2003Contenders

Each team handles walk through's differently. But typically they consist of running through the plays at half-speed (with no pads) with a focus on what the overall game plan is for offense/defense/special teams.

Which makes me wonder if it really is an injury he sustained after practice. The injury report lists it as an ankle, so maybe he turned/sprained his ankle at home?

I get that on the first one. I can see the logic of leaving the points on the board -- or trying to get the extra point once the ball was moved to the one-yard line. That one is truly debatable, and I can respect the decision he made at that time. Obviously, he had no choice but to go for 2 on the final one when the score was 40-38. Honestly, when we didn't convert that one, I was fearful that it was eerily similar comeuppance after Mark Andrews' drop on the 2-point conversion in the playoff game! The one I take issue with is the 2nd one, when we were down by 9. I think part of the weighing of risk vs reward has to be what happens if you DON'T convert the 2-point try. That is why I would always wait until you really HAVE to get the 2 points over the more sure-thing in the extra point. I am sure that McD's thought was that you know that you have to get that 2-point conversion at SOME point, so he elected to do it then to put the team within 7. However, by not making it, the team was still down by 9 -- making it a two possession game. If they kick the extra point there (and assuming that Prater makes it), they are down by 8, still potentially a 1-possession game. Given that they failed on that later 2-point conversion, I guess this doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things. LOL In a weird way, maybe the failed 2-point conversions may have played to the Bills' favor. Assuming they kicked extra points on all three of those TDs rather than the failed 2-point conversions, presumably they would have been up by a point rather than down by 2 after that last TD. (I know scoring decisions on the part of the Ravens may have changed too based on the Bills' having done things differently.) As we saw, the Bills D did what they needed to do to get the ball back when the Ravens were in kill-the-clock/preserve-the-lead mode on offense. I wonder how differently things may have been if they got the ball back, down by a point with plenty of time and all 3 timeouts just needing a FG to win?

I agree. Note that in Josh's first 2 years here he never passed for 300 yards in a game. He broke that mark in his first game with Diggs. For all of the issues I eventually had with him, I believe that Diggs' veteran presence played an instrumental role in Josh's meteoric rise back in 2020.

I agree that it certainly isn't fair, given the responsibilities that are placed at the feet of RBs versus WRs in the NFL. However, I understand why the disparity exists: 1. More and more these days we see RBs who are specialized in their roles, leading to the now notorious Running Back By Committee approach. There just aren't many bell cow, 3-down RBs in the modern NFL. 2. Due to the wear and tear that RBs take (as opposed to WRs), their career-life expectancy is typically shorter. That also means greater risk for teams who are negotiating with a RB on his 2nd contract and beyond. 3. Much of this, unfortunately, is also related to pure genetics. WRs tend to be some of the finest athletes on the field in terms of size-to-speed ratio. There simply are not many guys that fit such a prototype walking around on this planet. Meanwhile, even in the modern era, quality RBs come in all shapes and sizes.

My guess is that -- even if he is fully healed from his abdominal injury -- the Browns will "hide" Sanders on IR.

Those negative tweets about Moore all appear to be coming from a single "source" whom I have never heard of named Mike Ross. Not sure if he is viewing things from a different perspective or if he is a troll.

These lists are so subjective! I do think there is still some negative bias against McD thanks to that hit-piece article that came out in 2023. I have a hard time ranking McD behind the likes of O'Connell (who has yet to even win a playoff game), LaFleur (who inherited a rich roster and has won fewer playoff games than McD; love how the author says LaFleur has led the Packers to 5 playoff appearances in 6 years -- McD has led the Bills to 7 in 8!) and Dan Campbell (who I love but is winless against McD and hasn't done much prior to the past 2 seasons). Reid is obviously the superior coach. I would also find it hard to rank McD over McVay, given McVay's 2 Super Bowl appearances, ingenuity as an offensive mind and motivational aura. I can see strong debates pro and con for any of the following over/under McD: Shanahan (2 Super Bowl appearances but has struggled against McD) Payton (past glory with Brees, but forever perhaps overrated thanks to a single gutsy call in his lone Super Bowl appearance) Tomlin (yes, past Super Bowls -- but little playoff success in the last decade) Jim Harbaugh (like Jerry Glanville, makes an immediate positive impact but jerk personality wears out his welcome everywhere he has been) Sirianni (appeared in 2 of the last 3 Super Bowls; many were calling for his termination back in 2023 around the same time that article came out on McD) John Harbaugh (past Super Bowl winner, teams are always well-coached and competitive; similar to Tomlin recent poor showings in the playoffs) So, I can't see how a fair and reasonable evaluator would rank him higher than 3 -- but I also can't see ranking him any lower than 9. I think those 6 debatable guys (along with McD) all have to be ranked pretty closely, depending on what you value in a head coach. So, it is hard to argue with him being ranked anywhere from 3 to 9 IMHO. Personally, I would probably rank him around 7th (after Reid, McVay, the Harbaughs, Sirianni, and Payton). If he ever wins a Super Bowl, he catapults into the top 5, possibly top 3.

Also, I think this also contributed to Josh's major improvement in the turnover department last season as he was no longer trying to force the ball to a "WR1" target a la Diggs.

Cook plays a position that historically has a very short shelf-life in the NFL, and there is a good chance that this is his one-and-only shot at a huge payday -- so it is hard to fault him and his agent for playing hardball and try to get every penny they can. Meanwhile, Beane has to be fiscally responsible and look at the entire roster structure and contend with a tight salary cap. We're mercifully pretty far removed from the Russ days of the front office going to the press to demean players during negotiations to preemptively cast them as malcontents or greedy in the public's eye (and hope fans view the player as such when he inevitably signed somewhere else). The good news is that Cook did show up for mandatory workouts, so hopefully that is a sign that both sides are working in good faith.

I've always likened that 2008 draft in which Stevie was drafted out of Kentucky as an almost after-thought in the 7th round -- but became a much more significant part of the team than the higher profile (and unfortunately late) James Hardy, who was drafted early in the 2nd round -- to what happened in 2022 when the Bills whiffed on Elam late in the 1st but made up for it by landing Benford in the 6th. Regardless of how you view him after all these years, one thing is for certain: Stevie certainly way out-played his draft position.

IIRC that was the “hug and make up” game for Kelly and Reed. The previous game, the offense struggled, and Jim and Andre had a very public and heated altercation on the sideline. This GB game showed them clicking on all cylinders, and I believe Andre set the record (at that time) for the most receptions in a game. Showed what a leader Jim was. Such a shame that Jim went down with a knee injury a few weeks later in a comeback attempt against the Vikings. The Bills lost the remaining 3 games without him and failed to make the playoffs for the first time since 1987.

With two of the recently acquired DL on the shelf for the first several weeks, Solomon should get some opportunities. What he does with those opportunities is up to him.

Considering his size and basketball background, I could absolutely see Keon being successful in that role if he toughens up and uses proper leverage and nuance to block out defenders. I also thought that -- admittedly with a limited sample size -- he was somewhat effective as a rookie with screens/bubble routes. That is an element that had been missing from the Bills' passing game in recent years (Diggs was terrible at them)

And this is probably the range in which the two sides will wind up -- $12M to $13M per year -- unless Cook and his agent prove to be unreasonable.