MR8

When it was an "Institution" and on broadcast it was must see TV because it was readily available to the masses. It was the last chance to see football until next Sunday... now they have games on Thursday so it's not as big a deal. Plus in our 24 hour news cycle and information straight to the palm of our hand, we don't feel ANY lag from being away from Football news etc... Moving it to ESPN was a death knell because it took the product away from people who could watch it without cable, which stripped the NFL of featuring the best games and drumming up more sponsors etc. It's just as bad as Thursday Night being on NFL Network, but since they own that abomination of a network they pretend it's not a massive failure... but it is... The new TV contracts that come into play following the next CBA are going to get very interesting. The NFL is already testing the waters with different streaming services, and I bet they are going to try and spread out the games more to different networks to make sure their product is more readily available. Forcing people to need ESPN to watch what is supposed to be your MARQUEE game slate is just plain STUPID.... but putting it on NBC makes a whole hell of a lot of sense because anyone can watch it... same with CBS & Fox.... ABC doesn't want it since it's also owned by Disney and they've made a concerted effort to move all sports over to their ESPN division. Streaming rights and an end to the "Sunday Ticket" exclusivity contract that has been rumored is going to give the NFL the ability to have content Bidding Wars... it's going to be VERY lucrative in an ever intensifying "Content war" with the media conglomerates... Netflix and Prime are going to bend over backwards to shove NFL content onto their service.... Prime already has some of the Thursday night slate. CBS All Access will want the games that are one CBS, Disney will want the games that are on FOX to be put on the Hulu platform, and NBC is slated to launch it's own streaming service in 2022... so they will want more content there like they have Sunday Night Football on the NBC Sports app. Sorry got off on a huge tangent, but my fundamental point is the NFL is trying to put the best games in places where the MOST PEOPLE can see them... which is why Monday Night Football has gone WAAAAAY down since moving off broadcast TV and over to ESPN. Which is smart of them to keep the best games in places where the most people can see them, but its also stupid because those are supposed to be their "Marquee games" and they're making their ratings look like *****.

Very insightful, thanks...

5th in 2020 with a conditional 6th in 2021 depending on performance, games played, and if we re-sign him. He's great when healthy but as has been said over and over again in this thread, that's almost never. He's hitting the "past his prime" years, but he's still a presence on the field and makes some good plays. Picture TO at the end of his career but not as healthy. I'd take a late round flier on him to round out this WR Group... but I wouldn't do much more than that.

It depends what you want to do on Game Day etc... if you drive up Saturday you can take advantage of tons of great stuff in Buffalo, but if you stay in Hamburg it's all kind of a hike to get downtown etc... not crazy long, especially compared to NJ traffic, but a solid 30+ minutes to get to stuff... But if you stay in hamburg you're in prime location for Sunday. Take a look at some of the things you guys want to do, and pick your hotel based on that. If you've never been in the area, Niagara Falls is always a crowd pleaser, the Explore and More Childrens Museum is amazing and brand new downtown, plus you can check out Canal Side... it being late October it'll be cold but not snowing probably. You also have great dining, and great eats... I highly recommend you hit up some wings from Buffalo locations and see the difference here versus else where. Have fun man!

Historic stats mean nothing year to year... fans like to look back at that stuff, but any given Sunday any team can win. Unless you're Miami.... Dalton has played well against us, but we have a different team now than the last time we faced off... offense and defense... He's a year older, and showing decline. We have a QB on the rise, a stout defense, and all kinds of play makers. I like our chances regardless of what has happened in years past.

Entitled arrogant spoiled brat gets dropped into a bad situation for the first time in his life and has to deal with adversity... zero ***** given here..

There are on field guys who keep track of uniform stuff like this, those guys are the ones who have the authority to have a ref pull a player out of a game like OBJ last night. If they didn't have an issue with it then it's not an issue. I know one of the guys who does it for Bills Home Games and he said players will ask him before the game if something is alright so they don't get yanked off and fined. So OBJ doing what he did with the visor is a moron. But I am sure there is some rule that he has to wear socks, but nothing say he has to wear full socks lol. so he cuts them off, and if the rules don't explicitly say it's not allowed, he's fine.

Honestly I think Mason Rudolph has a ton of potential, and he was in discussion with the other top 5 QBs in that class... since the most QB needy teams took guys, he slid, but I 100% believe if the Bills weren't able to go up and get Allen like they did, they would've taken Rudolph later in the first or with one of their 2 seconds. He's got a ton of potential, and got to sit and learn behind big Ben for a year and see how it's done. I don't think they're in as bad of shape as other people think. They are depleted without AB but their D is still really good. I think they still can win 8-9 games.

Bet it, Bills -6 and take the Over fellas!!!! Bills 34 -Bungles 17

Well played sir, well played.

I hope he get healthy and finishes his career strong. I was happy they finally moved on from him, but the guy has been a solid NFL player for a long time, I hate seeing careers fall apart with injuries like this. It's that much more of a testament to Frank Gore and his career longevity at the RB position.

Gambling odds right now are 8 to 1 if you wanna bet the Bills winning the division over the Pats... we have the second best odds, the Dolphins are like a zillion to 1 lol

Don't cross the Moats!

Bills fans keep making this same mistake... stop comparing these Bills or this QB to the Bills and Bills QBs of the past... compare them to the rest of the NFL Today! That's what matters! Doesn't matter if he is the best we've had since Kelly, that's a VERY low bar.... We want him to be Good because he's good compared to the rest of the CURRENT MODERN NFL.

Interesting... I still say Allen needs to be compared to his class and Watson & Mahomes because Mahomes was TAKEN WITH OUR PICK... But I will concede that based on this link, you're right, it seems there as a high probability we would've leaned Watson not Mahomes had we taken one.... FTR, I am not saying Allen sucks or something, but we did choose to NOT take two guys who are established franchise QBs and kick the can down the road to get a shot at "A QB" who became Allen. So in year 2 talking about where Allen fits in, when Mahomes in year 2 was a proven Franchise QB, and Watson in year 1 set the leage on fire and was great in his second year.... Allen is behind them. He can still catch up, and I hope he does, but it's definitely worth noting that we passed up 2 of the best young QBs in the NFL to wait on a QB. So if Allen doesn't become what they are, that's a fail.

Early on teasing the coach for doing it was funny... then it got old.... we're WAAAAY past old lol I don't care anymore. It's just his way of pumping his players up... it's like making fun of someone for smiling too much... who really cares??? leave the guy alone. See I see it differently saying McBeane, at least for me, Is because they came in "together" and they are truly a partnership running the team, and when you reference one you generally reference the other talking about what they're doing so it's almost short hand. IMHO it's a compliment to them for being one unified force running the team. It's not making fun of them at all... But I guess I can see how other people may feel differently.

Which makes the point even more accurate man... no matter who was running this team, it wasn't being done right. Whether it was Ralph at the young age of 95, a laywer, Snake Oil Salesman Russ Brandon, Fog Horn Leghorn Nix, whoever! They did a ***** job, and that's what drove us to where we ended up. The culture in the front office and locker room was so toxic it needed a top to bottom wipe out and start over. Something Ralph and the band of good old boys NEVER would've done... the Pegulas were a breath of fresh air, but there were still all sorts of fiefdoms and issues, so when they brought in McDermott, the agreement was that he could clean house top to bottom and start over to get rid of all that garbage. The Pegulas did the right thing saying yes... something no one had the guts to do in the teams entire history.

Well obviously that'd be great... but he hasn't shown that yet. McDermott was running the draft, so no I refuse to blame Whaley.... And Mahomes is looking like the next coming of Tom Brady, saying Allen can be better is just silly... Watson has been a better game manager and better QB since day 1 than Allen has shown yet... And Allen may have the potential to be great, he also has the potential to suck... works both ways brother. Its funny how quick people come out of the wood work to act like Allen is the best ever. Where is this coming from? Please provide sources since I've NEVER heard this before you posted it...

I'm not sure man, I would argue they had VERY good players on this roster BEFORE McBeane.... They weren't necessarily "The Right Players" but they were highly talented guys who've gone on to success elsewhere... Sammy Watkins, Ronald Darby, Robert Woods, Marcel Dareus (no one likes to admit he's played well), Marquis Goodwin, Preston Brown, Reggie Ragland... all guys who were here when McBeane took over, and all guys who have had varying degress of success elsewhere. There are many other great players who've come and gone during the Bills 2 decades of futility as well, but naming them becomes pointless. There are a lot of factors in building an organization and a team... think of it as a airplane in WWII... You not only need to get the right people on the plane, but you need to get the right people sitting in the right seats on the plane... You need the right guy flying, the right guy navigating, the right guy at the waist gun, the right guy on the tail gun etc.... If you don't put the right guys in the right places you have FAR less chance at success... and just like a plane in war, even with all the right guys, you can fail. But you're best chance is to have all the right parts in the right places, and get moving forward. So back to the Bills... for decades we've had some great players, we've had some good and great coordinators, But we didn't have the proper formula top to bottom. McBeane SEEM to have hit it right... the right people at the top organizing the plan, putting the right Schemes in, with the right players in those schemes, setting the course for the highest chances of success... Whether or not they are successful is still a matter of luck just as it is a matter of talent and everything coming together. But they SEEM to have torn this thing down to the studs, and started over hand picking all the guys for their seat on the plane. They are doing the same with their front office, and their coaches... they've made mistakes, and they've corrected those mistakes. The OP is correct, they take everything as a learning opportunity. I still think McDermott is VERY slow to learn lessons about being aggressive versus his overly conservative nature, and he's too digs his heels in on players he has decided are better despite stats proving other wise, for instance carrying the TolDozer as long as he did, and McCoy, and allowing Gore to carry the rock more than Singletary despite his success early... and on the flip side force feeding Ford into the lineup despite Ty being better hands down. But I still have seen him grow, recognize issues and correct them. I am encouraged all the way around by these guys, their mindset, and the way they are doing things. And they've brought in players who buy in 100% and have the same mindset. That is VERY valuable.... weather it = success is still up to the fates...

What makes me sick is #1 and #5 on your list are the guys we passed on to get the picks to get Allen the following year...

https://overthecap.com/salary-cap/buffalo-bills/ The best resource out there... Spotrac is great too with awesome articles, but I find Over the Cap to be better for straight up numbers... To cut and past for people who cant look at work: Current Contract (?: indicates contract trigger occuring during that year) Year Age Base Salary Prorated Bonus Roster Bonus Per Game Roster Bonus Workout Bonus Guaranteed Salary Cap Number Cap % Dead Money & Cap Savings Cut (pre-June 1)Cut (post-June 1)Trade (pre-June 1)Trade (post-June 1)RestructureExtension Total $29,900,000 $13,000,000 $3,500,000 $2,500,000 $1,100,000 $11,650,000 $50,000,000 2018 29 $3,500,000 $2,600,000 $0 $500,000 $100,000 $3,500,000 $6,700,000 3.8% 2019 ? 30 $7,150,000 $2,600,000 $1,000,000 $500,000 $250,000 $8,150,000 $11,500,000 6.1% $18,550,000 ($7,050,000) 2020 ? 31 $6,250,000 $2,600,000 $500,000 $500,000 $250,000 $0 $10,100,000 5.1% $7,800,000 $2,300,000 2021 ? 32 $6,500,000 $2,600,000 $1,000,000 $500,000 $250,000 $0 $10,850,000 -- $5,200,000 $5,650,000 2022 ? 33 $6,500,000 $2,600,000 $1,000,000 $500,000 $250,000 $0 $10,850,000 -- $2,600,000 $8,250,000

Only 1 thing is for sure.... the Giants will get to 4 losses first.

I think it's good they're getting him time and experience, but it's clear that Ty is the better OT at this stage. If Ford continues to struggle I think we'll see Ty get more and more snaps... we have been lucky with a soft start to our schedule, but once games start to get MUCH harder, they're going to need to pull back a bit on the juggling O-Line to get the best guys playing, but right now they're trying to build chemistry, an thanks to a softer schedule, they've been able to do a heavier rotation to see if it will "click" for the kid. Unless he takes a big step in week 3 against the Bungles, I see Ty getting 90% of the snaps against the Pats week 4. Thats a game they cant mess around... ideally we'll be 3-0 and it's for the division lead.

They'll go 8 of 10 passing 2 runs by Gore, and the drive will be capped by a 7 yard passing TD to Smoke... 80 yards