BADOLBILZ

They definitely peaked at the right time. They were big underachievers for much of the season........and beatable in all of their NFC games. For whatever reasons their whole became the equal of their parts in this SB game.........that was by far their best playoff performance.

The Bucs had easily the best non-QB roster in the league..........that's why Brady chose them. They didn't play like it most of the year. They appeared to be a bunch of parts that were far less than the sum of their whole. I think this game was really the first one where they truly put it all together. The Bills were better than the sum of their parts most of the year. Less so in the playoffs where they were out-coached in 2 of their 3 games and didn't look sharp offensively in any of them. So I don't think they would have played very well against Tampa. Hopefully the Bills improve the roster AND the coaching staff grows/learns from this year.

I think there is a bit too much assumption on the part of people that Watson is making these decisions simply because the ownership/upper management are total freaks. He reportedly was very influenced by Houston Rockets NBA star James Harden recently forcing his way out of Houston and onto a Brooklyn Nets team so he could play for a title with his buddies. The NBA model can't work in football. Remove the competitive balance from football and the entire system comes down like a house of cards. That's not an exaggeration. The NFL can't replicate their game experience 100-200 times per year like the NBA and MLB so the perception that the playing field is relatively even is critical.

They already paid him a $27M bonus so there was an understanding that his contract was more than just a weekly pay check, GB. He doesn't have to show up. They don't have to pay him. They can go after the bonus while he eats said bag of ***** and gives away a season of his career. Whatever. I'd say "hopefully" it doesn't come to that.........but honestly I hope all parties involved are sufficiently harmed to the benefit of the Bills. It would be to the benefit of the small market Bills for this to go poorly for him, IMO.

Mike Remmers might have cemented his place as the career worst performer in SB history IMO. Between single handedly costing the Panthers a SB with his work against Von Miller and the absolutely atrocious job he did today.......just unbelievable. I don't know whether to feel sorry for the guy or for us having to watch such a terrible player greatly impact two SB's now.

The enormous, early-gifted contract says otherwise.

You know that I don't blame officiating..........and the officiating was terrible simply because the league entirely changed how they were calling plays in the secondary to the great detriment of the grabby, chippy Chiefs..........but I think KC compounded the issue by losing their composure. They expended a lot on their outrage and looked gas after halftime. For the first time, the Chiefs really paid for having a unit full of low character individuals.

That's a very dumb, irrelevant analogy. He's not some $50K per year non-contractually obligated office schlub. To whom much is given, much is expected. I mean....were they not "jesus freaks" when he signed his contract that called for a "no trade" clause 5 months ago? It's not like Houston didn't have options. They could have Dak Prescotted him. I don't begrudge him asking for a trade but trying to force his way out of a team that just gave his once homeless family generational wealth when it didn't have to....that attitude sure ain't gratitude. There is a line between being in an unfortunate situation and an untenable one. It was unfortunate when he signed the contract.......if it was tenable then it's tenable now. If he wants to go.......START by dropping the no trade clause.......let Houston trade him for 5 #1 picks and a bunch of other picks. Otherwise......he should go down to the corner store and get a bag of ***** and start munching while he sits out 2020.

I think the problem with everything he does is that there is no evidence to support the notion that he is exceptional at it. Case in point: you say he changes how teams attack the Bills offense. That's pure fiction. There is no fear of him. Because he has PROVEN over and over and over that he simply doesn't make plays as an off-ball LB. As for not blitzing well.........while that is certainly a reason to question his pass rush ability.......blitzing and pass rushing from the LOS are not the same thing. I'd like to see him on the edge. Probably won't happen here but maybe at his next team.

Aside from the few teams that may have both the desperate need and the resources to trade for him I think the rest of the owners gotta see a potential Watson force-out of Houston as a VERY BAD turn of events for their system. It's a slippery slope, for sure. If you can make a guy the richest at his position and he can be ecstatic then just 5 months later with probably 12-15 years left in his career he's determined the situation is forever untenable.......then all bets are off. Watson changing teams this soon in his career would be as early or earlier in the prime of a true superstar that a player has ever changed teams in any of the 4 major US sports. Unlike basketball and baseball the NFL has been able to contour the rules of their sport so that only 1 position.......1/22nd of the starting lineup........is really necessary. Works out for the QB's and the league. They only have to funnel top dollar into one player and the league benefits by having human focal points, "faces" of the league, which was always tougher than it was in other sports where players faces were always visible and therefore more recognizable. Stability at that position is essential..........and whether the QB's realize it or not........they are expected to comply with the league's framework in return for being placed on a pedestal. IMO the Texans would probably receive a lot of support from the league to NOT trade Watson. It would be foolish on many levels for them to trade him. The only chance at getting value is a trade that would so hamper the ability of the receiving team to re-stock their roster over the next 5 years that THAT would also be bad for the league as well.

If he got that name from that play then it actually fits. Zimmer had no chance in hell of actually catching Hill.......it's just in his nature to not give up. Pete Rose didn't get that nickname because he dove into bases head first..........he got it in spring training from the Yankees laughing at him on the bench after Rose leapt up over the fence to attempt to catch a 450' Mickey Mantle home run that was "100 feet over his head".

I understand that you think Hill's rise was all about usage.........but the usage was able to increase because they were more productive with the greater QB. To see that, look at the amount of 1st downs Hill and Kelce produced once Mahomes became the starting QB's. More first downs, more opporunities. I can remember watching the All-22 of the 2017 Chiefs game and Kelce in particular was running free............but Smith couldn't get him the ball. Sometimes he couldn't see him, sometimes he was rushed and the throw was too challenging for him to make. And Smith was a well above average athlete at QB. Mahomes is just the better athlete, has better vision of the field and can buy tons of time and then make off-platform throws nobody else can. Stefon Diggs is a PRIME example a QB raising the production of an excellent WR.........his targets increased 44% in 2020 very much because the amount of first downs he produced increased 44%.

Our tailgating group has 30+ people and they usually show up in about 8 cars. 6-8 in our vehicle. Only a couple solo drivers. That's to say nothing of the buses..........or the RV's that aren't leaving right after the game. 40,000 drivers? Like I said your math is just really, really bad.

Bates was Dawkins backup at LT last year. He has played some right tackle, I think his first looks were actually there and center in preseason after they traded for him. Trey Adams is another guy to keep an eye on. I think Ford was bad at LG but Beane is invested in him and I think he will get EVERY chance to prove he isn't one of the best 5.

Oh Bates is definitely ahead of Boettger on the center depth chart. But I think Bates might actually get first crack at right tackle next season if Williams is lost. Sal Capaccio echoed that sentiment yesterday on WGR. I think conventional wisdom is Ford might get another shot at RT but I think they haven't been encouraged by his development and might just want to keep him at LG and hope he develops into a plus blocker next to Dawkins. They've put in quite a bit of time developing Bates and they really like him. In a scenario where they lose both Williams and Feliciano.........and knowing as they do that Morse is likely on borrowed time with the concussions.........it would be interesting to see if they pooled up savings and bought a top interior OL to anchor a supporting cast of Bates/Boettger/Ford.

I don't think the Bills had a SB roster. Neither does Beane, as he said in the aftermath of the AFCCG. Josh Allen really carried them. They'd probably have had a losing team this season if they had just a solid QB like Philip Rivers. Simply not enough playmakers on either side of the ball. Beane and McDermott dug themselves a roster hole in choosing to let all of the drought era 1st and 2nd round players go. They made a ton of bad decisions in McD's first 14 months on the job......things like passing on Mahomes/Watson and paying Star Lotulelei $50M etc.. But then they hit a grand slam with Josh Allen and have generally made better decisions since. They've learned on the job, which is frustrating, but encouraging. BUT......as the media noted in the lead up to the AFCCG the Bills had the fewest home-grown players on roster of the final 4 teams........flying in the face of the narrative that the Bills were the young upstart on the block. They are actually one of the oldest rosters in the league........which means that they are likely to experience even more turnover than most teams over the next 2-3 seasons so they will now really need to draft and develop better.

I shudder to think about 40,000 cars at a Bills game. I don't think you have much experience attending games or are just really bad at math.

Right of first refusal. I wouldn't be surprised if Boettger ended up as the Bills center if Feliciano walks and Morse is cut or gets concussed out of action again next season. He's reportedly cross-trained to help anywhere.

Funny you should mention that. After Jauron's first season I was on TSW saying......."kudos to Jauron.......he cleaned up Mularkey's disorganized mess........and now is the perfect time to fire him.......the team can only get to mediocrity by playing not to lose and that's the only trick Jauron has up his sleeve". That didn't go over well here.........Jauron was beloved. I was a big proponent of bringing in Marty to fix the mess but Marty did or said something when he played for the Bills that Ralph never forgave. Not sure what it was but his disdain for Marty was not a secret.......only the reason why was. I always suspected he knocked up one of Ralph's daughters or something. It wasn't a surprise that Marty became a coach he was already actively training to be a coach when he was with the Bills. A former AFL champ Bill coming back to coach the Bills back to prominence? Made all the sense in the world. Ralph did try to lure Mike Shanahan and Bill Cowher before having to settle for Gailey.......but after decades of thumbing his nose at having a powerful HC the Bills jobs reputation as "where coaches go to die" preceded him.

Yeah he didn't fit in Rex scheme........but neither did a lot of the defensive roster. The Bills ascension from obscurity really began with Marrone at the same exact time as Andy Reid in KC..........in fact the Bills started out well ahead of KC roster-wise.........McDermott has tried to make a point that "his" system is much newer than Reid's.........but the reality is that they were neck-and-neck roster wise during the Marrone/Ryan years and the scheme and regime changes are the primary reason why their rosters are disparate. Zimmer coming back on the rebound is a nice story but the backstory is Billsy.

The slam dunk champ! The preseason NFLDPOY. I had a guy tell me yesterday that Mitch Morse couldn't fall into the late rounds of the draft because his combine performance was too good...............just look at players who have passed thru the Bills that had crazy dream catcher #'s like Jason Peters, Brandenburg, Zimmer.........it happens all the time. Brandenburg is an example of why NOT to trust the track #'s. Peters is an extreme example of why you shouldn't sleep on them. Hopefully Zimmer keeps improving. He's already pushing 30 so it's not a given but it's a good story.

And the Browns let playmaking Joe Schobert walk to the Jags. The reality is that the position is de-valued for a reason. Everyone thinks "teams are passing more we need great coverage LB's".............well KC basically played the AFCCG without LB's and won with ease. The Ravens could easily have been in the AFCCG with maybe the worst MLB in the NFL last year in Patrick Queen. MLB is nice to be strong at.........but it's not steering teams to success............the NFC is the weaker conference for a reason.........they've got all the best MLB's and few of the best QB's.

No question Beane dropped the ball when he passed on playmakers AJ Brown and DK Metcalf in round 2 of 2019. They NEEDED that player for Josh Allen in 2019..........not another developmental offensive guard with right tackle flexibility in Cody Ford. That error cost them two All Pro type talents.......Wyatt Teller's roster spot and one of those WR's. But comparing the processing ability and accuracy of 2019 Josh Allen to 2020 is way off base. Allen improved greatly. In 2019 he left hundreds of yards on the table to wide open receivers deep. That wasn't a lack of receiving talent issue. This year he was hitting a good % of those passes while greatly improving his accuracy and ball placement on short to intermediate throws. He would have been better in 2019 with a stud WR to go with his excellent targets in Beasley and Brown.........but he wasn't at a stage of his game where he was going to elevate the game of guys like Hill or Kelce by 30%+ like Mahomes did INSTANTLY as a first time starter in KC. Allen is a work in progress..........Mahomes was ready to be the league's QB1 as soon as he was given the opporunity. For reference go check his early season stats in 2018 where he was just putting up pinball machine numbers right out of the gate.

He makes plays. That extraordinary speed and quickness catches people by surprise which has a tendency of freeing up the football. The much-deservedly-maligned Tremaine Edmunds has traits that could allow him to do the same but not as an uninstinctive off-ball LB. In his first game as a pro he had a strip sack in Baltimore. The more he learned the system the less impactful he became. We should be seeing those kind of plays on the regular from #49. For those people who want me to admit that I was wrong about something...........I thought Zimmer was going to make the 2016 Bills team. So I was wrong. But so did former resident TSW draft and camp analyst Astro.

Hill's ascension to a first team all-pro WR happened when he got Mahomes as his QB in 2018. As @NewEra stated Hill was the first team all-pro return man in 2016. For perspective, Andre Roberts was first team all-pro return man in 2018. Kelce was first team all-pro but that was relative.........Mahomes has basically increased his production by about 30% which is crazy considering he was already well into his prime and outstanding. That's not to detract from those players but my point stands..........they were not nearly as lethal with "only" a pro bowl QB in Alex Smith..........in fact, that's why they went out and paid $16M per year to get Sammy Watkins.........they didn't feel they were explosive enough. The 2017 Bills were able to shut them down and that was when they had the league's leading rusher as well. Mahomes is a HUGE difference maker. As for whether either will have greater weapons........who knows? Allen's receivers caught more passes than any NFL team since 1995. Once he gets paid they won't likely be able to have a $30M three man WR corps anymore like they do now. Mahomes has one more year before his cap # comes up and Allen has two. At that point they both might have to make due with a little less.