BADOLBILZ

Cherry picking a few stats from a few games out of a season does not a compelling argument make. I literally gave you a season worth of extensive pass defense stats and it's not like the stats you gave me as a defense were even signs of exemplary play. His best stretch of pass defense this year is worse than his entire season performance last year. But, OK.......... in those games where he had better ratings what plays did he make? Pass breakups? Interceptions? Forced fumbles? TFL's? Take a look at those type of plays in his stat line.........you will find that he's actually regressed steadily in those statistics since his rookie year.

Yep, they certainly earned any indifference or hate they got. It would have been very hard to endure without the tailgating...........in fact I don't know if the team would still be here if the fans didn't stick together and find a reason to keep showing up and fund all that bad football as the NFL simultaneously tried to crack down on all that pre-game celebrating. Now that they are winning I hope people put their money where there mouth is...........and I don't mean like when @eball does that.

Where ANY of my arguments have "fallen flat" here for 20+ years is when saying anything that isn't 100% hype being blown up the status quo. But in lieu of any actual football discussion(as in your case) I will gladly take hate from a bunch of rando's from east BF.

I'll try to be extra loud for you ol' pal.

And I am saying that yours is a straw man argument made perhaps from a willfully unanalytical position. I have never said that Edmunds couldn't play MLB. Tyrod Taylor was one of the only 3 AFC QB's invited to the Pro Bowl in 2015........he could play QB.......that didn't make him tremendous though....... it made him the 3rd best of a relatively weak field of AFC QB's that year. That's the case at ILB in the AFC the past couple of seasons. The NFC is a much different story. They are stacked at MLB. Not that it matters THAT much because being a top MLB is akin to being a top RB. Their presence or the lack thereof doesn't move Vegas lines. Julian Stanford and Tyrel Dodson have literally both stepped in for Edmunds and the D has not missed a beat and Klein has handled mike duties just fine(arguably better) when they've switched up responsibilities. It's not if Edmunds can play MLB though............it's how well and if that's the most impactful position he could fill.

If this possibility is just occurring to you then you are extremely late to the party. Anything goes this year.

Are people actually saying he just "isn't a MLB" at all or that he's just not that exceptional at it and may be better served at a position where he can make more of an impact? Off-ball LB's aren't as valued as they once were. MLB in particular is basically a reflection of the RB position..........its typically a player with a size/athleticisim ratio that's relatively easy to find and the good ones seem to have a 6th sense negotiating thru traffic. But teams let even the good ones walk in free agency the same way they do RB's or Guards because they aren't that hard to replace. You really don't want to spend a first round pick on a guy who just executes his assignments and calls the defenses correctly from an off-the-ball LB position..........and I suspect, as do most, that Edmunds could do a lot more good in pursuit of the passer.

Which LB among Klein, Milano and Edmunds would you expect to NOT know where the first down marker was? That's pre-snap football that one would expect even Tyrel Dodson not to screw up. The issue isn't that Edmunds blows the most basic assignments..........he doesn't.......he's mostly assignment sound........the issue is what happens when he has to react(be instinctive). He too often chooses the wrong gap.............he tries to arm tackle when he has plenty of time and space to line up ball carriers...........and time and again the ball finds him unprepared for it and falls harmlessly at his feet. And his vaunted frame covers some air space but it doesn't do him any favors when shedding blocks, working thru the trash to get to ball carriers and/or then having them get under his pads and take him for a ride. Like I said.........he is in the position to make a ton of plays in this defense and he just leaves SO many of them on the field.

Oh I watch plenty of the film. And I am a season ticket holder with seats in the middle of the field and had a birdseye view of his uninstinctive play for his first two years. I was intrigued by the "positionless football" concept that landed Edmunds in the middle. I thought length on the lines and at LB might make it hard for teams to pass the ball in the middle of the field. But that hasn't actually been the case. I see QB's manipulate Edmunds and throw the ball right behind him. I've seen them, now confident from 3 years of tape, challenging him with tight window throws knowing that he just does not make plays on the football. Turnover differential is so important........literally the most decisive stat next to the actual score. Ultimately the plays in this defense are all made by the conventionally built athletes like Milano and Poyer........not the spiderman freak-athlete Edmunds......even though he is in the most likely place to make them in this defense. Maybe the light comes on for him at some point..........it would be very convenient if that were in these playoffs..........but after 3 years of diminishing returns from him as a playmaker I think it's more than fair to wonder if his talents would be much better served in a position where he can just attack and make use of his physical gifts.

ALL of them. He has a ghastly 116 passer rating allowed......4 TD passes allowed.......he is giving up nearly 9 yards per pass attempt against him..........just 3 pass breakups on the entire season.........ZERO interceptions..........you name it. He has played better of late.........in particular I thought he really brought it physically against the Niners..........but if you watch this defense objectively he leaves more plays on the field than ANYONE. Even Levi. And I am a big Edmunds fan..........I thought he was a great pick by Beane.........I thought he was the best pass rushing prospect in that draft...........but he's just not playing up to his immense talent as an off-ball LB.

Milano? Tre White? They had a lot of players clearly nursing injuries in the first half of the season. They are playing good team defense now........but it would be nice to have a playmaking MLB. The difference between Edmunds and the better MLB's in the NFL(the NFC is loaded at the position) is that playmaking..........Edmunds just can't get himself there. The AFC is very WEAK at ILB........a devalued position.......so Edmunds gets some mostly undeserved run but the improvements on defense have mostly been about adjustments to scheme, effort and technique........not the return to health of any one player.

I thought the lasting Edmunds image was a tired Cam Newton leaving Edmunds face down as he strolled into the end zone for the only offensive TD that the Patriots had scored in the last 3 games? And yes thanks for the dream catcher.......he is easily the most physically gifted player on the defense..........and yet even his pass defense numbers have been terrible this year and Poyer, Milano, White, Hughes.......Klein even.........have had to make all of the game changing plays. Edmunds is very gifted athlete.........and if this defense gives up 10 points or less this weekend they can match the NFL-leading-tackler-Preston-Brown-lead 2017 McDefense in points allowed(349 current vs. 359). Those were some big shoes to fill..........there is a little room in the toe yet maybe but not too shabby.

First.......the "your opinions don't bother me" and then "I, I, I won money.......but you guys just don't know about it". Good job there, handsome. This thread just keeps getting better. Now that everyone knows that your pockets are lined with easy money I expect they will try to part it from you via more wagers!

Dammit! You can put your mouth where that eball money is too Dablitzkrieg! Happy New Year tho......you too @eball.(better luck next year)

The 2020 Bills were the clear division favorite in Vegas(and in Buffalo) and tied with TN for 5th best odds to reach the SB in the AFC. The 1990 Bills were tied with the Browns for second best SB odds from the AFC at +1200..........Denver was the clear favorite at +700. The biggest difference is that preseason nobody on the planet thought any AFC team had a snowballs chance against the NFC winner in the SB in January 1991...........which along with the underachieving nature of the 1989 Bickering Bills and a week two 30-7 blowout by the Dolphins didn't exactly have expectations thru the roof early on. The crazy game against the defending AFC champs Denver changed all of that............but there wasn't much more anticipation around that team than this one IMO.

There are a lot of people who travel a long way to make it to Bills games. That's awesome and cheers to you guys! But the system was obviously designed to create as little potential for spread as possible........which means they absolutely didn't want people flying in from out of state if they could avoid it.........I think if the season ticket base hadn't become SO decentralized because of the drought they might have just allowed OP residents only at the game. Which would have been fine with me. I may go or may not but just grateful some fans are getting the chance to attend.

Won't be a popular sentiment around here...........but the 2020 "Washington Football Team" is better than the 2017 Bills. The WFT have a net even point differential.........they've scored as much as they've given up. The 2017 Bills were -57.........that's gruesome. If they want to protect the value of the regular season..........eliminate divisions and go to 4 teams in each conference only. That's PLENTY. If they want to include enough to give more fanbases hope and maybe stop so much of the costly and mostly unproductive coaching turnover etc.. then go to 8.

Your money stayed in your pocket...........so another good prediction!

I get that concept.......but if Dalton and Boyd don't hook up for that fluke TD the Bills would have basically gone 2 full decades between playoff games.........that stretch was incredibly cruel to this fanbase. And who knows what happens here without that spark.........it bought McBeane space to tear it down some more if nothing else. It's probably one of the last reasonable and most harmless ways for the NFL to add some more parity to offset the fact that teams with great QB's can dominate for 15 years at a time. It will never happen again though. Going to 17 games.

We shouldn't forget how excited our fanbase was to be in playoff contention in 2017 even though on paper it was one of the least worthy NFL playoff teams since the merger itself and had absolutely zero chance of winning the SB. There is value in a little more inclusion.

It was and still is broken, IMO. More teams in playoff contention is more fun. There really should be 8 playoff teams in each league and no bye. There are rarely more than 2-3 really legit SB-winning-capable teams in any conference so at 6 it was neither satisfying the need for more inclusion nor only pitting real contenders in the playoffs. Byes suck, IMO. Having the right to play at home each game is plenty of motivation to finish as the #1 seed and having to play the 8th ranked team is a veritable bye for a true #1. Would also not benefit the "paper tiger" easy schedule teams that finish at the top like, for instance, the 1999 Jags.

Yeah we've been talking about that at our game day gatherings.........I don't really believe in fate and such in football(if one needs proof see "the greatest comeback" and then getting routed in SB)...........but the parallels are very interesting. It was fun being a Bills fan then but in general we went back to war, the economy was bad and the music was grungy and angry and kinda' depressing reflecting that. The next few years are going to be rough for a lot of people as well.........but everything 90's was going to come back in style in pop culture in the 2020's anyway to cash in on the teens of that decade..........so expect more deja vu.

I agree........I think he needs to be lined up at the LOS and rushing the passer to reach his potential. No reason for a guy that talented to not be producing big plays. And the longer they wait the less time he has to develop. The 5th year option is only guaranteed for injury so they probably have to pick it up regardless. It would be a major slap in the face to not pick that up after they chose to make him a MLB and then all the smoke they've blown up his azz about how great he is. Can't pay a player $15M+ per season to do a job at the same level that an AJ Klein can do though.

Yep he's advanced from Dawson Drops to Knox-it-down.

If healthy Stills brings some veteran savvy, excellent deep ball tracking and decent contested catch skill to the Z or X position. The past couple weeks Allen has thrown the best deep balls of his career. Unfortunately Gabe Davis hasn't been very efficient on contested deep tosses. He had one where he unnecessarily left his feet to catch a ball on the sidelines and got pushed out.............and he has had a couple where I thought he showed his inexperience when he he was in position to draw a couple PI calls at least and didn't do enough to sell it. If they get in a track meet where they can't give away a possession Stills experience might really help.