BADOLBILZ

Last season he came back at 9 months post operation and his knee reportedly felt very bad. He wasn't right until half way thru the season. Maybe his last surgery was just botched and this one went much better...........but I would have expected him to wait a bit longer to come back this time. I'm not sure it makes much sense for him to even come back this season...........if he does then you know the dude really wants to play and win because it's no better than a 50/50 decision whether it's smarter to rehab and workout for teams in March before free agency or to play a few late season and playoff games. Probably more like 20/80 or less in favor of it being wiser to sit the whole year out and have a longer, healthier career to earn money. Then again...........maybe he knows he probably won't come back in 2022 and just doesn't want to say anything because he likes the attention...........or maybe he can find some team to pay him to re-hab like Buffalo did with Shawne Merriman.

I agree but it's worth noting that Cinci put themselves into a position where they could dictate their playoff opponent...........people forget they were the #3 seed going into the finale........not Buffalo........but they intentionally tanked and rested their starters to get the easier matchup against Vegas and align themselves as the #4 seed to play the one-dimensional Titans in the divisional round. By virtue of their poor AFC record the Bills did not have any control over their opponent destiny.........they were forced to prepare to win their finale to avoid ending up on the road in the WC if NE won and they lost. The Bills actually got funneled into KC by Cinci playing the card the Bengals had earned in the regular season by winning more than Buffalo in the conference. Cinci felt better about going to Buffalo in the AFCCG than having to play both KC AND Buffalo in the same playoffs. Which proved wise because KC beat Buffalo but that game after 4 seasons of going deep into the playoffs every year seemed to leave KC flat in the AFCCG. Still.........I would have LOVED Buffalo's chances at home against Cinci in the AFCCG...........it would have been an entirely different dynamic than it was for Cinci going to KC........who was hosting their 4th straight AFCCG.

Personal disappointment with the team is totally irrelevant to the discussion of "the reality of what occurred". THREE BIG UPSET LOSSES........one to the worst team in football.........cost them home field advantage. They are 0-4 on the road in the playoffs........in real life.......under Sean McDermott and each loss has been chock full of "wtf" moments that were totally uncharacteristic for the team in those seasons. Those are examples of reality. Presuming Tre White somehow ensures a victory in KC in the divisional game is just a fact-free opinion. See AFCCG 2021 for the closest example of proof of how he would have performed behind another limp playoff pass rush. Because don't tell me about the 2021 regular season road matchup..........the SB era Bills were undefeated against the NFC in ALL meaningful games in those 4 regular seasons.......14-2 with the only 2 losses being season finales with home field advantage already clinched and the starters on bench. Included in those regular season wins was an early season win in Dallas sandwiched between 2 SB blowouts vs that team in a 12 month period between January 93' and January 94'.........and a win against the Giants in NY late in the season where they lost to the Giants in the SB.........and wins against outstanding teams in San Francisco(no punts game) and a then 11-4 New Orleans team on the road. And I would have taken my chances against Cinci at home in any round. I think the Bills would have hung 50 on the Bengals D at home.

As shallow as they are at WR they could literally run with 5 WR's(Diggs, Davis, Shakir, McKenzie and Crowder). Maybe even 4 if Crowder doesn't get right. Unless they have amazing camps or preseasons Austin, Hodgins and Stevenson would all probably have to take practice squad jobs anywhere else in the NFL so they'd be there to provide playbook familiarity if nothing else.

A huge 3T is the ideal for this style of defense. That clip illustrates why........it's a pass rushers position but having to hold back a charging 340 pound DT all day is going to take a toll on an OG. But to think.........most scouts thought he was going to be a run stuffing NT entering the NFL. Tall guys with relatively skinny legs don't make great anchors. Interested to see if Jordan Davis breaks that trend but I doubt it.

Meh......SB champions often do so despite key injuries. And people forget the Chiefs lost their own 3x All Pro and leader of their defense in Tyrann Mathieu on the first series of that divisional game so it was certainly a fair fight between secondaries playing without their best players. Being a VERY disappointing 7-4 at the time that Tre White was hurt.........dooming them to the road in the playoffs where they've not only never won under McDermott.......but never even played a composed 60 minutes without frantic, uncharacteristic mistakes........is clearly what cost the Bills a Super Bowl. People sometimes just overlook the overwhelmingly obvious to point a finger at fate.

I knew of the Black Yankees but that was literally the first time I've ever seen any gear. They were historically not very good. Kinda' like the Mets.

At least this autograph seeking geek has made a lot of people in this thread feel better about themselves.

That's the Black Yankees. ***** National League. Played their last season in Rochester. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Black_Yankees

I don't think it's relatively small because the talent drop-off from the WR1 and WR2 to everyone else is that massive. Their obsession with defensive depth is impressive though. This defense should shut everybody down..........the team has never had this much invested in a defense in its history..........lotta' money and 6 of the last 8 first rounders on that side of the ball. So if the receiving corps is a failure they might be able to run it and punt it and still win enough games to get in the tournament and then just let Josh Allen run 12-15 times per game in the playoffs and see what happens. Hopefully it never gets to that though. Very telling that Beane isn't downplaying the depth situation at outside WR though.

Yanks got Benintendi for a few pretty good pitching prospects. Yanks have an abundance of young arms in low-mid minors but nice haul for KC considering Benintendi is a free agent and they had no intention of keeping him. Benintendi was always a player who I thought would look good in pinstripes. Might be an .800 OPS guy in NY and is made to play LF in Yankee stadium. The flip side of it being a good get for the Yanks is that being cheap has lead to them having to trade 7 prospects for Gallo and Benintendi in the past year. In the offseason of 2020 they had a chance to sign Michael Brantley.......a juiced up version of Benintendi..........for about 2 years and $30M. Seemed like an OBVIOUS fit..........they sniffed around...........and inexplicably passed. Address the problems in UFA.........stop with the luxury tax avoidance BS. They came into the season with no competition for Hicks and Gallo..........two proven unreliable performers..........they had nobody at the minor league level ready to step in............but they went without a net and ended up with those 2 being automatic outs for much of the season.

Nah.........you made a sarcastic post that him not being injured yet was proof that any concerns about him again adding weight were unfounded.

If Austin were on the Patriots our resident Patriots social media trollers would be starting threads to get everyone to yuck it up about how the Pats fans thought that he was going to be an important contributor. Dude has literally never had a good season in his 9 year career and is now 32 years old.

I'd caution against box score scouting injuries. Crowder played in 12 games last year but left 2 of those and didn't return with injuries. He's been a 500 snap guy 3 of the past 4 seasons despite being option 1 or 1A in his receiving corps...........Beasley, by contrast, was a very consistent 700 snap guy past 4 seasons despite being a less important option on teams with more receiving threats. Same injury concern with Rodger Saffold..........he didn't miss a lot of full games in 2021 but he missed 5 games worth of snaps as he gimped in and out of the Titans starting lineup with a chronic shoulder injury. Bills chose to swap a lot of durable but more expensive players out on offense and replace them with injury fliers or just plain cheaper options........and then funneled the savings into the defense.

He was limited with a foot injury for much of the 2021 season(around 10-11 games per Sal Capaccio)............after coming into the season at a higher weight than his rookie season..........than he added more weight for that foot to carry this season. What are you confused about? If you don't want to worry about it.........then just don't. Trying to convince everyone that there is no correlation whatsoever between lingering injuries to the feet or leg joints and added or unnecessary weight........by using Davis escaping the first 3 of 200 days unscathed............ isn't going to make it any more likely that he will remain healthy all season. I swear some of the people on TSW are just superstitious and think that discussing concerns about player/team choices is going to will issues into existence......so they gotta' try to shout them down with baseless, illogical retorts.

They weren't cap strapped in 2019. Obviously. Beane was spending $7M per year on a swing tackle(Nsekhe) and $6M on a backup MLB(Klein) back in those days. The mere thought of such a thing now..........or paying a Lee Smith $3.5M in this cap situation would be preposterous. Where did you see that his contract just mandates that he blocks?

Yikes. A #1.......an unproven #2...........two #5's...........and two veteran practice squad level receivers. I'll believe McKenzie has elevated his game when I see it in games..............and they REALLY need Shakir to play like a 2nd rounder if that's the top 6.

He was limited by a foot injury for the first 3 months of last season.........after adding muscle/weight to his frame following his rookie season. He chose to add more weight. We are 3 days into an NFL season with about 200 days left in it.

Yeah @HappyDays is wrong. They didn't ink OJ Howard "primarily to block". A very cap strapped, pass-first team doesn't pay a blocking TE $3M per. They thought they were getting a bargain prove-it deal on a guy with a lot of receiving upside who can block a little. But as the reports from Tampa indicated, he seems to have lost a lot of speed and quickness. I don't have a problem with taking some cheap flyers on injured guys like Howard and Crowder but that should be in addition to more likely-to-succeed kinda' moves. Like when they threw Shaq Lawson a bone after they already had 8 high picks or highly paid DL under contract.

I just gotta' give you full credit for being wrong and contradicted by the GM. It's a full on "Men are from Mars and you and @eball (and some other shouters) are from Venus" in here............you persons take pride in being illogical and arguing against the obvious........buncha' bossy bottoms.

Cue the "we don't need depth on the boundary" crew in 3...2...1... Nah, just kidding. Guys like @Logic and @eball and yourself have known that the Bills are very thin on the boundary........if Kumerow is your #3 you have one of the worst #3 boundary options in the NFL. Your homerish natures just doesn't allow you to admit it unless Brandon Beane says it himself.

The Bills reportedly had interest in Julio earlier in the offseason but I don't think there was any chance he would come to Buffalo over Tampa for near the same money. Tampa is the #1 short term destination in the league right now..........Buffalo is not a close second........Brady is the GOAT with 7 SB rings........Tampa was better than the Bills last year and also beat them head to head as well.........and Florida has great fall/winter weather and no state income tax.

Criticism of the media and their work is fair game on TSW. Happens every day........all the time here, does it not? @YoloinOhio just started a thread to criticize or intentionally initiate criticism of a member of the media. I wouldn't put it beyond you to have done the same about some content you didn't like, it fits your totally irrational persona to now complain so loudly about something you yourself do. I don't care if it's JW or Jerry Sullivan or Vic Carucci, Thad Brown, Chris Brown, Tasker or Schopp etc... They are all paid professionals and yet people like you with zero experience, talent or skill in those mediums are free to be critical as consumers of the content. I'm not a fan of JW's work in PC's. And I've seen him bully and big time people here on TSW and he deserves to be treated no differently than an illogical fellow like yourself.........so I have no hesitation about being critical of him..........that's how TSW works.

Should be one of the more intriguing trade deadlines ever. I can't believe that Soto and Ohtani could possibly be traded...........they are amazing players and not pending UFA's...........and Castillo is going to be a great fit in a big market somewhere. His changeup has been my favorite pitch thrown by anyone for the past few years. I know Yankee fans are always demanding Hal get a star player just because he's making 50x as much money every year as some of the small market clubs and really doesn't have an excuse to not spend............but these 3 players literally check EVERY box you could ask for in a Yankee. Incredible, HOF quality LH bats in their prime.......one of whom is also an ACE. And another RH pitcher with ace potential who forces ground balls like Castillo? Wow. Probably get none........Hal IS cheap.............but if there were ever a time for Lil' Stein to tap into the billions he's pocketed since George passed.........THIS is the time. Eat the Corbin contract.........hell eat the ridiculous Strasburg contract instead if that's what it takes.

Just clarifying your hollow support for the Associated Press rep. I know some people don't like paying for TBN...........just like they don't like paying more than $20 for a late season home Bills ticket because they've put a price on it.........and they think local news and AP should be free.........but tis' better to be critical than indifferent and unsupportive.