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I don't know if the WR room got better, but it may have gotten more productive. But let's start with my pessimistic thoughts: We lost Diggs and didn't replace him with anyone as talented. Joe Brady wasn't good last season. He didn't demonstrate any ability to scheme a good passing attack. Outside the Dallas game, he was even more inept at scheming a running attack. But here's how passing production may go up anyway: Diggs's departure has created a lighter, freer mood among the offensive players. This might result in more productive dialogue, teamwork, and leadership from Josh. Brady has, reportedly, been adding more presnap movement and new concepts to the offense. Only one guy truly needs to step up. Shakir and Samuel are already legit starters. We need one of the following to step up and prove they're legit as well: Hollins, Coleman, Claypool, Shavers, or MVS. Just one - that doesn't seem like too big an ask. The others will be competent backups.

Just Quit the Season??? Did we quit when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?

Thanks for the recommendation. I went to college in the late 70s at a school with a very diverse student body with kids from all over America. One time, a group of us were sitting around eating pizza when I said something about wishing the pizzaria had wings. The other kids all looked at me like I had a genital organ growing out of my forehead. I didn't understand what the confusion was about. One kid from Long Island had to explain. He said he'd been to Buffalo and didn't like it. There was nothing there, he claimed, except bowling alleys and beer bellies. Even the woman had beer bellies, he said, but then went on the extoll the virtue of the "Buffalo Wing." Until that moment, I didn't know they were called "Buffalo Wings" and that people outside of Buffalo didn't eat chicken wings independently of chickens. In the 1980s, Buffalo wings started appearing on menus across the US, though the wings were often small and the flavor profile was off. But since then, I've had many good "Buffalo Wings" outside of Buffalo and many great wings made from Thai, Korea, Brazilian, and other recipes. I hate to say this, but the best wings I've ever had were probably at an Asian restaurant, not in Buffalo. I do wonder, though, did these other countries always have chicken wing recipes? Or did Buffalo popularize wings and then the world's chefs added their own native flavors and flair?

Claypool's roster spot seems far less sure to me now than it did back then. And Hollins will fill the role that I expected either MVS or Claypool to fill. With all the doom and gloom some fans felt, I've been okay with the Beane put together on a budget. Shakir and Samuel are legit starters. To field a decent, if not great, threesome of WRs we just needed one guy to step up between Coleman, Hollins, MVS, and Claypool. It's always seemed likely at least one of them would.

I went to the Bar Bill in Clarence. Next time, I'll try the East Aurora location which I've heard is better/more consistent. Sometimes on trips back to Buffalo, I stop at the Anchor Bar. They may not have the best wings but they started it all. It's like coffee fans going to the original Starbucks in Seattle when another Starbucks, serving the very same products with a much shorter line, is only a block away. You gotta honor beginnings. So far, my favorite wing place in Buffalo is Duff's though I like to try one new place each visit.

I can't say that's not a legitimate worry because it crossed my mind as I wrote my response. MVS was seeminly brought here to be the guy who can separate deep. But I think his talent for that is overrated by some. In any case, I think he puts grease on his hands instead of stickum. But I also wonder a few things... Samuel has good burst and top end speed. Although he hasn't been used extensively as a deep threat, he may have some potential there. Keon does haven't tremendous speed but not all deep threats do. Gabe Davis was - supposedly - a deep threat and he only ran a 4.54 at the combine. In a different era, Steve Largent was a 4.7 guy and became a viable deep threat and HOFer regardless. Jordy Nelson ran a 4.51 and found ways to be productive deep. Etc. I probably haven't watched enough tape of Keon to see if he has this ability but I'm not sure how relevant college film is when his QB wasn't Josh. The two might find a chemistry that Keon didn't have before. Mack Hollins isn't a 'deep threat' per se but he's not just an underneath, safety-valve kind of dude either. In 2022, the only year he was targeted a lot, Hollins' Targeted Air Yards of 12.7 yards ranked him 19th in the league for average depth of target. And there's this. Allen only completed 31.6% of his deep balls last year, 24th in the league. Our deep game wasn't very effective in 2023. I don't think it's going to get worse. It may get better - not because of better wideouts but because of better coordinating/scheming. As a fan, I hope.

Maybe cuz I'm old, but I miss bands starting with "The..." The Doors The Turtles The Yardbirds The Kinks The Byrds The Zombies The Allman Brothers Band The Beach Boys The Clash

Last time I was in Buffalo, I stopped by both Bar Bill and Duff's. Maybe Bar Bill was having a bad day because the Duff's wings were much better.

GB, do you truly expect the Bills to play small ball this year? There would be two reasons to transition to small ball. (1) We no longer have the personnel to stretch the field vertically, or (2) McD and Brady prefer small ball philosophically. I don't think either are true. Our team speed isn't bad. And I think McD and Brady are smart enough not to ask Josh to be Ryan Tannehill. When you have a big gun, you shoot it. I think they want to play opportunistic, situational football. To oversimplify, if they see two high, they'll throw underneath. If the OL is struggling, they'll call quick-hitting passes. If they see light boxes, they'll run. And if they 'stack the box on Cook,' Allen's going to fire an artillery round downfield. When Brady says that everyone's gonna eat, I don't think he means curls, flats, and bubble screens.

Maybe because I'm a bit color blind, the buffalo doesn't pop enough for me. Plus, I'm not a huge fan of the standing buffalo. Why is just standing around? Bored? Falling asleep? It's not very fierce or dynamic looking.

When I started this thread, I knew I'd make some mistakes. One that's standing our right now is what I said about Hollins. The BIlls released their first depth chart of the season and have Mack listed as a starter. I guess the Barefoot Wideout is not forgotten.

I never said he lacked imagination - though I wouldn't disagree with that assessment. I think he had some slumps as a playcaller where he'd call low-percentage and/or predictable plays. I also think he was poor with schemes. Too often we saw Josh scan the field and not find anyone open.

Being in Cleveland will be great for Dorsey. Dorsey already knows a lot about running an offense - though not enough. Stefanski will mentor him and maybe get him over the top.

When Bill Walsh developed the West Coast offense, he partially replaced the running game with a high-percentage short passing game. Brady learned the West Coast offense from Sean Payton and is now evolving to its next logical phase: no running backs. Heck, Josh is already the best runner on the team so why waste a roster spot - or a position in the backfield - on a running back. Makes no sense.

I think there are a combination of factors at work: a small-but-mighty city; perpetual underdog status; bridesmaid sympathy; crazy loyal fans with unique rituals; the incredibly giving, community-oriented nature of the Bills Mafia; Josh Allen. Like Spanish paella, it might not be any single ingredient that makes the dish a success, but rather the beautiful, synergistic combination of ingredients.

@Sierra Foothills - I appreciate the apology. I know the words were meant to be humorous and not offensive. I hear these jokes from my friends sometimes, even ones who knew and adored my mom. I do worry though that jokes sometimes perpetuate stereotypes and false narratives. And when I thought about the hardships my mom and her family experienced, I had to say something. I'd be a disloyal POS if I didn't. Your family's stories are more dramatic than mine. Your grandparents were heroes. I love your grandma's attitude: "Is your wife as strong as me?" Yesterday was my daughter's first day of med school. Apparently, it was a 'hard' day. She began the day at 8 am and didn't return to her off-campus apartment until 10 pm, with tears in her eyes, asking, "What did I get myself into?" I was tempted to tell her stories about my mom working 12-hour shifts in terrible conditions as an unpaid student nurse at the end of the war. Or my grandfather's stories of fighting in the trenches in WWI. Somehow, hanging out in clean, air-conditioned classrooms with actual and aspiring physicians on a college campus doesn't sound like a bad gig when you have the right perspective. I guess a lot of us have relatives who have gone through hell. Maybe so we wouldn't have to.

Thanks for this. I don't think my mom's family suffered as much as your grandfather's. Imagine - that village and all it's residents with all their loves, hopes, and dreams would have been forgotten if not for your donations. Fantastic work. 20th century France had some crap strategists and politicians who embarrassed the country, but there were good and brave people in the population, too. My mom was a humble, selfless lady who rarely talked about the war. But when I prodded her, some of the stories were heart-wrenching and/or hair-raising. One that stands out for me, because she was at the heart of it, was the time when she was 14 or 15 and escorted two young Jewish boys to a safe house when the Resistance had learned the Jewish family's home was about to be raided. She was stopped by a couple of German soldiers (Gestapo?) at a metro station who instructed French gendarmes to inspect the kids' belongings. The kids looked Jewish while my mom, pretending to be their older sister, had blond hair and blue eyes. The police found Yarmulkes in their bags but pretended not to see them and reported to the Germans that there was nothing amiss. I asked my mom what would have happened if the Germans had seen the Yarmulkes. She shrugged, "I suppose we would all have been arrested and shot." But she poo-pooed any talk of heroism. Lots of people took risks to help others during the war, she explained. Many did much more. The street she grew up is now named "Rue Jacques Jorissen" after the boy across the street who joined the Resistance and was soon thereafter shot by the Germans. When I was 14, I played street or sandlot football nearly everyday, fantasizing I was Bobby Chandler. I didn't appreciate how coddled I was compared to some 15 year olds back in my mom's day or even today.

Just so you know... My grandfather was French. He won a Croix de Guerre in WWI for single-handedly holding off a German company with a heavy machine gun. When the Germans invaded France again in 1940, he went to a local police station - along with some other WWI vets - and demanded weapons to fight the Germans as a civilian. He didn't wave a white flag in WWII either. My late mom, just a teen at the time, and her family helped the Resistance move Jews around Paris to avoid arrest and deporation (to extirmination camps) by the Nazis. Several of my mom's cousins, aunts, and uncles died fighting or otherwise serving their country in the two world wars (with about 2 million other non-flag waving French casualties). I'm half-French, proudly led American soldiers into combat, and the only white flags I ever saw were being waved by our enemies. No one in my family will get your joke about French Army Knives.

Agreed. Beane has built a good roster. He has yet to build a Super Bowl caliber roster. There hasn't been a season under Beane yet when I felt like we had the best roster in the AFC. The Von Miller contract, on the whole, was a mistake. Imagine the players we could have signed with Von's money. And this year we're paying a WR $31 million to play for someone else. Beane's been hit-or-miss in the draft; hit or miss in free agency; hit-or-miss with cap management. Under his reign, the Bills have been a team with a lot of depth but few bonafide stars. For years, I was puzzled why Beane drafted a franchise QB but didn't bother to put together a front-five bodyguard to protect his health and optimize his talent. It seems like that would be an obvious priority. I'm also puzzled that so many want to fire McD and so few want to send Beane packing. I don't want to fire either, actually, but I fault Beane (and bad injury luck) for the empty trophy case more than I blame McD.

23 countries, 46 states... I agree.

Can anyone find photos? I could have sworn I've seen pics of this but can't find them online. An urban myth???

I expected to see some attempt at running a 'play.' But virtually all (not quit all) the blocking is straight ahead, man on man.

Good question. Let's see how much Brady uses 12 and how effective he is with it. The Pats were once pretty dynamic with Gronk and Hernandez.

I remember when I would struggle to name the starting lineup. Now I'm on a message board where folks intelligently discuss opposing opinions on who our TE#3 ought to be. Gotta love OBD. And the offseason!

When I was in Desert Storm many years ago, I was instructed to give unfettered access to a NYT reporter who wanted to talk privately to a group of enlisted soldiers. So I did. The soldiers told me this story... The reporter began by explaining some big picture stuff and then talked about how President Bush was in Kennebunkport fishing instead of trying to resolve the conflict and get the soldiers home. He then asked something like, "Aren't you guys pissed that your Commander in Chief is vacationing while you guys are stuck in these hostile conditions in the middle of the Arabian Desert far away from your families?" But most soldiers don't really give a crap about politics. Just tell us where to go, and what to do, and we'll be there. Met mostly with apathy, the reporter turned to the one soldier who nodded just a little about being pissed. "Would it be fair for me to quote you..." And then he provided an incendiary quote that he probably wrote on the airplane about Bush needing go get off his arse, out of his fishing boat, and back to DC - something like that. Well, the soldier said he would NOT acquiesce to having those words put into his mouth. But another private said, "You can quote me." And thus one of my privates became famous while I eventually got an arse-chewing for one of my guys bad-mouthing the President of the United States to the New York Times. I've never trusted reporters since. I wouldn't be surprised if the anonymous exec didn't exist or didn't say the exact words quoted in the article.