GunnerBill

Yep, has happened to the Bills before. McDermott's first year or second year I think. It was McDermott but it was Shady carrying the ball so 2017 or 2018.... he was stopped right at the line, it was moved forward an inch but still short of the line.

Agree, I've made that point too.

Indeed the week before Devin Lloyd said he knew the Chiefs counter to a zero blitz so he just had to get in the right vicinity and the ball came right to him. If you mined defensive pressers after every game it is what they all say. Film study is real. Every team does it. The number of times a year one genuinely surprises another with a gameplan is very rare. Generally NFL football games come down to execution and talent.

The oline was not great, it had a below average day in pass pro but it wasn't horrendous. The pressure was largely blitz pressure and that's where your backs have to block, you have to have hots built into your scheme, those hots have to win early and Josh has to get the ball out to them fast. And it was no one element of that that failed consistently, but each element was a problem at least a couple of times and that led to what we saw.

Great suggestion. I am all for this. Hate the look around and start waving for a flag. I'd let coaches do it, but any player making a flag throwing motion gets a 5 yard penalty. Yea I'd make personal foul only negatable by another personal foul. Any other penalties offset. But personal fouls should stand.

I agree with number 1 totally. It's a minor thing but it is inconsistent. If a team runs a fake punt and the punter throws it incomplete the next line of scrimmage isn't from where the ball is thrown. It's the same concept IMO. A kick is more akin to a pass attempt. It's different than someone travelling with the ball. Agree. The only thing I don't like about the changes to the kick game is the declared onside kick, but that was the previous rule change not this one. The removal of the surprise onside option is a shame. That sounds like a you problem. I NEVER run out of wine. That is a rule in my house.

You missed the Cook extension. But otherwise spot on. I have made the same point just about the 12 big investments in dollars or picks last spring. They are not getting the contributions you would hope for. Taking it even more down to brass tacks since the Allen draft Beane has had one "home run" draft year - 2022. And he even managed to bust his first rounder that year. Rolls a lot of singles. But at this stage the lack of doubles is really starting to hurt.

Or not even play well for 4 Quarters. Just don't play so poorly for 2 Quarters that it was barely believable that it was a professional football team out there on defense. They literally were incapable first hald of doing the most basic of basics right. That is what concerns me the most about it. Their fundamentals are absolutely miles off.

It is not the first time Ullbrich has done that to him. The loss to the Jets a few years back where he ended up hurting his elbow was strikingly similar. It was Josh's worst game definitely since Houston last year. Possibly longer. And if I thought it was just that which caused us to lose Id be relaxed. But as much as I'd love to say "it was just Josh had one his very rare bad days, we are all good" there was a lot more wrong than that.

Hmmm. I will hope it is just a super personal issue hence the mystery. The kid can play.

I think that is a bit of a cop out to be perfectly honest. I know I am biased. I was a much better coach than I was a player (different sport admittedly) but coaches coach and players play. Once they cross the white line there is an element to which you are powerless. They have to decide and they have to execute. And I honestly don't see that many players lost on offense. Unlike on defense where I do.

It is definitely an area the Bills can coach it better but I do think it is a bit of a Josh weakness too. Being a Quarterback is so mental and just getting to the point in less than a second where you understand "X is better than the potential of Y so take X" is really incredible mental processing. Josh can make plays Brady, Manning, Brees even Rodgers and Mahomes could only dream of. But he still doesn't quite make some of those mental decisions as quickly as those guys.

I don't disagree with any of that. But a change of scheme again risks that again (and I don't think we have the core prime age personnel we had in that period). We were horrible under Wandstadt though. And year 1 of Rex was horrible too. Year 2 they improved but not enough.

Did we? Whaley oversaw four seasons as GM - two Marrone seasons and two Rex seasons - with his DCs being Pettine, Schwartz, Rex (Thurman), Rex (Thurman and Rob). We had one great defense - Schwartz - and one good one (Pet). Rex's Ds were horrible. I think if we make a coaching change the first season would feel to me a lot like last year.... where I never really believed we were going to win the Superbowl but we were still a decent football team that wins double digit games. You'd still have a puncher's chance, because you have Josh, but you'd be a second tier favourite. I don't think that is a reason not to change coach. If Pegula believes McDermott should be fired he should fire him. Not hold on because he doesn't have an obvious replacement in mind or because he thinks it might take a mini transitional year.

I just think people make assumptions on Cook based on his body type, but he has been one of the most durable and reliable backs in the league. Thank heavens he has to, because the Bills O is in trouble without him.