hondo in seattle

As a fan, it can be hard to assign blame. How much of the offense's woes can we put on Beane? McD? Dorsey? The players? Looking at Dorsey, he didn't create those turnovers. You've got to blame the players. Then again, there might be shortcomings on how Dorsey prepares the team that make turnovers more likely. But if I was McD, I'd probably fire Dorsey, too. You gotta hold somebody accountable and Dorsey is the offensive orchestra conductor. His musicians haven't been playing beautiful music lately. I am concerned, though, that McD doesn't seem to have a great relationship with his coordinators. I'm also not sure why anyone should expect Brady to do better but hopefully he does.

How do you know he's not holding himself accountable? What do you want him to do? Publicly fire himself? Do you quit your job when you make a mistake at work to hold yourself accountable? Every evening, I hold up a mirror to myself and conduct what the army calls an "After Action Review." I ask myself four questions. What did I do right today? What could have I done better? What did I learn? And what will I do differently going forward? I don't discuss this with anyone. This is my personal process to hold myself accountable and grow. Maybe McD does something like this. None of us know how McD holds himself accountable.

I was a little worried not only about that but also about his comment earlier this year that he studies film but doesn't overdo it.

I've eaten horse meat three or four times. Once in the States and the other times when visiting family in France. In the States, the meat was tough and chew - terrible. I imagine the source was some old nag that would have otherwise been sent to the glue factory. The horse meat I had in France was more tender than most cuts of beefsteak. And similarly delicious. I like horses so I'll never eat horsemeat again but, I have to confess, I enjoyed it when it was served to me.

Greg Cosell says this... "One of the myths with the Bills offense is that they are very talented…” Outside of Diggs, we have okay receivers. We have okay runners behind an OL that can't consistently run block. It can't consistently pass protect either (regardless of what some analytical sites say). Dorsey doesn't have an armory full of weapons. But he does have a unicorn for a QB. And that's where I have some problems with Dorsey. It's not I think Dorsey is a bad OC. I don't. I think he's about average. But I do think a better OC would maximize Allen's unique talents while minimizing his shortcomings and mental mistakes. www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/analyst-debunks-1-notion-about-bills-offense/ar-AA1jO2Vx?ocid=msedgntp&pc=DCTS&cvid=7726bc1241c143c196b20fa2bf2e65ea&ei=15

The sandstorms weren't quite as dramatic as the ones in the movies that destroy everything in their path, but they were annoying. I got so tired of sand being in my mouth, ears, eyes, crotch, hair, between my toes... everywhere. When I returned to the States, I told myself I would never forget how glorious a good shower was. Of course, I did.

For those who might be interested, I’m going to tell you what I think of veterans... In 1990, I was in the middle of the Arabian Desert as the acting commander of an armored cavalry troop. The soldiers in the troop were White, Black, Hispanic, Native American, Asian, and Arab. Most were men but a few were women. Some of the men were macho warrior types. Others might have struck you as frail and nerdy – if you didn’t know them better. Some leaned left. Some leaned right. Many were apolitical. But they had one thing in common: they didn’t complain. Well, let me amend that. They complained all the freaking time. They complained about the MREs, the flies, and the dust. And they especially complained about the heat of that summer. Soldiers showed me thermometers reading temperatures in the 140’s. One soldier described the winds of Arabia like this: imagine you’re a turkey basting in an oven and then someone blows sand on you with a hot hair dryer. In a previous war, Lawrence of Arabia said the incomprehensible heat of Arabia 'struck like a sword.' My soldiers complained about the little things like that. They didn’t complain about the big stuff. You have to understand that for most of the war, we didn't even have tents to live in. For months, we operated and slept outdoors in oppressive heat with sand & dust permeating every orifice of our bodies, drinking disgustingly warm water, eating 5-year-old vacuum-packed food, digging holes in the sand when we had to defecate, with no water for personal hygiene. Yet I never once heard a soldier complain that he or she was stuck in Saudi while his friends were drinking beer and watching football back in their air-conditioned apartments in America. I think most war movies are crap though there are some good ones. But even the best war movies can’t capture the uncertainty of war. We didn’t get a lot of news in the desert, but one article circulated among my soldiers. It was authored by a military expert who predicted American casualties to run around 25% in the upcoming war. My guys did some math. If the overall casualty rate (including the RAMFs) was expected to be 25%, what would it be for us, an armored cav unit doing recon out front? 50%? 75%? The thought of bleeding out in some nameless, featureless patch of alien desert was constantly with us. None of us knew if we’d ever see home – our wives, husbands, mothers, fathers, children – ever again. But I never once heard a soldier complain about the awful risk or say they’d rather be somewhere else. And that, I hope, gives you a little sense of my love for my fellow veterans. Happy Veteran’s Day one and all.

I get the whole good is the enemy of great argument but I'm not sure it applies. Since McD has been here, I have never once felt we had the best roster in the AFC. So why would we expect a Super Bowl appearance, let alone a win. The playoffs are a brutal gauntlet. Getting through it requires a strong roster, a strong coaching staff, good health, and a little bit of luck. We haven't had all that. When I look back on McD's tenure, each season he either achieves to the level of the roster or he over-achieves. Getting us to the playoffs in his first year was a heck of an accomplishment. The six wins the following season was also a great accomplishment considering we had the lowest cap spending on active players in the league and arguably the worst roster (that was the year Beane started cleaning house). Last year, given our injuries, we didn't have the roster of a 13-3 team but McD produced 13 wins anyway. This is the first season when I see McD is winning fewer games than he ought to with the roster he has. I tend to be in favor of the Steelers model: Find a good coach and stick with him. They've only had 3 head coaches in the past 50+ years. That continuity has all sorts of positive consequences. Position coaches and coordinators want to work for a stable organization. Players want to play for a stable organization. With stability, the staff learns from its mistakes and corrects them. Lessons learned are retained within the organization. Noll, Cowher, and Tomlin weren't great strategists. But, with the steadfast support of ownership, they earned six Lombardis. Over the same time, our reactive approach has netted zero.

Obviously, I was talking about their records with the Bills. But that is an interesting point. Rex has a buffoonish reputation yet he did that.

Yep. McD at 4-5 is one game under .500 in the playoffs. Andy Reid had a losing record during his first 20 years as a head coach, too. It doesn't mean he was a bad coach. Only the very best teams with the best rosters and coaching staffs get to the playoffs. Every playoff game is, more or less, a tossup. Even now, having had an elite roster over the past few years, Reid is only .579. There are a few standout coaches in history who have won over 60% of their playoff games but many good coaches - including ones with rings - hover around the .500 mark. Of course, I want Sean to do better. But I'll take his 4-5 record over the 0-0 record of his predecessors.

Other than NE, where he was subservient to Papa Bill, McDaniels creates dysfunction and despair everywhere he goes.

Yeah, I'm aware. I watched the O'Sullivan breakdown and was kind of amazed at how - even after 50 years of watching football - how much I don't know or don't notice. It was humbling. Though it's still not wrong for me to give the OC some of the credit when an offense is humming and some of the blame when it's not. It is, after all, his job to make it hum.

I grew up in Cheektowaga but left the Buffalo area when I went to college and, other than a couple of brief stints early on, never looked back. Since then, I've lived in the South, the Midwest, and on the West Coast, as well as spending time overseas. But everywhere I went, I remained a Bills fan. In the old days, it was hard to get news about your hometown team when living out of state. But the invention of the internet, and my discovery of TBD, were unexpected blessings. I enjoy the camaraderie of my mafia brethren, but it was the in-depth coverage and discussions that brought me here.

Last year, I was sitting at a table on the outdoor patio of a restaurant in Morgan Hill, California, when the folks at a nearby table struck up a conversation with my wife and me. At first, we talked about our husky who was with us. But then they noticed my Bills iPhone protective case and commented on it. It turned out they had recently become big Bills fans because of Josh Allen. The woman went to high school with Josh's mom and both husband and wife knew his family. They were complimentary about the entire Allen clan... "Just the nicest people you'd ever want to know."

This is how a lot of Bills fans feel about our OC (Dorsey). Some folks complain about Allen running around instead of getting the ball out quickly. It would be easier if Dorsey's schemes and play-calls gave Allen someone to throw to.

The OL has generally looked better than last year. But I'm suspicious of any metric that says our OL is the very best at pass pro.

They're a 4-3 team with a big win on their resume. We're a 5-3 team with a big win on our resume. We both have strengths and star players. We both have notable weaknesses. Given how bipolar both teams have been, it's hard to predict the winner. But we really need this game almost as badly as needed the Fins game. I'll shed tears of happiness if we get a similar result.

Yeah... cash flow and valuation are two entirely different things. Davis isn't managing cash flow very well by continuing to pay two ex-coaches who failed. But if he decides to sell the team, he'll do great.

NFL head coaches from the Belichick tree... 10. Joe Judge NFL head coaching jobs: Giants (2020-2021) Career record: 10-23 A longtime special teams coordinator under Belichick in New England, Judge brought bravado to his press conferences, but it didn't translate. The bar was set low after dismal two-year stints with Ben McAdoo and Pat Shurmur, but his teams -- despite occasionally feisty defenses -- never materialized on offense and threw in the towel late. 9. Matt Patricia NFL head coaching jobs: Lions (2018-2020) Career record: 13-29-1 The bearded wonder helped Bill win three Super Bowls as the Patriots' defensive coordinator, but he was largely disagreeable in Detroit, guiding some scrappy upsets -- including over Belichick's Pats in 2018 -- but ultimately expediting the future relocation of big names like Matthew Stafford and Darius Slay while failing to sniff the playoffs. 8. Josh McDaniels NFL head coaching jobs: Broncos (2009-2010), Raiders (2022-2023) Career record: 20-33 The longtime offensive coordinator was ousted quickly by two different franchises. Controversy followed him, from a reported dispute with ex-Broncos QB Jay Cutler, who left Denver before McDaniels coached a game; to a videotaping scandal that prompted NFL fines. He's proven capable of designing an offense while in New England, but his redemption tour with the Raiders was quickly undone by an overreliance on aging, battered friends from his Patriots days. 7. Romeo Crennel NFL head coaching jobs: Browns (2005-2008), Chiefs (2011-2012)*, Texans (2020)* Career record: 32-63 The longtime defensive coordinator is respected and well-liked, hence his repeat role as an interim for failed regimes. But in roughly six seasons of combined experience running the ship, he managed just one winning season and zero playoff bids. Note: * = Crennel was an interim coach for 15 of his 32 games with the Chiefs and Texans. 6. Eric Mangini NFL head coaching jobs: Jets (2006-2008), Browns (2009-2010) Career record: 33-47 (0-1 playoffs) A defensive assistant under Belichick with both the Jets and Patriots, Mangini started hot, finishing 10-6 and guiding Chad Pennington to Comeback Player of the Year honors in his debut, only to fall to Belichick's Pats in the first round of the playoffs. He never recovered, going 19-29 for the remainder of his career, which included a reportedly alienated locker room in Cleveland. 5. Brian Daboll NFL head coaching jobs: Giants (2022-present) Career record: 11-13-1 (1-1 playoffs) Daboll held three different positions in two different stints under Belichick before taking off at Alabama and as the Bills' OC, then rejuvenating the careers of Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley to guide a scrappy Giants team to a road playoff win in his HC debut. He quickly fell back to Earth in Year 2, however, as he's failed to overcome a shoddy O-line with curious situational decision-making. 4. Al Groh NFL head coaching jobs: Jets (2000) Career record: 9-7 You can't tarnish a legacy that barely exists! Groh, of course, is best known for his long run as Virginia's coach, and a champion Giants assistant, but he spent just one year on the sidelines in New York before resigning to return to college. He at least paved the way for Herm Edwards' tenure -- a five-year run that included three playoff berths and two postseason wins. 3. Nick Saban NFL head coaching jobs: Dolphins (2005-2006) Career record: 15-17 A defensive coordinator under Belichick with the Browns, Saban would obviously rank No. 1 if we were including college achievements; he's the NCAA Belichick running the powerhouse that is Alabama. In Miami, he was just mediocre, which is more than most of these guys can say. His broken promise to stick with the Dolphins rather than bolt for the Crimson Tide will always be part of his NFL "legacy," however. 2. Brian Flores NFL head coaching jobs: Dolphins (2019-2021) Career record: 24-25 Miscommunication seems to be the chief reason for his departure, with reported disagreements over key spots like QB -- where he tried but failed to acquire Deshaun Watson and/or ride a combo of Tua Tagovailoa and Ryan Fitzpatrick to the playoffs. His teams were also very streaky. Still, considering the barren rebuild he inherited, he always kept Miami in contention with a stout "D." And he might be on his way to another top job after bringing physicality to a makeshift Vikings defense. 1. Bill O'Brien NFL head coaching jobs: Texans (2014-2020) Career record: 52-48 (2-4 playoffs) O'Brien helped leave the Texans in their recent state of ruin, seizing personnel power and even an official general manager title while shipping Pro Bowl stars like DeAndre Hopkins and Laremy Tunsil out of town. But he at least brought toughness and respect to an organization long mired in mediocrity, guiding four playoff runs and two 10-win finishes in just over six seasons. www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/raiders-fire-josh-mcdaniels-ranking-all-the-nfl-head-coaches-from-bill-belichicks-coaching-tree/

True but maybe he's not a good talent evaluator when it comes to coordinators. Belichick has run some good offenses and defenses with OCs and DCs that failed once they left Boston. Maybe he propped them up and helped them perform beyond their level. It could be a case of good teacher/bad students.

Outstanding athlete... excellent return man... but, boy, it was frustrating when he was draped on a receiver and still allowed the catch.

Six people, so far, voted for McGee. As I recall, he had a knack for closely shadowing receivers only to let them catch the ball anyway.

He's a great back for a passing offense. He runs hard, blocks well, and is a reliable safety valve. His career catch rate is around 80% and slightly more than half his catches result in first downs. When he's not protecting the QB, he's moving the chains. As for being washed, his rush yards per attempt last year behind a bad OL was only 3.5. That may be cause for concern. But otherwise, his performance last season was fine: 1,191 total yards, 88% catch rate, 55% success rate... www.pro-football-reference.com/players/F/FourLe00.htm

I don't know what to expect. So far during the season, we've won three games by 28 points including a big victory over the Fins. But we struggled against everyone else, including teams that were clearly inferior. I feel like the team has Dissociative Identity Disorder and suffers from multiple personalities. If the Good Bills show up, we'll win by a wide margin. We'll lose if the Bad Bills show up. If a third personality manifests... who knows? To me, this game isn't about matchups. It's about whether or not the Bills choose to be the best version of themselves.

Someone even demanded that I give my Jim Kelly bobblehead away to a "real fan!" No... actually I'm just having a little fun. There have been no nasty DMs and I love my fellow Bills Mafioso's, even when they're giving me flack. We're a "band of brothers" (and sisters like Muppy) who have suffered long and hard together. I just don't understand why we, as fans, can't suggest that Josh might be a small part of the problem we sometimes experience with our passing attack. I love Josh and am super appreciative that we have him as a QB after so many poor-to-mediocre ones. I'm just not into the sacred cow thing. But even though I think Josh could be doing some things better, I'm upset at the team for not creating the conditions for him to be the best QB he can be. Beane hasn't built a good OL line. And the receivers, other than Diggs, are pretty much jags. And it's not just Beane. The coaches don't scheme the offense as well as Andy Reid for example. As many pundits have pointed out, the Bills ask Josh to do too much. He's very talented but he's not Superman.