2003Contenders

I know the emergence of the Rams with McVey and the Bears with Naggy has everyone talking about offensive-minded head coaches. However, I don't think it has much to do with whether the coach is offense-minded or defense-minded. Bill B may go down in history as the greatest head coach in NFL history, and he is a defensive guy. Beginning with Mularkey, three of the four head coaches (Mularkey, Chan, Marrone) that the Bills hired came from the offensive side of the ball. For the Bills, the problem prior used to be that Ralph simply did not see value in paying top dollar for coaches.Hence, all of the retreads over the years. Recall that Marv was himself a retread at the time that he took over in 1986. I think Ralph finally learned the error of his ways when Jauron was fired in the middle of the 2009 season. At the time, the team even tried to court Bill Cowher and Mike Shannahan, and Ralph was reportedly willing to pay $10 per year for either. It was Cowher who recommended Chan. At least Marrone, Rex and McDermott were somewhat in demand at the time that the Bills hired them.

I actually do not disagree with the author's premise. In fact, during the game Moose kept pointing out how, realizing that their backs were against the wall with the team in the position to HAVE to start Peterman, the supporting cast really needed to step it up. They did not do that. In fact, the supporting cast in no way helped the struggling young QB -- and proved to be more of a hindrance. One play in particular underscored this, and it was on the 4th and long, where Peterman scrambled to his left and made a pinpoint toss to the endzone for KB. It was a tough catch, as it was well defended. However, it hit Benjamin in the hands; if he is as good as he thinks he is, he should make a catch like that to help his young QB. The real issue is that the supporting cast is itself so bad (including the gutless KB). The receivers are getting no separation, and their hands are not very good across the board. That spells doom for a noodle-arm QB like Peterman, who tried to "fire" the ball in there.

6-10 was my expectation with 8-8 as the upside (hope). I was trying to be pragmatic, realizing that last year a number of things went just right for this team. For those that are overly pessimistic, expecting a 2-14 finish, I would remind you: 1. The schedule thus far has been brutal. The Bills were underdogs in every game -- and still found a way to win 2 of them. 2. The schedule starts to get easier this week. 3. Even with the offense playing so poorly, it will not take a shootout to beat the likes of the Jets and Dolphins. 4. Simply protecting the football on offense and cashing in on turnovers on defense could be enough to win 3-4 more games down the stretch. 5. There is a chance that we have 1-2 more games like the Minnesota game where everything goes right. For me, the record is not the issue. What I want to see is Josh Allen show marginal weekly progression -- and for the team to at least be competitive and stop these embarrassing blowout losses. That said, 4-12 or 5-11 is now my revised expectation -- with 6-10 being the new ceiling.

I agree with you. Additionally, I would like for the Pegulas to do what they were originally reported to be doing when they took over a few years ago -- that is bring in an experienced and impartial guru as an "aid" to the existing front office. Now that the offense has completely bottomed out, someone who knows what the hell they are doing needs to come in here as an architect to help set a solid foundation.

Yea, it is a double-whammy having receivers with bad hands who are unable to get any kind of separation. When it bounces off their hands, it goes right into the waiting hands of a defender. Still, Peterman is just bad. It may not be all his fault, but he is clearly snake-bit and needs to be somewhere else.

Alas, we are pretty much in agreement.

It is hard to say how much better the team would be with Tyrod behind center -- at least in the wins department. The apples-to-apples comparison, of course, is the variance between Tyrod and Josh Allen -- and I suspect that the outcome of the games that Allen started would have been the same if Taylor was the starter. It is interesting to note that Allen's performance in these games (underwhelming passing numbers, an occasional big play, mostly protecting the football, and making his most consistent plays with his legs) was remarkably consistent with what we had come to expect from Tyrod. The difference? Allen is a rookie whom even the most optimistic fans agreed needed some time to develop before ever seeing the field. It is hard to argue that Tyrod would not have been better than either Anderson or Peterman -- neither of whom should really be employed in the NFL. Sadly, I am not sure if the record of this team would be much better even with an elite starter. Yes, a Rodgers or a Brady consistently gets more out of his supporting cast. But the quality of receivers that this team has may be the worst of any team -- ever. No separation, poor hands, etc. And KB is proving each week to be more and more of a gutless cancer. The talent level of this offense is truly pathetic at all levels, which makes it difficult to even blame the coaching. You can only do so much with so little.

Not sure why this is so hard to understand: The plan this season was to have a veteran QB come in and serve as a bridge until Allen is ready. The team thought they were getting such a guy in AJ McCarron. However, McCarron did not live up to expectations and Peterman out-played him in the preseason. When the Raiders offered a 5th rounder, McCarron became fully expendable. After they traded McCarron, there were reports that the Bills reached out to other veteran QBs (including D. Anderson); however, they were unable to make a deal. I do believe that the coaching staff (and McDermott in particular) like Peterman, but they also know what they have in him. Peterman seems like a good kid who really WANTS to be a good QB. He just does not have the physical talent. That said, the team gave Peterman a shot against the Chargers last season -- and McD was quick to pull the hook, benching him at halftime. The only time he saw any playing time at all the rest of the season was when Tyrod got hurt (before the Colts game and during the Jacksonville playoff game). By de facto, Peterman started the first game against Baltimore -- and, again, McD was quick to pull the hook and bench him at halftime -- making the decision to go to Allen, even though they desperately wanted to red-shirt the rookie. Given that the team likes to carry two healthy QBs, my guess is that Peterman would have been cut if they had another viable QB on the roster besides Allen. When they finally brought Anderson in a couple of days before the Houston game, they most likely planned to cut Peterman sometime the following week. However, Allen got hurt, leaving Anderson and Peterman as the only healthy QBs. As such, Anderson got the start the next 2 games. Now that Anderson is out, that leaves Peterman. So, it took injuries to two QBs (including one who has only been with the team for a couple of weeks) to get Peterman back on the field. And, with both Allen and Anderson ailing, they just brought in Matt Barkley. With the bye week approaching and Allen hopefully healing up, the Chicago game could very well represent Peterman's last chance in the NFL.

LOL... Things seemed so promising after those first 2 games back in 2003, starting with the 31-0 drubbing of the Pats.

It really is sad that Peterman has become such a laughing stock in the national media and serves as the poster child for what ails the Buffalo offense. Here are some random thoughts... 1. I understood why McD made the decision he did last season when he elected to bench Tyrod and give Peterman the start on the road against the Chargers. By then the coaching staff had come to grips with the fact that Tyrod was not the long-term solution. The team had also come off back-to-back games in which the team had been blown out and Taylor showed he simply did not have it in him to do what was necessary to win a shootout in come-from-behind fashion. The road game against the Chargers was another game in which the Bills were heavy underdogs, so McD was looking to catch lightening in the bottle. Given that Tyrod was not in the team's long-term plans, the coaches wanted to get a live-action, meaningful look at Peterman to see whether or not they had uncovered a 5th-round diamond in the rough. The results spoke for themselves by halftime. 2. It is undeniable that Peterman lacks the requisite arm strength necessary to be a bona fide starting QB in the NFL. That has been on display with many of the INTs he has tossed. However, he has also run into some bad luck. Recall that he looked decent moving the ball against the Chargers until DiMarco allowed a pass to bounce off his hands and into the arms of a defender. The next INT was also the result of a blind-side defender getting there as Peterman released the ball. After that, nothing went right for him -- and he let it get in his head. 3. On that last point, in addition to less-than-ideal arm strength he appears to lack the mental agility to forget about the previous bad play -- and move on to the next play. I also wonder if sometimes the big stage is simply too large for him. When he was given the chance to take the reins (against the Chargers last year and on opening day against the Ravens this year) he embarrassed himself. When in a situation to win a game -- against the Jags in the playoffs last season and against the Texans this year -- he threw game clinching INTs. 4. He has to understand that this is his last chance to be an NFL QB. Another poor performance on Sunday and we have to expect that his 9th life will have expired. With the bye week approaching, that means an extra week to get Allen and Anderson healthy. It also means an extra week to get Barkley ready. With the veterans likely to stage an uprising in the event of another Peterman melt-down, the team would have little choice but to release him. 5. That bit about the veterans... It is time for them to step up. There is no elite QB coming to the rescue in 2018, so the team leaders need to rally around Peterman this week and hope for the best. Yes, the defense has been pretty good -- but they played a large role in the losses against the Chargers and Colts. Receivers need to get open and fight for the ball. The line needs to protect. And so on... 6. Despite all of his shortcomings, Peterman is NOT without positive attributes. He does get rid of the ball quickly. He can throw with anticipation. It was these things that the coaches liked about him in the preseason that led them to name him as the opening day starter. If Dabol can come up with a game-plan that makes use of these attributes, good things could very well happen.

With the sheer lack of talent on offense, it is difficult to fairly evaluate the OC's skills or philosophy at this time. Dabol deserves some time to merit a fair evaluation.

As you said, time will tell. But at this time last year the 2017 class did not look all that great. Trubisky struggled mightily as a rookie. Watson looked good in a few games -- but was out for the season after that. Mahomes did not see the field until the meaningless Week 17 game. The 49ers thought so much of Beathard that they traded their high 2nd round pick for Jimmy G. Meanwhile, in 2018, Mayfield looks to be the real deal. Darnold has had his up's and down's but shows promise. Allen and Rosen are both in terrible situations, but both have shown glimpses; certainly, neither looks any worse than Trubisky looked last season. Like you said, time will tell.

Mahomes' physical talent was not in question. The questions surrounding him had to do with his ability to make the leap from the college spread-style in which he had exclusively played to an NFL pro style offense. Mahomes landed in an ideal situation: -- KC had a professional, established starter in Alex Smith, so there was no rush to get Mahomes on the field -- Say what you will about Andy Reid, but the man knows how to evaluate and groom young QBs -- The Chiefs have been a perennial playoff caliber team for years with a winning mind-set -- Associated with the above, the Chiefs have a strong supporting cast, including plenty of skill position players and a pretty good OL Compare all of those factors to those surrounding Josh Allen's introduction to the NFL. And, for those wishing that the Bills had stayed put at 10 and taken Mahomes (or Watson, who looked worse than Allen when we played them in Houston a couple of weeks ago), the reality of the situation is that the team was never planning to take a QB there. The word was that they guy they were targeting at 10 was Lattimore.

Not saying that I agree with him, but I think the grading is based on the quality/expected longevity of the coaching staff. The "situation" may also imply plans beyond 2018. He seems to be saying that Dabol is a quality OC and that the front office/coaching staff have likely stability/continuity going forward. Despite fans who are understandably unhappy with the 2-5 start and performance of the team, I believe that ownership and the front office expected the team to struggle in 2018 and that McB are all on steady footing going into 2019. The team also understands that Allen is raw and are willing to be patient with him. The ineptitude at the receiver position is obvious and will likely be improved upon next season. It is hard to argue that Rosen is not in an even worse situation than Allen. For heaven''s sake, they just fired their OC a few days ago. The Cardinals have more quality receiving targets, but their OL is even worse than ours, and the defense is not likely to help keep the Cardinals in close games. Cleveland has more talent surrounding Mayfield, but the coaching situation is in flux. It is hard to imagine Hue and Haley staying out of each other's way the entire season. Not sure how he can suggest that Darnold is in a worse situation given the supporting cast, coaching -- and even having a dedicated QB mentor on hand. I guess they are going back to the job security of Todd Bowles, which was rumored to be on shaky ground in the pre-season.

I still believe that even the most pro-Allen coaches understood that there would be a learning period for him and that he would be best-served sitting and watching for a season. That said there were some serious flaws in their planning: -- They had more faith in McCarron than they should have. Beane more or less acknowledged this. That is why they jumped at the trade offer from the Raiders. Still, they should have had the sense to bring in a viable veteran to replace him. -- They honestly believed that Nate Peterman would be serviceable while Allen sat. Anderson ostensibly puts them back in the position that the were originally in with McCarron -- and they probably should have reached out to him back when the McCarron trade occurred. I would suspect that as long as Anderson wins (or at least looks competent in losing), he will remain the starter -- even after Allen gets the clean bill of health. If/when Anderson starts stinking things up -- or we get late into the season and the Bills have been officially eliminated from playoff contention -- Allen gets back on the field.

Well, there is ample evidence to substantiate the claim that EJ was a Buddy pick. 1. It was in keeping with Buddy's philosophy that the team would take -- even if it meant reaching -- the player they liked best at the position they most wanted to fill. This was best exemplified in Nix's first draft as GM. Recall that new Head Coach Chan Gailey reportedly wanted a "June Bug" type RB for his offense. So what did Buddy do? He takes CJ Spiller, viewed by many at the time as a luxury pick with a top 10 selection. Chan had also made the random decision to shift to a 3-4 defense, even though the personnel did not fit. So what does Nix do? After missing out on a bona fide NT option in the first round, he panics and reaches badly for T. Troupe in the 2nd. And that was with many other quality player (like Gronk) still on the draft board. 2. We have the recorded prank call where the prank caller pretends to be the Tampa Bay GM. In that call, Nix admits that he is planning on drafting a QB -- but also acknowledges that the QB class was so weak that it was not the year to do that. Even in answering questions from the press he keeps saying that even though the QB class is projected to be weak, history has shown that 1-2 franchise QBs come out of every class. On draft day, the team trades down from 8 to 16 and eventually takes EJ with that 16th pick. If they really loved him, there is no way they would have risked losing out on him by trading down to the middle of round. I never thought that trading up for Sammy proved any kind of justification for the EJ pick. Rather, the team was trying to upgrade the young QB's supporting cast, which is only common sense. I would expect the Bills F/O to do the same next season, even if Beane/McD were no longer in the picture. Also, as others have suggested, the trade come very well have been a "splash" marketing move forced by Russ.

Bodine was actually WORSE in the preseason than Groy. Oh well. Let's hope for the best.

Bingo. No one (even Allen's biggest supporters in the draft process) claimed that he was going to be a 100% finished product from day one. Something tells me that if Allen matures and shows clear progression with his mechanics and completion % that we will not hear much from this Ledyard clown. Conversely, every time Allen struggles Ledyard will post something to remind us yet again why he was "right" about Allen not being a worthy NFL QB prospect. The fact that this dude does such a thing before the 2-3 year window it takes to reach a fair evaluation of a drafted player's true capacity tells us all we need to know about he little he really knows.

Actually, in watching the game on Sunday, I thought that Beuerlein was pretty good in pointing out things that Allen does well and the things that he really needs to improve on, which is no surprise given that this was Allen's first-ever start. The gist I got from his analysis of the game was that Buerlein believes that all of the flaws displayed by the rookie QB were correctable and that he believes Allen has a great deal of potential.

Interesting... didn't Mattews say that the Eagles' doctors failed him by not diagnosing certain injuries that were later uncovered and treated by the Bills' medical staff?

Excellent points. I am most encouraged by the simple fact that Allen did not wilt under pressure. That is, he looked beyond the pass rush and kept his eyes downfield. He certainly needs to become more accurate and work on getting the ball out of his hand more quickly -- but those are common traits that take time to develop. I just hope that Dabol and the rest of the coaching staff have what it takes to help the kid reach his potential. It would also help if the supporting cast would step up. I would not shed a tear if Andre Holmes was cut tomorrow, for example.

There was plenty to like and plenty to dislike in the performance yesterday. The sample size is simply too small to come up with a genuine evaluation going forward. And guess, what? That sample size will still be too small after next week and the week after. The kid is going to need time to develop -- not only because he is a rookie and everyone needs to be patient, but because he also has a horrible supporting cast. I look back at our last two first-round QBs. 1. Losman. From day one, he never looked ready. The stage seemed too large for him, and he had that proverbial deer-in-the-headlights look. But the arm talent and athleticism seemed to be there, so I kept hoping that over time, he would improve but he never appreciably did. He had flaws (ability to read a defense, poor accuracy, etc.) that he never corrected, and that deer-in-the-headlights syndrome never went away. Say what you will about Allen and any shortcomings he displayed in yesterday's game, but he never had that "Where the heck am I?" look that we saw all to often with Losman. 2. It is easy to forget that EJ actually looked halfway decent in his first two starts (against the Pats and Panthers) respectively. The problem is that those first two games would represent more of a high-water mark for him rather than the start of something great. The QB position is the most unique position in all of sports. You really have to be born to play the position -- all the while improving your craft as you go along. EJ had all of the physical traits and by all accounts he is a bright guy with leadership qualities. But for whatever reason, these ingredients never meshed to make him a natural QB. Everything always seemed so rehearsed and unnatural. Again, with Allen yesterday he did look very natural standing in the pocket. So there is hope. He clearly has all of the physical tools. I also like that he also seemed confident and did not panic while standing in the pocket. If he can correct the deficiencies, then we have something special here. Time will tell whether he will be able to improve in those areas -- but after one, seriously ONE, NFL start it is hard for me to understand why anyone would be CONCERNED. Progress is the key here. As long as we see progression, even if they are baby steps, there is plenty of reason for optimism. Anyone who can't see that either has a silly agenda to root against the kid -- or has unreasonable expectations about what he should be able to do this early in his career.

I was not comparing Allen to Manning, rather suggesting that the Bills (who are talent-deprived in much the same way that the Colts were back in those days) use a similar model to what the Colts used to protect and nurture their young QB.

I know it has been 20 years, but the model I like is the one that the Colts used for Peyton Manning back in 1998. They basically went mass-protection with 2 TEs most of the time with just a young Marvin Harrison and Marshall Faulk as the primary weapons. The offense was simplified, and the Colts avoided having Manning get hammered (and lose his confidence). I would do the same with Allen. Spoon feed him and protect him -- all the while being patient. Then expand the playbook as he develops and builds his confidence.

My guess is that Cris Carter is getting this from analysts who are critical of Allen's set-up. That is, he holds the ball lower (below his shoulder) than most QB coaches like (by his ear). Holding the ball so low is usually an issue for QBs, because it requires an extra hitch (pull-back) in their delivery. However, Josh Allen's arm is so freakishly strong, he does not require that additional hitch -- which actually allows him to get the ball out quicker than a QB using the prescribed set-up would. Dan Marino and Joe Namath also had similar set-ups and both had famously quick deliveries.