BADOLBILZ

Well.........the Niners had beaten the Rams something like 6 times in a row until they lost that battle of attrition to them in the NFC championship game last year.............so with 5 months to prepare was it not to be totally expected that they would steal tactics from a team that dominates the Rams? What we should see this season in general though is A LOT more nuance in the run game...........BD treated run plays like necessary body blows.......there didn't seem to be much expectation and they ended up getting too many meh results because of that mentality and lack of attention to detail, IMO. With Dorsey and Kromer I expect plays to be run differently than teams expect.........we saw it in preseason........the line was blurred between outside zone and inside zone with regard to target points for RB's. This challenges defenses to adjust mid-play. There was far too much pitch and catch in the Bills run game last year.........they blocked the play the way it was drawn up and the defense ran to where the play was drawn up and that lead to a lot of unsuccessful run plays. With most of the league seemingly trying to use that west coast/Shanahan outside zone running game...........and so many teams with so little experience at it.........I anticipate we will see a lot of teams disappointed in the result they get. Defense's are going to be used to defending those plays the way they are drawn up and inexperienced offense's are going to run them the way they are drawn up.

McKenzie has never NOT given away a job he has been handed.........and he created yet another egregious turnover......in his first game on the job as slot WR1. And Crowder has had a lot of trouble staying healthy for the past 4 seasons or so and he came into camp injured so him giving you 20 games without missing a block of time is less than likely. So it's pretty easy to see Shakir getting meaningful snaps.

So Kumerow is ahead of Shakir on the organizational depth chart? Other than on every depth chart issued when did this happen? Eat em' up haters

Get down? Not try to break a tackle there when there is virtually no chance of escaping and avoiding getting clocked in the process?

Not weird at all. He tried to get away from and get positive yardage when there was little to be gained and ended up taking a very violent hit. Like I said to @Beck Water..........sometimes the objective needs to be to not take hits AT ALL.............it's not an inevitability that Allen gets hit like that just because he's playing QB. Tom Brady has gone entire seasons without taking a single hit that violent.

I think with Allen it's easy to think the highlighted...........and totally forget that sometimes a QB actually needs to give up on plays and throw the ball away and avoid hits ALTOGETHER. Giving up on a play that's not working is not even an option in Allen's mind right now because he knows if he runs the ball around 10x per game..........they will score 30+ points and probably not even have to punt the ball. But the defense gave up just 10 points. The game is not played "on paper" so you can't count on the defense always allowing under 20 points...........but it's important to remember that the defense is the more heavily invested side of the football..........they shouldn't need to be carried on Allen's back for 17 regular season games. I thought McDermott made a very insightful comment when he was asked about Allen's running and implied that Dorsey needs to call plays that don't encourage Allen to run. This was exactly what I was suggesting earlier in this thread.........when you call plays that make it tempting to tuck and run then you are asking for him to do it. When you are trying to protect Allen from his own competitive nature you have to call plays accordingly.

He took a pretty good beating yesterday. Fortunately he was well off the ground when Donald sacked him and his neck snapped back. I think it's going to be hard to get him to stop running if they keep him in the shotgun all the time though. He's gotten used to not punting and now it seems like an obsession to not give up on a series. Even late in the game when the result was no longer in doubt. If they want to impose a limit on him they might have to do it schematically.........line him up under center, pound the ball from traditional running sets and use play action to set up your passing game. The style they are playing might be the most efficient way to move the ball now but they need to find a balance between moving the ball and not putting hard miles on Allen. Can't have him running 10x every game.

I don't get anxious before the games. When you are confident.......and Josh Allen gives me great confidence in the Bills playing well.......it's easy to just live in the moment and enjoy it as it comes. When you aren't worrying about how the Bills might lose the game or more specifically sad-sack nonsense like curses or bad luck or unfair officiating calls and league conspiracy BS then there isn't any reason to not just live in the moment and enjoy it and not be anxious about what is coming. That anxiety sometimes blinds people to the obvious. Example: While many fans were worried sick about the possibility of losing that WC game to the Patriots..........too much so to enjoy it.........preparing for a loss or a joyless "supposed to beat that team" result...........I was preparing for what could be one of the most glorious wins I've enjoyed as a Bills fan. And then they came out and pitched a perfect game on offense. That entire week should have been nothing but a complete joy to be a Bills fan..........if it wasn't, you should re-examine how you are Billsing. Not surprised to hear you slack on the job though........totally on-brand.

Yep I heard they are generously covering some of the costs of the new stadium too.

You were the biggest Jason Peters hater ever. Talk about taking a massive "L" .......the dude is a HOF'er in wait. It wasn't as absurd as C.Biscuits insistence that Jauron was the same level of HC as Belichick...........but your ridiculous takes on Peters went on much longer. Now we hardly hear from you anymore............the Bills are good so you can't complain that the fans being critical are keeping the Bills from being a winning organization.

https://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/34337333/nfl-quarterback-projections-2022-best-matchups-fantasy-stars-stat-leaders-all-272-games-plus-mvp-top-three ESPN+ article where they predict the QB rating of each passer every week. Allen is predicted to have a better passer rating than his opposing QB in all but these 4 games: vs Stafford (a predicted loss for Bills) vs Rodgers (predicted win for Bills) vs Burrow (loss) vs Jones week 18 (loss because game meaningless to Bills) So better rating than Mahomes and Jackson in wins over KC and Baltimore. In the process they project a 14-3 record.

Good strength and conditioning habits carry over. And the intense work done over a period like the Eagles under Kelly has long term residual effects. Weights lifted today and good conditioning done today pays off YEARS later.........there has been a good deal of study on this fact, as you should know since you fancy yourself an medical expert. So still being in better shape 18 months after his firing than ever prior to Kelly's arrival is to be expected. You do realize that roughing the passer penalties don't correlate to the violence of the contact to QB's over that period, right? Because the drastic rules "re-interpretations" in 2010 basically made it illegal to do anything but form tackle a QB or smack the ball out of his hands. No hits at the knees or lower. No hits to the shoulder/head area. No contact with helmet. As I said at the time...........any thought that trading a young LT for a single LATE first round pick and a day 3 pick was "restocking the cupboard" was ridiculous. And my prediction that both players drafted would be out of the league LONG before Peters was..........well, how did that work out? Wood's been out of the league 5 years now.........that's how long Peters was in the league when the Bills traded him. So it wasn't even f*cking close. Peters lasted 10 years longer than E Wood. That's the way it works with GREAT players instead of good ones. They not only play better but they can play longer because of their superior talent. Implying that the Bills didn't end up with egg on their face for that stupid trade is one of your dumber takes ever. At least you aren't insisting he isn't a HOF'er anymore.........that was even dumber.

Notice what happened to Jim/Thurman when Will Wolford left in free agency? The offense immediately became a shadow of it's prior form. Two seasons later the OL kept them out of the playoffs altogether. Notice what happened to Bruce in Super Bowls when he had to face outstanding LT's like Jumbo Elliott, Mark Lachey and Marc Tuinei? Rendered ineffective. Just because you can't put a statistic on a position doesn't mean that a LT isn't making a massive impact on winning and losing. And my point stands about the hard work and habits that carried over from Chip Kelly...........we've seen it time and again where disciplinarians depart.......are replaced by player's coaches and the player's coach reaps the benefits. Like Wade Phillips taking over for Parcells in Dallas......initially there is an uptick in team performance because the players are happy but also still have the residual habits, conditioning, toughness and discipline left over from the disciplinarian. Pederson's Wade Phillips-like inattention to detail eventually produced diminishing returns.

Yep...........as I've been saying Vegas sees the Bills as having only about a 7% chance to win it. The preseason favorite has only won the SB 3 times since 1996. No team with a first year offensive coordinator, like the Bills have this year with Ken Dorsey, has won a Super Bowl since Mike Holmgren was a first time OC for the 49ers.........and that was on a team that had already won Super Bowls. A lot of Bills fans are very confused about what this favorite status says about their odds...........by contrast the most recent Patriots champion entered the season as an 18% chance favorite to win it...........this season is considered as wide open as ever and the AFC in particular looks like the toughest conference to win since the SB era began. I heard the Bet QL guy on the radio say that the Jaguars are considered the 14th or 15th best team in the AFC and their upside was "division winner".............this conference is loaded. The upside is...........if you actually get home field you only have to beat 2 of those teams to get to the SB.

Did you read my post before this illogical response? I literally said that I get the question and gave my opinion............but concerning yourself about whether you are going to get the benefit of better calls is the first step toward blaming officiating for losses........and that is a losers game. The reality is that if a game comes down to a call or three being out of balance........somebody didn't do enough to win decisively...........and that is the object of competition.

The biggest flaw in this rationale is not understanding that the quality of your RB is not particularly important to your team success. And just as early round RB's can be ready to go..........so can late rounders..........but if you use a small asset like a day 3 pick or UDFA or cheap free agent chip on the player then it doesn't really matter if they are at their peak immediately. You don't get much of a choice of premium positions in free agency.........very good premium position players rarely make it to UFA. Your best chance to have top premium position players..........and retain them at reasonable prices..........is to draft and develop them. And like most positions your chances of finding them are much better if done early.

Great to see the local power 5 team do well..........and to beat the tar out of Louisville is good to see.........somehow Louisville has illogically turned into a recruiting powerhouse again..........so great to see them get their taints kicked in. https://www.si.com/college/louisville/football/syracuse-loss-worst-case-scenario

Is this the first official thread complaining about perceived egregiously unfair officiating? Pinning it to air your zebra grievances here would be swell. Not saying the OP is wrong at all by wondering if good teams get more of the benefit of the doubt........I think they obviously do get a bit less scrutinized by officials than hot-mess teams do...........but in general complaining about officiating is the most pointless and lamest discussion/excuse ever.........it certainly deserves in it's own isolated thread like the Araiza discussion.

Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas and Bruce Smith were all made the highest paid players at their positions in the league by the Buffalo Bills in their primes.........they won zero Super Bowls but all reached the HOF...........is that zero tangible return on investment? What keeping and building around star players does is allow you to maintain a winning culture...........they had winning records in 7 of his 11 seasons in Philly and the Eagles did that despite changing coaches several times in Peters tenure there..........three different coaches took them to the playoffs and they actually won a Super Bowl. Yes Peters was out of that SB game............but his presence as a dominant force on the OL allowed them to cultivate a raw but talented backup rather than having to fill the roster with a low ceiling, high floor vet. When it was his time, he stepped up. And Peters was there the whole way helping coach them up. Unlike many injured players Peters never left the team and his contribution in preparing his OL teammates for those playoffs/SB was well documented in Philly. They also won that SB without their QB who was having a league MVP type season. That was a team in a window.........deep and talented.........but also hardened by two years of intense physical training like the league had never seen before under Chip Kelly.

Yours and @GunnerBill takes sum this up perfectly. It's about whether the strategy is likely to produce the result. I'd add that a lot of the folks who complain about scrutinizing Beane's approach would quickly say that Green Bay has wasted Aaron Rodgers career......only winning 1 SB and none after he got paid. And GB have used a very similar approach with regard to drafting defensive players in round 1 and making WR a low priority on draft day. From GB management perspective they will surely say that they have done what it takes to be a top 3 seed most years and bad luck/timing has cost them. From my perspective they forget that it's a matchup league and that in the playoffs, when defensive intensity raises, having difference makers at receiver matters. You wonder what it would have looked like in some of those GB playoff runs if Rodgers had a WR corps like the ones that Cinci and LA Rams had in the SB last season.

They played a whole lot of "disinterested" looking football to fall to 7-6 against a garbage schedule last year. Having home field advantage basically served to them on a platter didn't seem to work out too well. Pressure........a tougher schedule.........if those things don't bring out the best in them then I guess they are damned if they do or don't.

As usual........when you are wrong you are really wrong. Peters was traded before the rules were drastically altered to protect QB's against more violent hits in the pocket in the 2010 season........they were the only thing between your QB and a crippling blindside hit. So at the time good left tackles were the second highest paid players in the sport behind the QB. They remain one of the 5 elite positions even today.........teams without a good one will trade a fortune to get one.........good ones rarely if ever make it to UFA........and they routinely get picked in the top 5 of drafts.

So you are saying that Peters couldn't have helped the Bills win over the next 14 years? That argument makes no sense. He is literally still playing and the Bills have had 5 winning seasons in that span and hovered around .500 in others. Despite being lead by the bumbling Buddy/Chan combo the league parity system positioned them roster-wise to be a perennial wildcard contender beginning when Marrone arrived........the roster didn't just start getting competitive in 2020. And yes the Eagles won the SB with what was, at the time, probably the most talented and best conditioned roster in the NFL. The Bills could have easily won the SB without Tre White last season........they were 8-6 with him and 5-1 without...........but that doesn't mean that Tre White isn't a great CB or a difference maker.

One of the only saving grace's of having to endure the Patriots reign over the Bills and the NFL as a whole has been the general disdain the Boston media has shown Belichick. Sure he has his ball washers but a lot of the media was illogically critical of him when he was winning SB's. I am all for very high standards but you win that many SB's and dominate the sport for the longest stretch ever I think I can overlook vague complaints about cheating or your clearly bad drafting etc..

When evaluators say "the Bills have the best roster in football" I think a lot of fans have a misconception that this is like the 1990-1991 again when they had a star studded, HOF-filled roster that clearly had no peer. Decades of free agency has created A LOT more parity in the NFL. It's a fine line among the top 15 teams or so now..........especially because there have never been so many talented QB's in the league. If the Bills are in fact the best roster...........a lot of it is timing. They basically still have all of their top draft picks for the past 6 years under contract and they have spent the 3rd most actual cash in the NFL($275M) this season to fortify the rest of the roster. They are at the peak of resources right now. With some big free agent decisions looming someone else is likely to be in that sweet spot next year.........teams like San Diego or Cinci, who are still early in regimes but very talented, would seem to be the most likely to have that consensus in coming years.