ToGoGo

I believe there is a higher tier to Allen. It's not so much about his actual play (which could improve and be more consistent), but mostly due to a better offensive system. Many people believe Daboll was a great OC, and he definitely did his job, but I believe that Allen eventually grew out of Daboll's offense. It's about molding the next offense into Allen's passing strengths and less about his running (which should instead be used at the right time, rather than all the time).

Looks like a real story.

He needs to prove he can be that guy in the clutch.

I think you're getting into the truth of the matter. It's easy to trip up and say "Gee, I guess I see where Sullivan is coming from. We have been bad in the past, and there are negatives. It's not good to be a pollyanna!" But that's assuming that Sullivan is a good actor/impartial observer in this situation, who is maybe a fan of the team, wants the team to be good, and genuinely "calls it like he sees it". For example, I love the team, but I did not love Daboll or McDermott's decision making in 2018/2019. Both issues have been taken care of, and now I'm a happy camper. Imagine if I now changed gears and started tunnel-visioning into some other issue on the team? At what point am I no longer impartial, and I'm now a type of person who is inclined to mainly focus on negatives no matter how small they are? If this is a sour and nasty person (bad actor) who ENJOYS negativity, that makes him very dangerous for the psyche of the fanbase and any member of the organization that reads him and allows his criticism to get in their heads. Anybody who has lived around NYC for a long time knows how intelligent people can play incredible mind games at high levels. Extremely dangerous and not a joke at all. Their trick is to give you a partial truth (which you accept) and then start pumping you with doubt. They take advantage of your good nature. Those people must be avoided at all cost. Then there is the other common counter: "Just ignore him. Why are you sensitive? He is living rent free in your head!" There is truth to this as well. There are lots of negative people out there that you can just ignore. However, and I've said this in the past, some people have powerful negative energies that you cannot ignore. The only thing you can do is get as far away from them as possible. This is very old wisdom. "Stay away from the unlucky, they will always bring you bad luck".

I don't think one person in this thread clicked on that article. I know I didn't. Did you?

Are you reading the comments in this thread? He's not winning, he's repelling.

You can clearly see what he's all about here. Thad is mad it's not "The Thad Show".

OK, Thad.

It's definitely not everyone's cup of tea. Lots of football fans out there that fall asleep when hearing about Xs and Os. Also they're really aiming for the younger generation Bills Mafia kind of vibe. But it's smart, and that's more than can be said for tools like Thad Brown. That's not a hot take, that's exactly what he is. Football coverage for squares. Personally I think Eric is fantastic and the other guy he had on for the QB breakdowns in 2020 was excellent, I think he's on WGR still. Since then there's just too many guys and I have no clue who they are. But the vibe on Cover 1 is fresh and not tired and skeptical like Schopp and the like.

This is good for Cover 1. They need more attention. They're the best sports coverage in Buffalo and it's not remotely close. Time for a meteor to take out the dinosaurs at WGR and the local stations.

The reason you know the Cardinals were correct is because Murray showed up to his "save face" press conference wearing an "Ea$y" shirt. This guy has the brains of a Terrell Owens or Michael Irvin. Cardinals are SCREWED.

"For those that believe in that sort of thing." You don't. Congrats.

Even to place myself as an impartial observer, the Poyer and Hyde situation couldn't have made Sullivan look any worse. Calling out two veteran players on a winning team after a loss during terrible wind conditions. The players taking offense and then responding with a Division clinching victory against the same team and then the most dominant playoff performance of all time against said team with an all-time highlight reel interception by Hyde. When Poyer and Hyde called out Sullivan in the post-victory press conference, as they had the right to, Sullivan responds by becoming defensive and self-righteous. This was the moment for Sullivan to be the bigger man and admit you were wrong about Poyer and Hyde. Admit that they overcame the obstacles and proved themselves as great players. Instead he didn't want to admit he was wrong. He acted like Poyer and Hyde were somehow petty. THIS is the sign of a loser, my friends. And exposed his true nature. His "realism" being a thin facade for his "tear down others" routine. "It's up to ME to stop all this Pollyanna talk. It's up to ME to bring everyone down to Earth". This is not a man who stands for TRUTH or REALISM. It's a man who thinks too highly of himself and has no shame for rubbing his negative energy on others. I mean, that Poyer and Hyde situation is what you want if you stand for realism, right? You thought you saw weakness, you called it out, and then the players stepped up to the plate and proved you wrong. Or were you secretly hoping that you were RIGHT? Were you INVESTED in your negative opinion of the hometown players? Did you secretly want us to lose to the Patriots and miss the playoffs altogether so that you would be exonerated? Note I'm talking directly to Sullivan here who I'm certain is monitoring this thread, if not posting in this thread anonymously. I know this is true because I remember how often he commented to defend his articles on the Buffalo News site. My prediction: Sullivan is going to be fired from the Gazette after the Bills win a Super Bowl. He will continue to write negative articles where they are no longer defensible, the fans and Gazette will push back, he won't back down and he will be let go. At this point, there won't be a small-time paper around to hire him and keep him in the city. He will start covering another loser team like the Browns.

He's toxic energy. For those that believe in that type of thing, I don't believe it's a coincidence that the downward trend of the Bills slowly began as Sullivan started his career at the News and our upward trend began as he got fired. As for "realism", it's a favorite word of narcisists and the envious who look for anything to bring you down. There is polarity in everything in this world. Every negative has a positive potential and every positive has a negative potential. You must look at the big picture. Sometimes there is a genuine cliff, but sometimes people try to create a cliff that doesn't exist yet. Usually it's unconscious, but it's the snakes that do it on purpose. Sullivan seems to WANT the Bills and their fans to suffer. He seems to prosper during our down days. I've been around enough to know that some people have an energy that brings down everyone around them. People can crow about people being "thin skinned" or "why does he bother you so much". Sometimes it's true and it's a personal issue, but some people just have that negative charisma that you can't ignore. That's Sullivan. Get that man as far away from WNY as possible.

There's potential here. I think of one of the Gabe Davis catches on the final Chiefs drive. Crossing routes in the middle of the field that go for 10-20 yards after the catch. For those against it, how much has Tyreek Hill helped Mahomes over the years with YAC crossing routes? How about against the Bills in the playoffs the last 2 years?

It's strange that so many posts this offseason keep talking about the mediocre past QBs instead of the HOF QB we finally have now. Some people can't let go.

I don't think me and you value intangibles in a QB equally.

That's where you're wrong. I was at that game sitting not far from the field. Tyrod had quit written all over him. And that was during the year we were fighting for a playoff berth Did you see Allen quit during the Colts game this year? Or how about the Bucs game? Tyrod was wired wrong. Good riddance.

I want to introduce a concept called "Raising the Baseline". Basically, there are too many variables to guarantee a championship in the NFL. It's impossible to win it every year. This isn't the NBA. So what Beane does instead is raise the baseline talent level every offseason. The "baseline level" required to win a championship is different every year. Some years you go up against 17-0 New England Patriots (the baseline is higher) and other years you go up against Rex Grossman Bears teams (the baseline is lower). Furthermore, you can't predict when an unexpected player goes on a Joe Flacco type run. Or on a more personal level, when a Black Swan level event happens like "13 seconds". So you need to start thinking in terms of 3-5 year blocks, instead of 1 year "Super Bowl or Bust". To what level do I need to raise my team's baseline so that it will be high enough to win a championship or two during this block? To use a numerical example, imagine the baseline for the next 5 Super Bowls looks like this: 8, 6, 6, 9, 7 The higher the number, the more difficult it is to win a championship that year and the lower the number, the easier it is. The average for those 5 years would be 7.2. That means that if I can get my team to a baseline level over 7.2 (in whatever way you want to quantify that in real-world terms), then I have a higher than average chance of winning a SB that year. What happened in 2021 is that the Bills were performing at an extremely high level but ran into a Chiefs team playing at a 10 out of 10 level. We showed up and played 10 out of 10 also, but it just wasn't enough. That's a good example of how some years just don't go your way. However, there's a very high probability that if the Bills play at the same level or higher next year, they will not face a team that will play at the level the Chiefs played at last year. Thus, the Bills are more likely to win the Super Bowl. So rather than cry about it and start blaming/firing people like some fans want to do (lowering the Baseline), Beane went ahead and signed Von Miller and a bunch of improved FAs and dropped the deadweight. He raised the baseline of an already high baseline team. This is opposed to a loud portion of the fanbase that unconsciously wants to destroy our baseline. Don't ask why, that's a question for their therapist. In other words, by raising that Baseline our probability for winning the SB sometime over the next 3-5 years increased even higher. This means that there is a good chance we can win a SB with Allen playing at a lesser level but our competition also playing at a lower level. This is because the rest of the team's baseline has improved. I hope this makes sense and I can draw a simple diagram that better visualizes this concept if somebody likes. But I believe this is how Beane intuitively thinks when improving this team.

I'll remember him quitting during the Saints blowout.

If you agree it's subjective, why do you talk in absolutes? Rodgers had a nice run. To still be considered a top 3-5 QB is an accomplishment.

#1 at what? "Scariest" player? That's a completely subjective thing.

Rodgers is 40. Move on.

Anybody watch that? What a bunch of clowns. Have any of those 3 ever watched a Josh Allen regular season game in full? Good to know what casual fans in the NFL will be regurgitating this year. At least it's positive now. But good God man, the NFL coverage today. Abysmal isn't a strong enough word. Maybe parody is a good word.

Exactly. Visualize success FIRST, then you're mentally set to let it happen. Visualize failure, even after previous failure, and you will be stuck in a cycle. It was the final lesson that the 90's Bills could never solve. There's a certain subset of posters that can't say anything positive without bringing up 13 seconds or throwing a pot shot at coaching. That's the attitude that must be avoided at all costs by the franchise if they want to take the next step. The only thing we should be thinking about is raising the trophy, not lashing ourselves for past mistakes.