hondo in seattle

Offense: Trubisky Defense: Solomon

The new stadium ought to have a museum dedicated to the Bills mafia. And this story - along with any old photos available - ought to be included. Legendary!

Gruden has a 117-112 record as a head coach. He's 5-4 in the playoffs. Both his regular season and postseason records become sub .500 if we ignore 2002. So let's look at that season. It was Gruden's first year in Tampa. He finished 12-4 and went 3-0 in the playoffs to win the Lombardi. Did he just ride into the playoffs on Dungy's horse and or did he get the team over the hump? Warren Sapp observed, "Tony baked the cake and Jon put the icing on it." Maybe that's a fair take and both deserve credit. But here's some context. In the five years before the Super Bowl year, the Bucs won 58 regular season games under Dungy. In the five years after the SB under Gruden, they won only 36 games. Post SB, Gruden had a losing record with Tampa. Some Buc fans rightfully believe that Gruden killed Dungy's horse. So instead of Vrabel, let the Jets hire Gruden and his lifetime .511 record. He's basically Marvin Lewis with more personality - sadly including hints of homophobia, misogyny, and racism. As a owner, player, or fan, I wouldn't want him.

What am I missing? The biggest downgrades for us will be at QB and offensive tackle. Other than those two spots, our lineup won't be much worse/different than our normal starting lineup. Unfortunately, the downgrade at QB from Josh to Trubisky is huge. I'm hoping (A) some Pats coaches and players want to lose and don't do their best, and (B) Trubisky plays like a former first-round draft pick. If A and/or B happens, the Bills win. But I'm expecting... Pats 20 Bills 13

If I understand correctly, fans, coaches, and players each count 33.3% in the selection process. It's a fun way to do it but not guaranteed to get accurate results. I don't trust any of these groups completely and I certainly don't trust us - the fans. There are a lot of knowledgeable fans whom I respect on OBD. But a lot of fan voters are relatively unsophisticated - teens and pre-teens who vote numerous times basing their choices on their favorite team, who they see on TV, and who the announcers talk up. Even here on OBD, a lot of us aren't expert, for example, at the nuances of offensive line play. How can we accurately distinguish the #1 guy from the #10 guy? As far as that goes, I don't even trust the Seattle's punter to accurate assess the players on the Bills offensive line. Yet he gets a vote, too. I'd rather see a vote from head coaches, offensive and defensive coordinators, and pro personnel directors (not draft guys).

If anything, he may be overhyped in some quarters leading to a reaction against him.

I've got to admit, this was good for a laugh. The top center is the guy from the Lions. So are the top two guards. And the top two tackles. This is truly amazing. The Lion OL must be the greatest offensive line of all-time. Thurman with creaky knees at age 58 could gain yards with these guys out front. Yet the voters also voted the Lions RB #1.

Back in the 1970s, Miami had the "No Name Defense." We also have a No Name defense - if you include only our starters and not Von the backup. We have a One Name Offense. Yet we won the AFCE and beat both the Lions and Chiefs.

This is what happens when you check in on a thread midstream and don't look at who's posting. Apologies.

Happy New Years! I wish us all abundant health and happiness... and a Lombardi!

No. This season, Beane decided to pay him $31 million to go away. That's how bad he wanted him gone. After paying him $31M to be off the team, why would Beane pay $1.2 million - or even $1.20 - to get him back on the team? The Bills have less talent at wideout this year and yet we're scoring more points and seeminly exeriencing more teamwork, unity, and camaraderie. The Diggs trade was a classic case of addition by subtraction.

Altough I see the clunkiness too, your earlier point is valid: it's hard to argue with the results. As it stands right now, the Bills have the second highest points per drive for a season in NFL history. In other words, this offense is more productive than the offense of nearly any Super Bowl champion in history. I suppose the question is: Is the offense productive and consistent enough to produce wins even when our medicocre defense falls on its ass?

Sadly, I think you're right. And if we do have an offensive letdown, we'll probably lose because this D isn't equal to the talent of the offenses we'll face. And then everyone will blame McD for not scheming a better D instead of Beane for not managing the cap better and drafting/signing better players. Hopefully we get lucky with the timing. We can still win it all if our O's off game comes on the same day that our defense and special teams have atypically great days. Complimentary football matters. One of our three squads can be a little off and we still might squeak out a victory. But if two squads have bad days at the same time, we're doomed. I hoping and praying that Brady, Josh, and this offense go on a historic offensive run and we don't have to rely too much on the D or special teams.

I both agree and disagree with the "Props to Beane" sentiment (as a Zen Buddhist, I'm comfortable with paradox). Beane did do a good job building this roster considering we currently carry $71 million in dead cap (according to OTC). Then again, Beane is the one who put us $71 million in the hole and that is certainly not worthy of props. It probably deserves mentioning that we have a One Name offense and mediocre defense. While we have a lot of depth, we may not have the right starting 11 on defense to win it all. As GunnerBill and others have noted, Beane is good at finding good role players but is not as adept at finding good playmakers.

I think we're going to in the playoffs pre-Super Bowl. And people will blame McD because the defense will let us down. Never mind that it's just not that talented.

Coleman, Knox, and Shakir about where I thought they'd be. But, wow, I was way off on Kincaid and - especially - Samuel! It's been an interesting year.

Achievements and accolades are two different things. I'm sure Allen cares about what he achieves. He wants to run for TDs, throw for TDs, and all that because he takes pride in his accomplishments and he wants to contribute to the team's success. That doesn't mean he cares about MVP awards and all that.

I may have been a little off...

They've been chastised. Their excuse was they thought the Bills were playing an early game.

I finally got around to reading the linked article. Truly funny! Thanks for posting!

I had some fears and worries about Brady before the season but have loved what I've seen the past 10 weeks. Points per drive - to me - is a big thing. I believe points per drive and yards per drive are great ways to measure the potency of an offense. If an offense scores a lot because it gets a lot of drives, what does that really tell you? The fairest way to measure an offense is to measure how productive it is on the drives it gets. To be sitting at #2 all-time is impressive. Take Allen away and this group looks nothing like a historic offense. Joe and Josh have both been impressive.

I think my logic was okay but my optimism was undercharged.

I don’t think McD intentionally employs a bend don’t break defense. Given that something like 2/3rds of the yards in the NFL are gained through the air, he defends the pass first. But he also plays the cards he’s dealt and does the best he can to defend both. I’ll guess he doesn’t want to bend or break.

Bills…. 29 Pats…. 18

Bummed. Attending a wedding. Will miss a Bills game for the first time in years.