hondo in seattle

History may prove you right. But I don't think 13 seconds defines McD. I don't believe it tells us a lot about him as a coach. A coach does so much more than call plays - if he even calls plays. And I'd hate my career to be defined by my worst 13 seconds! Andy Reid just lost to McD in the regular season - again. That doesn't make McD the better coach. Good coaches lose games sometimes. It happens. I judge coaches how well they do overall with (1) the rosters they're given, (2) the injuries the team suffers, and (3) the schedule they play against. Some of the results this year notwithstanding, I think McD has done well during his tenure as coach. I believe with some improvements to the roster, he can and will get us a Lombardi. But I understand your arguments and know I won't change your mind. Let's see how it all works out.

I did say fear of getting an overrated hot young offensive coach as a replacement is "one of the reasons" I didn't want McD fired. Not the only reason. I think until this year, McD got the best or near-best out of the roster each season. This is the only year I feel like he's gotten fewer wins than you'd expect based on the roster. In short, I think he's a good coach. I think he can win a SB when Beane gets him a better roster. I think there are only a few coaches who are clearly better than McD. Unfortunately, they all have jobs. But if Andy Reid wanted to come to Buffalo anyway, I'd take him. And Andy had years when he arguably underperformed as well. Cleveland fired Belichick when they moved to Baltimore. They hired Ted Marchibroda instead who went 16-31 while Belichick went on to win a gaggle of Lombardis - despite being a defensive minded HC. It seems Modell should have had a little more patience with Bill. I don't want to make that mistake. When professionals can't make smart coaching changes, I really don't have much faith in fan recommendations. I remember a long time ago when a bunch of fans wanted us to hire Leslie Frazier as our head coach and Doug Whaley to be our GM.

100 years ago, what Araiza did wouldn't have been a crime. Or a thousand years ago. Or a million years ago. History is filled with young people having sex. It also wouldn't have been a crime in most states. From what I just found on the internet, the age of consent is 16 in 32 states. It's 17 in 8 more. New morality? Sexual morality is highly variable from culture to culture. What Araiza did wouldn't be considered immoral in many places on the earth today. I have two daughters and I'm glad we have age-of-consent laws in the U.S. I just think Araiza has been punished enough.

This is one of the reasons I don't want McD fired. I don't want to see him replaced by someone, "young, smart, and innovative."

This is true. But there are degrees of wrong-doing. They were at a college party. She was drinking. He was drinking. She was willing. He was willing. How many guys who are in the NFL right now do you think would have checked her age on her ID in those circumstances back when they were in college? I'm not sure what the proper punishment is for his situation, but he lost his dream job as an NFL punter and had his name dragged through the mud. I think we forgive and move forward at this point.

There are places in the PNW (especially in the mountains) that get far more snow than Buffalo. Astoria, a nice little town near the ocean where Poyer played HS ball, gets about an inch a year. Not much - but not nothing.

Remember the days when we punted once a game? What happened?

2nd worst net average in the NFL. Punt god sure sounds tempting.

And I won't ask you to. But the problem is we had the best pass D in the NFL just a couple of years ago (2021) - ranked #1; giving up only 163 yards per game. In 2023 so far, despite a better DL pressuring the QB, we're ranked #11 giving up 208 passing yards per game. Whatever is going on, we're not as studly as we used to be.

It's a passing league and we used to defend the pass extremely well with a fantastic secondary that included 3 studs: Poyer, Hyde, and White. We have no studs left. Our secondary isn't elite anymore. And if we're dreaming about a Lombardi, that's a problem.

In 2021, we ranked #1 in the NFL in yards allowed. In 2022, with some key injuries, we still managed a solid #6 ranking. This year, we're ranked #14 which places us in the middle of the pack. The Fins are ranked #9. Neither D is special but, statistically, theirs is better.

Who do we have? Hyde? Poyer? Miller? All used to be great but aren't great anymore. Milano? Injured. White? Injured (again). DQ? Injured. We do have Ed Oliver.

The secondary (and Matt Milano) used to be the strength of the defense. Three of the five starters were studs: Poyer, Hyde, and White. It's not so strong anymore. The three studs aren't studs anymore and no new studs are emerging. I'm concerned.

I wouldn't argue against the idea that McD is underperforming this year. But trying to reduce coaching to one call is silly. Over McD's tenure with the Bills, we've won a lot of games because of the teamwork, culture, and coaching staff he's built. And let's not forget The Process - his methodical way of preparing for games.

I just want to ditto this. It was basically a downfield pick play. Toney didn't effect the play. But the rub/pick did.

I gasped and my heart momentarily stopped when I read: "we don't need to actively upgrade it [the OL] next year." I don't care about analytic ratings which I don't believe. In my eyes, this line improved from bad to average. That's progress and I'm grateful. But you don't win a Lombardi with average position groups. When our best player is our QB, I want a line that keeps him upright & healthy while giving him time to find an open receiver.

The shame of it is that Dunne writes really good human-interest pieces on athletes. He's got talent. Sadly, he misused his writing skills on a hatchet job that told a very one-sided story.

Within about a second, three Chief rushers have broken through the line. Three. How can our OL be that bad? And our QB that good to still make the play?

I understand your desire to see McDermott to get fired, even if I don't agree. Any Bills fans would want the best coach for the Bills. If McD isn't that guy, we should find someone else. But why do you call him "McDingus"? Has he ever offensively mangled your name? I just don't get why people stoop to disrespect. The world would be a better place - and the mafia would be a better group of fans - if we didn't do that.

When I was there a couple of years ago, the beatdown was so complete that I got none of that. The KC fans graciously admitted their defeat and said they'd see us again in the playoffs.

The offense feels a lot more multidimensional than before. There's less dependence on the Allen- Diggs connection, and much less dependence on Josh being Superman. I'm appreciative of these changes, for sure. However, we still have problems with wideouts getting separation. And we still have the problem that Kurt Warner's continually harps on: Josh still often chooses the hard yards over the easy yards. It makes for great highlights when it works but it also leads to TOs and stalled drives. And I hope this offseason, like I hope every offseason, that Beane upgrades the OL. They weren't good in the second half of yesterday's game. A better OL will make Cook a better runner, Josh a better (and healthier) QB, and Brady a better playcaller.

Why do we win in the regular season but lose to them in the playoffs? Is it home-field advantage? Is it better coaching? If so, why doesn't Reid and his staff outcoach McD and his during the regular season? Do their players handle the stress of playoff games better than our players? Or is it just freaking luck? The teams are more-or-less evenly matched so some days things go their way and some days things go ours.

Thanks for the write-up, NHK12 I was at Arrowhead a couple of years ago when we crushed the Chiefs and my experience was very similar. The Chief fans were great to me. The fan sitting next to me talked to me on-and-off throughout the game. He was both knowledgeable and polite. Several fans yelled out, "good game," to my Bills-clad family group at the end of the contest. No one said an unkind word. I agree, Q39 in Overland Park is a fantastic place for KC BBQ. While a lot of locals prefer Joes, I think for the quality of the overall menu (meats, sides, desserts), Q39 is the best BBQ joint in KC. The ambience is great too. The only difference to your experience is my perception of the crowd noise. My whole family thought they were extraordinarily loud, particularly in the first half. The volume is my son's chief memory of the day. By the fourth quarter, though, it quieted down considerably as fans were heading to the gates.

Listening to the players yell out "We got your back, coach!" makes me think Dunne helped the team more than hurt it. Players have professional pride as well as hefty paychecks. I know they try hard every game. But they don't all play full out every minute of every game. In a close game, the difference between 98% effort and 99% effort can be meaningful.

Having seen Cook play last year, and Damien Harris play over the years, I thought going into this season that Harris would be the first down back and Cook would have third downs. I really wasn't overly impressed with Cook his rookie year. But the more Cook grows, the more he grows on me. He was big time yesterday.