hondo in seattle

I hate to be mean but... What if instead we traded Klein for an 8th round pick and to sweeten the deal we threw in the bag of donuts, hot pretzel, and hot dog. And maybe some wings?

When your team is a miserable 6-2, the entire roster and coaching staff should be on the hot seat!

I just don't care. I wish the Bills were 8-0. I hope they win out. And more than anything, I hope they win the Super Bowl. But I don't care about the spotlight. Since pretty much the only sports I watch is Bills games - including pregame and halftime - I barely even notice whether or not we're getting any. I truly couldn't care less what the pundits think. You folks on this site are more knowledgeable about the Bills than the national media guys anyway. If I want good useful analysis to help form my own opinions, I come here. The national hype is unimportant.

I live surrounded by 12th men and woman who have pitied my Bills fandom over the years. And I gotta admit, when I first looked ahead to the Seahawks game after we put away the Pats, I sadly thought "blowout." But a couple of thoughts... The Bills outgain their opponents by about 14 yards per game. The 'Hawks on the other hand, are outgained by their opponents by about 47 yards per game. Their defense isn't just bad. It's really bad. From a yardage standpoint, their D is more bad than their O is good. From a yardage differential standpoint, we have the better team. Some pundits seem to think the Bills are an average team that lucked into their 6 wins while the Wilson-led Seahawks deservedly earned their 6 wins. The algorithm used by FiveThirtyEight paints a somewhat different picture. While the Seahawks are 4th in ELO, the Bills aren't far behind at 9th. 538 gives the Bills a reasonable 46% chances of winning this weekend. Roughly speaking, it's a tossup.

This was uncalled for. PatsFanNH was classy - congratulating us on a bad day for his team during a bad year.

This is probably true. But Bill sometimes surprises. If he see the Bills loading the box, he might just let Cam throw the ball downfield - wind, rain, and all. Its not like our secondary or pass rush have been good this year.

When we've won, we've won because of our passing game. That was clearly true the first four victories and at least partially true during the Jets game. (Against the Jets, the D finally did their share - while our 6 scoring drives were primarily a function of our passing attack). When the only thing you're doing right - passing the ball - is going to be erased by the weather, you're in trouble. But are we really? I haven't seen enough of Josh in bad weather games to really get a feel for his ability to handle wind and rain. But if anyone can sling a ball through the gales of Orchard Park, it's Josh. Fingers crossed.

Curious, the 'experts' at Patriots.com don't, for the most part, see the game the same way Simms does. Paul Perillo, Patriots.com: Pick: Bills 26, Patriots 17 Buffalo is now the favorite and the Patriots just don't have enough offensively to change that … unless the weather becomes a big factor. Mike Dussault, Patriots.com: Pick: Patriots 16, Bills 13 The Patriots backs are against the wall in Buffalo and with weather expected to impact the game it might be just the boost the Pats need. With wet and windy conditions it's all about the run game and special teams as the Patriots find a way to grind out a big win. Erik Scalavino, Patriots.com: Pick: Bills 27, Patriots 10 Weather looks like it's going to be a factor in Buffalo Sunday, with heavy winds and rain likely making this even more of a ground-based game than it might have been, at least from the Bills' perspective. This might benefit New England initially, because the strength of the Patriots offense is clearly its rushing attack. And with health issues at wide receiver, the Patriots might need to rely on their running backs even more this weekend. However, they're running straight into the buzz saw that its Buffalo, a talented team that's poised to overtake New England as perennial AFC East Champs. If the Bills want to get there, they need to win this game, and they're in a great position to do so. Megan O'Brien, Patriots.com: Pick: Bills 21, Patriots 3 Ugly game. The Patriots offense can't do much of anything. Defense sets up a score on a turnover, but other than that, not much positive to take away.

Thurm, I did open my argument saying it would be simplistic - to match Simm's simplistic summary. In fact, I do worry about this game. The Bills D has only played one good game this year and that was against the lowly Jets. We can't get to the QB, can't cover wideouts, can't stop the run. Offensively, things have been somewhat better but we've been one-dimensional. Here's another simplistic point: As Josh goes, so goes the team. When Josh plays well, we win. When he doesn't, we lose. With that in mind, we have a few things to worry about: (1) The weather isn't going to help our passing game - though I'm not sure how much it'll hurt it. (2) Irrespective of weather, Josh - much improved this year - still has bad days. (3) Those bad days seem to be brought about by good defensive scheming. (4) Belichick is a scheming mastermind. Despite the difference in records, the outcome is not a foregone conclusion. If Cam gets hot, as you say, the Pats could easily win. I hope Josh shows the patience that he showed against the Jets and takes whatever Belichick gives him. While that approach didn't result in any TDs last week, it's far better than trying to force throws into coverage or waiting for five seconds for someone to break free downfield. This NE defense this year just isn't good enough to defend everything. Gilmore's injury hopefully makes them even more vulnerable. I also hope Feliciano starts. His presence in a game against a team with a poor run D hopefully sparks our running attack.

I generally like Simms but this is so simplistic. So let me respond with simplistic counter arguments. The Bills will have a balanced attack this game this Sunday. The Bills passing attack is one of the most prolific in the NFL this year. And against the Pats, they'll finally find success on the ground because the Pats run defense is putrid (6th worst in the NFL). Expect the Bills to be effective on the ground as well as in the air. At the same time, the Patriots offense will remain one-dimensional. The Pats dysfunctional, 28th ranked passing attack isn't likely to do much harm. So Frazier and the Bills D will be able to focus almost entirely on the run. Statistically speaking, the Bills are clearly a better team than the Pats. At this point in the season, the Bills have gained more yards/game, given up fewer yards/game, achieved a better point differential, and found more ways to win. Advantage: Bills.

Both teams have real weaknesses. But Bills are a bit better overall and probably want it more: the Pats already know 2020 sucks but the Bills are fighting for Destiny. Bills 23. Pats 20.

It doesn't make sense to you and me. It makes sense to NFL GMs. There's this notion - partially accurate - that you can't win without a franchise QB. When the top QBs aren't available as free agents, you look at a guy like Cousin and you wonder, "Can I build an offense around him? Can he become a franchise QB?" And you want to believe the answer is "yes" because your options are limited. So it's a kind of wishful-thinking. One driven by an overwhelming sense of urgency. If owners were in charge of roster and salary cap decisions, I think the QB pay structure would be different. The bidding wars would be less intense. The owners would take a longer view and say, "Cousins isn't the guy. Rather than shell out millions of my hard earned money for a guy who's not the answer, I'm going to wait until something better turns up." But if you're a GM with maybe 3 years to build your team before the fans and - more importantly - the owner lose their patience, I think you're sorely tempted to pay whatever it takes to get a QB that might - just might - save your job. Incidentally, if I were a GM and had job security, I'd be drafting QBs every year until I found one because I do believe FA QBs are, in fact, over-priced.

Yeah, it seems like some kind of anti-Buffalo sentiment. I don't have a lot of experience with other fanbases but I think we complain about average. Which is what I also think about Allen and McD. Their complaining doesn't stand out in any way. The top three finishes in all three categories strikes me as odd and makes me wonder about the methodology of the poll. They say they surveyed 5,000 fans across the country. Were most of them fans of our AFCE rivals? Something just doesn't smell right.

This is curious because we learned in another post that the Bills were rated dead last in hurry percentage. Our DE's are winning their battles but not hurrying the QB. Odd.

Thanks for posting. I hadn't seen this. And, unfortunately, the first thing I think of when I think Special Teams is Bass's misses. I knew Roberts and Bojo were doing well but I didn't realize they were doing this well. Bass is a rookie so I'm still holding out hope for him. His leg seems strong enough - hopefully he can fix the accuracy/consistency.

Good luck to you. I once watched a Bills-Raiders game with a friend who was a Raiders fan. It kind of sucked because I couldn't celebrate with my usual passion & enthusiasm. I didn't want to be a jerk and add to his sorrows. To take the sting off the Raiders loss, I acted like I didn't care all that much and commiserated with him. I'm not a super-animated guy in my normal life but I am during Bills games. So I'd rather watch a game with Bills strangers (in a sports bar, for example) than with friends who are fans of the opposing team.

In a more perfect world, soldiers, sailors, teachers, first responders, etc. would get paid more than football players because they contribute more to America. But in a capitalistic sports economy, as it exists right now, QBs are paid exactly what they should get paid. Because QB value is whatever the market will bear. I think things would be different if GMs signed 20 year contracts. In that scenario, GMs would be more deliberate and patient. But in actuality a GM is typically given about three years to produce a winner. So he can't wait long to find a QB in the draft. And if he has no quick luck there, he's going to spend every penny he has on a FA QB because the clock ticks fast in the Win Now League. And without a viable QB, a GM is screwed.

I've asserted something similar in other threads. The Bills D - like the Pats D - was very reliant on good discipline and teamwork. Last year on the Bills, guys communicated well and didn't often miss their assignments. That was a tribute to the coaching of McD and Frazier. We're not seeing the same discipline and teamwork this season. Guys miss assignments, over-pursue, etc. This year, thanks to COVID, the NFL is more like sandlot football than it's been in many, many years. In sandlot, it's less about discipline and teamwork and more about athleticism. The team with the most & best playmakers wins. The Bills don't have a ton of true, athletically gifted playmakers on defense and it shows.

Or my all-time favorite, Harvey Johnson. He did so well his first time (1-10) that we brought him back after John Rauch (7-20) was fired in 1970. The second time around, Johnson was even better - going 1-13.

What do you think of Marv Levy as a head coach? OP: "Marv Levy was an ORGANIZER! Not a great head coach." Jim Kelly: "He was a great coach. He didn’t scream and yell. He knew how to get the best out of every player. He was intelligent and chose his words wisely with each player. He believed that if he had to motivate you, then you wouldn’t fit. He thought that at that level you shouldn’t need to be motivated to play." http://www.sportshistoryweekly.com/stories/jim-kelly-quarterback-buffalo-bills-nfl-super-bowl-football,801

I strongly disagree. Ask Bruce, Thurman, or Jim if Marv was a great coach or not. They'll disagree with your assessment of him as a mere "organizer" and - no offense - I'll trust their judgment more. And I'm not sure at all that Bills had the best team in the NFL talent wise back then. They did indeed have some stars. But they had a number of pedestrian players, too, especially on defense. Taking over a crap team recently off back-to-back 2-14 seasons and winning the AFC Championship four years in a row is no small feat. The HOF Selection Committee made no mistake when they enshrined Marv. And I don't know how you can leave Lou Saban out of the conversation? Lou led us to two AFL titles with a stifling defense and was twice named UPI AFL "Coach of the Year." I like Knox well enough but he's third on my list. McD - if he delivers a Lombardi - will move up to #1 but in my mind right now he probably ranks #4. Here are the top Bills coaches in terms of win percentage: Levy .615 Phillips .604 Saban .598 McD .545 Knox .507 Amazingly, we've had 20 head coaches and these are the only ones with winning records.

My favorite things about the game (even considering we were just playing the Jets): * Allen throwing underneath. He seems to want to make the big play all the time. He talked earlier this year about instead taking what the D gives him. He started doing that - successfully - against the Jets. * We pressured their QB! And if you want to count W-L stuff, being 5-2 and leading the AFCE is a great thing.

The Patriots aren't in the sh*ttr because of Brady as much as the collapse of their defense. Their defense was ranked #1 last year. They're currently #17. Their offense was #15 last year - pretty mediocre even with Brady under center. This year they're somewhat worse: #24. Their D fell 16 slots while their O fell only 9. The Pats didn't just lose Brady. They lost some FAs and led the league in COVID opt outs. Arguing whether Brady or Belichick is "The Answer" is kind of like arguing which came first, the chicken or the egg. You can make valid arguments for both sides. I personally think it's a little bit of both. Belichick and Brady each contributed to the other's success.

It's interesting to note all the discontent. Last year some fans were raving that Singletary was "special." A lot goes into a running game: scheme, blocking, play-calling, and so on. But Singletary isn't blameless for his humble season totals: 299 yards; 3.8 ypc. It's pretty clear that we need a better offensive line. But I also agree with those who say we need better RBs. I don't know if Daboll is bad at scheming up and calling run plays. But he's not at the Greg Roman level.

An interesting thing about NE: Some folks are using this season's results and proof of Belichick's dependence Brady. But the collapse of the Pats defense is more dramatic than the collapse of the offense. Their defense is currently ranked #17. That's sixteen spots below last season's #1 ranking. Their offense is currently ranked #24. That's nine slots below last year's mediocre #15 ranking. There are a lot of personnel losses - beyond Brady - that are hurting the Pats. And as a Bills fan, it's fun to see. Beating them twice and taking the AFCE crown - both of which seem doable - would make this season epic.