hondo in seattle

I don't remember picking Diggs, but if I did, I must have had good reason so I'm sticking with him! If could pick someone on defense, it would be Leonard Floyd who's going to impact some plays for us.

Maybe because I'm old, I just thought that was weird.

That's not good.

You're probably right. But I think as fans, unless we're Jerry Sullivan, we tend to suffer from confirmation bias and clearly see the things that support our hopes while dismissing the information that suggests a less happy outcome. I try, not always successfully, not to fall into that trap.

I just knew there'd be one guy who would take those words literally instead of as a colloquial expression. Thanks, AE, for not leaving me disappointed.

I'll never root for a player to be hurt. But I will happily accept the consequences if they help the Bills.

I was thinking similarly. I couldn't diagram them but I remember Chan drew up some short passes for CJ to get easy completions and give Spiller some space. I'd like to see that with Cook.

50+ years of fandom have done that to me.

I've suffered from preseason worries about our secondary. On paper, we look great. But our three stars - White, Hyde, Poyer - all had injury issues last year. And the two safeties aren't getting younger. And last season, Tre just didn't look the same after coming back from his ACL. Beane recently said this: "I think Tre’Davious is in a really good spot. You can just see it when you talk to him. He’s confident. You know, the D.A. was a tough deal for him. Was his first major injury. And, you know, not an easy one to come back from, you know, when you’ve never dealt with that. And he’s in a great headspace. He’s really confident. And I see a guy who’s ascending and getting himself back to the Tre that he was pre-injury.” I like the first part of the quote but when Beane says he's "ascending" and "getting himself back," I began to worry again. Is Tre really in a "good spot" or is he still "getting himself back?" www.whec.com/sports-news/brandon-beane-envisions-tre-white-ascending-to-pre-injury-form/

I don't have any stats to support my case and maybe I'm wrong but... Wasn't part of the problem our OL? Opponents were motivated not to blitz by two realizations, (1) Josh was good against the blitz, and (2) they didn't need to blitz to get Josh off his base because our OL sucked. But I do think it's true that Dorsey and especially Josh didn't possess the take-what-they-give mindset. It was a kind of gridiron hubris: we know who we are. We know what we're good at. We're going to impose our will on you.

Maybe I'm not a good talent evaluator but I never saw anything in Boogie's game - not in his college highlights and not in his time with the Bills - that suggested to me that he'd be a productive NFL sack artist. I'm not knocking the guy. He's a good backup. Maybe he'd be a good starter 50 years ago when the suddenness to get to the QB wasn't as prized as much as it is today. I don't know - maybe this season he'll prove to a better fit for what the Giants want. But I don't believe he was ever going to be very productive here.

Robert Saleh isn't Rex Ryan.

Go big or go home: Bomb to Harty.

Most gurus are rarely right. Because each year there are about 8 or 10 teams with more-or-less equal chances of getting to the Super Bowl and then a couple of surprise teams with worse odds that make late season/playoff runs. When you consider the importance of luck (bounces, calls, etc.) and injuries, there is no way of knowing who will make it to the Super Bowl. Even the best computer programs can't predict it with accuracy. But Peter is more knowledgeable than most talking heads. The fact he's picking us is somewhat encouraging, I suppose. If the world's best AI told me that the Bills had a 15% chance of winning it all, I'd be thrilled because that's better than most teams. But it's still a long shot. At this time of year, realistically, every team is a long shot.

A few thoughts... I like Jim and I'm sure Jim was saddened by Chad's many acts of stupidity. Of course, I hoped Chad would turn his life around for Jim's sake as well as his own. Chad grew up privileged. He'll enjoy more & better opportunities in life than I ever had. But I'm not jealous or bitter about it. That's just the way things are: life isn't fair and the U.S. isn't a meritocracy. None of that is Chad's fault. I think it's better to root for people than against them. I hope all people overcome their shortcomings and find peace, health, happiness, and success. It seems Chad is moving in the right direction and I'm glad to see it.

Critiquing coaches is part of the joy of being a fan. But I get what you're saying. I fought in Desert Storm and read some of the analyses written both before and after the war. Much of the stuff published was amusing, to put it mildly. Many so-called analysts that people relied on for accurate information & insight were downright clueless. Most amateurs overrate their own opinions and underrate the expertise of the professionals. But knowing that, I'm still going to b*tch and moan if Dorsey doesn't get the RBs involved in the passing game and call more quick-hitting passes.

Your game plan makes sense as an approach for the season, but I'm dialed in on the opening game. Coaches preach to their players, "one game at a time." But sometimes guys like Andy Reid try to put things on film so future opponents have to worry about them. Like chess grandmasters, the best coaches are thinking several moves ahead. I think it makes sense to stress-test the Jets OL because I think they'll fail. But, also, it'll be advantageous to put an aggressive D on tape. McD is not known as a heavy or creative blitzer. So we go heavy and get creative in Game One and win. That'll give future opponents more to think about and prepare for.

That may be true but, GB, I'm not that guy. Blitzing is not part of my mantra and never has been. Making a blanket statement like that, which doesn't apply to me, is not an effective refutation. I'm going off mantra here because these are unique circumstances. Nate and Aaron spent the last few months building a prototype. It's new, inevitably still incomplete, and built with a hodge-podge of materials including some that are sub-spec (the OL). The best way to destroy something like that is to put it under extreme stress.

We're not winning Super Bowls because only 1 in 32 teams gets to win. Whatever Josh does or doesn't do, we went 14-4 last season, counting the playoffs. Despite all the injuries to our defensive stars, and Josh's elbow, we still had one of the most successful seasons in the NFL. Unfortunately, one of those few losses happened against a good team in the playoffs. Each year, there might be 8 or 10 more-or-less equally matched teams all with a more-or-less equal chance of winning a trophy. It didn't work out last year because we had significant injuries and because that's just the nature of the game. Of all the talented teams that get into the playoffs, all but one end the season on a loss. If you want to know if Josh is doing enough, you have to know how much he's doing. We lack both specific Josh information and comparative data. We don't know how much Josh watches film nor how that compares to other QBs. We don't know how much Josh works out nor how that compares to other QBs. I hope he's closer to the Tom Brady end of the spectrum than the Jamarcus Russell. But, so far, what Josh has said is too vague to get too overly worried or judgmental about it.

How do you guys think we'll defend the Jets on Monday night? Our defense is different in a few ways from last year. The most obvious and meaningful are a new DC calling plays and a new MLB. But there are some other interesting differences, too, like having Rapp on the roster and creating intriguing options (Big Nickel, anyone?). And Leonard Floyd spicing up the pass rush (though, disappointingly, Von will be out). I don't follow the Jets closely but I do know what Rodgers brings. Besides his arm talent, he reads defenses and moves around the pocket well. Teams only blitzed him 21% of the time last year (7th lowest rate in the league) because historically he's been effective against the blitz. But Rodgers is in a new city, with a new OC, surrounded by new players, protected by a subpar OL, and using a playbook that he can't possibly have mastered yet as thoroughly as he did the one in Green Bay. Should we put Rodgers under siege with a non-Bills-like and unexpected heavy blitz package? At his age, and at this point in his Jets career, can Rodgers respond as effectively to the blitz as he has in the past? If you don't like the blitz idea, what would you do?

Shaw, I respect your knowledge of the LB position and am not trying to be argumentative. But is it really correct that Kirksey has been an effective pass defender? I don't know the player very well but I thought I read somewhere that his PFF pass defense grade last season was in the low 50s which ranked him something like 89th among LBs as I recall. Beane and McD are clearly in the modern age when it comes to LBs being more pass defenders than run defenders these days. Yet they sign a guy who's not a good pass defender - and arguably not a good defender of any kind. Though his experience and intelligence would probably make him a better leader from that position than any of the younger guys. I wonder what Beane and McD are seeing and thinking other than the very obvious - the MLBs on the 53-man roster aren't very good.

The Cover 1 highlights look good. And Kirksey's has a lot of starting experience and has been voted a team captain. That all speaks well for him. But Kirksey's PFF score of 56.1 makes me wonder how balanced and representative the Cover 1 film and commentary was. Though the talk about playing to a guy's strengths was interesting.

I get what you're saying but JAGs come in different flavors. Other than maybe Kincaid, we didn't add any elite playmakers to the roster. But this year's JAGs are better than last year's JAGs. Enough to make a difference. Because the schedule is presumably harder, I don't know if we'll win more regular-season games. But I do think we'll win more postseason games.

I loved Inigo in the movie, and I love Inigo's optimism here. But, yikes, to predict we'll crush KC's offensive output is a bit much. A lot will have to go right for that to happen. Although I have to agree that, on paper, this offense does look to be better than last year's edition. To me, the key is the OL. If it's just average this year (and we avoid serious injuries to key players), we'll score a ton of points. Fingers crossed.

I think our roster is better this year than last year. I don't think it's the best roster in the league which is the goal. But that doesn't necessarily mean we won't win the SB.