blowout. The Jets have just about packed it in for the season. Their defense pretty much knows that if they get down by two scores it is just about done. As good as their defense can be it is just not great enough to overcome complete incompetence at the QB position and a banged up offensive line. The Jets will have some pieces once Rodgers comes back next season. Hall is a great RB and Wilson a really good WR. They have some pieces but they got to get their offensive line sorted. The Browns much like the Bills are getting hot at the right time. Flacco is giving them just enough at QB and they have the defense and supporting pieces playing at an elite level.

Miller did have 5 sacks in 8 games for the Rams in 2021. That's a 10 sack year in the 16 game season pace. So Von was still productive for the Rams in the regular season. Von of course came alive in the playoffs where he had a sack in each of their first two playoff games plus a pair of sacks in the Super Bowl. My hope is that the rust continues to fall off and that hopefully during a deep playoff run he is able to just make a few plays, I think having a two time champion and a SB MVP on the roster still has a lot of value.

Glad they never had to use him because Spencer Brown has not only stayed healthy but also played really well. But I still hope they are able to sneak him back on the PS. Unlikely as the state of play in the NFL of offensive lines is so bad that some team is likely to want to pick him up for depth.

And Joseph is still there eating blocks up the middle, so the defense will be much more stout up the middle.

A lot of these coaches and GM’s are also going to have to either defend their current jobs or try to get other jobs. So trying to scratch out a couple more wins to frame the season a bit better is also a part of the equation. For example if the Giants win their last two games they finish the season at 7-10 and the narrative that Daboll can spin is that his team fought hard and despite the insane injuries they still won 7 games. A lot of these coaches and executives are thinking ahead and trying to get their resumes a little more polish.

Bills just got to worry about beating the Pats and see what shakes out…

Wilson is so freaking odd, he put in a fairly good season this past year despite the slow start they got back into it. It would be far easier for the Broncos to cut him after next season and they could simply draft a QB and give Russ the opportunity to start next season and then cut him in 2025 or 2026 when it would be easier to cut him cap wise.

Nice to see them getting more players back healthy for the stretch run. Elam is depth much better to have a healthy version of him as opposed to Josh Norman on the bench in case of injury.

Von is the reason that Floyd signed with this team on a friendly deal and he was playing lights out before the injury last season. So even though I don’t like Von’s deal long term it isn’t like he isn’t impacting the team in other ways.

Yes, he is only just over a year removed from serious injury and he has looked a little better the past 3 weeks. I don't think he will make much of an impact this season even if the Bills make the playoffs BUT the fact that he was a big part in convincing Floyd to come here on a team-friendly deal alone gives him a pass for this season as without Floyd the Bills defense would have been in more trouble.

I think Groot has been a good pick, his stats aren’t eye popping but they aren’t bad either. I think if he got more snaps he would easily have been a 10 sack a year player this and last season and he is really good against the run. Much like Ed I think he will have his breakout but until then he is still a quality starting caliber DE.

The top 4 candidates should be CmC Lamar Josh Allen Tyreke Hill The 5th spot gets tricky, some of the other top QB’s would be Dak, Tua, Purdy and an honorable mention to Geoff. As far as skill position players Lamb from Dallas would be who I would also put in the mix. I think I would put Dak in as the 5th spot. He has the Cowboys in a solid spot and unlike Tua and Purdy he doesn’t have a legit top 4 MVP candidate as an offensive weapon.

I am cautiously optimistic about this game. Last week against the Chargers was a complete trap for various factors involving the Chargers (coaching change, mini-bye, one day shorter week for the Bills with long travel and the Chargers coming off an embarrassing performance) the Bills despite being on the wrong side of a three to zero turnover margin got the win. This week the Bills are at home with an extra days rest playing a team with one less day off. I think the Bills will be extra motivated to possibly enter the playoffs with a win and will get a 2-4 score victory They aren’t completely off (although their recency bias with Zappe is just fan bluster) as if the Pats can focus on shutting down Cook they may be able to frustrate the Bills. However I think the offense is not only better designed now that Joe Brady has taken over but there are a lot of places where Josh can throw the ball to that isn’t Diggs. Kincaid, Shakir, Knox and Gabe are all viable complementary pieces as are the RB’s out the backfield. If the Bills can go up two scores early and force the Pats to be one dimensional look out as it could get ugly.

When Jones went down they plugged Ford into the one tech spot and he was a complete non-factor. The Bills for several games after the Jones injury were getting gashed badly up the middle with Ford attempting to be the team's primary run stuffer. It got to the point where McBeane wisely brought in Joseph to stop the bleeding and Ford was made inactive. Ford was also given some rotational snaps in the first few games of the season and was not good so he became inactive. So I completely understood why Ford was made inactive once Joseph was brought in. But I will say this, Ford did have a nice game against the Chargers. So maybe, he just need a little more time to work out his injury or whatever the heck has caused him to have back-to-back down years (his last year in Seattle in 2022 he was less effective and thus far until the Chargers game this season he was a non-factor). I know the Bills only carry 4 DT's so once Jones comes back and is ready to take rotational snaps the Bills will have to decide on if they should make Ford or Settle inactive. Honestly, while I think Settle has been a decent rotational DT, I would rather give Ford the rotational snaps just to see if he is truly there. But if Jones doesn't come back for the Pats game (which is very possible) then both Ford and Settle will be active and I say give the snaps to whomever is playing better.

Shaq Lawson after 2019 is the comparison and I think he will get a deal about the same size (as a percentage of the cap) but maybe with more guaranteed money. I am honestly fine with letting him walk unless he takes a hometown deal that pays him well but maybe is a bit smaller than some other team is willing to pay him. I would rather keep the money to keep Groot down the line who I think is the better player. It would be very nice to keep AJE but I think the market for him is just going to be big enough that the Bills won't be able to compete reasonably. My DE rotations for 2024 if the Bills cannot retain AJE would be to attempt to resign Floyd and Shaq while drafting a DE high to pair up with Groot and Von. The Bills if AJE is gone will only have Von and Groot on the roster and even if they bring back Floyd and Shaq those guys are older. The Bills will need to restock the DE position with a younger player. If AJE is retained then I think you run it back with what you have but maybe add a mid to late round pick to develop.

My hope is Jones comes back for the Pats game so that he can “knock off” the rust in some rotational snaps and then hopefully be close to 100% against the Fins. AJE and Hyde would also be big returns to the defense hopefully they can get them running by the Fins game. Ty Johnson would also be a good addition for the offense to get him back by the Pats game. Shorter is maybe a Special Teams add but I don’t think he is consequential. Phillips we all know is out until the playoffs. Elam I hope will come back as depth but it is not that dramatically consequential. Harris is also inconsequential as he has been replaced by Johnson and Fournette. Overall considering where this team was injury wise it isn’t in terrible shape. Just have to get a few key players back and rolling.

Of the one game to not go the Bills way I think the Dallas one was the one I would pick. I think the Fins won’t get it done in Baltimore next week.

Amazing, just have to hope things break the Bills way!

I said so in the pregame thread that I felt nervous about the game for those reasons. When the Bills were down 10-0 I felt like my suspicion was proving to be true. Of course back up 14-10 at the half I figured a “pull away” would occur but the Chargers hung tough and the Bills got the last drive they needed in the near exact amount of time they needed it to take up. This isn’t college football they just count the wins in the NFL.

I don’t know why it’s hard for the doom and gloomers to admit that the Chargers game was not the cakewalk some expected for legitimate reasons involving the Chargers and not necessarily that the Bills played completely down to their competition? 1- The Chargers changed their coach, after an in season coaching change teams always get a bounce off of that. 2- The Chargers were embarrassed completely on national TV the previous week. Adding more motivation to come out and play hard. 3- The Chargers had a “mini bye” having 3 extra days off. 4- The Chargers were home and the Bills had to fly across country on a one day shorter game week. All 4 factors made this game a lot harder than many were expecting. And despite the -3 turnover ratio the Bills came up with a win and did so without putting too much pressure on the defense in the last drive (handed the ball over to the Chargers up 2 no timeouts and just 28 seconds left). An Away game against an NFL team is never “easy” and yes had the Bills not turned the ball over 3 times they probably would have won by 2 scores at least. But fumbles are a bit of luck and the Bills didn’t get the bounces on that. It happens the Bills won and they did so by no means of luck or being bailed out by the refs.