Nihilarian

Even if Allen had hit on a few of those deep passes the Ravens MO is to still blitz 50% of the time. Allen wasn't that godawful in that entire game...despite being under extreme duress most of that game. 6 sacks, 12 QB hits, 15 QB pressures, 3 harries!" Trailing 24-9, Allen showed resolve in mounting a seven-play, 78-yard touchdown drive capped by his 3-yard pass to Cole Beasley, who dived inside the left pylon. The same two then hooked up on a 2-point conversion. Buffalo also fell short with a chance to at least force overtime, facing fourth-and-8 at the Baltimore 16, Allen stood in the pocket and sent a pass over the middle intended for John Brown only to have Ravens CB Marcus Peters break it up at the goal line. "I have to make more plays. I should've made that last play," Brown said. https://www.espn.com/nfl/recap?gameId=401127868 The game plan concocted by Ravens Defensive Coordinator Wink Martindale was simple and brutal – attack, attack, attack. Almost every time he dropped back, Allen was chased and harassed. The Ravens came in with modest pass-rush stats but registered six sacks and 12 quarterback hits. Matthew Judon set up a touchdown with a strip-sack. Buffalo's offensive line was overwhelmed. Allen and his offense still made some plays, left a few on the table and rallied late. But Buffalo didn't sniff the end zone until midway through the fourth quarter, and it's hard to complete a rally when your quarterback is running for his life. Tight end Dawson Knox dropped an on-target throw that would have extended a dangerous-looking drive in the third quarter. Drops by Devin Singletary and Cole Beasley ended another drive in the third quarter https://www.baltimoreravens.com/news/eisenberg-breakdown-five-thoughts-on-ravens-vs-bills Why don't you, (in your debunking mode) comprehend that it wasn't just the QB that failed in that particular game. The offensive line failed... the run game failed... the receivers failed to get separation, dropped balls. The Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator failed in finding a way for the O line to do a better job of picking up blitzes, find plays to get the run game working, find plays to make the pass game work better. The QB is just one part of an offense. He doesn't call the plays, set up the game plan, block for himself or catch his own passes. Feel better about Josh Allen... go back and re-watch that week 13 Dallas Cowboys Thanksgiving game where the Bills win in Dallas 26-15. You know, the game in which the Bills O line picked up the cover 0 blitzes. The game that the Bills receivers got separation and caught passes and where the run game was working. Despite being sacked four times Allen had a career game 19 of 24 for 231, 1 passing TD, one rushing TD and a rate of 120.7. Not bad for the 7th overall pick of the 2018 NFL draft.

First off, I never said it's always on the OC. What I said was, the buck stops with the OC and it certainly does no matter what you think or say. If the offense continues to fail the OC will get fired! I'm thinking if the 2020 Buffalo Bills offense stays north of 20th in yards this season. Daboll is a goner! I also never said the QB isn't partially to blame every game. It's not just all on the QB as it is a team sport and he has a job to get done too. The QB does get most of the blame though. If he fails at that job over many games, then yes, the QB might be the problem. Look back to the previous Dallas game where everything was clicking, run game, pass game, offensive line protected the QB when the Cowboys ran a cover 0 scheme, the receivers caught balls. Allen had the very best game of his career with a 120.7 rating. Guess what, Dak Prescott threw 49 times for 355 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT in a losing effort. However, in this particular Ravens game Allen was continuously put under the gun because the OC failed to get the run game working. Like others have said, Gore at this point shouldn't have even been dressing. And like I've said, Singletary was very much underutilized all season. So, the RB gets stuffed the first play, do you give up on the run game after that in that series, as It sure looks like that's what Daboll did again and again in the second half of that Ravens game. Yes, teams need the QB position to lead them. Just not attempt to or be asked to do it all by themselves. The late great 49ers HC Bill Walsh stated it generally takes four full playing seasons for an NFL QB to develop. Allen has had two seasons and that first one he really had little time in the pocket to develop as a pocket passer. He is learning and getting better the more he plays. That link I provided showed that and it also showed that he is more than fine with overthrowing a deep ball rather then seeing it get intercepted. The run game doesn't work, it doesn't work in the red zone...is that the QB's fault too? In my view Daboll needs to find a way to get that running game working in every game! He sure doesn't have a problem attempting to work that passing game no matter what.

From my view when the offense fails for whatever reason it's on the coordinator to find a way make things work. The Bills play the Patriots 2x a season and they run that very same cover zero defense that the Ravens used. The Bills need to learn a way to beat that defensive scheme!! The Titans found a way to beat it last season. The NFL is a "team" sport and it shouldn't all be on the young, inexperienced QB to make the offense work. The definition of stupidity is to keep doing the same thing over and over when its clearly not working. Why is it all on the QB to make things work? Yes, the O line couldn't get it done in pass block, run blocking, the receivers had difficulty getting open, catching balls. "A year after consistently struggling to place intermediate throws, Allen has been one of the league’s most accurate passers in that area of the field. He’s completed 64.7 percent of his throws between 10 and 20 yards this season—a jump of nearly 16 percentage points from his first season. Allen’s biggest gains in 2019 have come where he faltered most as a rookie." "Yet for all of Allen’s strides forward this season, his efficiency on deep balls has taken a drastic step back. He enters Week 12 ranked 22nd out of 25 qualified quarterbacks with a 30.2 adjusted completion percentage on passes of 20 yards or more, and he’s routinely sailed throws well out of reach of his receivers. But Allen contends that he’s comfortable with how the process is playing out. He’s OK with his deep ball accuracy coming together last; just like his golf swing, he knows that as long as he’s hitting the ball straight, the length will eventually come. “I’m 100 percent OK with an overthrow compared to a pick under,” Allen says. “I’ll take that 100 times out of 100.” https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2019/11/21/20975461/josh-allen-buffalo-bills-quarterback-perception A lot of Bills fans seem to forget that Allen didn't come from a big time college program and he only spent two seasons in a small time program that has never produced a top NFL QB. Allen was very raw out of college and has come a long way since then. Just remember the kid only has 27 NFL starts out of 32 going into his third season as a starting NFL QB. Also, It should never all be on the QB to win games as it is a team sport. Even experienced NFL QB's like Matt Ryan, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers fall on their face without a proper supporting cast. Watching those guys throw 40 times a game in a losing effort looks all to familiar.

We've had this very argument before. You can't run once a series and expect great results (even when Singletary broke off a 5 yard run in the 3rd quarter in one series, the Bills OC went right back to calling pass plays). Especially when the opposing defense is sending more rushers than defenders almost every offensive snap. Besides, there are more ways to beat a cover zero blitz other than attempting 4-5 deep throws at the start of the game. "Max protect", which means keeping RB's and TE's in to block and if the defense plans on sending 6-7 to rush then go to a dense formation and block with 6-7 as this will give the QB more time in the pocket to find an open receiver. This is what most teams use to throw deep but it also limits the amount of receivers. Another alternative is to spread the defense out, send everyone out and operate out of an empty set. With five receivers to cover the defense has a limited amount of players that they can rush, otherwise somebody is wide open. More receivers in the field means more chances to beat a defender one on one. This also puts the emphasis on the defense to protect because now that running QB has openings to run thru, the RB usually only has one defender to beat and its off to the races. It seems to me that you like defending Buffalo Bills OC Brian Daboll. It's like it's okay with you to put that 2nd year QB under the gun all game " 6 sacks, 12 QB hits, 15 QB pressures, 3 harries!" You act like Daboll is the 2nd year NFL guy who only had two seasons in a podunk college and it is Allen who has 11 years as an offensive assistant with the Patriots, a season with Alabama as their OC under Nick Saban. Two seasons as an NFL QB coach. Five seasons as an NFL offensive coordinator. That's 18 years of NFL experience! With all this wealth of NFL experience this man can't figure out how to stop a cover zero blitz from either the Ravens or Patriots? Yeah, that's right, this bothers me is that the Patriots also run a cover zero blitz against Allen and Daboll had no answer for it against them either. Or, perhaps as a long time Patriots assistant Daboll... Anyway, the Bills were in the Baltimore Ravens red zone four times and came away with three field goals, one TD. Why was it all on Bills QB Josh Allen to make that offense work? The Bills run game stalls or fails and the Bills OC has no answer but to keep asking that young, inexperienced to throw thirty nine times. Brian Daboll might have that New England Patriots play book, but he keeps putting the QB under the gun far, far to often while not working that run game. The Bills don't have scrubs on the O line like they had in 2018 and four of the five have been upgraded. There really shouldn't be any excuses for that Buffalo run game to fail like it does at times in the red zone. Bottom line here is the Buffalo Bills offense failed against both the Ravens and the Patriots 2x. Player execution at all positions, QB, O line, TE, RB, blocking, catching, drops. When the offense fails in so many areas it all falls on one guy, the offensive coordinator! What I find kind of funny is Titans OC Arthur Smith has 10 years of NFL experience as an assistant and only ONE season as an NFL offensive coordinator. This man drew up an offensive game plan to not only help beat the New England Patriots in New England in a 2019 WC game! He also drew up the offensive game plan to help beat the Baltimore Ravens in Baltimore in a 2019 divisional playoff round. Is that Titans offensive line 'that' much better than the Bills O line? Is their run game "that" much better than the Bills run game? Both Devin Singletary and Derrick Henry finished the 2019 season with 5.1 yards per rush attempt. 303 attempts 1540 rush yards vs 151 attempts for 775 yards "Motor" vastly underutilized all season in my view.

This game is a big point of contention for me simply because, for me, it highlights the inability of the current Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator to adapt and make the proper offensive adjustments on game day. The Bills had played on Thanksgiving day, Thursday previous and had extra time to rest, prepare for the Ravens. Anyone with a brain could research the Ravens defense in previous game to see that while not having one, two outstanding pass rushers they make up for that by blitzing almost 50% of the defensive snaps each and every game. Extra time to prepare, knew what to expect! First series Ravens game, 3rd and 4 deep middle pass incomplete for John Brown, PUNT. Second series, 3rd and 12 deep left pass incomplete for Robert Foster, PUNT. Third series 2nd and 10, incomplete deep left for Dawson Knox. 3rd and 10, pass incomplete deep left John Brown, PUNT. So, In the Bills first three series the answer for all that Ravens blitzing was to have Allen attempt four deep throws when the down and distance were not favorable. Then basically give up on the deep throw for most of the rest of the game. NOW, when the Ravens saw that Allen couldn't hit that deep pass which would have really hurt them with all their blitzing. The Ravens defense stepped up their blitzing from 50-55% of the defensive snaps to 65% or more. This put Allen under tremendous pressure the rest of the game. How much pressure you ask? The Ravens defensive players came on a blitz 96 times that game for 6 sacks, 12 QB hits, 15 QB pressures, 3 harries! For the fourth series in the second quarter the Bills went to the run game. After a 15+ yard penalty on the Ravens for roughing the passer the Bills reeled off seven straight runs from the Bills 42 to the Ravens 14 yard line. Four first downs by running with both Singletary and Allen. Result, FG. So, up until this point the Bills drives went, PUNT, PUNT, PUNT, FUMBLE, FG. With a score when the Bills finally decided to commit to run the ball. Now, the Bills know that they can run on the Ravens to stop all that Blitzing and yet the next series swap out Singletary for Gore. After a 1st down Allen is sacked on third down, PUNT. The Bills went back to the pass for most of the rest of the game with some on and off success. So, in a nutshell, after a few deep passing attempts to thwart the Ravens blitzing the Bills OC literally had no answer to stop that ferocious Baltimore Ravens Blitz! Just keep putting that 2nd year, inexperienced QB under the gun for 39+ drop backs. The Bills offensive line didn't do the job in stopping those blitzes, the receivers didn't do the job in getting open, getting separation. The Bills OC had no plan "B" or anything to effectively counter the Ravens defensive scheme. I also feel this was a game the Bills should have won in 2019. For 2020 the Bills have the 5th toughest schedule in the league and won't be facing bums at QB or many bad teams like they did in 2019. The offense will need to get it together and start scoring points ...and lots of them.

I agree! Lets face it, Brian Daboll drew a ton of interest as a possible head coaching candidate after that Dallas Cowboys Thanksgiving game. The entire NFL world was watching the only game on TV at that time. The Buffalo Bills offense and QB Josh Allen looked amazing during that game 356 yards of offense, 34 rushes for 124 yards, 1 TD. Allen 20 of 25 for 259 yards, 2 TDs passing, one TD running and a rating of 120.7. The play calls were great and the Bills had the better ToP 33:18 to 26:42. Dak Prescott threw 49 times for 355 yards, 2 TDs, one INT. Carolina had made it known that they were interested in Brian Daboll as their next HC after that Dallas game. Then came the Baltimore Ravens game the very next week with the Ravens blitzing 65% of their defensive plays and the Bills offense having literally no answer.. all.. game.. long! Josh Allen sacked 6 times and really nowhere to go with the ball as the Baltimore DB's covered Beasley and Brown very well. Allen went 17 of 49 for 146 yards, 1 TD and a rate of 62.6. That game Daboll calling 39 pass plays into a ferocious Ravens blitz with only 23 run plays. Needless to say that after this game Carolina lost interest in hiring Daboll as HC as they didn't even interview him. The only team that did interview Daboll for a HCing job were the Cleveland Browns. The 2020 season schedule looks to be much more difficult at #5 whereas the 2019 schedule was the 6th easiest and looking at the bums at QB they faced it was far easier than that. Darnold with Mono, an aging Eli, Dalton without his best receiver, Brady 2x both losses. Mariota 2-4 who was benched for Tannehill 7-3. Fitz 2x both wins. Wentz loss. Rookie Dwayne Haskins who clearly wasn't ready. Brandon Allen 1-2 who was replaced by Drew Lock 4-1. Baker Mayfield loss. Dak Prescott win. Lamar Jackson loss. Duck Hodges! Deshaun Watson playoffs, loss. No gimps this season. Yea, now with Diggs and Zack Moss Bills on the roster, Bills OC will have no excuses about a lack of talent this season.

What McD needs to learn is hiring sub par assistants at the coordinator position have killed so many Buffalo Bills head coaches over the last two decades. We know that Chan Gailey kept hiring the wrong DC's in George Edwards, Dave Wannstedt. Dick Jauron did the same thing starting with OC Steve Fairchild, who left to be a HC in college. To promoting QB coach Turk Schonert to OC, to firing him two weeks before a season started and again hiring a QB coach in Alex Van Pelt to OC. Doug Marrone and Nathaniel Hackett. Rex Ryan actually hired two really, really good offensive coaches in OC Greg Roman and Anthony Lynn. He fired the first and promoted the latter to OC to replace him. Both those offensive coordinators have done better than any previous or since, 2015 12th in points, 13th in yards total, alas 31st in passing attempts, 28th in passing yards. #2 in rushing attempts, #1 in rushing yards, #1 in rushing TD's, #1 in yards per attempt. Stating that, the Bills did have Cordy Glenn at LT, pro bowler Richie Incognito at LG, pro bowler Eric Wood at C in 2015. AND Tyrod Taylor as a running QB along with LeSean McCoy at RB. Under Anthony Lynn the Buffalo offense did improve on the field somewhat but were held back by QB difficulties. Still, #2 in rushing attempts, #1 in rushing yards, #1 in rushing TD's, #1 in yards per attempt. What did Rex Ryan in... was his own stupidity in running a defense that wasn't supported by the players on the roster. The man inherited the best defensive line and pass rush in the league and turned it into 31st. Ryan went on to cripple that great pass rush by changing that attack scheme to his scheme in being overly complex (where have I heard that before) Asking his pass rushing D linemen to drop into pass coverage or take on blockers ...so the the not so good linebackers could make a play. Play calls coming in late (where have I heard that before). Anthony Lynn is still the HC of the Chargers and Greg Roman is the OC of the 2019 14-2 Baltimore Ravens with the #1 offense in points, #2 in yards.

All that they simplified was the nomenclature, cadence. The scheme is very complex.

"Obviously, there is a bit of a difference between a 20-season veteran like Brady and the younger players of a rebuilding team. The reported result: confusion among those players and complaints that O’Shea wasn’t doing a good job of teaching the playbook. One player told the Herald that veteran quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick ended up taking more active role running the offense. The Harvard graduate reportedly had no major issues understanding the playbook." Fitz had no problem... the rest of the offensive players might have had difficulty adapting to that scheme though. Probably why O'Shea is gone. Look at what the Dolphins managed to do near the end of the 2019 season. They beat the Eagles in week 13, 37-31. A team that pounded Buffalo week 8, 31-13 and it wasn't even close. Buffalo was dominated by Philly on both sides of the ball. For the last game of the regular season, Miami also went up to New England and beat the Patriots 27-24 in one of my favorite games of the 2019 season. Along with the Titans beating the Patriots in New England in that WC playoff game 20-13. Anyway, when you consider that Josh Allen is a very, very bright young man. Daboll was coaching him very hard as he was yelling at him on the sidelines after some plays. Things changed for the better when Daboll went up into the booth to help Allen recognize what the opposing defense was doing before setting protections, calling the play. I also think this helped Daboll in seeing what the defense was about to do and call the appropriate play. Josh Allen has had very limited exposure to NFL offensive minds and Daboll is teaching him a very brilliant, complex offense. Now some might realize just how important it is to have a veteran QB in camp to help the younger QB's adjust to the NFL. My take is that Daboll is also setting up a very complex passing offense much like the Patriots run and he hasn't had an experienced veteran QB running those plays. Josh Allen for 2020 going into his third season. Brian Daboll 6 years exp as an NFL OC, his passing offenses in yards, 32nd, 29th, 23rd, 32nd, 31st, 26th. 2018 Wonderlic scores, Fitz had a 48 and is a 15 year veteran. Josh Allen (Wyoming): 37 Josh Rosen (UCLA): 29 Sam Darnold (USC): 28 Baker Mayfield (Oklahoma): 25 Lamar Jackson (Louisville): 13 https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2767339-report-josh-allen-josh-rosen-top-wonderlic-scores-for-2018-nfl-draft-qbs

https://sports.yahoo.com/dolphins-chad-oshea-fired-patriots-offense-too-complex-young-players-nfl-024041937.html According to a report from the Miami Herald, O’Shea was let go by the Dolphins after friction with teaching the Dolphins’ young roster a playbook with the complexities typically seen in Foxborough. Multiple players reportedly supported the decision to swap out O’Shea for veteran coordinator Chan Gailey. From the Herald: Additionally, a player reportedly said O’Shea made the situation worse by trying to install especially complicated elements of the Patriots offense used by Tom Brady and Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. So, Chan is back with Fitz now in Miami.

I like both Murph, Tasker and Brown. The latter as more of a guest. Glab, I don't care for at all.

https://www.vegasinsider.com/nfl/odds/las-vegas/ Bills -5 1/2 week one

I don't see it that way simply because the Bills didn't draft a Patrick Mahomes and they don't have anyone anywhere near as good Andy Reid setting up the offense, calling plays. The man is an offensive genius AND he has previously built a superbowl team. The Bills don't have a WR like Tyreek Hill or a TE like Travis Kelce. John Harbaugh, been there, done that. This will be Bill O'Brian's seventh season as an NFL HC of the Texans. Josh Allen was a known project that was supposed to sit for a season or partial season and instead was thrown into the fire because the guy they thought was good enough to start the season at QB wasn't even good enough to be a an NFL backup QB. I love Josh Allen, but he is not nearly as developed as he should be going into his third season. The main reason in my view is that the Bills OC thought Nathan Peterman was good enough...that guy didn't see that Frank Gore was failing after the half way point in 2018. He also underutilized a very good RB for most of the 2019 for some unknown reason. Meanwhile putting that young, inexperienced QB under the gun far, far too many times. That 2017 Bills O line lost a pro bowl LG and a pro bowl center and because of cap issues replaced them with bums for 2018. Allen running for his life a lot that year. So, the OC starts calling run plays to take advantage of the QB's running ability. That same season, fading RB's, no real receiving corps, bad line. 2019, mostly new O line save for the LT who is average, upgrade at C, rookie at RT and two journeymen at guards. Upgrades at receivers and RB's. That offense was ranked 23rd in points, 24th in yards. So, what was the problem and why wasn't this offense blowing up those bad teams instead of squeaking by them? Considering the quality of talent the 2019 offense faced they should have been much, much better. The offensive line was simply not good enough, 43 QB scrambles which puts Allen at 4th in the NFL. 12th in QB hits and if Allen wasn't so elusive it would have been far more for a non running QB. 5th in the NFL with being blitzed 201 times. Combine this with the number of drops by the receivers. The Bills line not good enough in the red zone to move the ball on the ground. There should have been more Buffalo Bills games like the Cowboys, Broncos, Dolphins. You go back and look at the stats and nearly every time the Bills offense ran the ball well all season. Along with running more than throwing, they usually won and that young, inexperienced QB had a good productive game. Bottom line: I see holes in this 2020 roster. Dire need of a superstar pass rusher and that 90's Bills SB team had two with Smith and Bennett. I'm not sold on the current left side of the Bills O line even being close to what those 90 Bills had in three pro bowlers and an all pro. Not to mention that the right side at G, T are even questionable to be starters. Lastly, i'm not convinced that Brian Daboll is the coordinator that can take this offense to a top 15 unit. I think he has more to prove than Allen. This FO and HC are learning as they go and are doing great job so far.

The years don't mean much if you don't have the initial cap space to sign anyone decent at the start. The Bills needed to draft their QB, build the line, retool the defense. The 90's Bills started to be build in 1986 and gradually got better as they added better players. Even though they already had Bruce Smith, Jim Kelly and Andre Reed. Along with trading the Colts, Rams for Biscuit. 4-12 in 86, to 7-8 in 87. The Bills really took off when they added RB Thurman Thomas in the draft in 1988, went 12-4. Still, only went 9-7 in 1989 and that roster was loaded with 4 HoFers. It wasn't until their 5th season that the Bills went to the SB with all those stars. Currently the Bills don't have a Bruce Smith, Cornelius Bennett, and their 2019 defense was a top five unit because of a great secondary. They need a better pass rush. The Bills don't have any pro bowlers on the line, at RB, at WR, at QB just yet. They don't have a Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas, Andre Reed. Nor a Kent Hill, Jim Ritcher, Will Wolford. After this season I would expect to see changes for the offensive line, pass rush and probably a new offensive coordinator.

I look at this upcoming season and think about it like the 1989 Buffalo Bills season. That year the Bills still won the division because the rest of the division was so bad that 9-7 was good enough. They went to the playoffs against the Cleveland Browns in game* at Cleveland and lost 34-30. That season the bills were still finding themselves after a 12-4 season in 1988 and an AFC Championship game in Cincy that they lost 21-10. There are still a few holes on this roster that the coaching staff, FO need to see and figure out. There are still questions about stopping the run and the pass rush. On the offensive side there is still questions about the offensive coordinator and the offensive line. I have an opinion that neither are good enough to win 12 games this season as the schedule is so much more difficult. I expect some changes after the 2020 season. I won't be shocked if the Bills don't win the division and the Patriots still take it, disappointed but not shocked. I'd be shocked if the Dolphins win it though.

What most fans and even some coaches don't get is that there is a world of difference between attending a big time college program like USC, UCLA, Alabama, LSU, etc. Over a junior college and then a college like U of Wyoming where the last great QB to attend was...nobody, ever! These other QB's got four years in a high level program where they play against the elite at college level. Josh Allen only played two full seasons at Wyoming and both years was good enough to take his team to a bowl game. Read the article to see the difference between Sam Darnold and Josh Allen in college. "Allen has less games under his belt in the NFL than Baker Mayfield and Lamar Jackson had in college alone. He’s not terrible. Nor is he a sure thing. It is completely fair to applaud Allen, or to criticize and question him and how good of a passer he is and will be. But there needs to be perspective either way." I'm also not sold on the guy who is developing him as Buffalo Bills OC, calling plays and setting up game plans. He might have a name by association but his NFL record as an NFL OC speaks for itself. Six years as and NFL OC and never a passing offense better than 22nd. This is also the guy who thought Nathan Peterman should start the 2018 season and would be a reliable backup QB.

I outlined the lack of facing quality QB's in 2019 in another thread. I also think most Bills fans are underestimating this seasons schedule and perhaps this FO is also... With the Bills 2019 offensive line grading 21st and no significant upgrades, I question if continuity along with more experience for RT Cody Ford will make that much difference. There are real flaws in the current line and with no OTA's and who knows what kind of training camp with will see with everything that is currently going on. Darnold, Tua or Fitz, Goff*, Tannehill, Mahomes*, Darnold, Stidham or Hoyer, Russell Wilson*, Kyler Murry, Justin Herbert or Tyrod Taylor, Garoppolo, Big Ben*, Drew Lock, Stidham, Tua. Currently the Buffalo Bills have the 5th ranked toughest schedule in the NFL for 2020. The only good thing about that is NE has #1, Jets #2, Dolphins #3. I would have a different view on things if the Bills signed 3x pro bowl ex Saints OG Larry Warford, and or DE Jadeveon Clowny. The Bills need more pass rush to get to some of those QB's they will face in 2020. A better line to take pressure off that young QB. Then again, I could be all wrong and the line and pass rush improves with the players added this off season. We will see.

I have learned over time that teams rebuild season by season to find holes, flaws in their roster. Right now the Bills still have a few, pass rush and O line. The O line, while good, was ranked 20th or so in 2019 and they were stopped in the red zone running and the Ravens blitz tore them a new one. Not to mention how the Eagles D line pushed them around. With no major upgrades this season and a much tougher schedule my take is the Bills will make the playoffs and perhaps win one playoff game...maybe.

Probably only watched college highlights to make his decision with no in depth involvement. Two firsts and a fourth for the #4 overall...

What the Bills need to do is go back in time to see what the 1990 Buffalo Bills did to make that team so offensively powerful that they led the league that year in points scored. Believe it or not the 1990 Buffalo Bills ran more than they threw it, 479 attempts rushing vs 425 attempts passing. Leading off with a run game that very few teams were able to stop also opened up the pass game and both Thurman and Kelly would tear teams up. A very balanced attack that left opposing defenses reeling all season. The Bills not only beat the good teams as they blew out the bad teams. It was Thurman Thomas 1297 rushing yards, 11 TD's in a run first offense that would cause teams to move up to stop the run and Kelly would then throw over the LBers to Reed, Lofton, Thomas, Beebe, McKeller. It was that "counter trey", old Redskins run scheme in which the line would start one way and go the other which froze the Lbers just enough to get Thurman threw a hole. Once the Bills had the lead in the game they could unleash Bruce Smith on the opposing QB and things went down hill for them after that. Anyone who thinks the run game is old fashioned needs to take a long, hard look at last years 49ers, Vikings, Titans teams. That Titans playoff win at New England 20-13 is what I always envisioned the Bills doing to the Patriots in crushing their playoff hopes by pounding the ball on them. The ONE thing I'm hoping for this season is for the Bills OC to get his head outta his posterior and run the ball more, along with to stop putting the onus on the QB's shoulders to carry the team...yea, its a TEAM game! If the run game starts to falter...find a plan B or C to get that run game working and don't give up on it while asking Allen to throw 35-45 times a game. I don't care about 300 yards passing or overall QB rating, Completion % as I think those will come in time as this QB gets more playing experience and confidence. Winning the division and getting a home playoff game would be great...winning that playoff game even better.

It was somewhat windy and also mild rain which would seem to be conducive to running the ball... kinda what the Eagles did all game. What I don't get is when the offense isn't effectively working with the current game plan, why isn't there a plan B, or C and anything other than putting the game on young, inexperienced QB's shoulders to make things work. It occurs to me that this is the same plan by all the trash OC's in the league. This was only week 8 and Gore was kinda limited in this game, 9 rushes for 34 yards, a 3.8 YPC avg. Singletary had 3 rushes for 19 yards with a 16 yard run, with a 6.3 ypc avg so... Singletary also caught a 28 yard TD. And again, I go back to why was this kid so underutilized all season? The results of this particular game should have raised quite a lot of questions about the Bills O line, play caller and most seem happy just to point at the QB. Must be including the HC, FO.

I knew the future looked bright for the Buffalo Bills in 1987 after that second Miami game. The Bills won that second game 27-0 and Miami didn't even cross the 50 yard line until late in the 4th quarter. The Dolphins benched Dan Marino and put in Don Strock. Marino had a passing rate of 25.7, and Strock wasn't much better at 58.3. They couldn't run, they couldn't throw. Bills RB's Ronnie Harmon and Rickey Porter were tearing it up. I bought season tickets for the 88 season after being at this game.

Same! The Broncos finally had a RB to complement their pass game and he was tearing Buffalo a new one. Bobby Humphrey, 34 rushes for 177 yards, 1 TD. Jim Kelly was putting up Josh Allen type numbers that day 18 of 34 for 167, 1 INT. Sacked 4 times. 5 rushes for 6 yards. ToP 34:49 vs Bills 25:11. Thurman was held in check with 13 rushes for 36 yards... Things looked very grim till that 77 seconds happened in the 4th. Buffalo won the game by a point 29-28. Don't forget, Elway was the "comeback kid" At the end of the game the look on John Elway's face was priceless... in disbelief.

I could only watch without sound on. Yeah, it was that bad.

The Bills D line might have improved somewhat this off season but the O line still gives me pause. Looks like this FO along with Bills fans keep thinking they will face the same bums and bum Qb's they faced in 2019 while overlooking the better teams that beat up on them. Their win over Tennessee was against Mariota, Fitz 2x, The Redskins Rookie Haskins, Denver Brandon Allen, Steelers Duck Hodges. That's five QB's that have already been upgraded by their teams. Haskins may or may not start over Kyle Allen this season. The Bills faced nine teams with losing records in 2019 and the Jets, Dolphins 2x. The Eagles just dominated both lines and beat up on the Bills soundly. That 31-13 score really didn't show the Eagles dominance. 41 rushes for 2018 3 TDs with a ToP 35:57 to 24:03. That loss should have been an eye opener to this FO and yet no big upgrades. That Ravens Blitz the Buffalo O line had no answer for. This season will be very telling in so many areas. No more weak, craps teams on this seasons schedule.