mjd1001

I have nothing to back this up but a feeling...but my impression of Allen is he needs time to have someone sit him down and go over stuff for him to get better. He showed flashes early in the year then got hurt. After a few weeks off he has been better (not a lot, but overall better). I get the feeling he is going to be the exact same QB for the rest of the year as he has been the last few weeks. In the offseason, I expect him to take the next step. He just doesn't seem to have the feel of someone who learns week by week...I get the feeling he learns in 'big chunks' of off time...then he goes full speed but at the same level until his next 'break'.

On WGR this morning, the pregame show..they made a point of saying they think people are too hard on the OL...it seemed the consensus they agreed upon was the OL was SLIGHTLY below average. I disagree with that. I think they are really bad. Not that any team in a league has an OL that blows the other team off the ball (maybe Indy?), but this OL is far from average. On pass protection, half the time they give Allen the 2-3 seconds he needs before he takes off by himself...the other half of the time someone is in his face before he finishes his dropback. And run blocking....they have gone from one of the best to one of the worst. This OL is not slightly below average, they are bad.

I'm glad Gronk and his bad back stumbled at the end of that play. I know you want to get a tall guy out there to defend a pass to the endzone..but I would have stuck with my regular safetys or even a LB instead of putting a valuable TE out there who has a bad back. I HATE that houston lost. If there is anything I want from the end of the regular season, I do NOT want to see the Pats get that first round bye. All year it just seems they do what they need to, or have someone else do JUST ENOUGH to keep them in position for that bye.

I hope when he does come back it is at 100%. If he misses the rest of the season, fine. Just hope this isn't an injury that slows him down a bit long term.

I'm totally fine with trading down. I'll be fine with them standing where they are also. This team has so many holes/needs that trading down will work for me. But, they also have a lot of cap room to fill those holes. I really don't see the need to get upset at either option.

A couple of years ago around the holidays we had a family discussion about NFL uniforms..with the topic being brought up of having NFL teams wear their 'standard' uniforms 8 games a season, and the other 8 games for them to go wild and come up with different and crazy designs or colors for each of them. Pretty much everyone there under 40 was all for the idea...anyone in the discussion over 40 was in the "no" camp to any uniform changes except throwbacks.

Does money alone get the Bills to the playoffs? Not alone What DOES get them into the playoffs is Money to improve the ROSTER + Jets and Dolphins not getting much better + Pats without Brady and Gronk (or a much older/worse Brady and Gronk next year) = good shot at division title

If you are going to use stats to make judgements on how good or bad a player is...at least don't use 1 game to justify your position. Some of the really bad QBs have had games where they have put up ton of numbers..and the greatest QBs ever have had awful games. With Allen look at the trend. it appears he is getting better as the season progresses. Is he a star now? No. Is he a lock to become one? No. The point is...the stats...over the SEASON so far and as a week to week trend show what he probably is...not a bust...but not a guaranteed long term answer.

Agreed. also, I game where "defense mattered" in this way vs dozens and dozens more where the Offense was more important.....not a trend. Just because something happens on a very rare basis doesn't justify its importance.

I'm not sure how much of a step he has or hasn't lost...but he either did lose a step or he isn't the best back for this offense (Ivory might be better) On some of the 3-6 yard runs McCoy has had the last few weeks...he gets through a hole in the line and then when he gets in front of the tackler...say 5 yards away..he does a little dance and then gets tackled and goes down. If that same hole is there...Ivory hits the hole...gets to that same 5 yard distance when approaching the tackler...and runs into him full speed and gets brought down after falling forward for an extra yard or two.

I like seeing the clips of Bills players at Sabres games and Sabres players visiting Orchard park. Does it really mean anything? probably not...but as a fan of both teams it kinda gives you at least a 'sense' of community between the organizations.

Agreed. Right now in his career, I think McCoy can be a good RB as long as he is not a featured back where a team relies on him to carry the load. The Chargers, Stealers, Colts, Bears, Falcons, even the Bucs are teams he could still excel on....but you don't want to rely on him as your centerpiece any longer.

No

I have said this is the beginning of the end for Brady, and if he plays next year he will likely not be good at all. HOWEVER, I never said he was done right now (or earlier this season). He used to be a great/elite QB...now he is just above average to good. A decent team with an above average-to-good QB can certainly beat an average Packers team, a close game against the Bears (in a game the bears actually played better in..thank special teams, not brady, for that win). A home win against the cheifs? Well, that is what you get when you still have a good-but-not-great QB who still has the OCCASIONAL ability to pull out 1 or 2 great games.

I really don't see Gronk coming back next year no matter what. I think Brady WANTS to come back, but it depends on how this year goes. Best chance of him coming back next year is if he stays healthy, plays very well down the stretch, but the Pats lose in the playoffs. He'll want to come back for another shot and he'll think he can carry the team to do that.

I think this is the beginning of the end for Brady for sure. A week off this week, the rest will do him good and help heal some of the aches and pains..so he may come back with 1 or 2 stellar games, but he already is not who he was in the past. You don't just have to look at numbers either, you can see it with your own eyes. I mentioned a week or two ago I thought this time it was real..his downturn. He's throwing less and less deep balls, and they are fluttering more. His short and medium outs, even the ones that are complete, are not on the numbers anymore (half the time the receives are jumping, bending, or reaching back for them in a way they haven't in the past. And while NO QB likes pressure, I think this year is the year I am seeing him throw the ball away or just give up on plays sooner than ever when the rush gets near him, he is even starting to show signs of feeling a 'phantom rush'. All that stuff has been going on for most of the year..its' not just one or two games. So is he "DONE"? not yet...but it is in sight. The Pats still have an above average QB in him that has the ability to pull out a few more 'great' games....but the days of him carrying this team on his back game after game after game are ending very soon.

Saints right now....but to me the Saints are the type of team that is the most likely to have a terrible game and lose when they should win.

Raiders are worse

The worst NFL team would score at will against the best College team every year. The spread should be 50-60...and the NFL team would be able to easily cover that if they wanted to.

New England is still good, and just might make it to..and win the Superbowl this year. But having watched most of Tom Brady's snaps over the past few years (if not most, close to half) I think it is becoming clearer that we are watching the beginning of the demise of Brady. He's still good, he can still carry the team to wins, but there has been a drop off in his play this entire year compared to last year and the year before.

In the future, an Elite D will be "partially" an accident. I think the better D-units will be ones with 3-4 start players, maybe elite players. They will be signed to longer term deals. The rest of the D-unit will be filled in with whatever you can find. If in a given year (or 2 or 3 maybe) you get lucky with some of your street free agents and 2-4th round picks you fill in the rest of the D-unit with..then you have a chance for an Elite Defense. It won't be long term though.

Unless I really REALLY knew I was going to fire the coach, I wouldn't. When you change a coach, usually there is a LOT of other change that comes up with it...to much to justify just a 2nd round pick for. Once again, unless you were going to fire him right away anyway.

Sorry if this was posted already, I didn't see it here yet: When the Haslams hired Jackson, for instance, in 2016, they did so against the wishes and counsel of virtually their entire football operations staff, sources said. They had added analytics expert Paul DePodesta to the fold and, along with then-GM Sashi Brown and some other analytics experts, the Haslams put together a criteria and process to identify their next head coach. Sean McDermott, current Bills coach, was the overwhelmingly popular choice by everyone involved in the process. The data they used, as well the other elements of the criteria set up at the start of the process, all pointed to McDermott, a highly-regarded defensive coordinator with Carolina at the time. full article here: https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/browns-coach-search-brings-trepidation-after-haslams-ignored-pleas-to-hire-sean-mcdermott-last-time/

I think Jordan Philips has played really well from what I have seen. If, IF he stays consistent, I'd say take the money you were going to pay Williams and use it to resign Philips (not that money should be that big of an issue for this team next year.) Its not that I don't like Williams, I do...and I think he is still pretty good...but better for both the player and the team to leave on time rather than stay one year too long.

Minnesota, but too rich for the area I think. Lucas Oil in Indy is what we should be looking for..something like that.