hondo in seattle

There's that and there's how teams play D against us. I love Jimbo but defenses don't crowd the box to stop him. Defenses often take away the long pass and challenge us to dink-and-dunk and run the length of the field, hoping at some point they'll get a stop. Even the best offenses have miscues, penalties, dropped passes, and so on. Eventually, by taking away the deep ball, the defense gets a stop or gets us to settle for a FG. Not on every series, but enough to keep the game close.

I like our backs. But if we could get a Cookie Gilchrist clone - i.e. a power back with speed - I'm in. Defenses couldn't play 2-deep shells with itty-bitty coverage linebackers if we had a powerful bruiser like Cookie. Give me an Eric Moulds clone at wideout and Josh would go off, assuming Brady knows how to scheme a downfield passing attack, which I do wonder about. On defense, we have many needs. Bruce Smith is too much to ask for but an Aaron Schobel clone to pair with Bosa would be great. We need to generate more pressure. And we need another good CB - I'd be thrilled if Tre simply regained his old form. Maybe Bishop will evolve into something eventually but right now, I miss Poyer and Hyde. It's all science. Cloning can solve every one of our problems.

Good observation. I'd been wondering about that. We have played teams with talented backs who have given us trouble in the past, so I've wondered if that was the reason - though there are other possible explanations. It's something to watch.

My earliest Bills memory is Mini Max Anderson 'swallowing' his tongue - a concept that freaked out my fragile 9-year-old brain. So I'm not a bandwagon jumper, though I welcome everyone who is. Enjoy the ride!

As someone who is generally on your side in regard to Brady opening things up (assuming Brady has the acumen to design and call a good intermediate and deep passing game), I will mention this counterargument: When the Bills needed to throw downfield at the end of the Ravens game, they did so effectively.

#7!

SB or GTFO is an unrealistic standard. Good coaching can slant the odds in your favor. A GM who builds a good roster can do the same. But even if you have the best HC and GM in football, there's no guarantee that you'll get a trophy. Football is partially a game of chance. Injuries, weird bounces, bad ref calls, and so on can all impact a game at critical moments. If that game is a playoff game, bad luck can and will end your season. If you have a good team, you work to improve it to better your odds. You don't blow it up.

I'm one of those people decrying Brady's seeming inability to scheme a productive downfield passing attack. And yet I know you're right. The Bills offense produces points without producing TOs. What else do we really want?

I admit I get frustrated at the Bills sometimes, particularly at Brady. I believe he could scheme up and call a better downfield passing attack. Or maybe he can't and needs to hire a passing game coordinator. But then I remind myself of the 6-3 games we've played in the past and the 2-win seasons and feel much better.

I'm not feeling generous after watching the Bills struggle with the 0-2 Fins. Cook Bernard That's it.

I'm not sure Brady is adept at scheming a downfield passing game. But I certainly wouldn't label it a problem when the Bills are 3-0 while the offense is averaging 34 points a game and has yet to turn the ball over. I think every OC in the NFL would be happy with those numbers.

It may be a bit situational too. If the Bills get up early, the Fins may think, "Man, I've had enough of the sh*t," and begin half-*ssing it. But if they're able to keep it close early, they might fight hard to the very end regardless of what they think of McDaniel. Like you, neither a nailbiter nor a laugher would surprise me. Though I think there's a greater likelihood of the latter.

Bills fans writing haiku before Miami games is one of the weirder traditions in all of sports. Though probably not weirder than jumping on burning tables. It's Fin haiku week. Putrid poetry abounds. Fins still lose in rout.

Physics is no fun. For example, physics says we can't build a ship that travels faster than the speed of light. And some physicists tell us that physics says that our thoughts are meaningless byproducts of biochemical reactions in the brain and there's no such thing as free will. I say screw physics and build these stadiums!

I think this was pretty imaginative and liked many of the conceptual animations more than the current realities.

The Chiefs are/were amazing. For a while, they had the best coaching staff in the league and, arguably, the best roster. It was a remarkable accomplishment. And an ill-timed one as it just preceded the Bills' ascension. Now I'm beginning to realize Veach isn't superhuman. Their current roster, outside of Mahomes, isn't elite. But just because the Chiefs haven't built a great receiving corps doesn't excuse Beane for failing in the same area.

Neph, I agree wholeheartedly. Josh reminds me of Coach Lad. Bob Ladouceur was the legendary head football coach at De La Salle High School in California who won 151 consecutive games, the longest win streak in American sports history. Amazingly, unlike some other coaches at successful programs, Lad didn't recruit. He took whatever kids he had and taught them to play hard and execute at an extraordinarily high level. And he didn't talk about winning. His culture was centered on personal accountability, meticulous preparation (aka process), and teamwork. Some quotes... “We never really talked about it (the winning streak) much...I told them to hustle and play to the best of their abilities. And, when we won some games but played poorly, everyone knew not to be satisfied.” “I really don't think you can win 151 games in a row if you're trying to win.” “I looked at football as a vehicle to reveal character.” “It’s not about playing a position. It’s about playing for your friends.” “I am entirely focused on you as a team. I want you to realize your full potential. This has nothing to do with winning.”

I'm not sure if this was already posted but - to my surprise - Hawes is PFF's highest graded rookie after two weeks... 1. TE Jackson Hawes, Buffalo Bills (92.7) Hawes followed up a 93.7 PFF overall grade against the Ravens in Week 1 with an 85.3 mark against the Jets in Week 2. He played 35 snaps, primarily as a run blocker, and earned an 84.8 PFF run-blocking grade on zone runs (18 snaps). The fifth-round pick from Georgia Tech is the NFL's highest-graded tight end after Week 2 and ranks as the second-best run blocker at the position (83.1), behind teammate Dawson Knox (90.6). While Hawes has dealt with challenges in man schemes (58.3), he’s been excellent in zone, earning an 85.6 zone PFF run-blocking grade across 23 snaps through two weeks. As a receiver, Hawes has caught both of his targets for 34 yards, 29 of which came in Week 1. www.pff.com/news/nfl-top-15-rookies-week-2-2025

We wore leather helmets back when I played football (or something like that) - a great thing because, as a receiver and safety, I hated anything obscuring my vision even in the smallest way. Weirdly, I had poor eyesight and wore glasses yet I didn't like wearing glasses in games because I didn't like the rims obstructing my sight. A visor would have driven me crazy with the hint of glare. So I'm glad for #1 because Josh has already adjusted to the way the visor affects his vision. #2 and #3 remain problems. But I don't think heat or reverberation will bother him when he's in the pocket, scanning the field, in the flow, and entirely focused on the play.

It's easy to imagine Kincaid beating his 2025 high of 48 yards (vs. Ravens). And it's easy to imagine Knox having fewer drops than he did against the Jets! So far this year, the Bills are targeting their WRs 59% of the time. That stat surprised me because I had thought we were targeting WRs more this year. We're not - it's almost exactly the same as 2024. TEs are being targeted this season about 27% of the time and RBs about 14%. I'm guessing the numbers against the Fins will skew a little heavier toward TEs and RBs. Low-risk stuff with a chance for high reward considering the Fin LBs have been struggling with coverage and as a team they miss some tackles. The run/pass mix will be normal Brady stuff so I don't know if the TEs will have "big" days since we'll run roughly half the time. I guess it depends on how you define "big." Shannon Sharpe's single-game record of 214 is probably safe.

I think Brady's balanced offense allows for a larger margin for error. As Dan Orlovsky says, this offense can do whatever it wants. We can run, throw short, throw downfield... Whatever the D is determined to stop, we can do something else. But only to an extent. Because you're right that the receivers do sometimes struggle to get open, and when that happens, we rely on Josh to (1) thread needles, (2) scramble to give the receivers more time, and/or (3) transform a passing play into a positive QB run. I wish we had better separators and, at the same time, Brady schemed a better passing game. Still, it's hard to argue with Brady's results: lots of points, few turnovers.

I have trouble wrapping my head around this. While the Bills haven't been blessed with many great QBs in our 65-year history, we have had several good RBs, including two Hall of Famers: OJ and Thurman. And Josh has more rushing TDs than any of them. It's incomprehensible. And they're not all tush-pushes and QB dives. In fact, most of them are longer.

When I watch Brady's offense in action, I think he's good at scheming a run game (helped by the fact that opponents are more worried about defending Josh than our backs) but poor at scheming a downfield passing attack. That second observation bothers me because we have a cannon-armed unicorn named Josh Allen. But when I pay attention to stats, I can't help but notice that our offense scores a lot of points and doesn't give the ball up very often. That's not accidental. That's by design. On D, being in the top ten in takeaways for eight years in a row is not accidental either.

Years ago, I read an article that showed that yards gained and yards allowed are somewhat consistent from year to year (especially if the same coaching staff stays in place). But, the author argued, TOs are mostly a crap shoot - particularly fumbles but overall TOs as well. If a team is among the league's leaders in TO differential, they can't count on repeating. To say it another way, TOs are as much about luck as they are about skill according to the author. That doesn't seem to be true. Not with the Bills.

I attend a home game once every 50 years. I make it to more away games. Weird stat: Bills are undefeated in games I've attended live. I hope to bring that streak back to Buffalo next year when the new stadium opens.