Rocky Landing

I was wondering when this thread was going to come around! League: Chiefs miss the playoffs. Sammy Watkins has a career year in Green Bay. Colts take the AFCS. Raiders take the AFCW. Division: Patriots* finish third in the AFCE. Wilson is benched for a spell. Tyreek Hill has several sideline tantrums. Blake Bortles takes over at QB by mid-season for the Fish. Bills: Crowder has a career year. Bills sweep the Pats* and Jets, but split with the Dolphins. Bills once again carry seven WRs with Austin making the 53. Bills carry ten O-linesmen, still cut Ford.

Interesting that Motor brought up Kromer. I think with the addition of Saffold as well, Beane and McD are committing to improving the run. I am also of the opinion that Motor's improvement towards the end of last season had less to do with him, and more to do with the O-line. I think that was the issue with the mid-season slump we experienced last season. As the scheme becomes more balanced, they become very hard to defend. I think Motor is going to have his best season.

To add to your point: Often people's memory of an incident will change significantly over time, most often to fit their narrative. That's not to say they're lying. It's to say that certain people will, over time, adjust their memories to fit the story they want to believe. I think one of the telling quotes from Sheldon Richardson is in his description of the incident: "...and grabbing at my Johnson and stuff like that..." This incident was televised from about five different angles, in slow motion, and no such grabbing of the Johnson occurred. Similarly, I highly doubt a racial slur was thrown. Considering the situation, and the timing of the accusation, it just doesn't make sense.

It probably feels weird listening to Frank Sinatra at noon on a Sunday.

The all-reds hurt my face.

The older I get, the broader my standards become...

Can you imagine how much revenue gets dumped into that city for a football game? Gambling, hotels, food-- just the sex workers alone has to be huge.

Yeah, that made my stomach turn. It was so obviously a lie-- he didn't even make the allegation until a couple days later when he was still feeling the heat. As far as being an "upstanding guy," I put that squarely on the shoulders of his PR team, whoever they are.

Start with Josh Allen, and then don't do anything.

🟨 HOLDING!!!

The article referenced in the OP mentions Boettger as one of the reasons Van Roten is on the bubble. But, I think it's likely Boettger starts the season on IR. If not, and if he's cleared to start the season, I have to wonder if he doesn't get cut? The Bills have invested a lot of time developing Ike. But, his career (including his senior year in College) has been plagued by injury. And to end his '21 season with a non-contact injury (and quite a serious one, at that) leads me to believe that it might be time to move on. I also think there is a fair chance they carry 10 O-linemen. They'll likely have two fewer D-linemen as they carried last season. They'll definitely keep Doyle on the 53, and I have this suspicion they'll want to put Tenuta on the 53, as well-- which does put Van Roten on the bubble if they carry nine. Ford has to be on the bubble, rookie contract be damned. Several people have said Moss is on the bubble. I think the most likely scenario is that he's competing with Duke Johnson for a third RB spot. Motor and Cook are basically locks. But personally, I would give Moss the edge over Johnson, if for no other reason than his acumen in pass pro. It's an interesting debate over Haack. He sucks as a punter. But, it begs the question (which would not even be a question on another team): Which is more important for a punter on the Bills-- punting the ball, or holding the ball? Bojo was replaced by Haack in large part because he didn't hold well. If Araiza proves to be inadequate at holding, is it worth it to endure the occasion shank in exchange for a more reliable FG/XP unit? (And have they considered giving the job to McKenzie? He's done everything else on this team!)

Curious, where are you coming from, ball?

This got me wondering how the Cardinal's O-line stacked up, so to speak: LT Humphreys -- 6'5" LG Pugh -- 6'5" C Hudson -- 6'2" RG Hernandez -- 6'2" RT Beachum -- 6'3" (Bills' starters are 6'5", 6'5", 6'6", 6'4", 6'8", respectively) Did Arizona build Kyler Murray a window?

I thought it was interesting that in the latter half of the season they seemed to be developing Doyle in the same way they were developing Brown in the first half of the season-- playing him in garbage time, putting him in on extra points, and field goals, and using him as a sixth O-linesman, a la Lee Smith. And now, in OTAs, it was reported that they were putting him in at guard (a 6'8" guard?!), I assume to develop the position flex that they require in backups. I don't think he'll be the first choice for anywhere on the line if one of the starting five go down, but I think they have him in their future plans. And now they have another 6'8" monster in Luke Tenuta!

Maybe he could be the next Ike Boettger?

I would think quite a few Cleveland fans would be feeling nostalgic for Baker right about now.

So, who do you think is going to be starting in Indianapolis? Or Denver? It's not even training camp yet. Mayfield is going over his new playbook right now... as we speak. There is no way that: a. A five year vet, who has already played under multiple head coaches, can't adjust to a new playbook. b. Mayfield won't be given every chance to compete for the starting job. c. Mayfield wouldn't have a better than 50/50 chance of outplaying Darnold. d. Carolina didn't acquire Mayfield without the general intention of him being able to start week one. EDIT: One thing I will agree with, though: The amount of guaranteed money Carolina was able to get Mayfield for does put him in "flyer" territory.

Pretty interesting that in week one, Mayfield will be playing against a team that will be paying him twice as much as the team he is playing for.

The losing culture that McDermott walked into-- ya know, the 17 year playoff drought. That didn't immediately end in McD's first season when they backed into a wildcard spot. It took a bit of work. Just my opinion. Hell yeah, that was a great game!

Game Pass has to be my favorite streaming service. Really worth the money, IMO. Anyway, I’ve been re-watching condensed versions of old games lately. It's the best way to get through this long gap in the off-season. Today, just out of curiosity, I re-watched the 2018 season opener at Baltimore, where the Ravens placed a 47-3 shellacking on the Bills in Josh Allen’s first NFL game. I laughed. I (would have) cried (were it not the beginning of a glorious era). And, I thought I would like to post a few of my observations of that game in, uh… no particular order… Tremaine Edmunds. (Why not start off with Tremaine Edmunds?) It was his first game of his career as well, and ya know what? For a raw, 19-year-old (!) rookie in his first start, he looked pretty damn good! He got a sack, had decent lines to the ball, and damned near got two interceptions. In fact, had it not been raining, I believe he would have hauled in at least one of those. Matt Milano. In the first of only a few instances where Milano did something noteworthy, the commentator referred to him as “the undersized Matt Milano…” That made me laugh. TOP and the Defense. One might think that a defense that allows another team to pin 47 points on them would be an unmitigated disaster. And they were bad, but they weren’t as bad as all that. I lost track of all the three-and-outs by the Bills offense in the first half, but suffice to say— there were a lot of them. Poor Bojo punted ten times. And for the defense, it’s hard to stay fresh when you don’t get more than a few minutes rest between drives. By the end of the game (a full third of which the Ravens played as garbage time, and the Bills, themselves, were actively running out the clock) the Ravens had the ball for over ten minutes longer than the Bills. Offense. What a crapshow. It’s not like there wasn’t some talent on that field, but you can really see the effects of a losing culture in a performance like that. Shady McCoy. By 2018, he had already lost a step, IMO. But, he still had great vision. Kelvin Benjimin. 🤮 The O-line. 🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮 Nathan Peterman. I remember very clearly being one of the posters on TBD who went into the season pounding the table that Peterman shouldn’t be in the league, much less starting in the season opener. He was straight-up terrible. But here’s the thing about Late Nate: He’s still in the league!!! He’s currently employed by the Chicago Bears! HOW??? WHY??? Josh Allen. I’m not just being a homer when I say this (the color commentator even made this point within a few plays of Allen taking the field) but when Josh Allen took over at QB, the entire energy of the offense changed. Even though there was zero chance of a comeback by that time, they just appeared willing to make plays, and put themselves out there. Josh did a bunch of Josh things— scrambling for a couple first downs, taking some hits, etc. He certainly had a fair share of rookie issues, and was sacked twice. But you know wasn’t an issue? Accuracy. In fact, especially considering the wind and rain, Allen threw some ropes. It was interesting watching this game in retrospect to where we are now. You can see the potential in Josh Allen. You can see the poisoned culture that McDermott was working to change— the lack of effort, the lack of focus, the lack of inspiration. And a few minutes into the third quarter when Allen takes the field, you can see the tide change in Buffalo.

Kaiir Elam probably already has a drawing of the Bills logo in one of his notebooks.

That you would even define that game by the final 13 seconds of regulation, much less the entire team, and their season is the kind of "logic," and trolling more commonly employed by Patriots* fans. Perhaps you should change your affiliation? I'm sure you would find a welcome home with that dwindling fan base.

OK, Pats* fan.

https://www.nfl.com/news/former-all-pro-running-backs-adrian-peterson-le-veon-bell-to-box-in-exhibition I hope Le'Veon beats the snot out of Peterson.

No, it's just semantics.