hondo in seattle

McD has underperformed this year. But looking at that list - he over performed last season.

I think all the receivers - including the backs - not named Diggs will benefit from the OC change. I expect Kincaid to do well over the final stretch.

I disagree too. But why be mean about it? We’re all long suffering Bills fans. The Bills mafia is a ‘band of brothers’ (and sisters!).

It doesn't matter if anyone on this board can describe or predict Dorsey's play calling. Professionals could. We've heard it from opponents after games - that they knew what we were doing. Dan Orlovsky, after 12 years in the NFL, watched game tape and found Dorsey's play-calling "wildly predictable." Whether you or I could predict a call is beside the point. Our opponents could. It's just one game from Brady but it is a good start. He got the RBs more involved. He called plays that didn't rely on heroics from Josh. He managed to put up 32 points against a defense that had stymied Dorsey three consecutive times. And he did it without much contribution from Diggs. Josh played smarter, safer ball and I'm prone to give the credit to Brady for coaching that. Yesterday, Josh only completed one hard throw as I recall (the Shakir TD). The rest were mostly high-percentage throws called by Brady. It's also worth noting how many YAC we got yesterday. Dorsey depended on air yards. Yes, Josh's picks are his fault. But it's not hard to imagine Dorsey is involved as well by (1) calling plays that take too long to develop forcing Josh to scramble and throw off balance, (2) calling predictable plays that don't create much separation, (3) not consistently calling easy throws - like the two TD throws to the backs yesterday, (4) not coaching Josh harder about taking what's given, (5) not coaching Josh harder about getting the ball out on schedule, (6) not calling more/better running plays so defense won't comfortably sit back in a two-high zone.

Mostly agree. Dorsey seemed to call plays as if Allen was Superman and Diggs was our only other weapon. It turns out we do have other talented players on the roster. Yesterday, none of our TDs were scored by Allen or Diggs. And it was great to see that our RBs contributed something like 130 yards yesterday - passing and receiving. And Cook was the star of the bunch. Personally, I wouldn't say Cook is "great" on the outside. OJ was great running to the outside. Barry Sanders was, too. Cook isn't in that league. But, yeah, Cook has some burst and elusiveness that Dorsey didn't make enough use of. But Allen is still our most talented player and should be the focal point of the offense, not Cook.

Simple brains like mine need simple explanations. Here's what's been ailing the Bills... * Defense. Our defense isn't playing at its typically dominant level because of the injuries. We're missing too many good players. * Offense. Dorsey and Josh have both been suboptimal. Josh's struggles largely stem from Josh but Dorsey contributed to, and amplified, his problems. But there is hope... The D still still has injuries but manages to play okay. Whatever we may think about McD overall, he's good at defense. Over the years that he's been here, I think you could say about our defense that 'the sum is greater than the whole of its parts.' McD fields defensive units that play smart and play together. The O may have already solved its problem. It's been plagued by predictable patterns of play-calling and an over-reliance on Josh's heroics & the Josh-Diggs connection. But we won big yesterday without Superman throws (or runs) from Josh, not a ton of air yards, and little contribution from Diggs. Brady might be the solution we've been looking for. He seems to call a better game than Dorsey and he makes Josh better. We may need to win 5 of the remaining 6 tough games. The NY Times simulator gives us only a 26% chance of making the playoffs. But if the D can remain solid and hold opponents to 25 or less and the revitalized offense can average 30 points per game over the final stretch, which we know it can do, we have a chance.

I like a good Philly Cheesesteak But on game day, it's all Buffalo! I wear my Bills gear and eat wings!

One thing I appreciated was that we got a lot of YAC. Allen has always gotten most of his yards through the air. And he's had some big games airing the ball out. But it's a hard way to live week after week, especially when teams drop into deep shells. Yesterday, none of Allen's TD passes were thrown into the endzone. Maybe it was coincidental. Or maybe Brady impressed upon Allen the need to let other players make plays.

Allen and Diggs are, obviously, our two most talented players and it seemed that Dorsey leaned on them. Other guys made supplemental contributions but the offense relied on Allen-to-Diggs at critical times. Today we won without Allen-to-Diggs being very effective. Brady was able to put 32 points on the board against a top D without the key combo working. I don't think Dorsey could have done that. I loved seeing Cook, Kincaid, Shakir and others making the offense work. It turns out we have other weapons.

For a long time, it seemed like defenses focused almost solely on Allen-to-Diggs. When they got in Allen's face and/or covered Diggs, we were screwed. But today against a good D we ran the ball fairly successfully and made critical plays through the air that didn't involve Diggs. Allen-to-Diggs wasn't very effective today and yet we still scored 30+ against one of the NFL's top D's. Brady is off to an encouraging start. I was really happy with the Damien Harris signing and thought he'd end up being a fixture for a few years. I guess not. The RB room is getting crowded, and I wonder who'll they'll keep/resign for next season.

When I was taught the Honor Code ("I will not, cheat, or steal..."), I was given the impression that it was inflexible. Yet, the army often includes a "Deception Plan" as part of an operations plan. Pragmatically, we attempt to deceive the enemy all the time. Apparently, the Honor Code doesn't apply when dealing with enemies.

Yeah, the play to Harty didn't work and we had a couple of kneel-downs counted against us. Cook was 17/73. Murray was 10/35. Johnson was 3/11. Josh was a pedestrian 5/15. It wasn't great but the rushing attack was good enough to keep the D on its toes and the chains moving. For the first time in a long time, I was happy with the rush/pass balance. 32 points for the offense is solid production against a good D that's stymied us in the past.

McD isn't getting fired. Watch the breakdowns by Kurt Warner, JT O'Sullivan, Dan Orlovsky, Eric Turner, etc... The problem with the offense isn't as simply solved as getting Diggs the ball more or getting a vertical threat - though I would love the latter. Orlovsky gives a good breakdown of Dorsey's flaws in scheme and play-calling. Warner gives a good breakdown of Josh's mistakes. Cosell says we're not a high-talent offense yet we're trying to win matchups instead of trying to win with scheme. And so on. They don't all agree but they do all make good points. There are a lot of things contributing to the drop in offensive production. Josh's decision making, sadly, is one of them.

I thought this was interesting because, if I recall correctly, Kurt took some veiled shots at Dorsey's playcalling previously. Dan Orlovsky, who also played in the NFL, would disagree with Kurt and has said the Bills O was 'schematically broken' and 'wildly predictable.' McD alluded to 'leadership' when discussing the change at OC. He didn't mention scheme. Kurt acknowledged that there might have been more involved in Dorsey's firing than he sees on tape. In sum, as fans, we don't know (yet) why this all went down. But after seeing Allen's regression this season, I'm not joining the pro-Dorsey protests.

When I was an officer in the army, I took an oath: "I will not lie, cheat, or steal; nor tolerate those who do." I had some reservations about taking that oath because I often lied when convenient. I lied to my parents about why I was out late. I lied to my college professors about why my term papers were late. I had a weird personal rule that I would never lie to my inner circle of friends, but I'd lie to outsiders regularly without compunction. But I got to thinking that the world would be a better place if everyone practiced the Honor Code. So I took the oath and, while I practice it imperfectly, I do take it seriously. I don't care if Clarissa lies to her friends and family. We're all flawed, and we all have our own code of ethics. I won't judge. But I do judge when she lies to me as a reporter I'm trusting to deliver the facts, not made up BS. It's not okay.

When the Bills lose, I might stay away from the board for a few days. But I won't skip games. The first game I watched was when Mini Max Andersen swallowed his tongue. And I'll be a loyal fan till I die no matter how many heartbreaks the team gives me.

But some people like to be honest. It's human ethics 101.

Let's dream a bit. Let's imagine we don't just win, we win big - something like 38-13. On top of that, Allen throws for 380 yards and 4 TDs against the Jets tough defense. That would reignite my excitement for the season. I'd start to believe that Brady has got the O back on track.

I expect Brady to not get in a rut with play calling, and not call the same favorite plays over and over out of the same formations, basically letting the defense know what you're doing. And not call the same 2 or 3 runs throughout a game. And mix the runs in with the passes in an intelligent way instead of neglecting the run for a while and then running a bunch of times. And asking Allen to get the ball out quickly and not overstressing the OL. Brady can't change the playbook but he can do a lot.

That's what sucks about coordinators. If you hire a good one, someone steals him away to be their HC. If you hire a bad one, you suck for a while. If you hire a mediocre one, forget about your Lombardi dreams. The key is to hire good one after good one after good one to have sustained success. That's hard to do.

McD deserves ALL the blame for the Bills being a disappointing 5-5. He's the head coach. But I don't get the scapegoat thing. Certainly, Dorsey doesn't deserve all the blame for the offense's struggles. Outside of Josh and Diggs, Beane hasn't loaded the offense with a ton of talent. The OL, in particular, has been far below Super Bowl standards since Beane came on board. And some of the mistakes made by the players (that Beane acquired) are hard to pin on Dorsey. But, be that as it may, Dorsey needed to go. I've watched X-and-O breakdowns by a variety of analysts (Kurt Warner, Dan Orolovsky, Eric Turner, JT O'Sullivan, etc.) and walked away unimpressed. Folks far smarter than me clearly explain problems with our scheme and play-calling that Dorsey should be fixing. Rodgers says Allen needs to throw on schedule instead of ad-libbing all the time. Dorsey should be fixing that too. Under Daboll, Allen improved. Under Dorsey, Allen regressed. Here's a fun fact. In the 13 games in 2016 when ALynn was the OC and Tyrod the QB, we averaged more points per game (27) than we're doing in 2023 with Dorsey as the OC and Josh as the QB. That's shameful. At this point in his career, Dorsey is not a Super Bowl-quality OC. And he's not the right guy to coach Allen up to his maximum greatness. Maybe, because of Josh's unique set of skills and shortcomings, we need a special QB-whisperer-type OC who knows how to keep Josh's head straight and make maximal use of his strengths while covering up his flaws. We certainly need someone who will be tactically better at the Xs and Os. Dorsey had to go.

I have no freaking idea. And neither does any other casual fan. There's some drama around Diggs. And Josh certainly didn't seem happy after Dorsey's firings. But we hear all the time about players loving it here and free agents hearing good things about the organization from their friends on the Bills. Cancer in the clubhouse? I don't know about that. It is certain that, at 5-5, McD is underperforming this year. But without a lot more information, I wouldn't blame the culture.

You're right of course. But "gifted" is a relative term. The first time I saw Fitz play with Cinci, I thought: this guy won't be in the league very long. It wasn't one of my better calls. When he played for the Bills and was miked up, I was amazed how he grunted just to throw the ball 50 yards. Sometimes on his long balls to Stevie, I felt like he was just throwing it up for grabs and hoping Stevie would make the play which he often did. Fitz didn't have anywhere near the talent of some of his contemporaries: Brady, Brees, Rodgers, etc. And he didn't have Josh's natural talent. But he lasted 17 years and had some good seasons. So, yeah, he was better than 99% of the QBs in America.

Orlovsky said that we have strong tendencies to run certain plays out of certain formations. No one in the NFL is dumb enough to have a playbook with a formation that is only used for one play. But, apparently, Dorsey got into some bad habits and would often only call one or two of the plays that could be run from a certain formation. That meant defenses often had a good idea of what we were doing. We've heard things, too, from defenders that Davis tends the run the same routes over and over. And that if Josh has two guys in the same zone when facing zone defense, he'll throw to the deeper guy almost regardless of coverage. And that the Bills only run a few different run plays. Etc. As Orlovsky says, the Bills offense has been "wildly predictable."

Doesn't Terry live in Florida now? Game Day might be the only day in the week when he is with the team. So it would make sense for them to meet right after a game so Terry can promptly fly back home.