Utah John

Beane built a very strong roster with a sprinkling of top end talent, a few years ago. He had very firm rules about not blowing the cap budget with overpriced FAs. Then McD choked in the 13 second game and the excuse was we needed a closer to shut down Mahomes. So Beane shatters his own rule by spending huge dollars on Von Miller. Who did great for half a season, and since then has contributed nothing except taking a spot on the game roster. Keeping a talented roster together is like one of those old magicians who had plates spinning on sticks, and he had to move around keeping them all spinning or they'd fall and break. The more big contracts, the fewer plates keep spinning. The only way to keep the plates spinning is to draft well consistently, bringing in cheap young guys to replace 4-5 year vets who move on to their big contract opportunities. A few years ago the WR room was amazing, with Diggs, Davis, Smoke, Sanders, and Beasley. Then several players got old and left and Beane signed a big contract with Diggs when he was at the top of his value curve, and now we're paying for a declining Diggs, a no-show Miller, and Allen, who's doing his best with what's left. The drafting has been below standard, except for this past year when we got several excellent players. All the defensive linemen picked and only Oliver out of all the draftees is far above average. Epenesa, Basham, Rousseau -- Rousseau looks like he might be a decent player, and Epenesa is good against the run but we still don't have the pass rush we need. It's not just that those guys aren't producing, it's that they were wasted picks that aren't players filling other positions on rookie contracts. A couple of bad mistakes on FAs and several poor choices on high draft picks are the same as turnovers in a game. You can still win but the odds go against you. And when a coach chokes in a 13 second game and gets the GM to bail him out, everything unravels from there. So you ask, where's the talent? Sitting in Miller's bank account, and Diggs's bling. It's very fitting that the two of them did that commercial where they're walking in gold leather outfits and hats.

Well THAT'S certainly going to get him activated for the Super Bowl.

That's not much of a return for the Bears, who saw Fields really developing in the second half of this past season. I think you're assuming the Bears will draft a new QB with their #1 pick, and that might happen, but there's a lot of uncertainty about what the Bears will do. If they do decide to part ways with Fields, I think they can get quite a bit more for him in a 2-team trade with some team desperate for a QB. And I think that's slanted in the Dolphins favor. A starting QB plus a third plus a second? That's a lot of return for a QB that can't compete in the cold. Which Denver is, of course. Tua is in exactly the best available position for him. He's an accurate passer with good receiving weapons. If the Dolphins can upgrade/repair their O line, Tua will do OK where he is. No other team has the ideal environment for his skills and his limitations.

Sure, of course. If the rehab isn't successful completely and he can't do what got him into the league anymore, he's gone, unfortunately for everyone. But that's the case for everyone. If they can't do the job, someone else who can is waiting for the slot.

Yeah, that was my point, he's probably going in the second round.

Interesting point. He's been working on his rehab. Has he been doing that in Buffalo so he could attend team meetings and "learn the system"?

Yeah, just like Tyrod Taylor. Josh needs to learn to be confident enough to throw his receivers open. /s of course

It doesn't sound like Miami wanted him gone. It sounds like it wanted to get onto the Eagles staff and Miami let him go. He's a good DC and Philly will be happy they got him to help turn thilngs around. In Miami, whoever is the new guy will benefit from all the injured players on D returning. Well, how about Sean McDermott, at least as a head coach. I can't remember the last time the Bills got really shellacked.

Utah fan here. The Bills have drafted two Utes recently. Zach Moss has shown he's a good player when used in a scheme that works for him, but he didn't fit with the Bills. (We got Hines for him, remember, and we should be getting him back next year, as far as I know.) And of course DK2 who has all the skills and great attitude needed to be a star. A lot goes to the coaching staff at Utah, that works with players to prepare them for the NFL. Cole Bishop would absolutely be a good pick for the Bills. I don't know if he'll be around in the third round, and I don't think he's the first round big deal star we need, but in the second round, sure. As for that the Bills not-quite-stellar record will help their draft position a little but it will still be failry late. I've been thinking the Bills' greatest need in the draft is at safety, but with the likely departure of Davis and the weird problems with Diggs, I'm now thinking WR is what the Bills should do in the first round.

We'll just have to disagree about that.

Hyde made the most incredible defensive play I have ever seen in a playoff game against the Patriots, when he zoome across the field to intercept a sure TD pass on a wimpy rainbow from Mac Jones. He took the ball almost out of the receiver's hands, preventing a TD, and convincing the Pats on a very cold night that they stood no chance in that game. It wasn't long before every Patriot on the field was looking longingly at the bench, where the heaters and parkas were. The Bills scored TDs on every single possession except a halftime kneeldown, and Hyde's interception early in the game was the dagger. I'm pretty sure that year was the last winning season for Belichick in New England, and that loss, spurred by the Hyde interception, was what tipped them over into irrelevancy. All that and a great person as well. If the Hydes leave Buffalo, we'll wish them well, but we'll really wish they weren't leaving at all.

The Bills will miss his downfield blocking, but he's replaceable as a pass catcher.

The Titans do have a young QB. The question is whether they have a good-enough young QB. It looks like they're hitching their wagon to Levis but it's not clear he's going to pan out. (Of course people said the same thing about Josh Allen, so who knows.) That would be ideal, but we can't afford him thanks to the contracts for Diggs and Miller. Is Brady under contract with the Bills? If so then I think all the Bills would need to do is remove the interim tag from his title.

People around the league will remember how dominant Jones was early in the season, until his injury in London. I don't think he was 100% when he came back but I appreciate the effort. Unfortunately no matter who was in the middle of our D line last night, the interior of the Chiefs' O line dominated them. Way too many holes for Pacheco to exploit. Anyway, getting back to contracts, I expect Jones to get a lot of interest. That play will stick in my mind all offseason. I was screaming at the TV, Diggs is open! Diggs is wide open! A simple throw and catch and the Bills have the first down and can burn clock and KC's TOs. Maybe the Bills get the TD they need for a four point lead, forcing Mahomes to drive the entire field. Maybe they stall and kick a shorter FG. Either way, Josh made a terrible decision on that play. Regardless, that play should not detract from appreciating the incredible game Josh had otherwise.

Dorsey did a good job last year. Over the offseason the Bills decided to keep Josh in the pocket to avoid injury (although almost all his injuries happened in the pocket). He turned into a zombie QB, drifting onto the field and drifting back off three plays later. Brady gets credit, justifiably, for turning Josh loose, but I think the Bills made a collective decision to say the heck with that pocket business, and we'll let Josh Josh. Dorsey couldn't seem to be the guy to let that happen, either that or McDermott just wanted a head to roll to get everyone's attention. Whatever. If the offense Dorsey built for this year had the capability to turn Josh loose, maybe he'd still be here. At the end of the year, now we see what an effective Bills offense looks like, and we can adjust the schemes and perhaps the personnel to make it work even better. As for Dorsey in Cleveland, sure, why not, he's a better OC than a lot of the guys out there.

Thanks for the updated version. It will be a great game.

Considering all the injuries, looking at statistics from the regular season is not really definitive. (You listed the London game against the Jags as an away game but the NFL considered it a home game for the Bills. Probably the best way to handle that game is to not include it in the stats.) I think the last month of the regular season is a better indicator than what happened in September and October, but even that is suspect because the teams' makeup is so different now. What matters is what the players and coaches involved tomorrow bring to the field.

It's going to come down to which specific players and positions are affected. The Chiefs built an O line with a strong G-C-G interior, but their tackles are injured or terrible. (Their right tackle shouldn't be in the NFL. He is worse than the lousy tackles the Bills had prior to Spencer Brown becoming good.) The strength of our D line is the interior, so that's just going to be a battle. Our edge rushers are just average compared to the rest of the league's, but they're the ones who should be affecting the play the most. Our O line has been solid all year but even with the new guards it can get out-muscled on the interior. Dawkins has been very good usually but lately he's been steamrolled too on occasion. If we had all oiur D players healthy I think McDermott would send pressures a lot, but with the LBs and CBs we have I don't know if he'll take the chance. The really key players who might or might not play are Taron Johnson and Bernard. If they both play I think the Bills win and KC doesn't even get 20 points.

For all I know, wearing your shirt backwards is another inexplicable football player meme, like putting eye black under only one eye.

OK, receivers sometimes drop passes. Sometimes receivers make incredible catches of passes that weren't thrown very well. It balances out in the long run.

With some of the injured Bills getting back, I'm feeling better about the defensive personnel we have on the field. The Chief's offense this year has not been all that great, and the players we have available should do OK. What concerns me most of all is the extra two days of rest and preparation the Chiefs got. And Reid He's simply brilliant, and McDermott struggles to catch up with what Reid throws out there. I am more concerned about what Reid can do than what Mahomes can do.

Some day I hope to see the Bills wearing the standing bison helmets again. I still think they're classic, in a way the charging buffalo isn't.

What? You're talking about new DCs? The Bills' DC is Leslie Frazier, who just took a year off from coaching but will return next year. HAHAHAHAHA

If Martin is cleared to play and there's no risk of re-injuring his hamstring, will he or Haack be our punter?

I think Fournette was told he might be called back to the practice squad if our personnel situation stabilizes. He was released only because we have no injuries to RBs and we have so many to other positions. He might be sticking around Buffalo, or be staying in touch, in case the Bills call him back. He wants a ring, and being part of the Bills team if they win it all will be worth the wait on his part.