Flip Johnson

"Why don't you come down here and say it to my face?" would be juvenile in high school

This is from 2018

That is a massive loss to Houston. We can contain Hopkins if he is the only one to really worry about. Watson is a very proficient deep passer and Fuller has elite speed and can really make things challenging.

I know we'll have all offseason to talk about this, but I want to mention that by my calculations Buffalo is one of only four teams in the AFC that could feel genuinely good about their QB situation going into 2020. KC - they have a star in Mahomes. Houston - they have a star in Watson Baltimore - they have a star in Jackson Buffalo - they have a young QB that improved drastically from yr 1 to yr 2. Everyone else ranges from "uncertain" to "starting over" to "no plan whatsoever." New England - headed towards a major decision with a 42-yr old QB. Seems like a parting of ways New York Jets - will obviously stick with Darnold but the mono, the coaching situation, and the general mess of the team has made this a wasted year in his development. Miami - should be drafting a QB Pittsburgh - hoping Ben comes back healthy, no long term plan in place. Cleveland - will stick with Baker but can't be happy about the way the needle is pointing, as yr 2 has been much worse than yr 1 Cincinnati - drafting Tennessee - big decision on making a financial commitment to Tannehill based on half a season. Indy - probably realizing Brissett is a backup. Jacksonville - probably cleaning house, in jail with the Foles contract, can't really think Minshew is the answer. Los Angeles - probably realizing Rivers is done. Oakland - can't feel great about Carr, could be drafting. Denver - crossing their fingers about Drew Lock.

Houston would probably be a 3 1/2 point favorite at this point. I like the matchup a little more than TN and a lot more than KC, but it would be a very tough game. Will Fuller is a huge X-factor for the Texans. Hopkins is unbelievable, you can just try to contain him, but the Bills would be able to do that. If Fuller is healthy, which seems like less than 50% of the time, he can kill you.

One thing that has become clear over the last three years - Sean McDermott is a top end NFL coach. To me, the most important question of the coach is - what is his contribution? What is it that he does that affects the game? Maybe eight or ten do something substantial - Belichick, Harbaugh, Tomlin, Reid, Payton, Carroll, McVay - McDermott is stepping into that tier. I don't know if any team in the league uses defensive timeouts as often as the Bills, but last night McDermott set up in base personnel, saw the Steelers offensive look, called TO, and brought pressure resulting in the Poyer INT. That is changing the game. People can complain as much as they want about challenge flags or use of time outs. With McDermott the Bills have a defensive mind that changes the game for the opponent every week. He is an A+ in terms of scheme and preparation and he has the ability to be the CEO of the organization and keep everyone focused. He won't win CoY this year and he doesn't need to. I hope he stays fifteen years.

The Steelers are a 2-pt favorite. Everyone who bets on Pittsburgh using the "tough homefield, good defense" logic, is going to feel silly when they watch the Duckster try to play from behind. If the Bills get control of this game in the first half, it will get late early, a la the Denver game.

Yes, there were borderline calls that went in the Bills favor in the 4th quarter. But the missed twelve men in the huddle was HUGE ... Jackson is not a great drop back passer and 3rd and goal from the 8 or 9 vs. 3rd and goal from the 3 or 4 is a massive difference. That's why McDermott was going ballistic on the sideline. That was a 4-pt missed call.

The Steelers can't beat you with their offense and they know that. Mason Rudolph was killing them. Hodges isn't killing them - they just hang in there and let their defense and ST try to win it.

What's potentially helpful is if the wind shrinks the field on Baltimore's offense and allows the Bills to commit more bodies to stopping the run. If Baltimore seems reluctant to throw deep or outside the numbers then it could help the Bills contain the running game at least to some degree. The wind vs. Philly absolutely stopped Wentz's downfield passing game but that did not help the Bills - they got gashed by power runs and screen passes.

You've read Exley's book? My memory of that book was that it is bizarre and disturbing and only tangentially related to football.

Their offensive line has dropped off and Gurley has gone from an elite RB to a borderline player in just a season. The whole offense was predicated around Gurley - his running ability and the play action off that run. Goff is not and never has been a good drop back passer. Without a dominant line and a dual threat RB, Goff is getting exposed.

It is amazing that Elway didn't get in on the 2018 draft class - whether it was JA or anyone else. They were sitting right there with obvious need.

I loved the 11 personnel against Miami, but it will be fascinating to see how they attack Denver. Ford is going to need some help, so we may Smith or Kroft or Gore playing more to help chip Miller or whoever is matched up against Ford. Or the Bills may take their chances and try to play up tempo, stick with 3WR, and tire the Broncos pass rush out.

It would be nice to have Connor McDermott on the PS at this point. But I don't see the Bills bringing in a 30-yr old guy with Henderson's history. They like Bates anyway.

I don't know if anyone has noticed this: If you break the season into quarters, or four game segments, the first three quarters mirror each other. The 1st, 5th, and 9th games are all on the road, and they are all 50/50 games that will ultimately decide the fate of your season. (@Jets, @Titans, @Browns ... I know Jets looks easy in hindsight but the Bills were slight underdogs). There are two 'gimme' games in each quarter - Giants/Bengals, Dolphins/Skins, and Dolphins, Broncos. There is one game each quarter that gets national attention - Pats, Eagles, Cowboys and the game becomes a free shot if you take care of the 50/50 game. Unfortunately for the sake of symmetry the fourth quarter of the season doesn't really hold to this pattern. Just a weird quirk I wanted to point out.

The MNF broadcast has gotten so bad - the Tessitore-McFarland booth has to be the all time low.

Haskins is at this point not one of the top 60 Qbs in the NFL. And he is coming to Buffalo on a windy day in the cold against one of the best pass defenses in the NFL. Not going to go well for him.

great job by Josh!

If Motor misses a game or two then I agree we could use another back with more pop than Gore. But we don't need to trade a pick for a guy who become redundant as soon as we're healthy. This is where you trust your scouting department, whether that's promoting the kid from the PS or finding someone the way they found Gillislee a few years ago.

As McD would say, it's about the 'growth mindset.' The bigger picture is that the team is only just starting to take shape. Allen, the O-line, Singletary, the rookie TEs, and the WR corps are only scratching the surface of what they are capable of.

If you had said 'does Tyree remind you of a much worse EJ Manuel?' then we might have had something.

Learn pass protection

Frazier's comments make it sound like this guy is a roster lock. Last year we took Austin Proehl in the 7th round!

I would like to see him progress but it doesn't make sense to keep him around unless he takes a giant leap in the next two games. - He is a hindrance to the development of our backups WRs. - He would not be able to effectively run the scout team offense. - If Barkley got hurt we would sign someone off the street before we promoted TJ to backup. For those who think he should have stayed at UB - sure, but that isn't exactly the best place to develop either.