2003Contenders

Going back to that 2018 draft class, there was a wide variance of opinion regarding who should be the top selection. Pure scouts and football guys loved Allen's off-the-charts physical attributes and limitless ceiling. Analytics guys favored Mayfield, who was undersized but posted eye-popping numbers and won a college championship. Darnold had played in a big-time program against quality opposition and posted stellar numbers his final year in school. Rosen was viewed as the most polished of all of them. (I ignore Lamar Jackson, because he was never in consideration for the first overall pick) Josh Allen had a number of red flags associated with him -- primarily because he was viewed as so raw coming out of Wyoming. While these views were all certainly well-founded, it is evident now that Josh has worked his way through them and matured at an accelerated rate. It's hard to believe that such a raw specimen as Josh Allen was literally forced into action in his first NFL game -- playing behind a horrific offense line with a crew of no-name receivers. Can you really argue that any of the other 1st round QBs (including Darnold) were in a less enviable situation? Now in his 3rd year, Josh Allen is a top 5 NFL QB by any measure. He is putting up Aaron Rodgers-in-his-prime stats (and lets remember that Rodgers didn't even start until year 4, had the benefit of sitting behind Brett Favre for 3 seasons and had an excellent supporting cast). Every receiver that has played with Allen -- Brown, Beasley and now Diggs -- If the 2018 draft were held again and all the teams knew then what they know now, Josh Allen would have been the first overall pick. Anyone who would argue any differently (Aikman, B. Jones, etc.) simply refuses to admit that they were wrong.

ESPN is such a mess these days -- everything is always a double-standard with them. Remember years ago when they brought in Rush Limbaugh to provide an alternative view -- then immediately fired him when he did exactly that. Yet clowns like Foxworth remain gainfully employed. I am not suggesting that ESPN fire him, just pointing out the hypocrisy of the network. Probably the best thing we can do as fans is ignore clowns like Foxworth and Jones, do not get tempted by their click-bait drivel, and tune out when they are on air. By being "provocative" and getting the responses they hope for, their behavior (and pockets) are being rewarded.

Actually, the Bills were coming off a 9-7 season and had a pretty good defense -- a great front 4 -- so there was plenty of interest at the time. Remember, Doug M. had opted out because he had that $4M safety-net and was "certain" that he was going to get the Jets job. I'm not sure that Gase would have been any worse than Rex, who came in and tore apart the one good part of the team. I wonder if Gase would have left the defense (run by Jim Schwartz) en tact? Word at the time is that this was the concept that Whaley had in mind at the time, when he wanted to hire Hue Jackson to be the head coach. Talk about a batch of losers to pick from: Rex, Gase, Hue... Yikes!

Excellent point. It was clear in the first half that Bosa was going to be a disruption and that Josh would not have the time to get the ball downfield. That probably explains the play that resulted in the INT -- Bosa was out on the field for that play (after having just served up a TFL on the previous play), and the Bills decided to be more aggressive knowing he was on the seideline. Too bad the protection broke down with the the blind-side blitzer.

Not doubting your insider status, as the reports at the time of the 2017 draft jive with your insistence that the Bills were not going to take Mahomes (or any other QB) with the 10th pick. The following are things I heard at the time (from reliable sources): 1. By the time of the draft, Whaley was a dead man walking. Everyone in the organization knew it. 2. Final decision for all picks really did go to McD. 3. McD badly wanted to draft a top CB in the draft as he felt it was a primary area of need and would jump-start the overhaul of the defense he envisioned. 4. McD had zeroed in on Lattimore with the #10 pick but was happy to trade down to 27 when the Chiefs offered up the #3 in 2017 plus the #1 in 2018. 5. McD agreed that QB was an area of need; he believed they could win with Tyrod but not get very far. But he was uncomfortable with the options at the top of the 2017 draft class -- and despite what Whaley and Manos claim in this article, there really was no consensus in the war room about whom the coveted QB was. (See next point.) 6. Whaley reportedly was all in on D. Watson over Mahomes. The article barely touches on this by stating simply that they "liked Watson, too." The center point of the article appears to be correct -- that Pegula had a "man crush" on Mahomes and was not bashful about expressing it to the decision makers in the war room -- but in the end decided to yield to the "football guys". In fact, it was later mis-reported in some circles that the reason Pegula fired Whaley was because he had passed on Mahomes in that draft. This was untrue for a variety of reasons, not the least of which was that Whaley's fate was decided well before the draft -- and McD was the one who had the final say with each pick in that draft. I suppose it is possible, as Whaley asserts, that if Mahomes had still been there at 27 that they would have taken him there. But, given what we know about the original plan to take Lattimore at #10 over any of the available QBs, it is also just as likely that the team would have still taken T. White anyway. The scouts did not have White ranked significantly behind Lattimore. The interviews with Whaley and Monos read to me as a sort of passive-aggressive indictment of McD's handling of that draft. That said, I did not take the article as a hit piece on Josh at all, as I thought it was fairly even-handed with plenty of favorable quotes from teammates and coaches.

Obviously the run game has not been what we would like to see, but I also wonder how much of that is a lack of commitment to it. From my perspective, they really have not tried to make it a focus of the offense in any game except the New England game -- and in that game they ran the ball very effectively. I know once the weather starts getting really bad, etc. the team will need to rely on it more heavily -- but aside from the Tennessee and KC games, the offense as a whole (even without a consistent running game) has performed.

I am not buying this article. It was reported at the time by many reliable sources that no QB (Mahomes or otherwise) was in play for the Bills at the time. The Bills were prepared to turn in the card at #10 with M. Lattimore's name one on it, when the Chiefs upped their offer to move up to 10.

Wow! Can you imagine what the Bills offense would look like with Mark Andrews?

Another thing to remember is that as the the roster has gotten better and deeper, the reliance upon the draft for immediate help is no longer such a critical factor. No matter how the other picks pan out (and I have high hopes for Epenesa, Moss, Davis, Bass, and Jackson) the fact that the 1st pick was used to acquire Diggs, who has already proven to be such an impact player, makes the 2020 draft a success!

Yea, I would not trade him for any other player in the league. I won't argue that he is the best player (or QB) in the league right now. But he is elite, will only get better -- and is such a great fit for the city and fans.

Not sure what the deal is with Yeldon -- other than I know that he missed some time earlier this season due to injury. Maybe he still isn't 100%? The front office and coaching staff are clearly aware that the RB corps could be improved. Remember, they were reportedly interested in Fournette during the off-season, and they were one of 3 teams to make a push for L. Bell.

Yea, I would think that the DE's job in that situation would be to set the edge and ensure that the play does not go outside. On both TD runs, the interior looked like the parting of the Red Sea and Murray raced into the endzone pretty much untouched. The fault there is with the DTs and LBs IMHO.

On point. The other thing that everyone forgets is that, even if there had been no trade-down with the Chiefs, the Bills were NOT going to take Mahomes with the #10 overall pick. They reportedly had Lattimore queued up before the trade with the Chiefs was finally consummated.

In a weird way, the Dolphins remind me of our team from LAST year. That includes drawing a number of easy match-ups as well as fortuitous ones. Take the version of the Cardinals that they faced 2 weeks ago, versus the version we played on Sunday. The team that Miami played had a depleted secondary and was without Drake. The team we played had their secondary en tact and had a relatively healthy Drake on hand (109 rushing yards against us). One thing I found interesting was a reported quote from Tua, saying that he did not believe that the NFL is as tough as he thought it would be. It will be interesting to see what his tune looks like in a few weeks when the competition gets tougher and defenses have more game film on him.

Battle-tested for sure. I would, however, caution everyone not to overlook some of the remaining teams on the schedule with losing records. For example, the Chargers are much better than their record would suggest. They have been in most every game and have had a very difficult schedule.

Note that he also had a GREAT punt that pinned the Cardinals down inside the 5 in the 4th quarter that helped flip the field late in the game when we badly needed it.

This. The Rooney Rule undoubtedly helped highly qualified but overlooked minorities get a legitimate shot at coaching gigs in the NFL. However, it has also played a role in hurting the very people it was supposed to help. Case in point: turn the clock back to nearly 20 years ago. In Detroit Matt Millen made no secret that his dream was to hire Steve Mariucci to coach the Lions, but Mooch was gainfully employed by the 49ers at that time, so Millen instead hired "Mooch-lite", Marty Mornhenweg. A couple of years later, the 49ers let Mooch go -- so Millen immediately fired Marty and reached out to Mooch. Now, Millen knew that he needed to abide by the Rooney Rule before he could hire Mooch, but there was not a single minority coach who was willing to interview for the job. Why? Everyone knew that the interview would be a waste of time because Millen already knew who he was going to hire -- indeed the vacancy had been CREATED for the sole purpose of hiring Steve Mariucci. Long story short, Millen hired Mooch anyway, and tried to claim that he had "interviewed" Dennis Green (which was really a 5-minute phone call between friends rather than a true job interview). Even though Green backed Millen up, the NFL sanctioned the Lions for not following the spirit of the rule. That said, the Rooney Rule probably played a role in affording interviews to minorities who may not have otherwise been interviewed for open positions. Anthony Lynn is a good example of a guy who may not have truly been in the running for some of the gigs for which he initially interviewed, but the fact that word got around just how impressive he came across in those interviews eventually helped his cause.

Defenses have adjusted. The early book on Allen was to stack the box, keep him in the pocket and force him to be a QB. When he rose to the challenge in those first 4 games, the defenses instead have tried to play a lot of 2-deep and double-cover Diggs. Having John Brown banged up has also hurt the passing game and the ability to take shots downfield. In review of the Chiefs and Jets games, there really was nowhere for Josh to go with the ball. It will be interesting to review the All-22 from yesterday's game -- as you said, there were numerous occasions where Josh had plenty of time and still could not locate an open receiver. And that was with a banged up NE secondary.

He blitzed multiple times yesterday too -- and came nowhere near the QB.

For all the screaming I did yesterday about the defense, I have the "glass-is-half-full" approach today: 1. Yes, the Patriots were supremely under-manned yesterday. However, they were VERY desperate and came out highly motivated. We really did get the best they had to offer. Last year we lost a couple of games like that in similar scenarios (Eagles and Browns games come to mind). 2. If the ball is completed rather than intercepted on that last offensive drive of the first half on what was a miscommunication between Josh and Diggs (which Diggs admitted was his fault) , the Bills likely get at least 3 (if not 7) and the Patriots get 0 at the end of the half, making the score 10-3 or 14-3 at the half. If Davis catches that ball that hit him in the hands on the last offensive possession, that puts us up another 4 points. The score could have very easily been 35-18 or 31-18 heading into the Pats' ill-fated final drive. I wonder if the sickening feeling that many felt after the win yesterday would have been lessened (or even evaporated) if just these 2 plays had been better executed? 3. Call me crazy, but given the opponent and the conditions, I thought Josh had one of his best games as a QB. I am talking about from a mental perspective. He did not seem at all dazed or confused by the various looks that BB was throwing at him. He was patient, did not force the ball and only took off running when it made sense. He also called a number of smart audibles at the line. There were times where had time in the pocket, went through his progressions and decided to either get rid of the ball or scamper for a few yards. It will be interesting to view the All-22 to see whether he was being overly cautious in these situations -- or if his receivers were not getting any separation (John Brown, where were you?). His stats were not very good, but he played a smart game against a difficult opponent in poor weather conditions. 4. Defensively, I don't know what to say. I honestly do not want to Klein in a Buffalo Bills uniform EVER again. 5. Bottom line: Bills are 6-2, 4-0 in the division and just more or less ended the season of the team that has been dominant over them for 20 years.

Grades are always hard because they are so subjective. It also depends on your scale. Based on 2019 Josh, the grade would have to be very high because that performance was among the best that he put up last year. Based on 2020 Josh, the score would not be nearly as high given the much higher standard he sat set this year. That's why I would not throw a fit if someone gave him a C based on the final results of the game. Still, for those judging him by the final stats (score, TD passes, etc.), it is hard without reviewing the All-22 breakdown to determine his overall performance on a play-by-play basis. He definitely missed some passes early on and made a couple of questionable decisions, where he tried to force the ball. However, by the 2nd quarter he started to settle down and did a pretty good job taking what the defense gave him. You also have to look back at the 9 drives that all went well into Jets territory. What made those drives stall? It was a variety of factors: penalties that put them in 3rd and long, Josh not making the best decision, the fumble, etc. Speaking of the "bad" fumble, I am not sure how some anyone can blame that on Josh. He had an unblocked defender on him before he could even properly set his feet. All fumbles are "bad", of course, but this was not a case of Josh being reckless (as he was against the same Jets back in Week 1). Also, I do not think it is unfair to give the Jets some credit for how they played on defense, especially when the Bills got deep into their territory. On multiple occasions (the 3rd down draw, for example), Josh did not have anywhere to go with the ball because the defense had all the receivers blanketed. That said, he also clearly should have handed the ball off to Moss on that RPO rather than keep it himself. And there were a couple of occasions (the fake-fake-screen, for example) where the timing was off. Still, I thought for the most part, that he made smart decisions, was careful with the ball and accurate. That is why I would probably give him a B-.

Why do I have a feeling that in the next few days that we will hear reports that Spain went into the local gym and started throwing weights at a guy there screaming, "Get out of my playground!"

I think it is a bit of overreaction to say that he "sucked" last night. Did he miss on a few passes? Yes, he did -- and a couple of them were passes he has to be able to complete. However, he did convert on a number of key first downs with both is arm and legs. He also did not revert to "hero ball" in terms of making poor decisions. I would say that his problem last night was mostly technique-based. I can't say how much of that was due to the weather, poor mechanics (may because of his left shoulder injury) -- or if the defense was making things difficult on him. He was also victimized by some drops and Dabol's play calling was rather inconsistent. One thing I will say is that Josh does have some Brett Favre in him -- especially where he is often overly amped to start games. Maybe Dabol should take this into account and better orchestrate the game planning to get Josh into a rhythm early.

Well put. I think it is also interesting too that in the first few games of the season, the defense's strategy was to load the box and force Josh to (as Gregg Williams said) "be a QB". After the success Josh has had doing exactly that, the last couple of games the opponent's strategy has been to take away the deep ball and only keep 6-7 in the box. It will be interesting to see what the Jets plan to do the second time around. It sure would help if the Bills could finally get the traditional running game going.

I wonder if this was a single-game decision based on the opponent and defensive game plan? As we know the NFL is a copycat league -- and both the Patriots and Raiders had some success with essentially a prevent defense, which is more or less what the Bills tried last night. The problem is that some coaches (like Andy Reid) are capable of adjusting -- and the Chiefs countered by running the ball effectively and making good on the underneath routes. Funny enough, the Chiefs employed a similar defensive strategy against the Bills, who still haven't shown they can effectively run the ball.