Utah John

Well how would that be any different for that O line? The thing is, no one knows how good Zach Wilson would be, playing with a good O line, a good OC, and better receivers. Some QBs in his situation would do better than he has, but they're bigger and stronger and better capable of compensating for a bad O line. I do not think his career is over, not with the NFL so desperate for QBs. Someone will give him another chance, and if he's lucky that situation will enable us to see what he's actually capable of.

So this could have been (still could but probably won't be) the year when the Bills are greased to make it to the SB. The Bengals are out, the Chiefs a slipping, the Ravens and Dolphins are unproven. But on the flip side, facing the 49ers in the SB is a ticket to 0-5 on the big stage. Of course just making it to the big stage would be a big step forward.

The Bills are the NFL's version of Casey at the Bat.

All the news I've seen, not the uninformed speculation, is that Hines was acting in a responsible manner and was injured accidentally by someone crashing into him. He sounds like a good guy, a person who fits into the Bills' culture. As for going forward, the questions are whether he will have had time to heal by the start of next season, and whether he wants to play for the Bills. There was a dispute between Hines and the team about his pay level, but that appears to have been resolved amicably. So I hope he's fully healed and at full speed by next summer. It will be a big shame for him and for the team if he never gets back to full speed after the accident.

We aren't really just one game back. Because we lost so many games in the AFC and the AFCE, we lose every tiebreaker. The unforgiveable loss to the Patriots, and the 12 men on the field against Denver, are what will keep the Bills out of the playoffs.

The BILLS are 0-6 in games with Josh as QB. A QB could almost always do more during the game to get the win, but usually in Josh's case the BILLS lose (he doesn't lose) because the defense can't hold a lead.

Kool-Aid would be poison on the roster, at least when they play Jonestown.

That's right, in that case it was a first down somewhere in the middle of the field. But, the Eagles would have gotten the first down anyway, so it was a few more yards for the chance to ding one of their players and maybe make them think twice about doing it again (which didn't work of course, but was worth a shot). The league would have to announce ahead of time that interfering with the tush push play would be a penalty. Which would be ridiculous of course. They would have to announce that a false start by the Eagles is supposed to be ignored. And no team would be foolish enough to tell its players out loud that they were trying to injure the other team. (But they wouldn't have to tell them, would they?)

There probably is a penalty for not kicking off in a certain amount of time, but there's never a tactical advantage in delaying the kickoff.

I don't know who Brad Riter is but I've been advocating this starting during the Bills-Eagles game, as soon as Phillips jumped offside.

So when he rocks back, THAT'S when the D line attacks. After all, he moved first.

Yeah, it's hard, but it's THEIR JOB.

One possible outcome of the defensive approach I'm suggesting is that one of the Eagles gets called for moving early to brace for the incoming attack. Half the distance against the defense vs five yards against the offense. Pretty good deal for the defense. The best defense is a good offense. Or in this case, being as offensive as possible.

Jason Kelce is complaining about how Jordan Phillips charged offside when the Eagles were lined up for a tush-push play. I think this is exactly backwards. I think all teams should do what Phillips did, whenever the Eagles line up for that play from close to the goal line. ALL the defenders should charge offside as soon as the Eagles line up, and not just a little love tap, either. If possible they should put a hand on Hurts as well, just letting the Eagles know that this play of theirs is putting their QB at risk. Of course there will be a half the distance penalty. Big deal. So they cut the distance in half, and if the Eagles line up again in that formation, the defense immediately charges ahead, offside, again pushing through as violently as possible. And the defense should keep on doing it. Half the distance, half the distance, half the distance. Who cares?

I'm less concerned about McDermott than I am about the roster particularly on defense. It was built to win a couple of years ago and now has key pieces a little too old (Dr Poyer and Mr Hyde), injured and a little too old (Tre White), injured (Milano and Jones, and frankly Miller but it's not Miller time anymore). The Bills have made huge investments in their D and yet are going to have to rebuild a lot next year. The Miller contract, and not the Josh Allen contract, is the problem for a rebuild. This all does come down to McDermott's shortcomings. The 13 seconds debacle was on him, but with a closer on the D line it wouldn't have come to that. So to deflect attention from his failure, McDermott got Beane to break his own rule about not busting his long-term budget, and now the team is behind the 8 ball, with too many holes to fill and not enough cash to do it. I do continue to think poorly of McDermott for his lack of accountability and leadership when things go wrong. He just needs to take the blame when something is his fault, or even when it's not his fault. This is costing him with the players. As I've said before, players won't respect the man as a coach, if they don't respect the coach as a man. McD is apparently a great guy, caring about his players, etc etc etc, but he still needs to get out in front and take the shots and brickbats when criticism flows.

So many bad choices. Trading Lamonica instead of playing him over Kemp. Screwing up Cookie Gilchrist's time with the team. Wasting that great mid-60s defense. Trading Haven Moses to Denver for a WR who couldn't play WR (became a decent DB instead). Ralph letting his accountant determine which FAs to pursue. Rauch deciding Ron McDole was finished, and letting him go to the Redskins where he played great ball for years. Not paying Gogolak and letting him go to the NFL. The Bills blowing the first SB by partying all week instead of preparing to play hard. It's not a curse when it's your own damn fault. But if there is a curse, it's the Flutie/Johnson fiasco that locked it in.

That was two years after Norwood missed a FG in the Bills first SB.

If there's a great center available I think the Bills grab him. Morse is playing well but won't be around forever. I'm not hearing moans about Spencer Brown this year which means he's probably got it figured out.

Not only did all of us fans expect the Bills to lose once we got into overtime, the Bills players expected it too. Until they win an OT game and get the monkey off their backs, it will continue to crush their chances. That play at least might present a solution to the tush-push play. When the ball is on the 1 yard line and the Eagles line up for that play, the defense should all just go offside, punishing the O linemen and if possible grabbing Hurts to the point where the Eagles realize they shouldn't do that. The penalty is half the distance. OK, line up and do it again from the 1/2 yard line. Punish the O linemen, and maybe get one of them to flinch early. If necessary, do it over and over. The ball will never cross the line that way, but the Eagles might have second thoughts.

Poyer was standing on the goal line and watched Hurts run past him.

It was only a question of how it would happen.

I see two steps before the ball came out.

OTOH he has over 100 yards today.

Strip the ball, d.

One good thing, the Bills D is well-rested.