Flip Johnson

New England went 4-5 in their last 9 games last year. They lost to Miami at home in a must win game. They don't have a good roster and they are going into a rebuild. People talk about the Cassel year ... Matt Cassel was a decent player who took over an incredible roster. He was an NFL level starter and ended up taking KC to the playoffs a couple years later. Bill has never had a New England team like this. They are not winning the division.

I think the people who wonder if the AFCE is up for grabs are forgetting that it was absolutely up for grabs last year. The Bills came within a play or two of beating New England in Foxboro and would have won the division already. In this upcoming seasons as the rosters now stand I don't think New England has a single positional grouping that is better than Buffalo. You could make the argument for offensive line, but I'm not sure I would buy it.

JK Bruce Thurman Marv

2005-12 - the irrelevance of Mularkey, Jauron, and Gailey and the incompetence of the front office was really agonizing. 2014 - on the edge of the playoffs and ending the drought, then losing to Oakland 2016 - when it became obvious that Rex had no answers and we were starting over.

The compensation was not the point. It was all about the salary dump. Dareus had incredible moments - does anyone remember the hit he put on Geno Smith? The problem was that Whaley was so interested in accumulating talent he didn't recognize that he was paying guys who didn't play with consistent effort.

Agreed. With Kelly, Thomas, Reed, Smith, Tasker - you are talking about guys who are not only legends but one of the most resilient sports teams in the last thirty years. McDermott is a student of culture. He can learn from those guys. Also, it's April - they aren't breaking down film.

If you believe that Tom and Bill both badly want to win without each other (which I do): Belichick is playing the long game. TB has 1-2 years left max, Bill can coach as long as he is healthy and has the desire. The 2020 Pats don't have the horses, TB or otherwise. They have an old roster and they have cap problems. They haven't drafted a Pro Bowler since 2013. There was no reason to think that running it back with Brady was going to work. Tom will go to Tampa get hurt and that will be the end. Bill will have a great time playing 2020 with a terrible roster and getting credit for grinding to 9-7 ... but he is playing the long game and trying to load up for another run. How Stidham fits into this is obviously anyone's guess.

Because of the investment of the pick, I would guess he is very likely to make the team. If he struggles in camp the team might still keep him on as a KO specialist.

Olson or anyone other vet type is a progress blocker. Knox has big time talent and the right thing to do is put the pressure on him.

Coleman is a factor in the passing game and could be a great pickup if healthy.

He talked to a lot of people, many of whom have an ax to grind. PSE is probably overextended and they are going to be hit by the recession just like everyone else and that means people will lose jobs. The "toxic culture" accusations really weren't supported that I could see.

He threw for 3000 last year. Josh for MVP is like a 3-way parlay and none of the bets are entirely implausible. 1. The Bills would have to win 12+ games and win the AFC East. 2. He would need a couple big 4th Q comebacks or strong games on the national stage. 3. He would need to have about 40 TDS rushing and passing (last year was 29). Cam Newton in 2015 would be the model. Team has a great season, 60% passing, 45 TDs rushing and passing

Great to see - mechanics look good. In my opinion, Josh's deep ball issues were at least 50% mental last year. It wasn't something we were talking about after 2018 when he had a lot of late season success throwing long to Foster. After a couple early misses in 2019 and then he threw one late down the middle against NE, I think it got in his head a little bit.

Actually - trying to diminish this. Good for Brees and the Pegulas.

He can legitimately get after the QB. I think he is going to give us something this year - if he becomes a legitimate edge threat in the 7th round that is a huge steal. As stated, he lost contain a few times and it became tough to play him. Should be able to grow out of that.

Belichick is interested in Super Bowls. I think he is also interested in getting a 7th without TB. He also knows he has a window of time that Brady doesn't. They aren't going to tank per se, but they may need to take a year to reload. If BB is healthy, he may have 5-7 more years at the helm - it is not like this guy has a lot of other interests outside of football. He would probably also like to groom his son to succeed him or become the full-fledged DC. He had to look at TB's performance and see that giving him 30M per based on past performance might get the team back in the playoffs but was not going to get them past the Chiefs or help them long term. Now he gets to build for the future and play Stidham or perhaps draft another prospect ... I could also see the Pats trading to get Jacoby Brissett back from Indy. If they go 9-7/10-6 you can already hear the media saying, "this is one of the best coaching job's Belichick's ever done" - he gets off on trying to win games with a bunch of spare parts.

This. People forget that the Oilers had absolutely annihilated the Bills just the week before and knocked them out of the bye - which is why the home playoff game in Buffalo was blacked out locally. The Oilers honestly were better - they had elite offensive firepower. Moon had the accuracy of Brees in his prime. But they took their foot off the gas against the a team with legendary competitive spirit. Marv deserves a lot of credit for in game decisions in that game - the onside kick down 35-10, and going for 4th and 5 down 35-24. He was not always the most aggressive coach but he had a sense for the moment in that game.

Most people knew in the moment and everyone can see in hindsight that CJ Spiller was a luxury pick at #9 in 2010. The way the RB position has been re-valued in today's NFL, where would a Spiller-type player get picked now, ten years later? Third round? And speaking specifically of the Bills I would love to see them draft a guy like Spiller - just not at #9. If the Bills could find an explosive RB to play behind Singletary that could also give you something out of the backfield and in the return game, that would be a huge addition. The 2010-12 Bills had a thousand issues, but the Jackson/Spiller backfield was fantastic - it was Spiller's draft position (esp. compared to Fred as a UDFA) and relatively low usage that caused so much discontent among fans. The complement was excellent and I'd like to see a similar thing again.

I'm all in on AJ Green if the price is right. Spottrac has his market value at 2yrs, 18M which seems unbelievably low to me. I would be thrilled to get him at 3/27 in a similar deal as we got John Brown. - He's been in Bengals purgatory for years and has seemed to function well on a small market team. - Huge target for JA ... his numbers are down in recent years but his YPC is not - he's still getting downfield. - He's had a whole year away from football and would be coming with something to prove.

I for one, will be happy if Shady gets a ring and I hope that he is active for the Super Bowl. But whether he was sick or not this past week, the truth is that the Chiefs don't really need him. The other backs have more straight line speed and power than he does at this point.

We need an upgrade at punter. He is FAR away from the top half of the league. His punt in the 3Q up 16-0 was one of the hidden catastrophes in that game. The Texans had nothing going on offense and Bojorquez had a chance to pin them inside the ten - instead he airmails one into the end zone for a net of 22.

There is a lot to consider: - Kraft's willingness to part with Brady, who is like a son to him. - Belichick's willingness to preside over a rebuild with Stidham or some other young QB. - The team's internal belief about Stidham. - Whether McDaniels gets a HC job - he is probably the first domino to drop since he'll be interviewing this week. - Brady's pride - would he take a discount? - The plausibility of resigning Brady at a $$ amount he is happy with as well as completely retooling the skill players on offense, along with a new offensive coordinator. They have nothing right now.

Houston is similar to Dallas - a lot of star power, and the potential to look amazing, but not a consistently great overall team. There may be a feeling out process early, but we need to get control of the game by the 2nd quarter, and make the Texans throw. The Bills don't want to chase this game. But if we get in front, our secondary will control Watson, Singletary will get going, and Josh will sustain drives. If we get up early I think we could kill them - if not the game goes down the wire.

I think the Bills will be hell to eliminate. If I had to guess, I'd say that they will lose in the second round, but I wouldn't bet on it. I could see them coming out of the AFC. No one should want to play them. They are tough minded, good on the road, well-coached, top 3 defense, and they have a QB with a knack for big plays in the 4thQ.

No one is arguing that his drops are incredibly frustrating, but he is going to be an animal in the years to come.