hondo in seattle

If Von and Josh are really holding a player's only meeting, I assume they feel the main problem is with the players: effort, execution, etc. It'll be interesting to see if those things get better. Though clearly the coaching needs to get better, too. The Bills do not have the best roster in the league, but they do have more talent than their 4-3 record indicates. Maybe the team is missing Frazier and Daboll more than people expected.

One of the oldest leadership principles in the book is that you praise in public and criticize in private. We have no idea what McD is saying to Dorsey in private.

Why do you put all the blame on McD and none on Beane? Part of your plan to fix the team is to build a dominant offensive line. Beane's been here a while and hasn't done that. You would think it'd be a matter of urgency since we have a great QB. But even great QBs need time to throw. Receivers need time to get open. And a passing game works best when there's a complimentary running game which requires an OL to open holes. Finally, a good OL keeps your quarter-billion-dollar quarterback healthy. Beane's failure to effectively prioritize the OL is concerning. But that's not his only failure. Draft picks have been wasted. The splashy $100 million on Von has mostly been wasted thus far (we could have used that money on an OL). The talent in the secondary is fading as the stars get older and more injury prone... I'm not sure why people demand McD to give us a SB performance when Beane hasn't given him a SB roster. Your plan, by the way, is a fan's plan, not a realistic one. For example, every GM wants to build a dominant OL and DL and then the uncertainties of the draft and the limitations of the cap slap them in the face. Building an SB championship team is easier said than done.

I think it's interesting how many people rated responded to this thread with vomit icons & the like and DM-ed me to turn in my Zubaz and burn my mafia card. It's as if I urinated on some sacred object when I simply posed a question. Well, actually two questions. How good is Josh really? And: Who's to blame for his inconsistency. After watching the first half of yesterday's game, I don't think these are unwarranted. I hope McD is figuring this out because something needs to change.

For those making Kelly-Allen comparisons, one difference is that Kelly could rely on Thurman when he was having a bad days, or receivers were struggling to get open, or the OL was screwing up passpro. Josh can't do that. He carries the load by himself. Insofar as there is a problem, that's part of it.

After the playoff run in '21, I started feeling the same way. But he's been frustratingly inconsistent since then. All QBs, of course, suffer inconsistency but Allen moreso than, say, Mahomes or Brady. I think the receivers (not getting separation, drops...) are part of that. I think the OL has been a big part of the inconsistency though, so far this season, it seems we've made some progress. The coaches are part of it, too. But Allen owns some of the inconsistency too. He needs to not let his frustration in low-scoring games impact his decision-making.

I wish we could hire Andy Reid as our offensive coordinator. I think Josh would set records with Reid running the offense. But that's not a realistic wish. So, barring that, I'd love to see Josh behind a good offensive line. He'd have more time to throw. Receivers would have more time to get open. Backs would have holes to run through - meaning defenses would have to respect our run game and not focus solely on stopping Josh. And a good OL would keep Josh healthy.

We all know fans who believe McD should be fired if we don't get to the Super Bowl when we have Josh Allen as our QB. But Josh has given us some clunkers. There are games when he bails out of the pocket when he doesn't need to, makes bad decisions with the ball, and delivers errant throws. But are Josh's subpar games truly his fault? Sometimes I put the blame squarely on Dorsey for poor play design and bad play-calling. And when I blame Dorsey, McD deserves his share of blame too. He made Dorsey the OC and oversees the entire team. He doesn't escape culpability. But sometimes I blame the receivers who, at times, struggle to gain separation. (Though maybe that's more of a Dorsey problem). And some games I blame the OL. Josh has spent much of his career in Buffalo scrambling for his life. Of course, Beane deserves some blame, too. He's never prioritized the OL. You would think that when you've found a generational QB, you'd build a line to protect his health and well-being as well as give him time to throw. Beane didn't do that. There are days when Josh looks like one of the best to ever play the game. Other times, not so much. So, I've been wondering how good Josh really is and who's principally to blame when he's not as productive and efficient as he 'ought' to be.

I once led a college flag football league in receptions, receiving yards, and TDs. Yes, we kept stats and never mind that all the good football players were on the school team!!!! When Bruce Springsteen sang his song about nostalgia for 'Glory Days,' this was - pathetically - the best I could think back on.

With the key injuries we've had, I don't know if the Bills have one of the top two rosters in the AFC. I don't think they do. So why the do-or-die demand to reach the AFCCG?

Yep, I agree. It's "unreal" that McD is choosing a guy who knows the playbook because the Bills offense is like rocket science and takes years to figure out. You're absolutely correct if you're saying that take has very little to do with reality. I'm curious... Do you honestly believe that McD has an IQ of 70 and his football IQ is even lower?

I had forgotten about that. As you say, McD doesn't normally publicly call people out so he must have been particularly pissed. A tip of the iceberg moment.

We've noticed the friction since Daboll was here, especially with damn-with-faint-praise. Although they never publicly criticized each other, Daboll never gushed about McD or vice versa. For instance, more recently, Daboll had nice things to say about the Bills organization and mentioned the Pegulas and Beane by name but didn't mention McD. If something like that happened once, it could be a simple oversight. But there's a pattern of signs of mutual distaste that now includes a tepid handshake.

The biggest problem with this offense so far this season isn't the slot position. It's Dorsey. Harty is fine.

When you look at Dorsey's offensive stats, they're not terrible. But we've all seen games when Dorsey's lack of imagination in both play design and play calling was suboptimal. Sad to say, I don't have as much faith in Dorsey-Allen as I do in Reid-Mahomes. Reid, generally speaking, designs and calls plays that put Mahomes in a position to excel and keep defenses on their toes. You're right: McD needs to step in and help Dorsey find his shortcomings and fix them.

I'm not a Dorsey fan but if we fire him midseason, I'm afraid the alternative will be no better and possibly worse. I'm not opposed to McD checking out who's available after the season, though.

Our backs are fine. I'd rather work on the OL as you suggested. Give the backs a better line and they'll get the yards, and Josh will have more time to throw to receivers who have more time to get open. And Josh will stay healthier. Of course, I'd love to see the Bills have a Thurman-quality RB. But how many of those are available in the draft? With the RB position devalued, it seems the best athletes now play other positions. Back in OJ's day, for example, the best athletes wanted to be running backs. That's not true anymore.

So far, we're 4-0 when I wear my Kelly jersey and eat wings during the game. We're 0-1 when I wear my Allen jersey. We're 0-1 when I wear my Kyle Williams jersey - though in fairness to Kyle, I also skipped the wings because it was a morning game.

It was a dumb this to say but Saleh has built a nice defense. Maybe this was hubris talking but I think it was more him pumping up his team. Players like it when coaches brag on them. They just held the NFC champs to 14 points despite the Jets missing some defensive starters. He may have been a little exuberant. I wouldn't blame him.

Yes, a win is a win. There are no style points. But I'm worried about Dorsey and the offense. We won three games by 4 TDs. We also won a low-scoring game to the Giants while losing low-scoring games to the Jets and Jags. This offense has dissociative identity disorder, and I don't like some of its multiple personalities. We're not going to march through the playoffs, if we even reach the playoffs, if we don't become more consistent on offense. I think that's why this 'ugly' win has some of the mafia bothered.

McD's coaching gets the D to perform at a high level. It's a case of the sum being greater than its parts. But the parts do matter. Every team has jags. A defense rises above average largely due to the quantity and quality of its star defenders. Hyde and Poyer were among our stars but I'm beginning to worry Father Time is catching up to them. Von is a star when he's healthy. Tre was a star. Not sure if he had yet returned to stardom but maybe he would have if he hadn't torn his Achilles. And Milano was the brightest star on the D. Losing two stars (maybe 1.5) is huge. But we still have Von, some slightly faded stars, and maybe one or two up-and-comers. And McD has a talent for getting this D to play well together. It'll still be a solid D - top 5 or 10.

A 4-3 wouldn't be a bad idea versus the Giants. We went to a 4-2 because the NFL has become a passing league. But with TT under center, the Giants may run more than pass - and be more effective rushing than passing.

Milano excels in coverage and is also adept at finding his way through a crowd to a runner. Miller is very good at beating offensive linemen with his quickness, bend, and a variety of moves to get to a QB. Despite both being called 'linebackers' at some point in their careers, they have very different skill sets.

I started the season by wearing my Josh Allen jersey on game day. We lost. I switched to my Kelly jersey, and we blew our next three opponents out. Feeling overconfident, I switched to my Kyle Williams jersey for London and we lost. To make matters worse, since it was 6:30 a.m. game here on the West Coast, I didn't have Buffalo Wings during the game as I traditionally do. My wife even suggested that I run to the grocery store at halftime since we didn't have any but I declined. This week I promise I'll wear my Kelly jersey and have some piping hot Buffalo Wings ready to go.

From Cookie Gilchrist on, we've been blessed with good RBs over the history of the franchise: OJ, Cribbs, Greg Bell, Thurman, Henry, McGahee, BeastMode, Freddy, Shady... But over that same time we've had maybe two good QBs: Kelly and Allen. Arguably you include Ferguson when he blossomed into the guy who did more than just hand off to OJ. And Bledsoe started out good for a half-season. Kemp wasn't an accurate passer but when you throw in his toughness, leadership, and running skills, maybe you include him? But, personally, I only count the two: Kelly and Josh.