2003Contenders

Jauron clearly was not the answer and needed to go -- but I do not believe he was nearly as bad as everyone remembers. Recall that he took over a team that was devoid of talent in 2006 with JP Losman as his starting QB for all 16 games -- and STILL found a way to get the team to 7-9. The following year, I believe that the Bills set a franchise record for the most players on IR -- and he managed again with the revolving door of Losman and rookie Trent Edwards at QB to get the team to 7-9. We can all look back at the foolhardiness of the 2008 extension -- but after two seasons of overachieving followed by a hot 5-1 start in 2008, the extension made relative sense at the time. I would say that Jauron was a good coach for a bad football team. That is, his overly conservative coaching style minimized risks and hid an overabundance of warts -- and kept the team close in games they had no business winning. The problem, of course, was that he simply was not good enough to ever take the team to the next level and allowed Bill B. to bend him over time after time. He also was stubborn about his schemes and slow to make changes when they needed to be made. One thing to remember is that the week after Jauran was fired and Perry Fewell took over, it was Fewell who benched Marshawn in favor of Fred and Trent in favor of Fitz. Those were moves that were a long time coming that Jauron had failed to make.

Not sure if the OP is mentally challenged or just being a troll. Regardless, I will take the bait. The win proves many things: 1. The importance of rookie OT Spencer Brown. He missed the Jacksonville game, which caused Williams (who is much better at RG this year than RT) to move outside and Ford (who should not be on the football field, period) to play RG. Both Brown and Williams were back in their desired spots and played quite well against the Jets, whose DL is not bad. Without pressure in his face, Josh was much more effective this week than he was against Jacksonville when the protections broke down quite often. 2. The importance of TE Dawson Knox. Knox did not have a stellar game by any stretch of the imagination in terms of stats. However, he was quite effective as a blocker, and his presence in the passing game forced the Jets defense to account for him. That, of course, meant more room underneath for the RBs. He was out against the Jags -- and their defense was not worried in the slightest about Sweeney. 3. The importance of presenting the threat of a running game -- even if the running game itself is not especially effective. In Jacksonville the Bills really didn't even try to run the ball. Against the Jets they stayed committed to it. Eventually the rushing attack proved to be successful with four different players recording a rushing TD. It also opened things up for play action passing, where Josh was lethal. 4. The importance of Matt Breida. Maybe there is enough room on the game-day roster to ensure that MB remains active. He brought an added dimension that neither Moss nor Singletary possess. 5. The importance of ball security. Against the Jags the Bills lost the turnover battle 3-1. Against the Jets, they won it 5-2. 6. The importance of receivers catching the ball when it hits them in the hands. Beasley and Davis had critical drops in the Jacksonville game. Both caught pretty much every catchable pass against the Jets. Davis, in fact, made a couple of sensational receptions against the Jets. 7. The importance of a smart game plan -- and proper overall execution. Kudos to the coordinators for putting together much better game plans against the Jets than they did the week before against the Jags. In fairness, LF did fine against the Jags, as his defense held them to just 9 points despite the turnovers and overall lack of success of the offense. BD made much better adjustments this week than he did against the Jags and was smart to stay patient with the running game. 8. The reality that all NFL teams -- even the worst -- still have uber talent. That's why anything can happen on any given Sunday. These same Jets also beat the Bengals and Titans. The Bucs just lost to the WFT. A week ago we lost to the Jags. It happens. So, yes, the victory over the Jets proves MANY things.

Just saw on ESPN that Josh owns 3 of the top 5 air yard passes this week. All 3 of them over 40 yards.

If there is the one thing I do not WANT to see happen, it is an overreaction to what happened Sunday -- and a sudden emphasis on trying to force something that just does not equate well to our personnel, etc. Not to revisit past news, but the Jacksonville game was an imperfect storm of inter-related activities: 1. The Jags defense played out of their collective minds. They compiled more sacks and turnovers than they had collectively collected in their first 7 games combined. 2. The Bills coaches and players will not admit this, but they did not respect the Jags enough going into the game -- and (worse) they failed to respect them during the game. By halftime, it should have been obvious that the flow of the game was such that it was going to be a low-scoring, defensive battle. Points and sure first downs were going to be at a premium. Yet, too many times when in or close to field goal range, the team took foolish risks that cost them. Bass is a definite strength of the team -- and if the coaches had made better use of him, maybe they would have come away with a 12-9 or 15-9 victory (or something like that) -- and the talk of teh game would have been the hapless Jags missing multiple field goals on a single drive. 3. Key injuries to underrated players -- especially Brown and Knox. I don't think that there is any question that the offense has struggled without these two. 4. Poor OL play. (See #3 above) 5. Josh trying on some occasions to wait on a big play rather than settling for an effective check-down. (See #2 above) 6. Untimely drops by Sweeney, Davis and Beasley. I agree that a running came would help take some pressure off Josh. I also agree that when Dabol has tried it, he's been half-hearted about it -- especially in the last 3 games. Even this year, the rushing attack has been effective at times -- most notably in closing out the victory over the Chiefs. It may be worth being a bit more patient and consistent with it -- but I also do not want to fall into a series of 3-and-outs because the running game is not working. Also, I find it worth noting the team's overall lack of success on 4th down conversions this season. The obvious one was the failed QB sneak at the end of the Tennessee game. However, there were multiple ones in the Pittsburgh game and the Jacksonville game as well. Meanwhile opponents converted on key 4th down plays against us in all 3 of those contests. More success there on both sides of the ball and the Bills are 8-0.

The biggest problem is the OL. When a team can get pressure by only rushing 4, it allows the other 7 to occupy coverage. With no threat of a running game, teams will continue to do this. For those complaining about Josh holding the ball too long, notice that his average completion was well short of 10 yards. So they were going with plenty of dump-offs. The problem is that the Jaguars did a good job swarming to the ball and preventing YAC. Our RBs just don't do a very good job of making tacklers miss - and Beasley seems to drop to the ground after every catch. Possibly to protect himself, given the sore ribs? An imperfect storm of bad coaching, terrible OL play, season-worst QB play (easy to understand given the circumstances -- but Josh has to at least do a better job not turning over the football), and frankly an inspired performance from the opponent. On that last note, while the Jags are certainly terrible (a better team with a competent offense would have blown the Bills out yesterday), they played about as well as they are capable of playing. Just goes to show that every team has talent and can't be taken lightly. The Bills now represent a "strong win" for an opponent, so we will continue to get their best shot. And a team with any ounce of pride can only listen to how much they suck and are home 2-TD dogs for so long. The Jags' coaching staff won the gamesmanship battle from the outset -- as they clearly nudged the officials before the game to watch the Bills for dirty play. Then the Jags set out to instigate the dirty play, while the Bills drew the majority of the penalties. The officiating was awful, but I won't go there because the Bills don't deserve that excuse for this overall poor performance. As much as the loss pains us all, I wonder if this will be better in the long term than a last second (for example) 13-9 victory may have been. The glaring reality of the loss SHOULD invoke immediate changes. I am not sure what else can be done at this point to fix the biggest problem (Offensive Line) -- but I hope that we never see C. Ford on the field again. Someone also needs to sit the two high-priced tackles down and say WTF? From the first game of the season both Dawkins and Williams have under-performed. Maybe getting Brown back at RT will help.

I suspect that the personnel for the Tennessee game was very game-plan specific. They were worried about Henry breaking loose and Tannehill running around -- so they employed a defense that had less to do with getting pressure on the QB and more to do with stopping the run. Sadly, the net result was that Tanney had all day long to survey the field, was patient, minimized mistakes, and found mid-range receivers. With little threat of a running game from Miami, I believe that the game plan defensively this week will revert back to what we saw pre-Tennessee, which probably means an active AJ. The key will be to beware of the screen game, which Miami can run well with Tua, Gaskin and Gesicki.

Yes, OP, I am sorry for the loss of your father. And as others have also posted similar losses, know that I grieve with you as well. I lost my beloved wife earlier this year, back in March. They say that time is the magical healer -- and that is true. It still hurts everyday, but my son and I are in a much better place than we were 7 months ago. When we married almost 20 years ago, she was a Washington fan. She converted to becoming a Bills fan for me -- and mostly had to endure all those hard times during the 17-year drought. She actually grew to love the Bills -- and was especially fond of Josh Allen. Her birthday is coming up this week, and I would like to think that the big game on Sunday night against KC was in honor of her. 🙂

So he gave Dawkins the best overall grade? IIRC Dion was beaten badly on a couple of rushes in the 1st quarter.

I would pass. He was not very good last year -- and this year was relegated to backup duty. Honestly, I like what we have (even behind Edmunds and Milano) better.

I saw the piece. It was Steve Young who chimed in a few minutes later about Josh Allen -- and he clarified that he would place Allen in a different category than Herbert or Mahomes because both of them were outstanding right away, whereas everyone knew that Allen came into the league so raw. Young said Josh has grown by leaps and bounds and that he will continue to do so -- essentially said that he has a limitless ceiling.

Wasn't it Bill Parcells who said "You are what your record says you are" when it comes to rankings. From that perspective, I would say that Arizona should be #1. I could make a case for the Bills being #2 though. They are the only team in the NFL that ranks in the top 10 in both offense as well as defense (#1 on defense). Figuring out the strength of schedule is a bit tricky -- but the Bills do have wins over three teams who have a combined 4 wins among them.

I am hopeful that the hammy was just a minor ding that the trainers and coaching staff felt was worthy of sitting Milano only because of the quality of opponent we were facing in Houston on Sunday. If, God forbid, Milano is unable to go against the Chiefs on Sunday, I will say that I do feel better than I did last year when Milano was sidelined and Klein was pushed into regular duty. I think the coaching staff figured out during the course of last season what Klein's real strengths/weaknesses were and developed strategies to best utilize him.

This is exactly on point. I would also add that Josh's skill set is transferable, meaning that he could be the starting QB on literally any team running any offense. Lamar's skill set requires a more specialized offensive system tailored for him.

The biggest key to me was watching how COMFORTABLE Josh looked. He never seemed to panic, was always under control, trusted his linemen -- and when protection did break down, reacted to it calmly with a little side-step here or there. I believe that this mindset also led to much better mechanics for him than we saw in the first couple of games.

Well, let's recall that McD DID go for it on 4th down multiple times in the Pittsburgh game. The Bills went 0-3 in those situations, which is more of a testimony to the poor play calling (especially on the pitch play) and execution than to McD lacking the stones to go for it. And, if the Bills convert on any one of those plays, then the outcome of that game may very well (and probably WOULD) have been different.

Maybe not deleting the position altogether -- but running a base run-n-shoot style offense may seem plausible. Which of the following receivers would you have preferred to see come off the field in favor of Hollister? Diggs Sanders Cole B. Davis And that does not even take into account McKenzie and Kumerow. For all the drops issues that Knox has, we all knew he wasn't really going anywhere. That meant a competition between Sweeney and Hollister for the other spot.

Raven fans are free to think as they will. Lamar is a very talented and dangerous QB, but he requires a specific system that caters to his unique skill set. Josh is a generational talent that would be able to flourish in literally any offensive scheme.

Not to nit-pick, but the Tyrod trade to Cleveland was for an early 3rd rounder, which was used to trade up with our second 1st round pick in 2018 to acquire T. Edmunds. The trade-up for Josh was very complex. Let me see if I can remember the sequence: 1. Traded with KC in 2017 to move down in the first and in return got KC's 2018 first rounder (plus more picks later in the draft). That 2018 first rounder turned out to be the 22nd overall pick. 2. After the 2017 season, traded Cordy Glenn to the Bengals and as part of that trade swapped 1st round picks. That moved us up from the #22 overall pick to #12. 3. The Bills had three 2nd round picks heading into 2018. I believe one of those was acquired from the Rams in exchange for Sammy Watkins the year before. I believe that the other came from the Eagles when we traded Darby to them. The other 2nd rounder was the Bills own 2nd round pick. 4. On draft day, the Bills traded up from that #12 pick acquired from Cinci (via KC) along with two of the 2nd round picks to move up to #7 overall to acquire Josh Allen. Many things had to happen in order for Allen to still be there at #7. For once, the Buffalo Bills lucked out!

I'm not sure even the most optimistic Bills fan would argue that the Buffalo OL is/was elite -- or even good. There is a reason why the front office went heavy on linemen in the draft. Stats wise, the pass blocking in 2020 was very good -- but how much of that was due to Allen's mobility? Run blocking we know was a major liability. I guess the point I am making is that even with the OL being what it was in 2020, the Bills still managed to sweep the division. Hopefully better health and better depth will play a role in marked improvement in 2021.

My favorite came on the game winning drive against the Rams. Pinned deep in their own territory with 3rd and 23 (I believe), under heavy pressure, Josh threw a scorcher between two defenders to Beasley right at the sticks to convert the 1st down.

All of this rehash about Dallas' 2nd half adjustments looks good now based on the outcome of the game -- but if things had gone differently, the Bills could have had a sizeable lead before Dallas ever touched the ball in the 2nd half. That may very well have put the Cowboys into more pass-happy mode, which undoubtedly would have been in Buffalo's best interest. I think the biggest issue was that despite game-planning properly and dominating the Cowboys in the first half, they were only up 13-6 at halftime. As much as I love Thurman he really was a big part of the reason we lost that game. His fumble in the first half when the Bills were moving the ball, gave the Cowboys 3 of their 6 points. An INT (I think by Nate Odoms) late in the 1st half, set the Bills up nicely to go up by more than one score; however, questionable play calling down inside the redzone led to settling for a FG before the half. That is probably what led to the pep in the Cowboys' step versus the lethargy that Buffalo displayed. When Thurman's fumble on the opening drive was returned for a TD, the game was effectively over -- even though the score was tied. The momentum was forever shifted -- and you could just see the "Uh oh. Here we go again" body language on the part of Bills players. It didn't help that Thurman wimped out, feigning a cramp, and stewed on the sidelines most of the rest of the game. I believe Marv said that his biggest regret as a head coach was allowing Thurman to sulk like that -- rather than motivating him. Oh well. Can't change the past...

Actually, what I heard was that they never expected Rousseau to be there at 30 and that Boogie was actually their target in the first round. When both were still available at 30, they investigated some options to trade down a bit -- expecting that one of them would still be available early in the 2nd. That's why they took the full allotted time to make the pick. When no decent trade option materialized, they pulled the trigger on Rousseau -- and were dumb-founded that Boogie was still on the board late in the 2nd round. It sounds like Boogie was in their plans all along -- and they would try to do whatever they could to get him (even tried trading up in the 2nd). Rousseau was just icing on the cake. I know all of these team spin the whole "I can't believe he was still there..." thing. But in the Bills case, it sounds like that was true for both of their first two picks.

Anyone remember about a decade ago when the Bills FO took all Texas players off their draft board? That was a Tom Modrak thing -- and how we wound up with Maybin.

In all seriousness, that is a better lineup than we had in Josh's rookie season -- especially late in the season when the RB corps was decimated.

I also think that Josh saw the CB getting "grabby" with Diggs and threw the pass expecting to get a DPI flag if it was not complete. I was pretty upset at the time that interference was not called -- but in hindsight, the officials were consistent about keeping the flags in their pocket and not over-officiating the game.