mjt328

Agreed. You also have to consider the overhaul at WR (Brown, Beasley) and TE (Kroft, Knox) as weapons in the passing game. If usually takes time for the QB to get timing down with his receiving weapons. I was harping all offseason that our offense may start slow, and it would take some patience. I'll admit that I was getting nervous after 7-8 games and we were still having the same problems though... Hopefully the last two weeks is evidence we have gotten into a groove and turned the corner.

Tre White Jordan Phillips John Brown Micah Hyde Jordan Poyer All of these guys should definitely make it. But since the fans get to vote (and we are ignored/underrated in the media), it's quite possible that none of them get voted in. Let's be honest here. Patrick Mahomes was the hands-down MVP before his injury. He hasn't been spectacular in the two games he's been back. But he hasn't been bad. He deserves to make it. Derek Carr has also been pretty good this season, although the entire Raiders team was dreadful yesterday. Tom Brady has been pretty average, but he's still Tom Brady. And the fans vote for big names. He will probably make it, regardless of play. If Allen manages to get into his first Pro Bowl, it will be due to 3-4 guys sitting out and him getting in as an alternate (like Tyrod Taylor).

You basically have John Brown as our #1 target, Cole Beasley as our #2, and a bunch of guys who are limited in skills. Andre Roberts is a pretty good return guy, but is below average on everything else required from a WR. Isaiah McKenzie is quick and runs nice gadget plays, but doesn't have great hands and his fumble issues make him risky as a returner. Robert Foster is a proven deep threat, but doesn't really do anything else well and still often struggles make plays on the ball. Duke Williams is big and has good hands, but he's also really slow and struggles to get open. When you have a group like this, the coaching staff is forced to activate/deactivate players based on gameplan. Roberts gets called up regularly, because we must have a KR/PR each week. McKenzie is getting preference over Foster, because we are having more success with jet-sweeps than deep passes. That has left Williams as the odd-man out, because his skill-set can be duplicated by one of the tight ends.

Sometimes I think we overthink these things, and hold GMs to a ridiculously high standard. These guys aren't psychics. Brandon Beane stepped onto a team without a franchise QB, and he correctly identified we needed one to become a winning team. At that point, his job was to identify which QB(s) had the best chance to reach that level, and then get into a position to draft him. He anticipated we may need additional draft capitol to get into that position, and started making moves in advance to obtain it. Prior to the 2017 season, he didn't know when we would be drafting. He didn't know exactly which QBs would declare and were going to be available. Even once the draft order was set, there was still no way for him to predict what the other 31 teams were going to do, or exactly what draft slot he needed to be in to get the guy he wanted. And even if he also liked Lamar Jackson and was comfortable taking him as Plan B to Josh Allen, he couldn't have predicted whether either guy would be available outside the Top 10. Don't forget there were other QB-needy teams looking to trade-up. In my opinion, Beane should be judged on whether Allen turns out to be a franchise QB. Period. If he doesn't and Jackson does - then I think we can level some criticism. Anything else is asking him to predict the future, which is obviously impossible.

Last year, he was pretty much at the bottom of the league (in terms of JUST passing stats). We are talking around #30-32 in most overall rankings. He was arguably better than fellow rookies Josh Rosen and Lamar Jackson. That was about it. There were flashes of his abilities, but the consistency just wasn't there. At just over the midway point of 2019, I would say he's jumped about 10 spots. Now he's hovering between #20-25 in the passing rankings. That is pretty decent progress for a single offseason. Especially considering the total overhaul we've see on that side of the ball - both WRs, TEs and O-Line, and the time needed to get everyone on the same page. As a QB with significant running ability, I also think his overall ranking would be higher than just what his passing stats reveal alone. A touchdown is a touchdown, regardless of whether it came on the ground or through the air. If he's #20-25 in just passing, I think it's fair to say he's in the #15-20 range with everything included. In my opinion, the goal is for Josh Allen to be in the Top #10-12 overall (passing and running) by the middle of Year 4. He's definitely not there yet. But if he continues to trend upwards, there is definitely some hope.

From what I've seen, Lamar Jackson is still pretty average/below average as a passer. If teams could find a way to force him into playing strictly from the pocket, I believe he would struggle. But I'm not sure modern defenses are built in a way that can successfully lock Jackson into the pocket. Right now, you see Baltimore running lots of 3-TE sets. This creates absolute match-up nightmares. If defenses don't bring in bigger personnel, they will get trampled by Mark Ingram and Gus Edwards. If defenses go big, they don't have the speed to catch Jackson. And Jackson is doing just enough in the passing game to keep them honest in the secondary. To me, this is a tremendous credit to Greg Roman and the Baltimore coaching staff. They have completely restructured their offense to fit his talents, in ways that I've never seen on the professional level. This usually doesn't happen with athletic/running QBs. I remember when Michael Vick was drafted, and he was supposed to "change the game" of football. Atlanta forced him into a West Coast system that didn't fit his skills, and he never truly reached his potential. Will defenses eventually adjust - either this season or long-term? It's really hard to say. They way Baltimore is rolling, I'm not sure anyone's defense matches up well.

Hopefully next year, the Bills will be in position to take the AFC East from the Patriots. That would give the team another potential way into the playoffs, and put them on the same footing as the other teams in the division.

I definitely like the "attacking" mentality on offense. Make teams afraid of Josh Allen's arm and what he can do. It seems to suit his skills more. I'm OK with him throwing some interceptions, as long as they aren't stupid decisions (like we were seeing earlier in the year). At the end of the day, I think we put more points on the board and win more games with an aggressive approach. On defense, I think we need to have a balance. What we were doing the previous 9 games was working, and working very well. The blitzing was nice for developing a pass rush, but we also let up some uncharacteristic big passing plays. The most important thing is points allowed, and I don't want to sacrifice more points for sacks/turnovers.

I'm sure WR will be a priority in the offseason. As many have stated, the upcoming draft class is being touted as one of the best ever. We should be able to get a really good one late in the first round. For this season, I think we have enough talent to put some points on the board. Personally, I would like to see them use Cole Beasley as more of a short yardage guy, instead of downfield routes. Too much Isaiah McKenzie on the outside, and give Robert Foster/Duke Williams more chances to make plays in that spot.

No way they aren't trying their best every week. They definitely aren't holding out. Now it is possible the coaching staff is starting to realizing the careful/conservative approach just isn't working, and will attempt to make some changes going forward.

Wish I could say I'm surprised by some of the reactions here, but some people really have a screw loose. There are actually people on here defending Myles Garrett, or saying it "really wasn't that bad." This is not selective outrage or an overreaction. What we just witnessed was literally assault and battery. The kind that gets you locked up in jail. This was not just a street fight with punches, pushing and shoving. There is absolutely no doubt Roger Goodell should suspend Garrett for the remainder of the 2019 season, and there should be serious consideration on making this a permanent ban from the NFL. If you watch the play, Garrett clearly pulls Rudolph to the ground LONG after the throw has been made. This was a clear-cut situation of roughing the passer, and very obviously what started the fight. Rudolph's immediate reaction (grabbing Garrett by the facemask) was quite possibly worthy of a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty. And him continuing to get in the DE's face escalated the fight, no doubt. But at no point did Rudolph actually threaten bodily harm to Garrett (he didn't even throw a punch), and it certainly doesn't justify getting beaten over the head with a blunt object. The scary part about what Garrett did, was that he clearly had time to think before the swing. It took him a good 4-5 seconds to rip off Rudolph's helmet, at which point he was separated from the QB by David DeCastro and an official. He had plenty of time to drop the helmet, and throw a punch instead. At that point, we probably would be talking about BOTH Garrett and Rudolph getting 1-game suspensions. Instead, this story is plastered all over the national news.

EJ Manuel lost his starting job after 14 games. I absolutely agree this was too soon to bench him. He needed to be given at least 3-4 seasons. However, Manuel was also kept on the roster for two additional years to develop. He was given the full opportunity to win the starting job prior to his third season, and lost out to Tyrod Taylor. He was given two chances to start during that same season (due to Taylor's injury) and unfortunately looked terrible. Regardless... Saying that Manuel didn't get a fair shake isn't a good reason to dump Allen as well. You learn from previous mistakes. Not by repeating them.

I'm saying that Jerry Sullivan shouted and screamed for the Bills to prioritize QB (and draft one in the Top 10), instead of relying on below-average vets. They did that. Now we are in the middle of Josh Allen's second year, and Sullivan is comparing his statistics to a 7-year-vet -- and clearly suggesting our front office was dumb for taking him instead of sticking with Tyrod Taylor. If Sullivan wants to criticize the Allen pick after he's actually been in the NFL for 3-4 years, then fine. Until then, he needs to shut his loud mouth and be patient like the rest of us. He has no idea what Allen is going to turn out to be. If he wants to criticize us for trading Taylor, he's being a massive hypocrite and flip-flopping on his position just for the sake of complaining.

Yes. They needed to tear this team down. Brandon Beane knew we needed a Quarterback to take the next step. He suspected we would need extra capitol, just in case our record was too good to land the QB prospect he wanted. And he was correct. Without trading Sammy Watkins and Cordy Glenn, they wouldn't have gotten high enough to draft Josh Allen. If you go back to the 2018 offseason, both sides of the ball were in desperate need of help. People were screaming about us needing a new DE, DT, LB and CB. Instead of splitting it 50-50, they went almost entirely defense in 2018 and then almost entirely offense in 2019. And I would definitely consider drafting Allen an investment in the offense. Ed Oliver just happened to be the BPA (it really wasn't close in most people's minds) and we actually needed a DT with Kyle Williams retiring. The rest of the offseason was offense, offense, offense. Why does it matter so much to you whether they addressed OT and TE in 2018 or in 2019? It's just a reason to complain, and has nothing to do with our performance. The front office is clearly making efforts to upgrade the roster everywhere. And I can argue this was an 8-8 level roster before they arrived, with no playoff appearances in 17 years, with no franchise QB and with a totally maxed-out salary cap. Now they are on pace for their second playoff appearance in 3 seasons, they now have a Top 10 drafted quarterback on the roster (hopefully) growing and developing, and now have among the most salary cap space in the league. The win-loss record hasn't increased dramatically yet, because we needed to take a step back BEFORE taking a step forward.

Browns. My attitude is that Buffalo needs to finish at least 10-6 (or 4-3 down the final stretch). If they finish with that record and miss on a tie-breaker, I'll be pretty disappointed. If they finish at 9-7, then they will deserve to miss the playoffs. The Steelers are only a game behind us in the Wild Card race, and their schedule is arguably easier than ours down the stretch. Although they would have the tie-breaker against us, Cleveland already has 6 losses. They also have a pretty easy schedule to finish out the season, but they can only afford one more loss.

On most teams, John Brown is probably a #2 and Cole Beasley is probably a #3. No doubt they could use another WR. That does not mean their struggles are strictly due to a lack of talent. Right Tackle is still not very good, but not because of a lack of investment. Cody Ford was our #2 pick. He just hasn't developed quickly in his first year. In terms of using picks on offense.... They literally tore apart the roster upon arriving, just to give themselves the opportunity to amass picks and get a Top 10 Quarterback. Did you happen to miss that 12-15 months? They used 3 of their top 4 picks on offense this year. Ford, Devon Singletary and Dawson Knox. They also focused 99% of their effort in free agency on the offense. Brown, Beasley, Tyler Kroft, Mitch Morse, Quinton Spain, Jon Feliciano, Ty Nsekhe, Spencer Long. If you want to complain these guys are no good, then fine. But don't say our front office doesn't care about offense, or refuses to invest in it. Talent could definitely be better. No disagreement there. I'm just saying, I think the guys on this roster are good enough to put points on the board. There is enough talent to not be bottom 5 in the NFL.

I don't understand why it's SO DIFFICULT for people to have patience with a young QB. I've been following this team for 30 years. These exact same reporters (Sullivan) crucify the Bills front office every single time they pass on a QB in the draft, and instead choose to roll with a veteran like Drew Bledsoe, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Kyle Orton or Tyrod Taylor. They complain incessantly about our GM wasting salary cap dollars paying for an average/below average passer. They write their little op-ed pieces about how the Bills need to draft and develop a guy out of college, like all the other successful NFL franchises. But when the Bills actually draft a young QB, they CANNOT WAIT to rip the guy to shreds. Their hands are shaking at the keyboards, eagerly anticipating the day they can definitively call our young passer a bust. It's amazing how quiet Sullivan has been this season, up until this week. Now he is what?... suggesting the Bills shouldn't have drafted Allen and instead stuck with Taylor? What a ridiculous load of nonsense. When it comes to developing a QB, it's not about how you start. It's about how you finish. And even Josh Allen's biggest believers ALWAYS KNEW he was starting behind most 1st-Round level QBs. He was coming from a small college, against very low-caliber competition. His mechanics were poor. His field vision and decision-making needed work. He was a Number One Overall physical talent, with a mid-late round on-field production. Even the draft critics who absolutely loved Allen, quantified their love by saying he needed LOTS of development and would take longer than other guys in the class like Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold or Josh Rosen. I would say that comparing Allen's stats in the middle of his second season, to a veteran like Taylor who was in his seventh season is totally sad and pathetic. Except, it's actually a huge positive. If he's already playing at a similar level to Taylor, it tells me Allen is progressing quicker than most of his critics expected. There is no doubt that Bills coaches expect Allen to be better than Taylor eventually. Same with the fans. But it's going to take time and patience.

When the team loses, I guess everyone and everything is fair game. This defense is doing its job. Our troubles are on the other side of the ball.

Mentioned this in a few different threads. I don't think the main problem is a lack of talent. The offense has shown the ability to march 10+ plays, 70-80 yards and score touchdowns. It just happens 2-3 times a week, and then we have multiple drives killed by stupid mistakes. Josh Allen has shown the ability in the past to connect on deep balls. I think the goal this offseason was to get him "fixed" on his short accuracy, and they didn't do enough to get his timing right with the other receivers. John Brown is our only deep threat that plays regularly, and he always draws the deep safety help. Robert Foster hasn't played enough to get on track with anything. Things just haven't fallen in place, and now the failure to connect has gotten into Josh's head. Devon Singletary can be a threat, if used more often. Cole Beasley can be a chain-mover, if we actually target him on 3rd Down. There is enough talent to be a good offense. It's just a multitude of drive-killing issues they can't seem to hurdle. If they can put together another 2-3 decent drives per week, I think we will be good enough to get on track. You can't be serious. This team rebuilt the entire Offensive Line and Wide Receiver room in the offseason. If you don't like the additions, fine. But don't pretend they haven't been using resources on offensive talent.

An offense needs to have a balance of efficiency and explosiveness. As I mentioned in another post, Brian Daboll is trying to recreate the Patriot offense, which relies on efficiency. To make it work, you need to consistently put together 10-15 play drives without mistakes. We succeed on this about 2-3 times per game, which is not enough. The rest of the time, we kill drives with penalties, sacks, turnovers, drops and miscommunications. The remedy for this is to either: A) Clean up the mistakes B) Make more explosive plays Personally, I'm becoming more discouraged that we can accomplish A during this season. Nine games in, and we still look the same as Week 1. Which means we need more explosive plays to happen during the game. This will require Josh Allen to start hitting on some deep throws. And it will require us to utilize more of Devon Singletary and less of Frank Gore.

This exactly. Fans don't like watching conservative football. But playing safe and eliminating mistakes is actually a pretty good strategy for winning in this league. If you really think about it, New England is a conservative football team. And they have been for the majority of the last 20 years. They rarely attack downfield. They rely mostly on safe 4-5 yard passes and runs, while gradually moving the chains. They don't turnover the ball often. The difference is, New England's offense is efficient. They don't have frequent penalties, drops or miscommunications. Tom Brady is deadly accurate. He makes quick/smart decisions, and gets rid of the ball instead of taking sacks. So they can amass 10-15 play drives on a consistent basis, and continue putting points on the board. As I've mentioned in several other posts, Buffalo's problem is due to an inefficient offense. Daboll is trying to recreate the Patriot offense. But his guys can't sustain 10-15 play drives without making mistakes. They move the chains a few times, but then get a holding penalty. They make a few nice plays, then get a sack or turnover. They get to third down, then have a dropped pass or miscommunication.

Sean McDermott is definitely a conservative coach. No argument there. Saying a conservative gameplan is never successful isn't completely true. There are many examples over the last several years of teams who relied on strong defense, and an efficient/conservative offense. It's probably not a good plan for long-term success, but it has been known to work with a young and inexperienced Quarterback (which we happen to have). The league average for scoring is 23-24 points per game. Our "bend but don't break" defense has kept opponents under that number in 8 out of 9 games this year. Going back to the bye week last season, they have kept opponents under that number in 12 out of 15 games. Fair point. But if his offense struggles 75% of every game, why would he expect them to be successful in a 2-minute drill before halftime? Hold on. Is he stupid for being conservative? Or stupid for being aggressive? This is a Buffalo urban legend. Every coach values character. And if you don't believe me, then explain why Josh Gordan had exactly ONE team interested in putting a waiver claim a few weeks ago. Not sure why this is a problem. This is mostly a passing league. Which means bigger nose tackles, and run-stopping linebackers are utilized less and less. He's certainly a defensive-minded coach, who lets his OC handle the other side of the ball. That should not be interpreted as he "doesn't care" about the offense. Also, Brandon Beane is responsible for getting the play-makers on offense. Not the coach.

The Defense is starting to show some cracks. No doubt. But they are still keeping teams off the scoreboard, and performing at a pretty high level. Levi Wallace is a solid corner. But teams are starting to realize how good Tre White is, and are going to test him constantly. Unfortunately, very few CBs can continually shut-down good WRs (like Jarvis Landry) without some help over the top. And due to our struggles in the run game, we are being forced to play our safeties in the box more and keep the corners alone on an island. It's all a cycle. What this team needs is the Offense to actually put some points on the board. This will force opponents to become more one-dimension to keep up, and let the defense play to its strengths. It's ridiculous to expect them to keep teams under 14 points every week.

Yep. Another example of why you can't point to a single issue that is plaguing this offense. Bills fans will always notice the questionable playcalling by Brian Daboll, the missed block by Dion Dawkins, the penalty by Lee Smith, the dropped pass by Dawson Knox, or the fumble by Josh Allen. But they don't usually notice the miscommunication with WRs. And unfortunately, these kinds of plays are also happening a lot this year - especially with John Brown. There was a miscommunication in the Eagles game, which led to Josh Allen throwing behind Brown. If they hookup on that play, it's probably a touchdown and that game looks completely different.

Over the last 4 games, Josh Allen has done a good job of eliminating "stupid" throws. Early in the season, this was leading to 1-2 interceptions per game. So this is a big improvement. But with one step-forward, we get one step-backwards.... and Allen has somehow gotten worse with his fumbles (which is hard to believe). He may be the worst QB I have ever seen at ball security when running with it. Everything else on offense is exactly the same. No improvement whatsoever. Same strengths and weaknesses as Week 1. We seem to be capable of moving the ball in spurts, which allows us 2-3 good scoring drives per week. The other 45 minutes of the game, we struggle to do anything.