billsfan89

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.

Had a bad feeling they would start slow but the Bills have countered back up 4 going into the half when you were down 10 is solid. Defense is playing well only the first drive they had looked bad and they still held them to a field goal (the TD was given up on an extremely short field via turnover) gotta just get the first stop in the second half and then take full control of the game by going up multiple possessions. Offense got off to a slow start but avoided three and outs and then got going with back to back TD’s. Don’t take your foot off the gas Bills!

Rowdy Roddy Piper tribute!

Just a nervous vibe for me at the moment. The Chargers should be the massive underdog with how the Bills are playing and the Chargers current injury situation. But man does the fact that they just changed their coach (dead cat bounce) and are coming off a mini-bye scare me. Bills gotta take control of this game early and often. Don’t let this game be a game similar to the Giants game.

That’s a we don’t want anyone to get hurt move let’s just get out of here.

There’s just far too much to sort out, just have to focus on beating the Chargers.

Three possession lead with 7 minutes left? Yeah just have to run out the clock, there just isn’t three possessions for the Bengals unless as you said multiple fluky things happen.

Steelers with a commanding 3 possession lead and the ball deep in Bengals territory likely going to kick a field goal just great to see the Bills getting a likely positive result from the early game.

It boils down to how many high draft picks and cap dollars are spent at positions vs. how much production has been achieved at those positions. If you invest 3 first-round picks in 4 years along the defensive line you better have a dam good defensive line. Whereas if you don't spend many draft choices and not a lot of cap dollars along the defensive line and you field a decent unit that's actually not a bad result.

Gotta just focus on beating the Chargers. They are coming off a “mini-bye” and they just changed coaches after being completely embarrassed. The game won’t be easy.

Probable? No, possible yes. Just win against the Chargers and see what happens for now.

Edmunds started 5 seasons with the team and while I don't think he lived up to the billing he certainly was a solid player who filled a role and got this team a comp pick, and that's one draft resource from 2018. The team has not invested much in the position since then unless you count two later-round picks in 2022/23 or AJ Klein's lower mid-level free-agent signing in 2020 as being massive resources. Offensive line the resources invested from 2020 to 2022 were far too limited. From 2020-2022 they only put one pick in the first 4 rounds into the offensive line (Spencer Brown a late 3rd round pick) and their biggest free agency signing was Saffold a mid-tier contract or resigning D. Williams to a modest extension. They always attempted to develop guys at the end of the bench like Ike or Bates. I think your categorization and criticism just falls flat. If you really want to say where the Bills "overinvested" in years past I would say the defensive line has had a lot of big whiffs. Addison, Star, Murphy, and Butler were big additions cap-wise that fell flat. Those cap dollars could have been better spent on the offensive line or at WR.

I trust the Bills "infrastructure" a lot more this season. The Bills going into the homestretch last season were really cracking under good results. The offense was Josh and Diggs making it happen with "Superman" like efforts. The offensive line was trash, the RB's were solid but not dynamic and the WR's/TE's not named Diggs were mediocre. The defense was playing well but showing some signs of cracking esp after the Von injury. The team was also overly dependent on Daquon to anchor the middle. This year the offensive line is sooooo much better, James Cook and the traditional ground game has come alive and the supporting receiving crew is significantly better. Josh and Diggs don't have to carry the offense. The defense is also in a better position. The addition of Douglas has filled in nicely for Tre and the addition of Joseph and the return of Jones most likely means the team has two guys who can stuff the run which is a massive deal given how badly this team missed Jones in the Bengals playoff game last year. The edge rush also appears to be coming alive with Von finally showing signs of life and Floyd/Groot/Shaq holding things down and AJE coming back hopefully soon. Ed Oliver also is capable now of taking over games. The team is just so much stronger in the trenches on both sides of the ball. They are much better built for playoff football this season.