hondo in seattle

I'm not sure if this was already posted but - to my surprise - Hawes is PFF's highest graded rookie after two weeks... 1. TE Jackson Hawes, Buffalo Bills (92.7) Hawes followed up a 93.7 PFF overall grade against the Ravens in Week 1 with an 85.3 mark against the Jets in Week 2. He played 35 snaps, primarily as a run blocker, and earned an 84.8 PFF run-blocking grade on zone runs (18 snaps). The fifth-round pick from Georgia Tech is the NFL's highest-graded tight end after Week 2 and ranks as the second-best run blocker at the position (83.1), behind teammate Dawson Knox (90.6). While Hawes has dealt with challenges in man schemes (58.3), he’s been excellent in zone, earning an 85.6 zone PFF run-blocking grade across 23 snaps through two weeks. As a receiver, Hawes has caught both of his targets for 34 yards, 29 of which came in Week 1. www.pff.com/news/nfl-top-15-rookies-week-2-2025

We wore leather helmets back when I played football (or something like that) - a great thing because, as a receiver and safety, I hated anything obscuring my vision even in the smallest way. Weirdly, I had poor eyesight and wore glasses yet I didn't like wearing glasses in games because I didn't like the rims obstructing my sight. A visor would have driven me crazy with the hint of glare. So I'm glad for #1 because Josh has already adjusted to the way the visor affects his vision. #2 and #3 remain problems. But I don't think heat or reverberation will bother him when he's in the pocket, scanning the field, in the flow, and entirely focused on the play.

It's easy to imagine Kincaid beating his 2025 high of 48 yards (vs. Ravens). And it's easy to imagine Knox having fewer drops than he did against the Jets! So far this year, the Bills are targeting their WRs 59% of the time. That stat surprised me because I had thought we were targeting WRs more this year. We're not - it's almost exactly the same as 2024. TEs are being targeted this season about 27% of the time and RBs about 14%. I'm guessing the numbers against the Fins will skew a little heavier toward TEs and RBs. Low-risk stuff with a chance for high reward considering the Fin LBs have been struggling with coverage and as a team they miss some tackles. The run/pass mix will be normal Brady stuff so I don't know if the TEs will have "big" days since we'll run roughly half the time. I guess it depends on how you define "big." Shannon Sharpe's single-game record of 214 is probably safe.

I think Brady's balanced offense allows for a larger margin for error. As Dan Orlovsky says, this offense can do whatever it wants. We can run, throw short, throw downfield... Whatever the D is determined to stop, we can do something else. But only to an extent. Because you're right that the receivers do sometimes struggle to get open, and when that happens, we rely on Josh to (1) thread needles, (2) scramble to give the receivers more time, and/or (3) transform a passing play into a positive QB run. I wish we had better separators and, at the same time, Brady schemed a better passing game. Still, it's hard to argue with Brady's results: lots of points, few turnovers.

I have trouble wrapping my head around this. While the Bills haven't been blessed with many great QBs in our 65-year history, we have had several good RBs, including two Hall of Famers: OJ and Thurman. And Josh has more rushing TDs than any of them. It's incomprehensible. And they're not all tush-pushes and QB dives. In fact, most of them are longer.

When I watch Brady's offense in action, I think he's good at scheming a run game (helped by the fact that opponents are more worried about defending Josh than our backs) but poor at scheming a downfield passing attack. That second observation bothers me because we have a cannon-armed unicorn named Josh Allen. But when I pay attention to stats, I can't help but notice that our offense scores a lot of points and doesn't give the ball up very often. That's not accidental. That's by design. On D, being in the top ten in takeaways for eight years in a row is not accidental either.

Years ago, I read an article that showed that yards gained and yards allowed are somewhat consistent from year to year (especially if the same coaching staff stays in place). But, the author argued, TOs are mostly a crap shoot - particularly fumbles but overall TOs as well. If a team is among the league's leaders in TO differential, they can't count on repeating. To say it another way, TOs are as much about luck as they are about skill according to the author. That doesn't seem to be true. Not with the Bills.

I attend a home game once every 50 years. I make it to more away games. Weird stat: Bills are undefeated in games I've attended live. I hope to bring that streak back to Buffalo next year when the new stadium opens.

Well, now I do know because I got curious and googled him. Former basketball player (and current sports commentator?). I stopped following basketball when the Braves left town back when Jimmy Carter was president. I felt betrayed not just by John Y. Brown and Irv Levin, but by the entire NBA. Haven't watched a game since.

You really believe this? I personally have no idea who Draymond Green is. Besides Bills games, I don't watch TV or do pop culture. I spend my time traveling, eating, writing, hiking, meditating, running, and reading books mostly about science, history, and philosophy. Whoever Draymond Green is, he's not in my world.

Bills 34 Fins 17

I never take any game for granted but reading through their hopeless pessimism does something good for my mood and optimism. Thanks for posting.

True. After wide right, 5-0 starts that led nowhere, and all the other stuff we've lived through, we've been trained to see clouds on blue sky days. But consider this: If we were passengers on the Titanic, we'd worry about the unsinkable ship sinking even before it hit the iceberg. And we'd be right.

Pretty much every time we play the Ravens, I expect to lose because they have a better roster, and their O is a matchup nightmare. So once the Prater nailed that final FG, the beginning of the 2025 season was already a beautiful thing. AFCE 'rival' losses, KC losses, etc. are all just icing on the cake for me at this point.

My first thought was "Oh crap! Josh is hurt!" And that's kind of like saying, "Oh crap! A meteor is about to strike Earth and we're all going to die!" But I quickly realized his arms and legs were working, so whatever was hurt didn't really matter.