2003Contenders

I can understand the decision to go for it there. The kick wasn't a gimme -- would have been about 50 yards -- and a FG would have still had us down by a point. The problem was with the play call. Cook was clearly gassed an coming out of the game, and Brady made him trot back on. I thought for sure he was a decoy for either a bootleg or play action pass. Still not sure why they didn't do do the tush-push there as the one time they did in the game Josh got like 3 yards on it. I still wonder if Josh was more banged up on that smash play in the first half than we know and the coaches were trying to keep him out of harms way? If that is the case, they should have done a much better job of mass protection throughout instead of allowing him to get pressured so often. Regardless, from McD's reaction after that failed 4th down, you could tell that McD was NOT happy with Brady's play call.

Maybe not released, but I wonder if Coleman is going back in the lineup and Moore has been told he will be inactive again?

Except, Patrick, what if Hoecht and Oliver had remained healthy? Meanwhile, Bosa has played the last couple of games one-handed. I won't even count Jackson since he hadn't shown much prior to his injury. I have a lot of problems with personnel decisions that Bean has made, but I give him credit for TRYING to fortify the DL in the off-season.

The one thing I will say is that Lawson used to excel at setting the edge and remaining disciplined in run support (something Bosa has been horrible at accomplishing). If nothing else, even if he isn't active on game-day, maybe Lawson can help coach up the other d-linemen?

Bingo! And let's see what kind of noise these teams (Bears and Pats) make in the playoffs and what their staying power looks like now that they have achieved some success and start playing 1st place schedules and picking later in the draft. Let's not forget that McD himself led the Bills out of the forest of 17 straight years without a playoff appearance and into a world in which they have now made it to the playoffs 7 out of the last 8 years. The knock on McD (which I agree with somewhat) is that he may have taken the Bills about as far as he ever will with an AFC Championship showing and that new leadership may be required to take us to the next level. At 7-4 the playoffs are still very much in sight, but 2025 has been a very trying year in terms of having to battle injuries and a rather sudden and profound regression to the mean in terms of turnover differential and other statistical categories for which the Bills had dominated the last few seasons.

It's pretty simple, really. If the offense can simply avoid turning the ball over, they likely win. In all 4 of the Bills' losses this year they committed multiple turnovers. Meanwhile, it would be nice if the defense could force some turnover of their own for a change.

Hasn't Lawson been out of the league for over a year? In his prime he would have been what the doctor ordered to improve the run defense given his discipline in setting the edge.

McD would argue that Brady has done a good job for the following reasons: 1. The offense ranks amongst the top in the league. 2. The rush offense is the best in the league 3. The team has battled multiple injuries -- Kincaid, Palmer, Shakir, Brown, etc. 4. Turnovers have been a key ingredient in all of the losses. The coaches would argue that is a product of poor execution rather than play calling, etc. There is some merit to these thoughts. However, there is no denying that Brady has made too many head-scratching play calls and horrific game plans (the most recent Texans game being the most obvious).

I get what you are saying and mostly agree. However, it is hard to image Daboll calling those stupid screens to Shakir over and over again -- or that ridiculous 4th and 1 play to Cook deep in the backfield. Just a couple of different plays in a game like Thursday's could have made the difference between a L and a W.

Maybe McD cans him during the mini bye? McD had some harsh words indirectly aimed at Brady in the post game PC -- and was visibly furious with him on the inane 4th-and-1 draw to Cook. Or is that just wishful thinking on my part?

Josh really looking discouraged.

Their main back these days is Woody Marks, but look for Chubb do get some carries as well.

That to me was Beane's great failure with the Coleman pick. Not that Coleman has not been (to date) the player that the Bills hoped for when they drafted him -- but that given that the position was one of such great need (in a draft that was reportedly the deepest at WR we had seen in some time) that they didn't double-down by taking a shot at another WR later in the draft. It's funny that Bean HAS done this at other positions in the past, including (as you mentioned) Elam/Benford. He also did this in the latest draft at both the CB as well as the DL positions. Sadly, he had ample opportunities to do so last year with multiple mid-round picks to navigate, and hindsight shows us that he could have used that late 3rd round pick (ironically acquired in the move-down that allowed the Chiefs to acquire Worthy) to take Franklin instead of Carter. What is even more irritating is that in their move-downs, they wound up with the 1st overall pick in the 2nd round, which allowed them overnight to re-think their strategy (and probably afforded them some additional trade options as that 33rd pick is a treasured commodity). I also can't buy that they were THAT enamored with Coleman -- otherwise they wouldn't have traded down TWICE and risked losing out on him. I know Beane was frantic about acquiring additional draft picks, especially since the team didn't originally have a 3rd due to the R. Douglas trade. But trade-downs like that when your biggest need is glaringly obvious means that you don't have a great conviction about a specific guy at that position -- which is why it made even MORE sense to hedge the bet by taking another WR on day 2 (or beginning of day 3). The funny thing is that when day 1 came to a close, I felt certain that they had their sights on Franklin. The team had met with him on multiple occasions, and I even remember one reporter stating at the conclusion of the 1st round that the Bills' taking Franklin to start the 2nd round was one of the rare certainties of the draft. The only thing I will say is that, given that the team DID their due diligence on Franklin, there must have been something they didn't like about him.

I would also like to see Josh be decisive RUNNING the ball this game if the passing game struggles against this stout Houston defense. Last year, despite his woes passing (9/30 for 131 yards) he had some success running the ball (4 rushes for 54 yards). One of the things that Dabol used to be really good about was noticing when Josh was not in rhythm passing at the beginning of a game and calling some QB runs to get him in a groove. Brady has not been nearly as good about this. And I think this may be a game where some judicial runs from Josh can help get the offense going. Note also that Nix, Ward, Lawrence, and Mayfield have all rushed for 30 or more yards against this Houston defense so far this season -- and none of them are in Josh's league as a ball carrier. Heck, even the immobile Mac Jones averaged 11.5 yards per carry against them.

I get what you are saying. But it reminds me of back in the early 90s during the Cowboys' run, Jimmy Johnson rather infamously cut a marginal player on the spot for falling asleep during film session. At a press conference after the incident, a reporter asked Jimmy what he would have done if it had been Troy Aikman who had fallen asleep instead of the other player. Jimmy replied, "I would have walked over to him, nudged film and said 'Troy, wake up!'". The point is that an elite player (like Diggs was for the Bills most of the time) can get away with things that other players can't. It may seem unfair, but that is the nature of the business. Coleman hasn't done anything to date that has earned him this type of favoritism. And, given that he has already been disciplined on multiple occasions for the same indiscretion -- and both his QB and head coach were placed in a position just days before of defending his perceived lack of effort -- his decision to skip a mandatory team meeting could not have come at a worse time. I don't personally know the young man, so it is difficult for me to guess what the issue may be. Did he view the nice payday he received when joining the NFL as the culmination and end of his journey? Is he open to coaching and guidance from more seasoned players and coaches? I will say that I do not like his body language -- as it does come across as he doesn't care at times. That could be just part of his personality/demeanor, and perhaps the effort really is there. But perception is reality, and the perception by observers (including apparently some players and coaches) is that he that he does not always give max effort. He's still young, and I truly believe that he is playing for an organization that has his best interest at heart -- and will do whatever they can to help him "grow up". But it's up to him to step up and rise to the challenge.