Boatdrinks

Something the Bills haven’t managed to do effectively all season. It just may work though. The Bears will probably show stacked fronts to invite passes by Peterman.

Perhaps, but the point is the same even if you project someone else. The Ravens had Dilfer. The QB would probably not have been Tom Brady.

I hope otherwise, but I’m going to say Chicago.

He did, but it’s a leap to say sustained success was likely. It’s certainly debatable. As you stated, it takes the right QB and there is no guarantee B.B. would have found that in Baltimore. They had an all time defense and Trent Dilfer at QB when they won the SB vs the Giants. Roethlisberger ended up in the division shortly thereafter. The QB deprived AFCE has provided an easy path to division titles and home fields in the playoffs. Brady has tormented the Steelers, but what if a Brady-less BB. had been with the Ravens and faced Big Ben twice a year? Many factors to consider and barriers to success existed.

On Belichick it would be the Ravens not the Browns. My guess is no. I don’t think he’d have an extended run of dominance and championships with a great defense and Trent Dilfer as his QB.

We know that before Brady he was around .500 as a HC. He led them to a 5-11 record in 2000 and they lost the opener in ‘01. The Boston media had said Belichick could be be fired as soon as the day after the game vs NYJ if they went 0-2 to start. He wasn’t though, and the rest as they say is history. NE’s improbable and ridiculously long ( by NFL standards) period of dominance has had Brady as the one constant. Belichick obviously hadn’t had a QB of that caliber while HC up to that point. B.B. clearly wants to win a championship without Brady to cement his own legacy. He lost the power struggle to retain Garrapolo, but you have to wonder if Garrapolo would be the Pats * QB now if it were solely up to him. Kraft of course will never betray his stroke of good luck and will let Brady dictate his own terms.

To be fair, the current Bills offense is performing at an all time franchise worst level. Fans are naturally irate, and firings should be a serious consideration by team ownership. Yep. I’m not certain that Modell messed that one up. He got a Super Bowl win, and the Belichick we know today only happened because of two things: Mo Lewis and Tom Brady.

It’s a valid question, and as with any Head Coach it’s about 99% chance McD gets fired by the Bills at some point. When that will be is anyone’s guess, but how much patience should the Pegula’s have ? My guess is they go all out this offseason and try to adresss the myriad problems on offense. That should include a new OC and QB coach. It’s not out of the question that he could be fired before the end of 2019 season if things don’t trend upward greatly in that area. Right now, the probability of plugging all the holes on the offensive side seems remote. It will take a big leap in performance by Allen to make it happen. I think the Beane and McD combo is shown the door immediately following next season.

Hmmm. I’d say the Bills should put a claim in. My guess is they try to dumpster dive again in the offseason but we’ll see. If they want to get serious at backup QB once and for all they will do this. Interesting to see if Beane’s recent lament rings true.

This is correct.

Won’t happen, as the rules have made the game even more QB centric. If anything, teams will allocate an even greater % of the cap at QB and go younger and cheaper most everywhere else. As for Bradford it’s true and he’s a great example of why the rookie cap was added. His earnings per TD pass as a pro are mind boggling.

The line is actually better at pass protection than run blocking. I doubt Bradford would come here, but it’s worth an inquiry. He’d be a good vet backup going forward. There’s zero reason to keep Peterman or Anderson around, so the position still needs to be addressed. They could do much worse than Bradford as a backup/ mentor type .

I’ll agree that it’s not coming back, but the game is worse. It’s that simple. Real football meant the middle of the field wasn’t for the faint of heart. Now, any player can live over the middle regardless of toughness or size. QBs cannot get hit anymore, so they play up until they apply for their AARP card. The game today is more akin to what the Pro Bowl was in the 80’s and 90’s. There are still plenty of concussions, just rarely the kind of plays that end of on Sportscenter. Players are well compensated and know the risks, so I don’t care much about the injuries. There are plenty of jobs out there paying much less that present larger risks than concussions. Even up to and including immediate death. The league has gone soft, and it’s not a great thing. They could have made the game a bit safer without fundamentally altering football as it was.

Groin is a killer. Lingers all year, and that’s what’s happening with TM. Remember Bryce Paup ? He was never really the same after a groin injury back in ‘96. Fans who think the Bills should pass up pass rushing talent at the top of nextyears draft are kidding themselves. Murphy’s constantly injured , L Alexander is defying his age for the moment and Hughes isn’t getting any younger. The offensive issues are well known , but you always take the elite talent at the top of round one.

They’re already doing around the worst of all time level work on offense. It really can’t hurt.

Have to think that Shanahan would say “ hey, I’m an offensive genius not a miracle worker”.

It’s an NFL team. So are the Colts. The Bills offense is about 70% worse than the no 31 ranked offense, so there’s that.

Coaching, scouting , drafting , GMing etc etc

A shot at a few more Hauschka FG attempts.

How is it that SF can be down to their third QB and scoring touchdowns with relative ease ? The Bills rookie starter gets injured and they’re sign8ng washed up semi retired mediocrities to avoid putting their chosen backup QB on the field in another game. Simply incredible.

Oh I’m not enthralled with McCarron in any way and there is no legacy. However, he did start and finish a playoff game a couple years ago among a few other games. Peterman can’t even finish a game , he’s just absolutely horrible and doesn’t belong in the league. Preseason just doesn’t mean a thing. I hope Allen works out, but it’s pretty clear he was far too raw a prospect to be starting right away. Maybe not even this year. The situation couldn’t have been handled any worse.

I do too. I remember that one well, think I still have my copy after all these years.

It’s ironic they’ve gone from an ultra-cautious QB with a pretty good arm to a limp armed one that doesn’t play within his extreme athletic limitations.

Yeah, I’ve heard it referenced that Beane has said McCarron wasn’t what they thought he’d be. Still, I blame them for putting too much weight on the meaningless preseason. While McCarron’s body of work was limited, they brought him in for a reason. It’s possible he could have started the first 8 games or so. They’d have been better off giving McCarron the benefit of the doubt and waiving the Peterman. He probably would still have been available if an emergency situation came about.

Always enjoyed Dr Z, he had a lot of praise for the Bills in the ‘90s. His articles were interesting, and I liked reading his takes. Pre internet was more exciting in a way. I couldn’t wait to see the next issue of SI, pro football weekly etc. The buildup in between games kept things interesting. I think Dr.Z was live with ESPN during the great ‘83 draft. One of the best football writers out there...RIP