billsfan89

I don't get why the Confederacy is this thing of value for conservatives who claim to love the USA but then want proud public displays of people who were in open rebellion against the USA because they wanted to preserve the institution of slavery (yes the Civil War was about the states right of slavery, all the propaganda, transcribed speeches and Confederate declarations before and during the war all mention preserving the institution of slavery, it was only after the war these economic issues and "states rights" arguments were fashioned to make the South feel better.) Hating on the Confederacy should be something that units everyone left and right.

Would you blame Germany for tearing down statues of Nazi generals and placing them in museums? The Confederacy is literally a rebellion against the USA, why should they be memorialized? The analogue that removing statues from public spaces is akin to not teaching history makes no sense.

I guess my point was that had Russell Wilson not ended up being a top 5 QB the Seahawks would have quickly been a losing team after winning the Super Bowl in 2013. Their defense began to erode after the 2014 season when injuries, age, and free agency took their toll. They were still a good defense in 2015 but by 2016 the cracks started to show. Granted just as their defense and surrounding parts began to erode Wilson began to ascend. That's why I think the Bills window for sustained success beyond 2 seasons will be defined by continued good drafting and Josh improving.

If you could trade a 1st round pick for Justin Tucker would you do it? I honestly don't think trading a later 1st round pick for such a great kicker is all that bad an idea. Considering that usually 2-3 games a year come down to kicking having a guy you know is money 49 yards and in (along with consistently money on extra points) and has a high degree of success post 50 and can hit a 60+ yarder in the right conditions gives you a lot of value in a league where so many games are decided by single scores. The reason we don't see kickers in particular drafted in round one is mainly due to the position being hard to project into the pros. Kickers drafted high or in the mid-rounds are a crapshoot. If there was more certainty around the position and you had a high chance of getting a Justin Tucker type kicker by drafting one early you would see kickers go high fairly often. As far as a punter goes I wonder how good Guy was? I know his reputation and credentials were outstanding but how does his punting stand up to the modern era? Genuinely curious.

I find the Patriots under Billy B to be mostly conservative. They tend to play in a way that is super disciplined and philosophically designed to limit mistakes and capitalize on their opponents mistakes. Yes they take some chances here and there like any coach but overall I think they mostly play to force you to lose the game. Marty Schotenheimer was a coach who had a lot of regular season success playing a conservative type of game. Bill Cowher was also a very conservative coach who let his ground game and defense win a lot of games who won a lot and did win a Super Bowl. I think there are actually a lot of "great" conservative coaches. But we tend to attribute aggressiveness in coaching to winning when in the end selected moments of aggression are outliers as opposed to the coaches general nature.

A window for success in the NFL is usually about 2-3 seasons unless you have a great QB (and even then you will ebb and flow as the team has to adjust to paying a QB a lot of money.) Everyone thought that after 2013 the Seahawks were going to run off multiple Super Bowls and have this long window of success. After 2014 and that brutal loss in the Super Bowl to the Pats they went 4 straight years with 10 or less wins and not getting out of the divisional round. I think the Bills have a 2 maybe year window with Josh on his rookie deal to have a high degree of success. BUT if Josh can't develop into a top 10 QB this team will fall quickly under the weight of retaining talent and quickly find its self in a rebuild. A lot rides on how good Josh can be. Even the Seahawks recent success has post 2014 has been because Russell Wilson is the real deal at QB. Their defense up until this season has been far from elite in a long time.

I would rest the starters and take advantage of a defacto bye. But I think playing a half to keep everyone sharp isn't bad.

Might as well honestly no need to play anyone. After a long season it would be nice to get these guys rested into a road playoff game.

The defense travels but this is the playoffs. I still consider it a negative to be on the road.

The roster is good but beyond Josh's development and retaining the major 3 free agents (Phillips, Shaq and Spain, certainly have to keep 2 out of the 3) there does need to be some additions made to supplement the talent roster. Talent Additions in order of urgency. 1- A true WR threat opposite Brown and Beasley will set this offense to have enough firepower to more consistently move the ball against stronger defenses. I would say that given the strength of this draft at WR I would say this is probably the team’s top draft priority. 2- A Prime time edge rusher. Hughes is a solid player, Shaq is a quality player, and Murphy is barely above JAG level. The pass rush for this team tends to come from the middle as opposed to the edges. You need the ability to be able to generate pressure off all ends. Add a 10 sack a year edge rusher to this defense gives it that last piece it needs to have one of the best D-lines in the league. Given the market for DE’s will be decent this is probably the one big FA addition I would make. 3- A CB2 opposite White. This is probably the other large piece needed on defense and a starting caliber free agent add would be justified. White is a stud CB1, T.Johnson a quality slot corner, however Levi Wallace and Johnson are better suited as depth. This team could either dip into the Free agent market or spend a draft choice in round 2 or 3 to solidify this need. I think a mid-level free agency add would both be prudent and make sense given the CB market in free agency is solid. 4- A OLB to take over for Lorax. Given that Nickel is the base defense of the NFL OLB is not as huge of a positional need but there does need to be some sort of effort made to address this. Either a lower mid-level free agency signing or a draft selection in round 3-4. 5- A veteran Tight End. I love Knox but Sweeney is a depth player and Smith is a role player. I think they need to cut bait on Kroft and sign a vet tight end both to help out with depth and to take some pressure off of Knox. 6- A Between the tackles runner. I loved Gore in the beginning of the season but he is out of gas. A lower mid-level free agency add or a mid-round draft selection is a good way to address this need. 7- Quality Punting and Kicking competition. Bojo has been better as of late and so has Haush. But if this team has aspirations to have a longer run in the playoffs they need to push Haush and Bojo in camp with a quality kicker and punter. Kicking and punting are small facets of the game that can make a big difference. 8- Special Teams? This is super picky but could this team add 1-2 special teams specialists? The Special teams this year has been OK beyond punting and kicking. Roberts has solidified the return game but if you want to compete at a high level you need the ability to have as complete a roster as possible. Adding 1-2 high end ST players could be the difference between a mid-level unit and a top 10 unit. Overall needs 1-3 will require major resources. Needs 4-6 are more so depth needs that can be addressed on smaller contracts of in rounds 3-5 in the draft. Whereas need 7-8 are more so moves around the edges that don’t require too much in terms of resources.

The Texans defense is subpar and their offense while really good I think could be stopped by the Bills quality defense. I would give the Bills a slight edge in the matchup but I downgrade it to a coin toss due to the fact that it will be an away game.

Houston away is a coin toss. The big matchup everyone is going to talk about is the Bills top flight defense vs. Watson and the Houston offense. But the real question will be can the Bills offense move the ball on Houston's defense? I like our odds.

God dam that got me hyped.

Gase is a guy who will probably be known as a very good offensive coordinator but not someone who was able to hack it as a head coach. The Jets are in for a couple more years of mediocrity.

That's why the Pats just keep doing what they do. They are willing to risk a few million in fines and maybe losing some draft picks if they are able to game the system. But I do think that their reputation is probably their best weapon at this point. While I do think they do skirt the edges of the rules and sometimes outright break them there is a paranoia about the Pats exceeds what they actually do and ends up being a mind game that they aren't doing anything to accomplish.

I always felt like the Bill's coaches have never had the disciplined level of play to go along with a high talent level to compete with the Pats. This game will likely be a one possession game late and it is going to be that Parcells type game where it is the mistake that gives you the loss.

I agree completely, we tend to not generate pressure off the edge consistently. Phillips is the best pass rusher and he does it from the interior.. Hughes is a nice pass rusher if he has someone who can command a lot of attention opposite the other edge. Shaq is a good rotational player who adds value being stout against the run. Trent Murphy is either a JAG or just above replacement level as a rotational player. Johnson is a developmental player who is at this stage only should get limited snaps. This team does need a prime time edge rusher who can get 9-12 sacks a year and command a lot of double teams. The Bills in my opinion should make finding a big time edge rusher their only major 10+ million aav add to the roster in the off-season. Ngakoue would be the perfect add, resign Spain, Shaq, and Phillips while adding an edge rusher while extending Milano, Tre, and Dawkins would very possible given their cap situation and that they can add a WR in round 1.

I think Phillips is a must resign and I think Shaq you can justify a big contract for too. Although I would be more willing to have a limit as to what I would be willing to pay to keep Shaq (I think he is more of a rotational DE) but both would be a priority to keep. It would be great to keep Spain, Shaq, and Phillips while being able to sign another high end edge rusher.

Miami hasn't seemed to have given up on their coach and they seem to play hard. So anything is possible but I wouldn't give them much more than a 15% chance to win.

I don't think this team need 2 new WR's. Brown as a high end #2 and Beasley in the slot are good. I think they need one more starter, there might be a depth need but not sure they need to put major resources to add a 4th WR. As far as the ranking of this team's needs if they are able to resign Spain, Shaq, and Phillips I would put DE and WR as the top two needs. Now I think they can find a top DE in free agency (while still being able to retain the team's major free agents and sign other players to extensions.) I think then you can draft a WR in round 1 and a CB in round 2. Just my two cents.

The offense can only make marginal improvements at this point. Outside of Antonio Brown (Who won't be playing anytime soon) there aren't any free agents or players returning from injury who the Bills that will make an impact. There aren't any bench players (sorry Duke) that could be utilized much more significantly to make more than marginal improvements. The offense is what it is. It will move the ball a bit but it will also struggle at times. The offense has to play complementary to the good defensive effort. The offense will have to add a WR opposite Brown in the off-season and make other improvements after the season. Work around the offense the rest of the season.

I am starting to think that RT is less of an off-season need but that CB2 opposite White is becoming more of a need.

A WR opposite Brown and a front line edge rusher are the two biggest most glaring needs beyond resigning our own players. Besides maybe Amari Cooper I don't see any front line WR's on the market. However there are several edge rushers who could fit that Bill so to speak. I think that given that the team could have 100 million in cap space if they cut Kroft and Murphy (two players of marginal value) this team could both resign Shaq and Phillips, extend Milano, Dawkins and White while also adding a big contract and a mid-level sized contract (Might have to let Spain walk as something has to give.) But I really can see 2020 being a year where an already good team keeps its talent and adds the 2-3 key pieces they need to get over the hump. I trust Beane to add 1-2 pieces via the draft (along with depth) but I think they need to add one big frontline piece via free agency in order to complement what they do via the draft and what they already have on the roster.

Ngakoue would be the massive move I would make to add some talent to the team. I think against elite playoff teams this team has 3 big weaknesses. A WR opposite Brown that can command attention, A prime time pass rusher off the edge, and a corner opposite White. If they can retain Shaq and Phillips while adding a big time pass rusher like Ngakoue the D-line would be ready to compete against any O-line in the league while still having that depth that allows them to rotate players. I think they can find a number 2 corner for a mid-sized signing and then address WR in the draft early.

I loved the Ed pick and he has really come alive as of late. He had an OK start to the season. He was disruptive but not really making a huge impact, but he was a net positive. Then in the middle of the season it looked like while he was a positive as a pass rusher he was going to be a liability in the run game. But in recent weeks he has been very good both in the pass rush and run departments. I think he could easily be a pro-bowler in 2020. When the run defense was struggling I thought he was a bit of a liability as a run defender. I thought he should be flexed into passing downs and have his snap count decreased. But around the time they played the Broncos he has turned it on in the rush defense and continued to improve as a pass rusher.