mjt328

Ken Dorsey did a horrible job at utilizing the offensive talent. The pass-catching RB situation is the most obvious example. Beane drafts James Cook and trades for Nyheim Hines. One becomes a returner and the other spends most pass plays blocking. It literally took one game out of Joe Brady for this to improve. Despite all the talk in the offseason, Dorsey also had no idea how to utilize two TE sets. It's not a coincidence that Dalton Kincaid suddenly broke out after Dawson Knox got hurt, and became a prime target in the offense. It will be interesting to see if Brady can figure out ways to make Deonte Harty effective.

The majority of snaps should be going to Leonard Floyd and AJ Epenesa right now, with Shaq Lawson/Kingsley Jonathan coming off the bench. Von Miller isn't anywhere close to back, and is making zero impact right now. Greg Rousseau should probably be sitting and getting his foot better. I don't understand having so much depth, and then making guys play at 75% percent.

Sean McDermott is a good defensive coordinator. He is an average head coach. I believe he's smart, with a strong football mind for that side of the ball. And he did a great job rebuilding the culture in this locker room, rescuing us from the drought. But he struggles in high-pressure, big-game moments. Details get missed and mistakes get made. His defense has also crumbled in the postseason against the league's better quarterbacks, and thus far he's not had an answer. To me, the real question is whether the Bills players still believe in him leading the team. If they have lost confidence, this team need a fresh start.

Yes, the QB situation for these teams is not great. BUT they ALL hold tie-breakers over the Bills, and half of them have better/equal records. There are basically 9 teams somewhat in the hunt, besides us. This is what we need to happen: - Browns lose 5/7 - Steelers, Texans lose 4/7 - Colts, Broncos, Bengals lose 3/7 - Raiders lose 2/6 - Chargers, Jets lose 2/8 If less than 7 of these 9 scenarios happens... then the Bills will need a record of 11-6 to make the playoffs. No more than one loss.

Yesterday's game was fun. And the NFL graphics still have us within a half game of the #6-7 wildcard spot. But mathematically, the Bills are still very unlikely to make the playoffs. I've been playing with the ESPN simulator. Due to their losses in the conference, the Bills lose pretty much every tie-breaker in the AFC. Bottom line, a 10-7 record probably isn't going to be good enough. To finish with 11 wins, the Bills cannot lose more than once more this season. Against a schedule that includes possibly the three best teams in the NFL: Eagles, Chiefs, Cowboys. Not to mention the 7-3 Dolphins. Otherwise, they would need the Browns to lose 5/7, the Texans to lose 4/7 or the Steelers to lose 4/7... and hope another team like the Broncos, Bengals, Colts, etc. doesn't sneak into the picture as well.

Mathematically, the Bills are obviously still in it. I actually saw that if we beat the Jets and the Cardinals beat the Texans, we could slide back into the #7 spot this Sunday. The teams above us will be playing each other a lot over the next several weeks (especially the AFC North), so many of these teams are bound to drop-off. The recent injuries to Deshaun Watson and Joe Burrow could also play a big factor on how things play out. Of course the biggest factor is the Bills own schedule, and taking care of the business in front of us. Our remaining schedule includes possibly the two best teams in the league on the road (Eagles and Chiefs), a first place team seeking revenge (Dolphins), another Top 10 team (Cowboys), an underperforming roster with a strong offense (Chargers) and two teams that have already beaten us (Jets, Patriots). Absolutely brutal. The Bills need to go at least 5-2 in the final run. And even then, it's possible the tiebreakers don't work in our favor. Very hard to see it happen, considering this team's last several weeks saw losses against the Patriots and Broncos, and us barely scraping by the Giants and Bucs. Some of the worst teams in the league here.

Not sure if I agree with this article. The Bills struggled on offense in the playoffs, in what he calls the "magical" 2020 season. Most fans feel the team actually had it's best chance in 2021, due to the team clicking on offense in playoffs. But then 13 seconds happened. And even last year, the Bills were still leaning very heavily towards the pass and still allowing Josh Allen to run the ball a ton. And here in 2023, all the metrics are showing the Bills offense works better when they are running the ball. James Cook was pretty much the only thing working on Monday night. It's very probably that Sean McDermott is trying to limit Allen's running, and I agree that it's a problem. But part of the problem with the Bills is being too one-dimensional and predictable. Teams have caught-up to the heavy passing offenses, and it's vital to keep teams off balance. If McDermott was preaching that, he's not wrong.

Ken Dorsey is very obviously the scapegoat. But that doesn't mean his firing wasn't justified. Everyone always seem obsessed with finding THE problem. Like there is a single fix needed, and suddenly everything will run smoothly and we can start planning the Super Bowl parade. In reality, it's never just a single thing. Dorsey was a terrible offensive coordinator. Horribly predictable. No planning or reasoning behind his playcalling. But Josh Allen is also a huge problem, and has been trending down for well over a year. His turnovers and stupid mistakes are killing us. The defense is good on paper, but crumbles at the worst moments almost every time and can't be counted on for a big stop. Special teams has quietly become a disaster, and also factored heavily into the Monday Night loss. Sean McDermott ties everything together. I never believed in firing the guy just for the 13 second mess. But the mistakes are now compounding, and it's becoming increasingly obvious that he's lost the locker room. Once that happens, it's only a matter of time. The Pegulas may be standing by him right now. But there are still 7 games left, and he's running out of places to point the finger. I don't see Joe Brady suddenly turning the ship around. There are too many other problems. I see this team falling flat on its face over the next month, and the Pegulas will be forced to start over with the coaching staff.

Not sure how much Joe Brady can fix in such a short amount of time. There is literally zero room for error. And even if the offense finally steps up, this defense won't have much chance against teams like the Chiefs, Eagles, Cowboys, Chargers, Dolphins, etc.. I truly believe teams aren't pressing against us, because they know the offense can't score and they just need to wait for turnovers to put them in scoring position. If the offense starts clicking, the defense will be exposed. I try to be a realist, who tries not to react too strongly to individual games. After the way 2022 ended, I was not terribly optimistic coming into the season. The Dolphins game was first time I felt some legitimately good feelings about this team. That ended pretty quickly in London, not because of the loss, but because of the players we lost.

Many fans are going to exhaust their blame on everyone else (coaches, O-Line, weapons) before they dare to point the finger at Josh Allen. And I get it. You can fix roster issues in a single offseason. You can even restart with a new coaching staff. But once your QB becomes the team's biggest problem, it's game over. A total rebuild is usually needed. It pains me to say it. But Allen is absolutely one of the biggest problems on the Bills right now. Yes, I totally agree with firing Ken Dorsey and upgrading Gabe Davis. We could do more to surround him with help. But I've seen Allen do more with less than what he's got now. His regression has been clear and obvious over the last season plus (Green Bay game last year). I don't care about leading the NFL in completion percentage. The big plays aren't there like they used to be. He's not running the ball anymore or striking fear into defenses. He's missing open receivers and telegraphing his throws. And he's good for at least one ridiculously stupid interception per game, at the bare minimum. None of us can see behind the scenes. But there are lots of hints that he's just not putting the work in like he used to. I think some fans just like the guy (who can blame them), and so they ignore all the warning signs. Over his first 3 seasons, all we heard about was Allen working on his mechanics off the field during the offseason. There is a reason that every single Bills fan knows who Jordan Palmer is, even though he's never been employed or played for the organization. Now we hear that Allen is resting/healing, playing golf, and obviously spending a bunch of time filming commercials. He's admitted in interviews to not being much of a film guy, which really explains a lot of the throws we've seen from him lately. Lots of people want to blame 13 Seconds for de-railing this franchise. But I think it was the ensuing offseason that really did it. The hype over this team was ridiculous, and people were touting Josh Allen as the NFL's next great QB. His ego swelled. His work ethic started to slack. And the organization itself decided to hire HIS choice for offensive coordinator, when they literally could have hired anyone to come and work with our quarterback. Dorsey has been a disaster as a play-caller. And instead of pushing Allen to be better, he's allowed him to lose focus and drive.

Lots of people see the Bills as a good team just needing to "wake up" from a slump. But this team hasn't been consistently good since Halloween last year. They have been complete trash for most of the 2023 season. The last two weeks, I've watched a ton of other teams. More than usual. It really opened my eyes to how far the Bills are behind the competition. If I was Vegas and judging teams on a neutral site, I would place the Bills firmly behind the Chiefs, Ravens, Bengals, Eagles, Cowboys, Lions and 49ers without even the slightest question. The only reason the Dolphins aren't on that list, is because Josh Allen seems to have their number. But Miami is absolutely the better team. The spread would be a little closer, but I would also probably put the Bills behind the Jaguars and Browns. That means I would have them ranked around 11-13, roughly in the same tier as the Seahawks and Steelers.

I watched quite a bit of football today, flipping between multiple games. It really opened my eyes to how bad the Bills really have been this season. I'm not confident in us beating anyone, honestly.

One of my frustrations with the NFL, is the refusal to recognize championships from before Super Bowl I occurred. Professional football in the NFL goes back to 1920. Not 1967. Here are some facts that not everyone may know: The Green Bay Packers have actually won more championships (13 overall) than both the New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers combined. The Chicago Bears have the second-most championships (9) out of anyone in the NFL. Several teams who have never won a Super Bowl, have actually won multiple championships before that era began. They include the Cleveland Browns (4), Detroit Lions (4), Buffalo Bills (2) and Tennessee Titans/Houston Oilers (2). As a fan of the Bills, I know the frustration that exists over never hoisting the Lombardi Trophy and awful feeling like they will never get it done. I often wonder if some of that could be alleviated if the NFL would just acknowledge more than 56 years of league history. The Bills last championship was in 1965. They have two overall. The New York Jets last championship was in 1969. They have one overall. The Miami Dolphins last championship was in 1974. They have two overall.

Being a good NFL coordinator is an art. There is a reason they say "getting in rhythm"... because doing it well is almost like playing music. You have to blend the talent/strengths of your offense, and match them up against the weaknesses of your opponent. You need to be able to adjust quickly to how the defense is playing against you. And more than just sending a play into the huddle for that down, you need to be setting things up for later in the drive/game/season. Ken Dorsey's playcalling is like a 5-year-old randomly smashing piano keys. No plan. No rhyme. No reason. BANG! Deep shot to Diggs. BANG! Shotgun hand-off. BANG! End around to random player. BANG! Uh, how about another deep shot to Diggs.

So almost winning a Divisional Round playoff game is enough to prove he can someday win a championship? Last time I checked, even if 13 seconds never happened...the Bills STILL would have needed to defeat the Bengals and the Rams to win the Super Bowl. I know that many Bills fans pretend this is a foregone conclusion, so they can feel better about saying the coach single-handedly cost this team the trophy. But it's just as likely the Bills would have been eliminated a week later against Cincinnati. I understand the blame directed towards Sean McDermott, Ken Dorsey and even Brandon Beane. But Josh Allen is making way too many mistakes to be absolved from the mess this team has become.

Josh Allen is always going to be a statistical monster. That doesn't mean he's got what it takes to WIN the Super Bowl. Dan Marino destroyed the record books when he was playing. Joe Montana was the one that won the rings. Tom Brady's stats were average compared to many of the other greats during his time (Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees). But he won more championships than all of them combined.

There are different levels of commitment. Just watch the Quarterback documentary on Netflix. Patrick Mahomes eats, sleeps and breathes football from the moment he wakes up. Then you have Kirk Cousins, who clearly puts in the effort to be good. But he's also dedicated to his family and doing charity work in the community. Then you have Marcus Mariota studying his plays on flash cards with his wife at the kitchen table. I don't think fans are accusing Josh Allen of being the second-coming of Jamarcus Russell. But that doesn't mean he's putting in the same effort as his peers around the NFL, or that he's putting in the work he did earlier in his career.

People are going to hate me for saying this. But I don't believe Josh Allen is putting in the work needed anymore to become a great Quarterback, and has become totally reliant on his physical abilities. His first couple seasons, all you ever heard was him working with Josh Palmer on correcting his mechanics and fixing his biggest weak points. Now he spends the offseason shooting commercials and playing golf. He's admitted to not being a film junkie. The other day he appeared in an interview with Tom Brady, and basically rolled his eyes while getting advice from the winningest QB to ever play the game. Yeah, I'm sure our offensive coordinator shares a ton of blame. But Allen continually makes terrible decisions on the football field, and generally looks confused/perplexed by what the defense is throwing at him. His body language is a deer in the headlights. Not a man full of confidence. It's not just endless turnovers. Anybody who watches the All-22 will tell you he's constantly missing open receivers on a weekly basis. I'm sure in 10 years, several NFL records are going to fall at his feet. And someday he will be inducted into Canton because of that. But I just can't see this guy winning us a Super Bowl.

The Bengals went through a rough 3 game stretch to start the season. But if you look at their past 15-20 games dating back to last season, they have been mostly a Top 5 team during that period. Not to mention smacking us down in the cancelled game, and then finishing the job in the playoffs. And now that Joe Burrow is healthy, they have won 3 games in a row, including two against legit NFC playoff teams. The Bills had a nice 3 game stretch from Weeks 2-4. But outside of that, they have looked flat, uninspired, inconsistent and sloppy for the same 15-20 games dating back to the middle of last season. And our last three games have been a total disaster against three teams who won't even come close to making the playoffs. In regards to the Hail Mary, it's very rare for a wide receiver to be left totally wide open and unguarded in the end zone. Chris Godwin simply turns around and looks, and we lose that game. So yes, we absolutely should have lost.

Nobody wants to hear it. But maybe the Bills are the ones overhyped. The last 4 games (which equals roughly a quarter of the season), the Bills have been absolutely terrible. Very lucky they weren't 0-4 during that stretch. It started with them totally flat in Jacksonville on both sides of the ball. They probably should have lost to the bottom-feeder Giants and were bailed-out by a no-call PI in the endzone. They were unable to stop probably the worst offense in the NFL and lost to the pathetic Patriots. The game that supposedly saw us get back on track? We failed to put the Bucs away, and honestly should have lost on a Hail Mary. To my eye, it was last Halloween (second half against the Green Bay Packers) that everything started sliding backwards. Not exactly sure why, but I know I'm not the only one who noticed a change in the Bills after that game. We've heard excuses about UCL joints, snow, Damar Hamlin, Josh Allen's girlfriend, etc. Since that point, we've played 19 games (including the postseason). That's a pretty good sample size. The only time we've looked good (on both sides of the ball) for a stretch longer than 2-3 quarters was during Weeks 2-4 this season. Raiders, Commanders, Dolphins. The rest of the time, we've either: - Struggled to move the ball on offense for multiple quarters - Struggled to stop the opponent's offense - Killed ourselves with stupid turnovers and penalties Lots of people want to call B.S. on the Joe Burrow injury excuse. But anyone who watched them play this year could tell he wasn't right the first handful of games. And they can tell he looks way different now. Everything about the last full season of play tells me that Cincinnati is the far superior team.

Playoffs aren't a guarantee at this point. Not even close.

Cost isn't bad for a starting caliber CB. Our 3rd Round Pick should be back-half of the round. The 5th Round Pick we get back should be top-half. The real question is, how much of a difference does Rasul Douglas make to this team's record? This team still has major problems in the middle without Matt Milano/DaQuan Jones.

McDermott seems to be a very analytical guy. He's extremely smart. But his brain doesn't process things very quickly. Give him an entire week to analyze film, and he will come up with a way to shut-down the hottest offense in the NFL. Hit him with something during the game that he wasn't planning for, and he looks like a deer in the headlights.

I understand why McDermott calls them. He wants to talk to the defense, calm them down, get the best play ready to go, and eliminate chances for a mistake or coverage breakdown. It definitely makes some sense from that perspective. The problem is... he's giving the exact same opportunity to the other team. In most of these situations, the offense is scrambling against the clock and running a 2-minute drill with limited plays at the disposal. By calling a timeout, he allows the Quarterback and Offensive Coordinator to collect themselves and come up with the perfect play. We've been watching McDermott do this for 7 years now. And more often than not, the defense lets up a big play after one of these timeouts. At some point, he needs to realize it's not a fluke or bad luck. It's not working. His defense is not responding well to the break from action, and he's allowing the other team to regroup.

One of the reasons 11 worked last night, was because the Bills have been going 12 for most of the season and it caught the Bucs off-guard. Opponents are going to catch-up eventually. Ken Dorsey needs to do a better job of keeping defenses guessing and off-balance. Switch things up depending on the opponent, and be willing to make adjustments in-game if needed.