billsfan89

It is all speculative honestly, I think by getting this year under his belt he at least become a bit less raw going into the next off-season. He is going to likely need at least one more year on the PS before he has enough experience to actually make the 53. I think that it was very positive for him to basically have an exempt year to simply gain some experience and have a shot to improve enough to make a PS let alone a top 53. I hope eventually he does make it and the NFL uses his development process as a way to get international players from Rugby and other sports into the league by giving them exempted PS spots for 1-2 years so that teams could just incubate these athletes and improve the talent pool and get more eyes on the NFL.

I wonder how Wade is developing and what exactly he is working on. Just having a year to practice and get used to the game while not taking a PS spot is kind of a huge advantage in his development. I think the NFL made a good move allowing that exemption. As it gives these foreign guys a chance to stay on a roster for a full season and 2 off-seasons to try and develop into a quality enough player to at least make a PS spot and continue to develop. PS spots are developmental but if a guy is super raw and needs a lot of work then a PS spot is hard to justify as those spots aren't freebies.

I think Daboll won't be a HC candidate in 2020 either. I think he needs another season to sort of prove sustained success and continued development with Allen. I think there is a 90% chance he is the OC in 2020. If Josh is a top 10 QB and the offense rolls then he will get looks. But then again things in the NFL can be whacky. I would never have thought Lynn would have been picked up by the Chargers after his short and OK run here.

I don't think Rivera will have a HC opportunity in 2020. His run with the Panthers while not bad only totaled 4 playoff births in 9 seasons (with one of those playoff births coming in a 7-8-1 season) so only 3 winning seasons total. His playoff record was 3-4 which while not tragic was not very good either. I think it is possible some team retreads him but I would put that possibility at less than 50% significantly. I think if he wants to get back to a head coaching opportunity I think he would be best off taking on a DC opportunity with a good defense and reestablish some success in that realm and then have his pick of the opportunities in terms of coaching (right now even if he got an opportunity it wouldn't be a great chance.)

He can be stopped, the question is will the Bills be the team that finds that strategy? I think any QB can be stopped if the offense around him is exposed to their weaknesses and limited in their strengths.

Fair read on Josh, they mention a lot of what he does well and the areas where he still needs to improve. Allen "as is" is going to be an OK QB. But if he can make solid improvements to his game he can ascend to a consistent top 10 QB and possibly depending on how much he improves his deficiencies and build off of his strengths he can be a top 5 QB, but he has a long way to but is getting there.

I do think that the lack of a consistent outside option outside of Brown and Josh's still to come growing pains (I think Josh will have at least one more bad game as some team throws something at him that he won't respond well to) will stall out the offense once they start to play elite defenses. But the scheme and all these sort of non-sensical complaints are just kind of stupid and reek of someone being lazy and not actually watching the games or understanding the stats.

I thought Ford had been playing well since Ty went down. but what do I know.

Who knows if Shaq plays the same way if he has a guaranteed year locked in after this? Also, people need to keep in mind that Shaq's 5th year option was roughly 10 million, why is anyone so sure that his next deal is going to average as much or more than that? Shaq has 5.5 sacks with 4 games left in the season and he plays 2 QB's who don't take many sacks in the final 4 games (Brady and Lamar Jackson) so at best I think Shaq finishes with 8ish sacks on the season (about 2.5 in the final 4 games seems like a healthy total.) I am not so sure a player with 5.5-8 or so sacks is going to command more than 10 million aav deal esp if that number doesn't get past 7 sacks. I would much rather see a player and have to overpay him for doing well than lock him into an expensive year despite the fact that he showed no reason to warrant a large guaranteed salary.

Dareus will hang around for a couple of more years. I think he signs a one year deal next season and might fool another team after that. But considering he has collected on that massive contract a lot I think his motivation to play will either be more money or non-existent.

No, if he had no prior history with McD and he could be had on a 1 year modest guarantee 4-6 million dollar a year deal I wouldn't be opposed to brining him in to add some speed (I would still draft a WR in round 1 but having a speedy vet like Sammy takes some pressure off of a rookie.) BUT in 2017 his departure was bad and he has shown to not be a model citizen while here. I don't think he would want to come back nor do I think the Bills would want him back. I think he likely restructures his deal with KC to give them some cap space and hit the market in 2021 for one last big payday.

I would love Hooper, cut Kroft as his cap hit is minimal if cut. Hooper's contract could be structured to have an easy out after 3 years which will allow him to be cut or traded once Knox's contract is up. I think Knox has pro-bowl potential but he is still very very raw. I think he is more than likely 2 years away from being a consistent player. Hooper would bridge that gap with elite level play and open the possibility for elite level TE play from two players (along with having Sweeney for depth and hopefully taking over Smith's role after 2020.) But is TE a priority to the point where the Bills should sign the top guy on the market? No and while I wouldn't hate adding an elite weapon like Hooper I think the Bills have to do a cost benefit analysis of wither or not their cap dollars are better spent elsewhere. I think given the future contract extensions needed in the next two seasons along with some starters who are free agents this off-season (Shaq, J.Phillips, and Spain) you only really have maybe 20-30 million in cap space to to go after supplemental free agents which if you take those factors into consideration is a TE on the top of your list to tie up a lot of your free agency dollars in? I think you are better off spending that "discretionary" money on a pass rusher and a number two corner on defense or chasing a WR1 if one hits the market. As opposed to going after a more mid-level FA at TE to take Kroft's position and keep developing Knox.

With the Pat's loss tonight the division is very much in play. Beating the Ravens is tough but if the Bill's can pull it out then the number one seed is very much in play.

It was a hugely important game for both teams. I can't think of any other reason for it other than that.

I will never bet against Brady until I see him lose in the playoffs. But man does he look shot this year.

Honestly this is the best win of the season. Dallas is nothing special but they are a decent team and the Bill's got a pretty comfortable win on the road. All in all this gets them to 9 wins and setting themselves up for a nice litmus test against the Ravens at home. Great holiday.

The Bills on defense need to force the Cowboys offense to beat them with Dak's arm. The Bills need to hope that Tre can shut down Cooper one on one and force the rest of the Cowboys passing offense to beat them. On offense the team needs to avoid turnovers at all costs even if it means being a bit more conservative. I think the deciding factor will be if the Bills can shut down Zeke and make a big play or two on special teams. The Cowboys are pretty solid on both sides of the ball but they are below average on special teams. If they can get some turnovers and break some plays they have a good shot to win.

Stephen A has been better in his football analysis in recent years. He still isn't anything special when it comes to football analysis but he is at least decent.

The pass rush with Hughes being the leader is not good enough to compete at an elite level (contending for the division and advancing far into the playoffs.) I like Hughes but he is best served as a number two pass rusher behind a true number one pass rusher. As far as Shaq I think he is a quality player, and I would definitely bring him back as a number three rotational DE for a reasonable price. In the modern NFL you need to rotate DE's and having a quality player to rotate in helps depth. Johnson I agree should be a developmental player to groom behind Hughes. But they can't depend on Shaq and Hughes as the front two pass rushers and expect to get pressure on Mahomes, Jackson, Watson, Brady, and the other elite AFC QB's. They need a big time front end pass rusher.

Crazy that the Jets could be 6-7 if the beat the Bengals and Fins in the next two weeks. Of course they play the Ravens, Steelers. and the Bills the next 3 weeks so even getting to 7-8 wins is unlikely but I think it is a positive for them to even just get to 6 wins after how awful they looked. I think the strong finish (having a 5 game wining streak is a positive) helps them long term build back the confidence and culture of their team and young QB. I do think that their long term winning prospects aren't bad but not great either. They have the young QB. Some other pieces in place on the roster and their cap flexibility going forward isn't bad. They have 66 million in space and could free up another 20 million with some modest cuts. But even with about 86 million in cap space they still have a massively flawed roster and a lot of work to do that their cap space and draft picks can't fix. Overall however if the Jets follow the Bills model of building a team and spread around their free agency dollars to add more quality starting pieces as opposed to 2-3 major pro-bowl players and they have a good draft they could push above .500 next season. But their coaching remains a huge issue one that even if they build a more talented roster could hinder them from competing on a more serious level.

Until Brady loses I am never betting against him. I love me some Josh Allen and while he has progressed a lot he still has a lot of development left to go. I think if they can make some critical upgrades to the roster in 2020 the Bills will be primed to compete in the division and make noise in the playoffs.

Discipline in my mind goes beyond penalties (although penalties are a factor into how disciplined a team plays.) The Bills in my opinion don't take super critical penalties in crunch situations. Yes they have had some in critical situations however the Cowboys have committed many bad penalties in crunch situations. I also think that the Cowboys seem to make some boneheaded plays that result in bad situations and costing them games or chances to win games. Whereas the Bills don't seem to make those type of plays as much. Maybe it is bias but I feel like the Cowboys at 6-5 are chronically underachieving. They obviously dropped a game against the Jets that of course they should have won, they then lost one possession games against the Saints (sans Brees), the Pats, and Vikings. I don't think you get to 6-5 with their level of talent without coaching being an issue.

You are right in that the Bills are better disciplined but the Bills do lack some critical areas of talent whereas the Cowboys don't have the same massive talent deficiencies (although their roster does have some smaller issues.) I have my concerns about this team's ability to hang with better more talented teams. The lack of a dynamic receiver opposite Brown will be an issue against better defenses. The lack of a prime time pass rusher will be a a massive issue against elite offenses and I still don't trust the run defense. I also am not super trusting of Bojo and Haush either on special teams. I think by the time the Bills get through this 4 game stretch we will know a lot about this team and just where they stand as an NFL team and how much they have to improve to compete on a serious level.

21-16 isn't taking them apart haha. But I do think that another edge the Bills possibly have is coaching. The Bills are a well coached team, and while I don't consider Garrett a bad coach he isn't a very good one either. McD I think is a very good coach. The Bills don't make many mental mistakes and they play prepared with mostly good gameplans. I think both teams are similarly talented and in these types of games that are tight it is going to come down to turnovers and big plays. Bad coaching can result in the mistakes that give up turnovers and big plays.

The Cowboys are a talented team. Solid defense (top 10 in my opinion), one of the best offensive lines in the league, one of the best running backs in the league, a WR1 in Cooper, a capable although somewhat limited QB in Dak, and decent complementary receiving pieces. But their special teams have been mediocre and if Cooper disappears their offense can be limited. Their defense also while good is not elite. However overall this is a good test for the Bills on the road off the short week. In my opinion I think it will be a close game that will mostly come down to turnovers and a few big plays down the stretch. I also think a big special teams play a factor and one of those key big plays could be a ST play.