All I Need is Hope

Luckily, the Bills have put a great structure around Allen (coaching, upgraded talent, system, continuity). So, they're giving him and themselves every chance to be successful and to get a true read on Josh (taking away as many bad variables as possible). I'm sure that Beane and McDermott have a very good sense for the level of qb play needed to win a championship. I would guess that they are starting to get a sense for whether or not Josh can get there, and that the end of next year will be the decision-point. I'm pretty sure that they wouldn't need a year four to decide whether or not they can win a championship with Allen. I wouldn't be shocked if they drafted a QB, mid-rounds.

If you consider Beane's approach to-date, how close we are to competing for a championship and the young core that we have; then I think that he spends on 1-2 playmakers this offseason. For example, the 49ers added Dee Ford and Emanuel Sanders... I could see something like this happening; then continue to draft well, add a few tier 2 free agents (OL/DB) keep and develop our own.

I went to the Browns/Bills game... first live game since Allen began starting. This sucks to admit to myself, but I now firmly believe that he won't be able to become an accurate enough passer to be effective (consistently score in the mid to high 20's point range). There's a lot that we can point to regarding their inability to score more than 14-20 pts per game, but the most basic and important reason is Josh's inaccuracy.

The first time a Bills fan throws a ***** on the field, that will make 12 total

Randle had 137.5 sacks in his career. I’ll settle for 120 with Oliver ?

At least 58% accuracy (assuming oline and receiver upgrades), at least 3500 yds, 2:1 td to int.. If he's in the mid-50's next year, really need to decide if he can ever succeed (succeed = deep into the playoffs, winning games when you have to throw it 40+ times).

Some room for optimism, but this team needs a lot. I also wish that Edmunds and Allen showed more to give us more than hope for the future.

I agree, not ideal by any means... thankfully, it sounds like he has Jordan Palmer to lean on. He also seems mentally really tough and smart, so, hopefully he continues to progress and realizes that the team has resources next year to greatly improve (assuming they don't f it up).

Daboll's assessment seems to make sense from the standpoint that Allen hasn't really thrown with any anticipation yet. He just looks around and slings it with that ridiculous arm. I'm sure that he'll get more comfortable throwing to a spot; with coaching, experience and NFL caliber receivers.

So, Groy is the problem? They can't all grade well and give up a s&%t ton of sacks, have rushers get into the backfield unblocked and have a 3.8 YPC avg.

If we’re talking hypotheticals / wish lists, I’d unload the Brinks truck (money, picks, players) for Aaron Donald... definitely need to get better up the middle

With Coleman's injury history and limited book of work, and not even one semi-proven deep threat behind him, I'm sure that some teams have a surplus of speed. Not saying they are the answer, but someone like Mike Wallace, Desean Jackson, Maclin...

Considering Allen's deep accuracy and ridiculous arm and the dimension it brings to the offense that EVERY defense has to account for; do you think that Beane and co. are / should be actively looking for a proven (more proven than Coleman) deep threat? I know that we can't get a Julio or AB, but maybe give up a player or pick for an upgrade?

This made my day... thanks for sharing. My capacity to hate the Patriots and their fans is practically unlimited... f'in douches

It looks like Seantrel Henderson got some limited work on Sunday. Does anyone know if they're trying to work him in more? After all of his time away and his Crohn's, I'm not certain if he's an upgrade over Mills or Dawkins. Anyone have info / insight regarding Henderson?

Does anyone think that our good starts with new regimes / philosophies / schemes are based upon teams not "figuring us out" because there's not a lot of tape on us yet? And that eventually, they do figure us out, and our marginal talent can't beat decent teams "straight up"? I truly hope that this isn't the case and that this staff / front office is really competent and beginning to transform the culture. However, it seemed like the Jets defensive scheme of lining up their d-line wide and the delayed blitzes neutralized a lot of what the offense is predicated on. I suppose that time will tell, and I hope I'm wrong. Thoughts?

Is losing Gilmore in his prime, then using a 1st rounder on a CB, the definition of spinning our wheels? Especially considering all of the other holes to fill on this roster (safety, DT, #2 WR, etc). This is frustration talking, but to be mired in mediocrity for 18 years, and be bleeding talent (Gilmore, Woods, Aaron Williams, Goodwin, maybe Zach Brown) really sucks.

Just curious to know how we'll achieve 7-9 this year... in "we're close / must win now" mode or "rebuilding" mode? Has OBD declared?

In any scenario or calculation methodology, it's staggering that a team can miss for 17 years in a row. Especially considering that the league is designed to give poorly run teams a fighting chance to catch up (e.g. - bad teams picking higher in the draft, given first dibs on waived players). This mess is deep-seeded, cultural and can be traced directly to bad decisions by ownership and top leadership (and never being able to find a consistently above average QB). Any way you slice it, they need a complete house-cleaning; and to bring in a highly capable / objective / respected set of external eyes (multiple people, specializing in building high-performing cultures and an "operating system" ala "The Steeler or Patriot Way") to evaluate the entire organization, create a unifying vision, and taking steps to operationalize the vision... for the last 17 years, they've been drifting aimlessly, in a league that will eat you alive without the above elements.

I agree that their style crosses the line and gets somewhat personal. However, this franchise is hopeless, and trotting Anthony Lynn out before any ownership or management press conference shows either a deliberate lack of respect for that man, their cowardice, or (most likely) more evidence of their lack of qualifications to run a professional sports franchise. That might be one of their most disappointing moves to-date. Sully and Gleason pile on, for sure, but they are absolutely spot on regarding the need to bring in external resources that will oversee Whaley & Brandon (if both are kept), and try to understand how this organization can be this rotten and awful, for this many years.

I love the fact that Sullivan is one of the few people that really rips into this pathetic turd of a franchise. It's been so long since they've been good, that I can't recall what he was like back then. If this team were in NYC, Chicago or Boston, they would have a bunch of Sully's calling out their failure and ineptitude on a regular basis. 17 f'ing years, they deserve Sully.

I'm really having trouble understanding this one. I don't get angry anymore, because I realize that the majority of the decisions made by this organization are usually bad. However, why in the world are they starting Tyrod? If he wins against the terrible competition coming up, our draft position suffers. Virtually everyone has decided he's not good enough to get to and win in the playoffs, and there's several rumors that he won't be kept. So, we lose draft position and don't gain a thing. So, there's no down-side to starting Cardale. If he shows REAL (not the Chris Brown / Russ Brandon / John Murphy-fueled false hope) promise, great. If he's ok, great as well, at least we start to know what we have. If he's terrible, we lose and our draft position gets better. NO DOWNSIDE. If I was Pegula, I'm not sure how the hell I'm convinced that starting Tyrod is the right move.

I'm completely onboard with the premise of this thread and starting Cardale for the last 4 games. Buffalo's talent evaluators have to be drawing the same conclusions as most of the fan base, that being; we will never go far into the postseason with Tyrod, and we've seen his ceiling. Therefore, start Cardale, and at least see if the game isn't too big for him, he has the makings of an NFL starter (command the huddle, not panicking, pre-snap reads and adjustments, throwing receivers open / before they're out of their breaks, etc.). Unfortunately, I think that this is too progressive and "risky" for the knuckleheads that are making decisions at OBD. Maybe Terry will step in and mandate this?

Man, this team is tough to follow. They are so lucky the have a loyal fan base. They really test us. I've vowed to not watch the first 4-6 games this year, and see where they stand after those. If they're competitive, somewhat disciplined and are legitimately a play-off contender, I'll come back aboard. Just my way of staying connected, but not wasting several Sundays on a team that is very likely to be mediocre again. Not sure how relevant this is to this thread, but I feel better now.

Badly, 26CornerBlitz 30 year fan, just bitter and cynical now.