hondo in seattle

When I think of coaches who changed the game, certain names come to mind... Don Coryell ("Air Coryell"), Bills Walsh ("West Coast offense"), Tony Dungy ("Tampa 2 Defense")... McDermott isn't in that category. But neither was Vince Lombardi who focused on effort and execution rather than innovation. I'm okay with McD just being a 'good leader.' (And, btw, I think Coryell should be in the Hall of Fame).

This is a very good argument. But there's a greedy side to me that says we should be able to stop anything the offense tries to do. We should render them helpless and break their spirits.

It's funny but some people still look at rosters the way they did 20 years ago. For example, the 2020 AP defensive All Pro first string looks like a standard 4-3 lineup with only 2 CBs. The Pro Football Writers of America put 2 RBs on their first team All Pro offense but only 2 WRs. Nowadays you often have 3 or 4 starting WRs, 3 starting CBs, 2 starting LBs, and of course 0 starting Fullbacks. The standard number of WRs on a NFL roster is 6. Given the talent we have, and the number of WRs we use, I also expect the Bills to carry 7.

That may have been true once upon a time. But sadly, if I had to pick my favorite wing spot, it probably wouldn't be one in Buffalo. When it comes to wings, most of America has caught up to Buffalo. Oddly, though, I still think the average pizza in Buffalo is better than the average pizza in just about any other U.S. city.

It's only an August game. It'd be so much more fun to meet in February.

Roussea... I watched some of his college game tape. I was impressed by how athletic he was and and how he used his length to his advantage. But I also thought he looked both raw and weak. Especially after taking 2020 off, I didn't think he'd be remotely ready for the NFL. I'm reconsidering that opinion.

Back in May I was in Bellingham, Washington, for my daughter's college graduation. One day, we stopped at a Thai restaurant and had wings as an appetizer. They were phenomenal. The next day, we ate at a Brazilian restaurant and ordered wings again. The wings themselves weren't special but the various dipping sauces they provided were great. A couple days later, we flew to Buffalo for a family event. Whenever I'm in Buffalo, I try to eat at least two of these foods: wings, beef-on-weck, and pizza. On this trip we went to Bar Bill for wings. Both my wife and I rated the wings at Bar Bill a distant third of the three restaurants that served us wings that week. Next time I'm in Buffalo, I plan to try Wingnutz. But right now Duff's gets my vote.

The 90s team was more solid all around. On O, they could run or pass. On D, the roster was more inconsistent but a few elite players elevated the unit. Last year's team was really good at one thing: throwing the ball. Looking at our stats, we didn't excel in any other area. But I do agree that this team has more 1-53 depth. Beane's done a great job there. And I'm hopeful that the running game, run D, and pass D all improve this season. Cross my fingers, we'll field a more complete team this year than last. If so, yeah it's a team that compete with the glory years.

Zima: small town on the Trans-Siberian Railroad, inspiration for the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, which was co-founded by keyboardist Robert Kinkel, a born-and-raised Buffalonian and possible Bills fan.

Agreed. The Bills got into the playoffs 2 of those 3 times primarily on the strength of the defense, once on the strength of Daboll's offense. Would love to see both the D and O play playoff caliber football this year.

It's interesting that Daboll now has so many supporters. I clearly remember when McD first hired Dabs, lots of folks were pissed. Daboll had failed as an OC in Cleveland, Miami, and KC. Many wailed, "Why are we bringing in this retread? We can do better!" If nothing else, McD deserves credit for seeing the talent in Daboll that wasn't obvious in his spotty resume. But I do think there is something else at play. Here, Beane's given Daboll a franchise QB and some great wideouts to work with. And McD has created a culture and implemented a 'process' that optimizes the performance of both his coaches and players. Daboll didn't create this high-flying offense on his own. Just like it takes teamwork on the field to win, it takes a team off the field to build a championship franchise.

So the Bills had 4 players in the Top 100. Average would be 3.

McD took over a crap team with a crap culture and built into one of the best clubs in the AFCE. I like Daboll but this isn't a hard decision.

Why are you on first name basis with the OL? You hang out with these guys?

Bledsoe was really good for half a season and then wasted our time and broke our hearts. Tyrod was a good running quarterback for nearly a full season. When ALynn was the HC and Tyrod the QB, the offense averaged something like 27 points/game. Not stellar, but not chicken feed either. Fitz was a great guy, a great leader, but had an erratic arm - particular on longer passes. All those deep completions to Stevie? I really believe Fitz grunted and heaved with all his might and then simply hoped for the best. Johnson, for all his flaws, had a knack for tracking down a ball. Mitch played really well for the better part of one preseason game. Personally, I'm not ready to draw any conclusions.

So many NFL Head Coaches are set up for failure: no QB, bad GM, weak roster, cheap/meddling owner, etc. Dabs will get offers, that's for sure. But will he get the right offer? Maybe. Maybe not. I wouldn't be stunned if he's still with the Bills in 2022. I wouldn't be stunned if he's not. For our sake, I hope we retain all the coaches McD wants to retain - including Daboll.

I don't see the 'terrifying' concern. The Pegulas hired football people (Beans, McD) to run football operations. They hired PR people to do PR. They hired negotiators to negotiate.

The analytics comment was interesting

I never expect a national media guy to give me information I don't already know except when (1) there's a personnel move, or (2) they have a good interview. King has tremendous access to NFL players, coaches, and scouts. Sometimes the information he picks up interviewing them is interesting. Not this time. Unless you count this quote from Bean about Boogie, “His inside-outside versatility’s been impressive.” We've actually heard that before but it might be a hint at how they plan to use him.

I like Cynthia. Smart lady. Avid marathon runner. More to the point, I think her take on football is often better than what I hear from other analytic geeks.

In-N-Out is a normal cheeseburger. That's exactly what makes it great. Simple cheeseburgers, done right, are fantastic. Some of the fast food behemoths find ways to ruin, much like they ruined shakes by making them with complicated mixes instead of real ice cream and good simple ingredients. I hate In-N-Out fries though. Five Guys fries are way better. Even McD fries are better.

KC is a carnivorous town, saturated with burger and bbq joints. It doesn't need another burger chain - it already has numerous burgers options. What KC needs is more diversity. But I do love a good burger. Both In-And-Out and Five Guys do burgers right. Nothing fancy, just good fresh ingredients making for tasty, juicy burgers. If you want a truly superior burger, go to an upscale steakhouse and get something with real Kobe beef. If you want a convenient, cheap burger made from a frozen patty: go to McDonalds. In-And-Out and Five Guys admirably fill a niche in between the extremes.

It's an interesting idea: get a bunch of NFL insiders to rate QBs. But this approach has limitations. For example, how much does the Giants OC really know about Allen? Or the personnel guy at the Falcons who oversees college scouting? These guys don't watch every game of every team. I'm sure everyone one of the coaches and execs polled know more about the NFL than I do. But I think most of us on this board know more about Josh Allen.

"I'm sure you're right." ~ Lorax

Great news!