Mango

I think there are a couple of things. 1. A banged up Poyer, backed up FS, and a less than 100% Tre White. Just in general this is a bigger hit. 2. We haven't been able to put together complicated coverages and looks to keep things simple for backups. A lot of man has hung Jackson out to dry quite a bit. He is a quality zone CB2. Concerning that our rookie man corner has not been able to hold down that role. 3. Losing Von sucks, but I think we have enough depth and skill on the inside of the line, plus the ascension of Rousseau to still be a problem for most teams. I think the bigger problem is we are built to play with a big lead. We haven't been able to pull away until late in games the last few weeks/months. We don't do well in spaces where we cannot commit to the run or the pass.

One pass is in week 18 is not the difference between winning and losing the MVP. Come on....

McDaniels/Tua aside, the league has a major issue with concussions that seems to only be getting worse. Miami is just the punching bag at the moment. Taron played 6 days later. Morse 12 or so after his 6th. There was some speculation Josh might have gotten one vs GB. He’s been near the bottom of the league against zone this season (per WGR) It’s something to think about as possible. Players will miss entire calendar years in other sports. The NFL is a disaster with this stuff.

The way I process this whole thing for the Bills is that in the sales/professional world is our employer gave us time to handle a personal matter. But we aren’t getting paid for days we didn’t show up. We hit our KPI’s, we are getting our base bonus. But the days missed cost us our escalators. We’re still firmly in the running for Presidents Club. It’s unfortunate. But it is what it is. KC showed up to work and hit their escalators.

Likely. McDaniels and the entire franchise sucks a lot. They’ve botched the Tua thing. But ultimately the league has a very major concussion problem. Morse is back from his 6th after 2 weeks. Taron Johnson in 6 days. I can name half a dozen players in other sports that have missed an entire season or more with concussion issues. I don’t think there has been a single NFL player. We are quick to point the finger at McDaniels specifically but this is quickly become one of the biggest black eyes on both the league and the sport.

We also not only got no production out of Hodgins we let him go. I think Shakir is a lot better than we give him credit for. We also never throw to the TE enough even though Knox runs the 6th most routes in the league. We’ve drafted/traded for 2 receiving backs we never throw the ball to. Dont get me wrong. We could certainly upgrade, but the numbers surrounding Josh and zone coverage are bad and Dorsey certainly takes some blame as well. I don’t think the cupboard is as bare as some fans think.

Cook is becoming a player for us.

1a/1b are for guys like Tua. When you pay your QB there is an expectation that you do a little more with a little less. Our group isn’t great but it’s not terrible either.

Diggs was open on a curl at the sticks on 3rd down. Josh was hit when he threw because he held the ball to go for a TD instead of a fresh set of downs. Everything isn’t on the WR. WGR was talking this am about how BB better be able to play zone because Josh was so much better against man. But the real story is that Josh is 22-30th in every metric when facing zone. Our QB hasn’t been a good decision maker this season.

Agreed, the league couldn’t give the Bills an L. The Bills could have taken one that night and the nobody would have batted an eye though. Once the league turned the game to “postponed” that was off the table.

It’s relatively common in basketball with with marfan’s. Isaiah Austin is relatively recent. And he’s not the first basketball player to be denied. The sport just prefers marfanoid players.

I hate it. I don’t like that the SB isn’t played at home either. But if they do to that route I hope they drop the bye entirely.

Yeah, the bye thing is weird. It doesn’t really exist anywhere else in sports. I’m ok with getting rid of it.

I agree. I keep reading on all these all message boards about the Bills or Bengals getting screwed, seedlings, and whatever. I am over here like “who cares”. A guy died on the field. His teammates watched. Find a way to play your best football and everything else will fall into place.

It feels like the fan base is really locked in on the one seed. There’s a lot of expectation for this team, and I think it’s more important to Buffalo fans than the Buffalo team right now. Ultimately you need to play your best football in January. Do that and everything will take care of itself. Once you kick the ball off seeding doesn’t matter. This is a lot of conversation about nothing as far as I’m concerned.

Case Keenum

The Bengals/Ravens thing is so weird. It feels odd for CIN to possibly win the division with the same number of wins and lose both head to heads. I don’t like changing the rules for them mid season. But ultimately they had 16 games to handle business, and they didn’t. I feel the same about the 1 seed and the Bills. As a Bills fan it feels like our boss gave us all the time we need to handle a family emergency, but we’re not getting paid for the days we don’t show up. Luckily we are still firmly in the running for presidents club.

I am in a group text where one person has spent the last 3 days relentlessly ranting about how the Bills got screwed. I don’t think I can be their friend anymore. (I’m being serious. He’s been ranting since the day after the Hamlin deal about how the league better not screw us by not playing the game) But one thing I keep coming back to for Buffalo and the 1 seed is that we had 15 other games to handle business. I think Tomlin said the same thing. With the Bengals, you never had control of the one seed. It was win out and other stuff. So that part doesn’t bother me. The Ravens thing is wild. Such an odd scenario to have the same number of wins and lose both head to heads but win the tie breaker. Ultimately, I would be shocked if that happened. You’ll win the division.

I hope we lose. I’m all in on all things #3. inject it right into my veins!

Can we release Rhodes twice?

So this is true. Tomlin said the same thing in his presser. His team has had 16 opportunities to win football games. It is part of why I am OK with possibly losing the one seed. As long as the staff and players at OBD were OK with any decision I am OK with it. I firmly believe that the team had no interest in replaying that game and that is a huge reason why the game isn't being replayed.

Like the Bills, there are 15 other games to secure your spot as the top pick. The Bills have gained and lost the first seed in the division and the conference at points this season. It happens. I get why the Bengals are upset about the Ravens game. But ultimately emergencies happen and solutions are always clean. I would be shocked if there is a single person at OBD who cares about the current solution.

I don't set the quota

I was just trying to think of something for week 18. I feel kinda crappy about thinking about this from a PR perspective, but it would be good for the team to be able to build their emotion about this as the team builds through the playoffs.