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hondo in seattle

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Posts posted by hondo in seattle

  1. If he was innocent, which I sincerely doubt, it's a shame he was never exonerated.  If he was guilty, it's a shame he was never appropriately punished.

     

    I've seen lists of the NFL's top all-time RBs that didn't include OJ in the top five.  At first blush, that's insane.  But I get that his post-career crimes will always taint his career achievements - and rightly so.    

     

    But I also remember the divinely gifted athlete he was before his devilish acts.  OJ played in the Golden Age of Running Backs when America's best athletes wanted to tote the ball and defenses were focused on stopping them.  Yet in 1973, OJ rushed for 2,003 yards when the next best Golden Era RB only produced 1144 yards.  OJ nearly doubled the back who would have worn the rushing crown that year if not for OJ.  Tom Brady, the Golden Boy of the Passing Era, never achieved that kind of relative production.  Not even close.  

     

    If not for his crimes, OJ would be in the GOAT conversation.  Instead, he's a chapter of NFL history most would like to ignore and forget.  It's sad for me because he was my first, and last, football idol.  

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  2. 56 minutes ago, The Jokeman said:

    Reich hand a handful of moments but come on man Diggs was far more consistent and contributed more on the field week in and week out. It's like those that those calling for Tasker a HOFer, sorry impactful yes but not in enough games.

     

    I already acknowledged that Diggs is the more skilled player.  But the poll question asks, "Who is the real #14?"  

     

    The first #14 to imprint on my memory was Reich.  Diggs gave me more good memories, but Reich gave me my greatest one.  

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  3. 35 minutes ago, Ethan in Cleveland said:

    I was in medical school watching the game on TV. Came so close to turning it off and going for a walk. I understand the love for the comeback game.

    Don't understand the love for Reich. Heck more love should go to the refs for not seeing Beebe step out of bounds or Talley commit pass interference in OT. 

     

    Doc, let me explain my love for Reich.  (1) He was a great guy and teammate.  (2) The win against Houston was so unexpected.  We couldn't beat the Oilers the week before with Thurman and Kelly (partially) in the game.  In fact, they destroyed us.  We certainly weren't going to beat them with our stars out after spotting them a 32-point lead in that playoff game.   

     

    And then something miraculous happens.  Reich, the perennial backup, starts playing like he's a football god who came down from Gridiron Olympus, throwing TD passes all over the place.  And that improbable win helped get us to the Super Bowl.    

     

    I watched a lot of great Bills moments over the decades including OJ breaking 2000 but The Comeback remains my favorite Bills game of all time and Reich was its principal author.  

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  4. 7 hours ago, Big Turk said:

    Diggs and it isn't close. The question wasn't "who is your most sentimental #14" or "who is your favorite #14". It was who is the best.  Diggs far and away is the best and these other replies answering a question that wasn't asked probably need to learn how to separate logic and emotion a little better.  This wasn't an interpretation question, it was a logic question not open for interpretation....by any measure Diggs was the best #14 ever on the Bills.

     

    People define "best" differently.  Best (i.e. most talented) player...  best teammate... best Bill to root for... produced the best memories...  and so on.  

     

    I appreciate your effort to promote logic on a fan board.  But my vote remains with Reich.  

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  5. 22 hours ago, Gregg said:

     

     

    For those too young to remember the context.  We were playing well in 1992 but still needed to win the last game against Houston to win the AFCE.  Instead, the Oilers dismantled us, 27-3.  We were embarrassed in all phases of the critically important game.    

     

    And as luck would have it, we had to play Houston again in the WC round.  Our chances didn't seem good.  Kelly got hurt the week before and, if I remember correctly, Thurman got hurt in the first quarter.  And Houston looked like the better team, clearly outplaying us for 6 consecutive quarters.    

     

    We found ourselves down 35-3.  Kelly was out.  Thurman was out.  Life looked bleak.  And then Reich caught fire...

     

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  6. I'm a Purdue alum so I watched a bunch of March Madness games this year and enjoyed Purdue's run.  And for me the answer is still an emphatic no.  Even if the Boilermakers had won the championship last night, it wouldn't have moved me nearly as much as a SB win.

     

    My rooting energy is divided something like this:  Purdue football: 1%; Purdue basketball: 1%; Buffalo Sabres: 1%; Buffalo Bills: 97%.  

     

    After the game last night, I've accepted that I'm just not destined to ever experience a championship.  The Bills lost in four championship game attempts. The Sabres had two tries and came up short both times.  This will probably be Purdue's only national championship game in either football or basketball in my lifetime and they failed.  I'm 0-7 in championship games/series.  

  7. Just now, Warriorspikes51 said:

     

    The Bills rid themselves of a WR who was fantastic for us...

     

    however has begun to decline (at least within our usage of him) & brings negative two faced energy to the team...
     

    has failed in general in the playoffs.   

     

    Takes passive aggressive shots at Josh Allen and the Bills on twitter 

     

    I'm not bemoaning the trade.  I'm convinced that it would be a mistake to keep Diggs for four more years on a cap-killing contract.  I also tend to think that there's more behind-the-scenes going on with Diggs and his attitude than we know.  

     

    On the other hand, Diggs counts something like $30 million against our cap this year - and he'll be playing for an opponent.  It's screwed up - not Beane's best moment.  

  8. It's an interesting trade because you could argue that everyone loses...

     

    The Bills lose their best receiver with only a 2nd round draft pick to show for it.

     

    The Texans rent a declining wideout for $22.5 million for one year of service.

     

    Diggs has 3 years cut from a lucrative contract at a time in his career when big money offers may never happen again.  

  9. 13 hours ago, GASabresIUFan said:

    His decline began at least 4 weeks before Brady became OC in week 11.  I believe Brady spreading the ball around was partly adjusting to Diggs’ decline. 
     

    The truth is the offense with Diggs as the focus wasn’t working.  Involving Cook, Kincaid and Shakir was necessary to get the offense back on track.  If Diggs didn’t like it, it’s just another reason for Beane to have moved on.

     

    I'm not disappointed Beane and McD moved on from Diggs.  But I don't see that Brady got the offense 'back on track.'  Brady's offense last season neither scored a ton of points nor moved a lot of yards.  

  10. 9 hours ago, GASabresIUFan said:

     

    What I can't get over is the drop in Diggs' catch %.  I don't think that has anything to do with Brady, and everything to do with Diggs.  

     

    It's also not like Diggs stopped being the focus of the passing attack under Brady.  Diggs was targeted 111 times from week 7 through the playoffs.  Kincaid was targeted 83 times and Shakir 52.  The difference was Diggs had 636 yards on his 111 targets, Kincaid 659 on his 83 targets and Shakir 646 on his 52.  Hard to blame Brady when Diggs wasn't being effective.

     

    Logically, these are all good points.  It's just odd to me that Diggs was an effective receiver (at least in the regular season) under both Daboll and Dorsey but not under Brady.  It doesn't seem probable he suddenly became slower or forgot how to run routes in the middle of the season when Brady took over as OC.  It seems more likely Brady was misusing him in some way.  Which may have contributed to Diggs wanting out of Buffalo.  

     

     

  11. I agree that we won't miss most of the dearly departed.  But I'll comment on a couple of positions where we have worries.


    Diggs.  The OP wrote:  "He [Diggs] also was clearly no longer a fit in a Joe Brady offense."  This is clearly true but maybe because Brady didn't know how to utilize Diggs's talents.  Diggs was far more effective under Daboll and Dorsey than Brady.   Brady spread the ball around better than Dorsey but he didn't statistically spike yards or points.  Schematically, Brady didn't seem any better at creating downfield separation.  The misfit between Brady and Diggs is as much a Brady problem as a Diggs problem.  Maybe more.  It's the OC's job to maximize the production of his players.  I'm curious to see what Brady can do with a full offseason but I don't see a lot of objective reasons to be optimistic.  Brady is not (yet) a proven commodity as an OC.  

     

    Secondary.  We won't miss Hyde, Poyer, and White a whole lot because they were hampered by age and injuries last year.  But I'm not looking for a secondary that equals last year's disappointing performance.  I'm hoping for a secondary that can get us to the Super Bowl.  I won't miss last year's versions of Hyde, Poyer and White but I will miss the versions of Hyde, Poyer, and White that once anchored perhaps the best secondary in the league.  

     

      

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  12. 3 hours ago, Warriorspikes51 said:


     

    interesting whether true or false who knows

     

    Maybe.  But this is from a woman whose son-in-law is a coach who know Austin Proehl (who spent a few months in two stints with the Bills - not a few years as she asserts) who vaguely knows Brandon Beane who supposedly disclosed a confidential conversation to him, something Brandon does all the time.  

     

    Not so sure.  

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  13. 8 hours ago, Buffalo716 said:

    Diggs was voted a team captain.. never said one bad thing about the City of Buffalo or the organization

     

    Came to practice every day and played his butt off for 4 years

     

    The media drummed up his diva status and helped drive him out of town... There's been nothing but smear pieces about him for the last 2 years

     

    The national media and pundits drove him out of Buffalo by highlighting this narrative day in and day out for 2 years

     

    He certainly never went to the podium and said I want to leave or anything bad about Buffalo.. never not once 

     

    What he was was hyper competitive

     

    I agree with most of what you're saying.  But humans are complicated.   Diggs was talented, gave us a lot of good memories, came to practice every day, said nice things about Buffalo, and worked his butt off.  So did OJ.  Then, years later, we learned OJ had some horrible character flaws.

     

    I'm thankful for Diggs's contributions and appreciate his classy goodbye.  At the same time, I think Aaron Kromer's daughter and Maddy Glab both had reasons to say the things they did.  I think Tim Graham is telling the truth about the interaction between Diggs and Josh after the Jets game.  And I suspect all that stuff is just the tip of the iceberg.  

     

    Like a lot of people, Diggs has good angels on his right should and little devils on his left.  

     

     

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  14. 1 hour ago, Nihilarian said:

    I think we have seen enough in the last half of the 2023 season along with the two playoff games. "IF" Buffalo had an established #1 WR in the playoffs that would perform like a #1 or even a #2 they should have won that Chiefs game.  Diggs has gone invisible in the playoffs the last four years, with few yards, and no TDs. 

     

    Joe Brady is the guy I've been hoping for at OC with what he did with the Bills run game against Dallas and against the Chiefs in the playoffs. It was like watching the 1990 SB all over again only this time with Buffalo playing to keep the ball away from Mahomes. A thing of beauty that almost worked what with half the Buffalo defense on crutches.

     

    Diggs was still the leading receiver in the second half of last season and yet he didn't do nearly enough with the ball to garner a #1 WR status. 

     

    I think the team will be fine with Shakir, Kincade, and Knox along with the new faces. 

     

     

    I hope you're right about Brady.  I loved him during the Dallas game.  So fun to see us roll up yards without depending on Josh's heroics.  But neither scoring nor yards spiked under Brady.  The TDs and yards were just distributed differently.  

     

    I'm curious to see what he can do with a full offseason to install his own offense.  I see no objective reason to believe he'll do better in 2024 than he did the second half of 2023.  But I'm a fan so I live in hope.  

  15. 4 hours ago, khlax3 said:

    Not saying these guys are 1 to 1 replacements but I think they can replace the production those guys offered. I truly think Brady wants to get away from that 1a type receiver that we force the ball to and gets 160 targets. I could very well see the hall spread all over with maybe no one getting 1000 yards but 3-4 guys all getting around 50-70 catches for 900 yards. 
     

    I think people are getting caught up to much on what positioning these guys play (inside/outside) Samuel, Kincaid, and Shakir can line up anywhere. Cook can split out wide and Knox is pretty versatile too. For red zone your have Knox, Kincaid and Hollins who are all big targets. 
     

    I think what got us into trouble in the first half of last year was trying to force it to diggs. In the second half when diggs really didn’t look like a number 1 and they were spreading the ball around diggs, Kincaid, and Shakir all had similar numbers 

     

    What you say makes sense...  in theory.  I really hope you're right - in fact!  

  16. 3 hours ago, Buffalo_Stampede said:

    Man is a dying coverage. I’ve seen stats that teams run zone over 60% of snaps.

     

    https://www.the33rdteam.com/breaking-down-nfl-man-zone-coverage-schemes/

     

    The whole zone-versus-man may be an oversimplification.  Sometimes one side is in man while the other is in zone.  Sometimes it's more complicated than that.  Depending on where the receiver breaks, the defender might stick with man or switch to zone (or vice-versa).

     

    I'd like to hear an OC or DC break it down: how much is pure man...  how much is pure zone... how much is some kind of hybrid.    

     

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  17. 1 hour ago, Sharky7337 said:

    Von miller contract

    Dawson Knox contract

    Stephen diggs contract

    Defense line draft picks that never pan out

    Defense tackle signings that are not good enough

    No reliable pass rusher 

    Wyatt Teller give away

    Edmunds 

     

    Just curious why he is so highly regarded when these issues have come to roost fully

     

    All GMs swing and miss sometimes.  All of them.

     

    But I don't know if anyone is giving him a pass.  I don't see any Bills fans naming him "GM of the Century" or something like that. 

     

    If you look at his whole body of work, you have to say he's an above-average GM.  I'm too lazy to look it up but I think we've won the 2nd most games of any team in the NFL since 2020.  Beane's doing better than most GMs.  

     

    And, yet, we have no Lombardi's to show for all his work.  The mistakes you mention are part of the reason why.  I've been a Beane critic for years.  I don't think he's a bum by any means.  I do believe, however, that he needs to up his game for us to win a trophy.  

  18. 3 hours ago, BuffaloBillsGospel2014 said:

    The reality is nobody but Allen and Diggs know's the reason why this trade went down and we probably never will which is fine with me but the fact that we know Allen knew in some way that Diggs would possibly be dealt and didn't nix the trade whatsoever speaks volumes imo.

     

    Neither Allen nor Diggs made the trade so I don't think they're the only ones who know why the trade went down.  The trade was made by the respective GMs.  They're the only ones who totally know why they made the trade.  

     

    But, yeah, you're right in that we'll probably never know the whole story.  

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  19. I was beat up for this post and ended up regretting it.

     

    Yet things are now coming out.  For example, Tim Graham's story about the end of the Jets game.  Josh is sitting in the locker room feeling dejected.  Dion Dawkins, being the awesome dude that he is, tells Josh, "17 for life.  I mean that."  Seveal other players come by to console Josh.  But Diggs says something that Graham can't hear but apparently it's not something positive.  Allen lashed out, "It's one f***ing game!"  

     

    Kyle Brandt, who may or may not have inside information, recently said Diggs's relationships with the Bills and Allen were "mercurial at best."

     

     

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  20. Was Joe Brady the end of Diggs?

     

    Even before Brady took over as OC, Diggs had issues.  But once Brady became OC, Diggs's production fell off considerably.  Was this the final straw for Diggs?  Did Diggs then ask to be traded?  

     

    I think it's obvious that some people within the Bills organization weren't happy with Diggs.  But maybe their discontent wasn't enough to trade him - at least not yet, not this year.  But then Diggs demanded a trade because he didn't like his role in Brady's offense.  

     

     

  21. 11 hours ago, That's No Moon said:

    Up to. If he ends up starting the whole season, is an All Pro, cures cancer, and negotiates ends to the Ukraine and Gaza situations. Then and only then does he make 6.25M

     

    And he's well-worth 6.25M if he does all that!

  22. 35 minutes ago, Beck Water said:

    ...

     

    But with all respect, here's the thing: I think this "Jenga Game" with WR where the Bills (not just you) look at WR and argue something like "Davis sure looked All World in the playoffs against the Colts in 2020 and against KC in 2021.  And McKenzie has been stuck behind Beasley on the depth chart, but he seized his opportunity and showed what he could do against NWE and earlier against the Dolphins.   So we don't need to "splash" in FA or in the draft this year.

    ...

     

     

     

    Fair or unfair, I'll remember Davis as a guy who contributed 2 monster playoff games and, besides that, a lot of nothing.  

     

    Davis and Diggs combined for 1900 yards last year.  That's a lot of production to replace.  Then again, someone is always going to get yards when Josh throws.  Davis's and Diggs's 240 targets will now go to other receivers.  We'll see if the other guys can get as many yards on those targets.  Right now, I worry the answer just might be no.  Davis is not a huge loss but, as a player, Diggs is.  I think we need at least one more quality wideout.

     

    But I think the biggest wildcard is Joe Brady.  What kind of passing game can he scheme up?  

     

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