GunnerBill

Dorian Williams has no idea where he is supposed to be. That turnover is a killer.

Oh FFS.

Ed Oliver blew that up. Forced Stick right into Lewis.

We have a problem is if Bernard is done. Was a flag on Benford. But again.... there will be chances for the DBs tonight.

Ugly on offense so far. Need to see that 3rd down again. Looked like a miss by Josh but not sure if Gabe was as precise as he coulda been in his route.

Not a great first drive on defense but I am fine the Chargers putting the game on Stick. If they want him to throw 20 plus downfield 3 times a drive we will have opportunities for turnovers.

Anyone elese got basically no background noise? Is it just the UK broadcast. I have the commentators but no background sound.

I normally stay up if I am at home. I have a routine. But I am already at my sister's for the holidays. And my eyes were going at 9. If I had tried to stay up I'd have failed. Now can they just kick this thing off???

Yep. England.

Let's gooooo Buffaloooooo! Getting up for this was damn hard. Make it worth it.

Ha. Win tomorrow and we will win the league. Had we not blown it 2 up at Anfield last year we'd have won the league. Arsenal title wins always seem to feature a win at Anfield (98 apart when we were already Champions before we went there).

Josh's career high rushing attempts was last season under Dorsey (and it was in a 16 game season last year rather than 17 and he'd have to run 44 times in 3 games to break it this year). The narrative that Dorsey never let Josh run is false.

And Dorsey in a sense is the same as Kurt. He was running the offense that he would run if he was still playing. Where his best asset was his processor. That isn't who Josh is.

I watched that and to me Kurt misses the key point. Which is that so much of his offense requires consistent execution. It asks Josh to make the right read time and time again which isn't really the thing that makes Josh special (not saying he can't read defenses, but that isn't his special trait). And it asks the receivers to run really precise routes and separate early again and again (and then catch the ball at a high clip) - we don't really have the skill players for that either. Brady is still running largely the same scheme but he is trying to do two things - 1 more movement pre-snap to try and speed up some of the reads and create natural picks and leverage; and 2 attack the middle of the field more to increase natural YAC possibilities rather than relying on our receivers catching balls and then breaking tackles outside (not their strength). I said it earlier... I wouldn't be shocked if Ken went somewhere else and succeeded. But his method of running this offense with these players asked them to do too much that they are not excellent at and not enough of the things they really do well. He wasn't clueless or incompetent as others have ascribed him. Give him the Eagles offense and I am sure his scheme would work. But for this set of skill guys you need to be a bit more creative, use a bit more misdirection, a bit more eye candy and put the defense in more binds before you snap the ball. Tre had just played two excellent games. Easily his best since the injury. He was rounding into form when he got hurt. Don't disagree on leaving earlier for London but not sure another day or two would have made the difference against a team that had been here well over a week. Agree also about the lack of draft capital on receiver. That is beyond doubt. That is on Brandon Beane.

And in fairness the pattern for the last 3 seasons now has been don't run Josh earlier in the season but as the moments get bigger they have used his legs more. In 2021 he averaged 6 rushes per game through 10 games then almost 9 rushes a game thereafter. In 2022 he averaged 7 rushes per game through 10 games then almost 9 rushes a game thereafter. This year he averaged a tick under 5 rushes per game through 10 games and then so far 8 rushes a game thereafter. This pattern has now been consistent under 3 coordinators which makes me think it is part of their strategy. Limit the rushing early in the year but go to it later.

30 days. If yours is less, move to a better country with proper employment rights 🤷‍♂️

Does that mean I'll get to bed at a reasonable time? Memo to the NFL: please, please, please punish the Bills for their disappointing losses this year with no more than 2 prime time games in 2024. It is bad for my sleep pattern, bad for my work performance and bad for my annual leave allowance to keep making us play 6 or 7 prime time games at stupid o'clock in the morning UK time. If you don't heed my request we will send you Boris Johnson back and he can ***** up your country too.

Yep. Hopkins was a horrible situation for the Bills. They drafted him, committed to him, released Lindell and then he suffered a season ending groin tear on the eve of his rookie year. Carpenter came in and made 91% of his FGs including multiple game winners in what turned out to be a career year. It kinda left them in a perilous spot. Go with a proven vet who just had an exceptional year or roll with the kid who has never kicked in an NFL game off a major groin injury. There is another dimension somewhere where Dustin Hopkins is the Bills kicker for a decade. But in this dimension circumstance put paid to it. Spector was a 7th and is still on the roster im year 2 as a core STer and a backup LB. That is not a miss. Vosean Joseph, yep they missed badly on that pick, no doubt, but he was a 5th rounder. Not a day 2 pick.

If the Bills lose to the Herbert, Allen and Bosa less Chargers I will eat my hat.

We ran one with Diggs in one of the last two games. I think it was at KC but might have been Dallas. We didn't actually execute it very well and I think we got like a very small gain.

This is like 1000 times more likely than the OP's scenario. By Christmas Day the Bills will control their own destiny.

I am hesitant because at that time it would have been the wrong call. He had coordinated the #2 offense in yards and points in his 1 season as a coordinator. If you fire a guy at that point it isn't just about firing him it is the way that decision is perceived and what it says about your franchise. It would have been the wrong call. While the overall numbers were still strong in 2023 the run of performances before he was let go, pointless first halves, ugly offensive drives and an increasing feeling that things were stuck despite better offensive talent than a year ago.... the case was much more persuasive. So no, I don't accept that the people who wanted him fired after one season were visionaries. They were premature.

I don't think firing Dorsey after last season would have been correct. I think had they fired him after the Giants game that would have been defensible.

One can also hold an opinion that is wrong at a momen in time that if held later would be correct. Even if there is grounds for firing McDermott after this season, that doesn't mean you were right when you wanted to fire him 2 years ago. It doesn't work like that. Life isn't so binary.

I agree with all this and they DID interview two external candidates before they hired Dorsey - who you are correct was Daboll's first choice for OC with the Giants. It wasn't a crazy hire and actually early on the Bills offense thrived in his slightly simplified version of the Daboll scheme. He stripped out some of the bells and whistles, focussed on running our core stuff and running it well. The issues arose when teams got the book on that a little bit and his scheme didn't evolve and as I said above I think it asked for too much in terms of consistent execution from an inconsistent set of players, especially skill guys. I wouldn't have fired him last summer but I did have some doubts after year 1. I think they could have pulled the trigger a few weeks sooner after the Giants game which was as bad as the Bills have been on offense probably since that game Derek Anderson had to start. But that would be my only critcism. That said when you hire a coordinator and it doesn't work out and you fire that guy within 2 years that is on the Head Coach ultimately and he has to own it.