hondo in seattle

Earlier this season, our WR corps seemed to be our Achilles' Heel - the one position group most likely to prevent a playoff run. Yesterday, our RBs weren't finding daylight and only produced 49 yards on 19 carries. And yet, without Kincaid or Coleman in the lineup, we beat an undefeated team and hung 30 points on a team that hadn't allowed 30 points since 2022. Our receivers must have done something right. And, yep, it does sound funny to say going forward it'll be hard to find snaps and targets for pass catchers who deserve them.

Mea culpa. Before the season, I argued that the Bills WR wasn't great but not horrible either. My logic was this: Shakir and Samuel are legit NFL starters. And between Coleman, MVS, and Claypool it seemed likely that one would also emerge as another legit starter. If we could stay healthy, three was all we needed. In retrospect, it wasn't a good take and I'm really happy we traded for Amari Cooper. And seeing Samuel play like a legit wideout for the first time this year in a game where we needed him warmed my heart. Whether turf toe or Joe Brady was to blame for Samuel's production prior to this game, I'm also hoping neither will be an issue going forward.

Thanks for posting. Great video. Didn't Romo say something about the right side of our line struggling a bit early in the game? I watched "The Cyborg" a few times during the game and thought he was doing well. But I didn't realize how well till watching this. And I would never have believed leaving "The Plumber" one-on-one with Chris Jones was a good idea.

I know this is a popular take but I don't get it. McD and his coaches have a routine. They study film a certain way, run meetings and practices a certain way, build teamwork a certain way, develop game plans in a certain way, etc. It's a "process" based on years of wisdom and experience that has been proven to work. The Bills follow the same process in the postseason that they follow in the regular season. Reid has his own process that's probably very similar. It also works - Reid and McD are the winningest coaches over the past few years. So what happens in the playoffs? Does Reid have a "turbo boost" button that's only available to him in the playoffs that magically makes his way of preparing a team better? Did Reid's secret button make Bass miss that FG or Diggs drop that long ball last year? You need a sample size of at least 30 for an analysis to be scientifically valid. Reid and McD haven't played each other that many times. Most of the games are close and often determined by a few feet or seconds or injuries here or there. I'm not convinced KC is playoff-better. It could very well be just random gridiron luck.

I've been a vocal critic of Brady at times in the past. But it's hard to criticize him for this game. KC excels at run defense and their DL is better than our OL. So you'd expect us to pass a lot. The problem here, though, is that their DL was pressuring Josh. (At halftime someone said on air the Chiefs were pressuring Josh on 50% of pass plays). The other problem is that our receivers don't excel at separation and 2 of our 3 best receivers were out with injuries. No holes for our backs. No time for our QB. Receivers struggling to get open. Sounds like an offensive catastrophe yet we were the first team to hang 30 on a strong Chiefs D all year. Brady did something right.

This was too important a game for Reid to worry about trolling anyone.

There's no supporting metal struts. These tables were designed to break in the middle. And there's a rubber mat underneath to cushion the fall.

I want the Bills to win as badly as anyone. But I don't believe in treating anyone poorly, regardless of who they may root for. The world will become a better a place when we finally decide to treat everyone with respect and loving kindness.

Offense: Shakir... Because Dan Orlovsky says so. Defense: Rasul Douglas... I'm gonna ride this horse until he has a game changing pick.

Decades ago, this kid from Iowa with an impressive bushy black beard joined my 'high level' flag football team as a receiver. He had been a championship sprinter in high school and was blazing fast. But his speed was all straight-line. Weirdly, to cut he'd slow down to something like half-speed and then still perform a wide badly rounded cut. As much as we tried to teach him, we could never get him to run sharp routes. On top of that, his hands were carved from stone. Once in a while, we'd trot him onto the field to run past all the opposing DBs just to force them to play a little deeper. But he never caught a single pass. I get the temptation but NFL speed doesn't make you an NFL receiver.

Ye of little faith. This time, McD will outsmart Reid, flip the script, intentionally lose in the regular season leading to a win in the postseason.

Blocking rules have changed, too. I remember being taught to block in high school. Our coaches instructed us to hold onto our own jersey's with our hands to avoid illegally using hands on the defender. In the mid 1970s and before, NFL lineman had to keep their hands to their chest in closed fists when blocking. In 1978, the NFL began allowing blockers to extend their arms and use open hands. While this was a huge win for offensive linemen in general, it was especially helpful for pass pro and contributed to the NFL becoming a "passing league."

In another thread, I said I expected to lose this weekend. But now I'm having trouble living with myself so, against all reason, I need to change directions... I was at Arrowhead a few years ago when we drubbed them 38-20. History repeats itself on Sunday. Bills: 38 Chiefs: 20

I lived in KC for a year. Overall, I didn't find the food scene there as diverse or appealing as the food scene in major west coast cities. BBQ in KC, however, was awesome. Burnt ends were my favorite thing to order at KC's many excellent BBQ restaurants. I'm too lazy and untalented to make them myself and not sure if I can find good burnt ends where I now live. I'll have to look. If you can operate a microwave... burnt ends from Costco.

One moment of life - for example, Gronk's cheap shot - shouldn't define a man. (Unless that moment involved unforgiveables like murder, rape, or pedophilia).

Thanks for this @Buffalo716 Let me ask: Is this why some elite QBs (like Mahomes) sometimes have good games against us? Here's what I'm thinking... A smart QB with good coaching will decipher all of McD's complicated stuff and know where to throw. At the point, it isn't about X's and O's anymore so much as it is about execution. And, athletically, the other teams sometimes have advantages/mismatches since our DBs are heady but not necessarily Olympic athletes. Our advantage is we disguise coverage well and confuse QBs with a zone that morphis into man (or vice versa) and so on. Take away that advantage (i.e. the QB isn't confused) and we're vulnerable.

And some here wanted him to start ahead of Damar.

I don't trust stats on receiver separation because I don't trust the methodology. But I do think it's true that our guys struggle. I also think it affects how some advanced metric sites might measure QB accuracy. Maybe it's my imagination, but I think Allen rarely throws to his primary and goes through his reads more than most other QBs. Maybe this is an Allen issue but I think it's because his primary is often covered. So either (A) Brady is designing and dialing up bad plays, and/or (B) our wideouts aren't as good as the wideouts on other teams. In either case, I would guess accuracy generally goes down when going to a second, third, or fourth option. When evaluating Allen's accuracy, I think this needs to be taken into consideration.

That they have. The Diggs issue gave Beane an unsolvable problem. He got rid of Diggs and ate $30 million in salary which meant he was cash-strapped and shopping for wideouts at the Dollar Store where he found Samuel, Claypool, and MVS. Given lemons, Brady has been making lemonade. Hopefully with Coop onboard and players getting healthy, we'll see more downfield passing and chunk plays going forward while playing situational football.

We have a trend of winning the regular season Super Bowl against KC but then not making it to the actual SB because of KC. I want the Bills to win this game for the confidence it will give the players when they face KC - or another powerhouse team - in the playoffs. (Not that this logic has been helpful in previous seasons).

The logic is only odd if you believe the oft-repeated-never-verified story that McD pushed Daboll to pass less and run more. Who knows that McD and Daboll talked about privately? I suspect that McD pushed Daboll to play situational football which means running the ball when running the ball is the smart choice given score, down-and-distance, and defense. I think McD loves when the offense produces chunk plays through the air as much as anyone. And understands their importance (vis-a-vis analytics).

I like an exciting passing attack with 4 wideouts too but you already explained why we don't see that more with the "kinda suck" remark. I think 12 personnel has a place in the Bills offense. Here's why... You can run a variety of run and pass plays from 12. You can keep Kincaid in tight or send him wide depending on the needs of the play. You don't have to substitute to go into a run or pass formation. Because of the flexibility of 12, the opposing DC doesn't know whether to go heavy and load the box, or go light and play the pass. Often the D will send out bigger personnel to counter the possibility of run when facing 12, creating mismatches in the passing game. There's the old dictum that you should 'put your best 11 on the gridiron.' Knox and Kincaid are both arguably among our best 11, particularly when we have injured wideouts. While 12 is often considered a run formation, last year the Bills were 6th in pass EPA when using 12 personnel (and 8th in total EPA).

Your resume puts mine to shame and I'm jealous. Besides my time in the States, I did a year in Korea and then Desert Shield/Storm. When I joined the army in '86, none of us expected to do anything exciting. The few Nam vets still in uniform were treated like unicorns. But after 9/11 - your time - the world became a much more interesting place for our service men and women. And the work you did is appreciated!

Agree. Stats and trophies won't back me up, but I've seen Archie, Payton, and Eli all play and thought Eli was the worst of the three. Yet others seemed to believe Eli would still play at HOF level into his 40s.

Thanks for reasons for hope. Injuries are part of the game. But I'd love to witness a game this season where all our key players (Milano, Cooper, Coleman, Johnson...) are healthy. Maybe this roster - if the playmakers are healthy - is better than I give it credit for. And I'd be particularly happy if all the playmakers were healthy for the playoffs.