hondo in seattle

Yes, you did predict a Bills victory as many of us did. But you also asserted this: "Dorsey will scheme up a game plan to feed Knox and Kincaid ! Today is Kincaids big day!" I'm not sure you can truly claim that you "called it." Today was Diggs's bid day, not Kincaid's. But enjoy the win. It was a great Bills victory in an early season must-win game.

Anything good or bad that happens on a team, I'm going to attribute to the leader. Leaders own what happens and McD owns 13 seconds. But I don't think we've ever gotten the whole story and without all the facts I'm not sure how much I want to damn the guy. "Colossal blunder"? I don't know. McD took arguably the best team in the NFL down to the wire. He did more things right that day. I was in KC when it all happened and their take is different: two equally matched teams collided, and the game could have easily gone either way. But, as I said, even great leaders have bad days. Caesar blundered at the Battle of Dyrrachium. Look at that battle too hard and you might deem Caesar a poor military leader. Yet he also conquered Gaul and defeated Pompey in a massive civil war. You have to stand back and get perspective.

I agree with most of this, even the part about the Bills having a good roster. I'd be concerned if McD failed to reach the SB with the very best roster in the NFL but that hasn't been the case. Until this year, the offense has been a two-man show (Allen, Diggs) with jags or worse manning the other positions. Our OL was never a SB quality line. Neither was our DL, for that matter, disregarding the beginning of last year when Von was playing. I do worry about your observation at the end about letting good prevent you from being great. But, barring something unexpected happening, I'm happy to ride the McD train for a long while more.

I'm a McD fan (call me an "apologist" if you want) and I won't go apoplectic because I don't lose my cool over people saying stuff online. I do disagree with you, however. Here are some random reasons why... * The fixation on 13 seconds isn't rational. McD has coached the team for more than 360,000 seconds but you want to use those 13 seconds to define him. During those 13 seconds, a great offense executed at a high level, and a couple of Bills players made mistakes. I don't think the game even makes it to OT if McD was a lesser coach. I don't think we even get to that game in the first place if McD was a lesser coach. And, btw, even great generals (Caesar, William the Conqueror, Napoleon, Patton, etc.) had bad days and suffered defeats. Even talented leaders sometimes fail to deliver. * We have not had the best roster in the NFL in any year that McD has been here. I'm not sure why we require him to beat better teams in the playoffs and win the Super Bowl without a Super Bowl-quality roster. * Repeatedly firing coaches doesn't work. I prefer the Steelers model. They've had 3 head coaches over the past 50 years. That stability has given them 6 more Lombardis than we've won. * Statistically speaking, each team has a 3% of winning the Super Bowl - all things being equal. In fact, each year there are maybe six teams with superior rosters/coaching with a roughly 10% chance of winning it all. Thanks to both Beane and McD, the Bills are in that elite group. * McDermott has the highest win percentage in Bills history. Objectively, he's the best of the twenty guys to have the title of Bills HC. * If you fired McD, who would you replace him with? The best coaches (Andy Reid, for example) already have jobs. Most college coaches who are hired to be NFL coaches don't turn out to be very good. Most coordinators who become head coaches don't turn out to be very good. Most head coaches the Bills hire don't turn out to be very good. In other words, it's most likely that McD's replacement will be worse, not better.

Floyd is going to knock Tua out of rhythm.

Maybe you're right. But I always thought that the folks wanting us to sign a big-name RB were the ones who tend to deny the hard realities of the salary cap. As an older guy, let me quote the Stones, "You can't always get what you want." Some people live in denial of this sad fact. The mafiosos in denial want an expensive RB and expensive WR#2 to make our offense even more dynamic. But Beane knows what's up. Passing is ascendant and the cap makes it impossible to get stars at every position. So he's prioritized his cap dollars on QB, WR, DE, and CB. I wish he'd spend a little more on the OL to protect the health of our generational QB, maximize his production, and open up some holes for our bargain-bin, yet talented, RBs. I don't know - maybe wanting to get help in the trenches is old school too. But both Philly and KC had good OLs last season and look where they were on February 12th and we weren't.

I don't know how much money we can afford to spend just on the WR position. Diggs's contract is okay - given what he adds to this team. But, ideally, our next star wideout will be someone we draft.

I can't remember the last time I had that much fun watching our DL. But I find myself wondering... Washington knows Howell tends to hold onto the ball too long and that we have a good DL. So, what plan did their OL coach and Bienemy cook up to protect their QB? There are offensive coaches in the CFL, XFL, USFL, college, and high school. Theoretically, only the very best work in the NFL. And these elite coaches make buckets of money in salary... in this case, to allow their QB to be pressured 69% of the time.

The Fin offense comes back down to earth. Buffalo 31, Miami 24.

Certainly, one of the stranger picks in Bills history. You don't have a good roster but you do have really good RBs. But instead of fixing a weakness, you triplicate a strength. But watching Beane build this RB committee has been satisfying. One RB on a rookie contract and two others on very affordable deals gives us a good running game on a budget.

I mostly agree but have some reservation. Every team has Dane Jacksons and AJEs. But a team needs elite playmakers to compete in the playoffs. This draft didn't produce a Pro Bowl or All Pro quality player. Unless, of course, if you include Diggs which is fair. But, the cap being what it is, a GM needs to find one Pro Bowl quality guy in each draft - someone who will contribute at a high level on a rookie contract. This draft didn't have that.

The most we've given up so far this year is 16 points. The Fins beat that mark by a solid 50% and put up 24. And still lose.

Just to elaborate on #1... Not only do we have more talent on defense. But our defenders have more pride and fight in them.

It's interesting that the narrative out of Denver the first couple of weeks of the season was that Wilson was the problem. I won't argue that Wilson has been playing at an elite level. But he didn't just give up 70 points. Payton has to own this.

As a Bills fan from the 60s, I encourage you to not generalize. It's true that I loved watching OJ and Thurman run with the ball. But this offseason, I was against spending money on any of the big-name backs available. I'm happy with our backfield as it is. It's a good ROI on the cap dollars spent. And, with Josh as our QB and Dorsey as our coordinator, we're clearly a pass-first team in a pass-first era. Andy Reid is even older than me and he presides over one of the best passing offenses we've ever seen. It's a fallacy that older people are generally stuck in the past.

I've seen it written that Miami could have beaten the NFL points scored record with a FG. What am I missing? The Bears defeated the Redskins 73-0 in the 1940 NFL championship game. A Miami FG would have tied the record, not beaten it. The Redskins were the last team to score 70+ points, tallying 72 in a game in 1966. They went on to finish with a mediocre 7-7 record. It was a great game by the Fins. But it doesn't mean they're going to cruise to the AFCE crown.

I disagree about Freddie. If he had a good OL in front of him and played on a perennial playoff team, he'd be a HOF nominee. If I recall correctly, he led the NFL in yards after contact one season. He was a tough, talented runner and, like Thurman, he was also a great all-around back. It sucked that he played on the Bills during the dark ages when his talent was mostly wasted. But he was one of the few bright lights during those miserable years and I'd love to see him on the Wall - with Kyle, Eric, and Butch.

Diggs is the obvious choice, it seems to me, but there's no fun in being obvious. I was going to go with Damien Harris because of the rain and renewed emphasis on the running game. But someone beat me to him. Milano is another obvious option but I'm sticking with offense and choosing GABE DAVIS.

I watched every one of these games. But I wouldn't have been able to recall, summarize, and rate them like you did. Nicely done! And, despite whatever flaws he might possess, I'm glad we have McD instead some of the other folks we've had filling the HC position.

This was the only Bills playoff game I ever attended. The Fin fans treated Bills fans horribly that day and it was a ton of fun! As for Kelly... Not his best game. But that was the great thing about the '90s Bills. When Kelly was cold, we could rely on Thurman. When Thurman was cold, we could rely on Kelly. And opposing defenses had a conundrum - how do you stop a team that can both run and pass? If Kelly had a more normal day, the score would have been even more lopsided.

I thought we signed Murray and Harris to break tackles and drafted Cook to run away from tackles.

Those are legit concerns but the (small) possibility that it all turns sour should never stop a human being from doing the right thing.

I took my wife and son to Arrowhead, all of us decked out in Bills gear, in 2021 when we beat them 38-20. Despite their frustration, the KC fans treated us well throughout the game. Fighting over fandom is dumb.

Cook was the quickest, most dynamic of the backs. But I liked what I saw from all three. This is the best I've felt about the RB position since Shady left.

If a young Jim Brown or OJ was available, I'd sign them for $2MM+++. Backs like that get first downs and keep drives going. JT isn't in their league. No current RB is. But I get what you're saying about OLs. If you have a good OL, you'll not only get yards on the ground even with an average back, but you'll also keep your QB upright and healthy. I'm reasonably happy with our backfield - I think they'll provide a lot of bang for the buck. I just wish we had a better OL.