billsfan89

Possible but there were some throws were Dalton was open and Josh either missed him or made it a very difficult catch that it doesn't seem to the casual eye was a misread or bad route. I don't think that accounts for all of the lack of production he had in the 13 games he played either. I think the coaching staff is going to have to work with him to get him involved in the offense and fix his issues. I think health was the primary factor to his dip in production, a few bad throws being better could have bumped up his totals 5-7 catches 50-70 yards which wouldn't have massively moved the needle for him.

It's funny because the Cowboys actually operate in a fairly "boring" manner outside of Jones antics with coaching. They haven't been massive spenders in free agency or made big splashy trades for the most part. Their massive contracts (Dak, Lamb, Diggs, and eventually Parsons) have been all players they drafted and developed by them. Their fans have been on Jerry for not spending much in free agency. The issue with the Cowboys is that despite being a top 10 drafting team in recent years and their owners willingness to spend money they will never attract a good coach as long as Jerry Jones insists on not only running the team but micromanaging it. They also have the Dak issue where he's a good QB getting paid like an elite QB. For me with Jerry the issue that's most in his control is his constant presence and meddling is going to lead to the Cowboys never having a good coach because only 2nd and 3rd tier coaches are going to want to put up with that. The top up and coming coordinators and the best most proven retreads have options where they can take a job that's not gonna feature an owner whose constantly making themselves the center of attention and is also the GM. Jones has actually improved as a GM as shown by the teams drafting and prudence in free agency. But with a not so great QB situation relative to what they are paying him and a owner whose kryptonite to a good coach the Cowboys are likely to be a good team that never gets past the divisional round going forward. The Giants are a easy team to be one of the 2-3 random teams that sneak into the playoffs. No one last year expected the Broncos, Vikings, or Commanders to make the playoffs and that happens every season where you get those 2-3 teams that overachieve. It's what makes the NFL so great for fans because any team can vastly over achieve. Personally I think the Giants are a 7 win team. Nice draft classes the past couple of seasons, decent free agency, but lackluster QB situation and a coach walking a fine line to being fired as well as still having offensive line issues is just screaming 7 maybe 8 wins with some luck. 5-6 wins with some bad luck type team.

Pitts had a lot of good attributes in addition to his size and speed. He ran a full receiving route and was a willing blocker in college. It's not that he's been bad as a pro if he was picked in the 20's instead of 4th overall he would be looked at as a draft "hit" instead of someone whose underperformed. Pitts had 1k as a rookie and after a injury in year two has back to back 600 yard seasons in years 3 and 4. So it isn't like he's unproductive. He's just not really lived up to highest drafted at his position ever billing thus far. He's only 25 and Vernon Davis who was drafted 6th overall at TE got off to a slower start to his career as his first 3 years were underwhelming. And Davis had a break out in 2009 at age 25. So I wouldn't write Pitts off just yet. Is he a fit for the Bills? No, I don't think he makes sense but I think another TE hungry team could come calling and get a good player for a 3rd round pick or so.

There's a good "eye test" case for Kincaid who in 13 games still put up 435 yards (26th best for TE's although if you projected out his production to 17 games he only moves up about 6-7 spots) that he was both hurt and unlucky. There were several times I remember as a casual fan where Josh just missed Kincaid or put Kincaid in a tough catch situation. It seemed like 75% of Josh's bad throws were to Kincaid for some bad reason. Then you throw in the injury and there's a case for a good bounce back season. Would I rank Kincaid in the top 10 going into the season? I would say probably not. Bowers/Kittle/Kelce/La Porta/McBride are firmly ahead then you have a ton of other borderline guys out there. So it would take a very generous take on Kincaid and a very sour one on the rest of the TE's to really put Kincaid top 10.

Solid career in the NFL. 98 starts, a Super Bowl Ring, and 40 million in earnings. Getting out at age 31 also seems positive for your health. Had a very promising start here in Buffalo as a man to man corner. He simply didn't fit the McD zone system so they traded him and it seems to have worked out for both parties.

Last year I thought losing Mitch was gonna hurt not because McGovern wasn't gonna come in and play well at center but that it would leave a hole at guard that I wasn't certain David Edwards would fill. Of course Edwards filled it solidly so there was no loss. The Eagles basically did the same thing. What made the Eagles not miss Kelce as much was that Jergens was a good guard who was a good center and then they plugged in Becton at guard who had a career year. Had they had some issues plugging in that guard spot then yes it would have Losing an All Pro center can hurt especially if you don't have a quality player to plug in. The Lions drafted a cetner/IOL in round 2 they probably feel like they can plug them in there and be fine but rookies can have growing pains.

My guess would be they do the McGovern one. He's 28 this year and that's not old for an offensive linemen esp one that wasn't a full time starter until 2 years ago. A 3-4 year extension would keep him through ages 29-31/32 which keeps him through his last prime seasons as O-linemen tend to play at a high level until age 32/33. The Bills currently sit at 2ish million in space. They need to free up about 8 million more to accommodate the rookie scale guys (about 2-3 million), the PS (about 4 million), and an "in season emergency" fund (3 million or so). Getting McGovern locked down gets you slightly over to half way where you need and locks in 4 out of 5 starters for the offensive line in 2026. As far as the other levers I don't know if I see the Bills liking to go either direction. Knox is overpaid as is and do they want to to make that contract a lot harder to get out of? Dawkins is 31 and as previously mentioned O-linemen play at a high level until about age 32/33 so Dawkins may only have 2 and at best 3 elite high quality seasons left and if they restructure his deal that's gonna make that deal a lot harder to get out of down the line if you push money back. I could see the Bills maybe doing the McGovern extension and then if they feel like they need another 3-4 million do a partial restructure of both Dawkins and Knox. to knock off 2 million on each of their cap numbers to get the Bills to have 10 million in space needed to get their picks and PS signed and have that in season buffer.

Dude isn't even 30, big loss for the Lions dude was an All-Pro center multiple times over and entering an age where you figured he had at least 3-4 more quality high end years left. But these dudes know they have to take care of their health. I hope this is a precautionary measure and not a response to some specific life altering thing.

Mid 00's ATH and PTI as the ESPN "Happy Hour" was a fun watch. I stopped consistently watching ATH and PTI about 10 years ago but I still checked it out now and again. It really did give you a nice taste of the national sporting landscape at the time. ESPN should never have cancelled ATH. ATH along with PTI should have been the ESPN version of "SNL" just always on in that time slot. Both shows can be edited out into bit sized segments for social media (10 years ago Tony Reali himself was editing clips and putting them on Youtube with good success before ESPN took that over from him) so the shows fit somewhat well into the modern landscape. Overall this in my estimate was a big blunder for ESPN and I can honestly see them bringing the show back in 2 years when they proceed to do nothing with the timeslot. ATH also doesn't seem to be that expensive to make so the decision is even more dumbfounding. ATH had a national bias, but they also had reporters from smaller markets on too. If you approached the show as a "National" show and had those expectations in check it was a lot of fun.

He was terrible in coverage. McD did an excellent job in hiding that one of McD's better jobs as a coordinator. He got a little more money from Seattle likely more than the Bills were willing to pay for a backup.

10 healthy games from him is a big win in my opinion. It allows the team to ease in Jackson and Solomon into larger roles as the season progresses while still having Groot and AJE there early on and then eases Hochet into things after his suspension is over. Ideally yeah you want a guy to play all 17 and a full playoff run. But it is a calculated gamble that the team is taking to have Bosa on the team as a one year rental. As long as he can give the team a good stretch of 9-12 games I think he's gonna be a big positive for the reasons stated. Hopefully Jackson/Solomon show out early and the team can just have Bosa in a even more limited rotation role that keeps him healthy.

I wonder how frequently Rapp was targeted? QBR when targeted is not always the best metric because often times if you aren't being targeted that lower volume can lead to high QBR when targeted because while players are getting open against you they are also not being given many opportunities. All in all I think Rapp is a starting caliber safety but I hope he gets displaced into a reduced role by Bishop and Forrest.

Unfortunately social media and Amazon have made individual websites a lot less relevant. Why bother having a unique message board that costs money when there is Reddit and other ways to talk to fans online. Any content you post up on your website also gets posted to social media and YouTube. It's just only really there because teams need some place to post announcements and link to for social media. It's just the way the internet evolved away from individualized blog/websites to social media/aggregate websites. For better or worse (and I think worse) peoples internet viewing habits have changed to be consolidated to just a few websites.

In 2023 I thought he was not the best coverage safety, he hit hard and made some plays but I also thought he was not the greatest in coverage. I thought he was ideally a fantastic backup or a niche role player in the "big nickel" role. But in 2024 having that second year in the system worked wonders for him. He seemed to be a lot better in coverage and just being in the right places. He still had some lapses here or there but I thought he was overall a better than average starting caliber safety.

Man football is so complex at the NFL level because what you are saying is true but it also comes down to players developing, staying healthy, and executing. While coaching has a big hand in how players do those things it also just comes down to the players themselves. It's a lot going on but I am hoping Brady continues to develop as a playcaller and coach as well because it is so vital to how this team operates offensively.

Larry Bird with a busted up back in his mid 30's was able to beat up on Angola in 1992 I think Brady feels that even at 51 with no contact for the QB he can beat up on a bunch of guys who play flag football in Germany.

WR could be an issue, there was a reason Cooper was acquired and why the offense even with Coopers relatively low production still got a lot better by having Coopers presence on the outside. That being said Palmer and Moore swapping out for an older Cooper and Mack Hollins isn't a big up or down move and Samuel should be back healthier and could add some supplemental pop to the offense while Keon was a 21 year old rookie whose coming in off a productive rookie year and will be 22 this year with a full year under his belt. I think the coaching staff also expects more pass catching production from Kincaid as he was hurt in 2024. I would have liked for the Bills to do better than Palmer and Moore at WR but I also see that the Bills really didn't get fortunate when it comes to the draft or free agency. A lot of the WR's that would have been difference makers just didn't hit the market or they were slot WR's. DK was the one I loved but he also came at a steep cap/draft cost that just wasn't something the Bills who desperately needed a defensive talent injection could afford to do short/long term. The Draft was once again not the best draft for non-slot WR's so the Bills at pick 30 and in round 2 had no real good fits. They signed Moore in response to missing out on WR's high up in the draft. There's reason to think that the Bills may have to again make an in-season move to acquire a WR again. But there's also reason to think they won't have to.

As fans we like to see exciting comebacks, but from a competitive standpoint any attempt to get the ball back after scoring because you are down late should be a low percentage play. ?Yes it should be possible but it also shouldn't be anything more than a 5-10% chance. I've supported the idea of allowing teams down in the 4th quarter the opportunity to do a 4th and 20-25 play from the 30 yardline but while I think 4th and 20 or 25 yard play has a similar conversion percentage to the current onside kick (roughly 5-7%) what I don't like is the idea of a tired defense who just gave up a late score being put back on the field I also don't like the idea of a flag on a defensive holding call or a BS roughing the passer awarding a possession. There's already so much in the refs hands, say what you will about onside kicks but the refs enforce them well for the most part. For now I don't see the problem of just keeping it as it is, 50 onside kicks were attempted last season with 3 being recovered, that's a 6% recovery rate which seems like a "fair" conversion percentage low but not impossible.

Looking forward to it, should be fun to see more of the team behind the scenes

I rarely thought Brady made bad play calls designs, I think where he has to improve is having a few more layers to his offense and I think much like Andy Reid has his "S Level" stuff for the playoffs I think Brady has to develop that extra set of plays to keep in his back pocket. I feel like KC will probably keep 10% of their playbook off film during the regular season only to unleash it throughout the playoffs (likely I would assume practicing the plays in closed settings throughout the season to keep them sharp). I would like to see the Bills have that type of elite level plays that they save for key situations.

Ravens would be a good fit, I don't think Von has much left in the tank, but he did look a lot better in 2024 than 2023 and I could see him having one more decent year as a situational pass rusher. He's a locker room guy who might be able to get you 4 sacks in a situational role. But he's not gonna be anything more than a quality "role player" if that. Sad because Von was a beast in 2022 averaging a sack a game on 55% of snaps player that's Myles Garrett like pass rush numbers on a lot less snaps per game (Garrett plays 75% of snaps generally) of course Von isn't the same elite run defender but if the Bills got 2 full years of that production they would have been very happy.

It also just seems like the Texans aren't being as aggressive as a team with a QB on a rookie deal should be. Last year they went out and got Mixon, Diggs and Hunter both big time higher end talent moves. Diggs worked out until he got hurt, Mixon was a hit, and Hunter was a big addition with 12 sacks. This off-season it was kind of a lot of smaller moves a team that didn't have the luxury of a rookie QB deal would make. They traded away their best offensive linemen and brought in Cam Robinsion one a 14 million dollar one year deal and their only other notable acquisition was CJ Gardner Johnson in the secondary which while a nice trade isn't a massive needle mover. I get not wanting to overspend but you would think for a team that came into 2024 with big expectations and a team in a good cap situation they wouldn't be in such a slow pace to take advantage of a rookie QB deal adding another "big" piece or two even just another shorter term vet rental to add some impact and allow rookies to develop. I thought the Texans in 2024 were making sure to continue to dominate their weaker division, in 2025 I feel like they are allowing the division to come to them but likely will still win the division because all that's likely gonna take is 10 wins.

Josh is amazing, but the offense once it added Cooper became a lot better than the sum of its parts around Josh. The offensive line being a top 3-4 unit is massive, the RB core have 3 players that are all valuable and can catch the ball well out of the backfield is big, and the TE combo is a better one in the league. Even the WR core while not a top 10 unit is decent esp when Shakir is a top slot WR in the league. So while I do think it is very obvious that Josh massively raises the ceiling of the offense I do think the offense helps out Josh a lot more than people give it credit for too. I think Joe Brady designed a scheme that fits Josh well as it doesn't call on Josh to just huck it chuck it football down the field all the time and has a running game behind that can grind out the clock. I still would have liked the Bills to have done more at WR in the off-season but outside of DK who came at too steep a cost cap wise (and draft capital wise) there wasn't much out there at WR and the draft just didn't shake out either. But I'm also not gonna sit here and act like the Bills offense is being completely carried by Josh either.

I would actually say the model the Bills are employing is much more similar to the Celtics from 2016-17 to 2024-25 the Celtics were constantly a good team (with 2020-21 being the lone exception) that was making deep playoff runs and while its looking like that core isn't gonna be a multi-title dynasty they still had a great run of consistent success with two runs to the Finals and a title to show for it.

I think one of the best points of data is that in Europe and Japan where Ticketmaster/Live Nation have more competition costs to go to concerts are 30-40% lower and there's a lottery for bigger concerts so that fans can have access to face value tickets and ID is required to use the ticket so there's no scalping those tickets.