BADOLBILZ

Not only playing...........playing LEFT TACKLE. You can scheme around the modest amount of injuries the Bills have on the OL...........but the coaching staff needs to treat each opponent like they want the players to treat each opponent........like it's the most important one they've faced. I don't see that with the offense right now and it might be a contributing factor to their struggles.

After the game Mitch Morse responded with a reflexive "No" when asked whether there were communication issues on the OL. I mean, for chrissakes..........it was pretty clear that they were struggling with communication.

The deep and intermediate throws that Sanders and Davis bring to the table are difficult to execute the way the Bills are being defensed(and the way Daboll is calling the game). And John Brown himself might be toast but the quickness and speed he brought to the offense when healthy is missed. With him gone and McKenzie off the field they really don't have a guy who can catch a short throw or screen and run away from somebody.

I don't think Daboll should take anything for granted with the OL. They were a few snaps into the game yesterday and it was pretty clear that they were just going to try to drop back and beat the Jags from the pocket all day. No consideration to the fact that their offensive line was struggling to protect in recent weeks.

Yeah, now it does. But IMO not so much with regard to Gabe can do. Early in the season Sanders was giving them something they lacked with John Brown. Now, with defenses adapting and taking away some of the things Sanders(and Davis) do well...........the Bills miss the speed and quickness they had in John Brown. I was a bit worried that they were over-focused on "route running" with their WR corps and were leaving themselves a little short in the RAC/playmaking equation. Early in the season that looked like a misplaced concern. Now, it's a thing, IMO.

Singletary is averaging 4.9 yards per carry this season and 4.8 for his career. What he does well is gain yards on the ground. I've called him ordinary but the term is relative...........he HAS done a good job gaining yards rather consistently since he entered the league..........he just isn't a $15M/year RB. If they weren't getting bitchslapt at the LOS he could certainly put up close to 1,000 yards on 12-14 carries per game.

You do realize that Devin Singletary is averaging 4.9 yards per carry this season..........and 4.8 in his career. It's like on the one hand you don't think stats tell the story...........but then you are saying "look at these stats!" If your argument is stats you should be banging the table for more from Singletary.........he's been about as productive with his carries as any RB since he entered the league.

I don't disagree that he could be moved to the slot........but for reference.........Christian McCaffrey has already had 400 more regular season touches (1088) in his brief NFL career than Julian Edelman (678) had in his long career. Cole Beasley has just over 500 for his entire career. I think McCaffrey could have been targeted 130x per season in the slot and caught 100+ per year at 12-13 yards per clip and done that for a decade plus. Elite pass receiving RB's are only good for 8-9 yards per grab. This is why base defense is nickel and the "scat-back/3rd down back/"Cluster McFuxter" back" largely disappeared. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/M/McClDe00.htm

You are just a new-born energy vampire........trying to make yourself feel better by blaming the entirety of the fanbase for the way you feel about the team losing. You should learn from Promo though........there is a much more consistent supply of energy to suck over in the Sabres forums where long beleaguered fans are ripe to be harvested of their life force.

Yeah the Pats have their own vulnerabilities because a tidily executed "Jauron Ball" game can beat them. But it's not surprising that they are contending for the division..........this is the way most of the NFL usually is...........there are usually contested divisional races. The people who thought that it was the Bills "turn" to rule the AFC East uncontested for the rest of Josh Allen's career were living in a fantasy world. The division will be contested and the Bills will have to perform in a lot of "high leverage" situations to stay at or near the top. That should be fun........that's the journey. If it works out GREAT then maybe it will be like GB in the NFC North........they usually win it but every once in a while Minnesota or Chicago jumps up and takes it away.

Does Promo know that you are trying to take his place as the chief fan-shamer while he is wallowing in all of his glory over in the Sabres threads?

I felt the same way about Smith. On one hand he was a dead man in the pass game and drew bad penalties........but getting rid of him and going without a blocking TE was a gamble. I know it's en vogue to point to our "lousy" RB's for the problems with the run game but this was a "run and play defense" team that reached the playoffs in 2019. Singletary averaged over 5 yards per carry for the season. The Bills RB's are ordinary but that's not why they can't run the football. They are getting smacked around at the LOS.

What's even funnier is how unsuccessful Kyle Shanahan has been as a HC.

What I don't understand is how Fells ended up on a Jacob Hollister contract with Detroit. As TE hungry as the league is I was surprised HOLLISTER didn't get more interest............and Fells was clearly better than Hollister.

First of all.........that's just a random list.........not the top rushing/receiving backs in the NFL now. Second..........the only great RB in the league is Henry...........and he's not really a factor in the passing game himself. RB's just don't matter enough in winning and losing the game for the position to matter. The player you seek(Thurman Thomas) isn't really a thing and the facsimile's of that player have been breaking down and flaming out around age 26 now. And the RB has been largely replaced in the receiving game by slot receivers. McCaffrey might have become the first HOF slot receiver if he had insisted on that instead of RB but now he's a beat up, undersized $15M/yr RB.

If this was an offensive line built on some stars and rookie backups or Bobby Hart's had to step in...........I could see a notable drop-off. But these guys should be fairly interchangeable talents........that's what they've sought to have and invested in on the OL.......depth of veteran talent. It's not like Feliciano to Boettger........or even Ford........should be a drop-off in talent. And I don't buy the lack of continuity part that much. One thing I will say..........it seems that Daboll takes for granted that a re-organized line will produce the same results as the ideal group. At the very least I would have rolled the pocket A LOT in this game after all the tee-ing off that TN and Miami had been doing on Allen in the pocket in the prior two games. I don't care if Josh ends up with half-field reads out of the deal.........keep him clean.

I thought he was a very handy player for Houston. When I watched Houston it seemed like he was regularly keeping the chains moving and scoring TD's for Watson. Can't see him clearing waivers until where we had priority but he's an underrated player, IMO.

It's true that all HC's have games where their teams don't show up to play. What is concerning with McDermott is that it's like this for a 3-4 week stretch in the middle of every season..............it's not just been "a game" here and there randomly sprinkled throughout a long season. It's been a near-month-long funk each time. The Bills are a "continuity" focused organization.........its fair to say that these stretches are now part of what the players expect to happen every season and therefore, despite McDermott likely changing things up to prevent it, it's perhaps become self-fulfilling to an extent.

Yeah, Terry Pegula isn't going to go for knowing that this is being done to his team.........and you can bet that every NFL owner ultimately knows what their own league is telling officials to do. However..........human nature.......empathy/sympathy for struggling/underdog teams.........or the desire to be involved in exciting games.......could lead to officials doing what you are talking about quite voluntarily. The reality is that bad officiating really, really bonds fans to their teams........"the product"........so it's not going to ever "really" get fixed. It's an entertainment product and all you have to do is watch how intentionally bad officiating stimulates the "us against them" in wrestling fans to know that it does the same to NFL fans.

I hope they find a way to win either way but do tend to believe that the Jets probably aren't enough to wake them from their slumber and play a good all-around game. McDermott has to know this is a thing by now. It strikes me that they might need an emotional moment to flip the switch...............like when McD apologized to the team for benching Tyrod back in 2017 and they came out firing the following week. The narrow escape against NE seemed to provide the emotional spark to flip the switch last season.

In 2019 they had that stretch that included the bad loss to the Browns and the inexplicable, horrible home performance against the Eagles. In 2018 they got completely WAXED by NE, Indy and Chicago in a quick stretch that had people calling for Daboll's head. In 2017........of course the worst 3 game defensive stretch in team history...........followed by the surprising road win in KC. It's a thing with the McDermott regime........EVERY season they've had a stretch in mid-year where they play terrible and to date they've always bounced back.

Chiefs, Titans, Jets and Patriots. Got out of it 2-2. They should have lost the Patriots game but Justin Zimmer saved the bacon with that strip of Cam as the Pats were about to put the ball in the end zone and run Belichick's record against McD to 7-0.

Every season under Sean McDermott they have gone thru a few game stretch in the middle of the season where they play like they are just tired of "the process" and put on a series of inexplicably, uncharasterically, pathetic, listless and undisciplined performances. It's been like the "dog days of summer" in baseball. Every season. After looking pathetic they've always bounced back and finished the season strong. Was really hoping they'd figure out how to avoid this sh*t this time around........especially with such an easy schedule........but nope........both the Dolphins and Jags games have been shite. I would expect the light will come back on in a couple weeks.

When much of the rest of the offense head wasn't in the game........he eventually totally lost his composure. He's been pretty good about keeping his sh*t together when things aren't going well the past season and a half but today was not one of those days.