Logic

My honest opinion? A player was exhausted after an absolutely exhausting and brutally hot game -- during which he put forth every last bit of effort he possibly could and still came up short -- and took a moment to exhale and embrace a friend on the field, and that anyone who makes any kind of big deal about it or dislikes it or views it as a weakness or "bad look" is merely projecting their own insecurity and should probably examine why the picture bothers them to begin with.

Is it possible for this thread to be pinned?

Stetson Bennett is the Jake Fromm of AJ McCarrons. Winners, all.

I'm not really sure where the notion of "has been" or "desperately hanging to be relevant" stuff comes from. Joe B seems to be making a pretty decent living as the lead Bills reporter for The Athletic. It's a quality website and he writes pretty good (decent at the very worst) pieces for it. Did he hit on your wife or something?

Oh, that's easy. He has a really punchable face. He looks like an 80s rich guy movie villain. I also have reason to believe he gets into full elevators facing the wrong way for the entire ride.

See, this is an absolutely phenomenal addition to this thread. It's so logical, and makes so much sense, and gives such context -- at least potentially -- to this hire. Hopefully it's not too late in the thread for it to get the attention it deserves. Thanks!

Whole lot of anger and vitriol and hand wringing in this thread. I haven't read all five pages, but has anyone mentioned the possibility that the team is going to go young at safety and so they went out and identified someone that they think has been successful at coaching up young defensive backs? I'm not sure if that's the case or not, but it seems a reasonable possibility to me. For all of the things we could and should be upset about with regard to coaching failures the past couple seasons...if there's ONE area that McDermott and Frazier have earned a lot of trust and, one would hope, some grace from Bills fans...it's at safety. If they think this guy's an upgrade of some kind over the previous guy, who are we to argue, particularly since none of us have ANY idea what Salgado or Danna are like as coaches?

If there's one thing the Fangio defense needs more of, it's corners playing 10 yards off on 3rd and 4. He can learn a lot under Frazier.

Now that Ryans is officially becoming the Texans' coach, I won't be the least bit surprised if Fangio is announced as the new DC of the 49ers imminently. I think that is the Domino he was waiting on, and why he didn't agree to terms with the Dolphins. Apparently, Fangio and Shanahan are very close.

My only question to all of the "let Edmunds walk" people is this: Middle linebacker is a pretty important position in the McDermott/Frazier defense. If they let Edmunds walk and, let's say, spend the money instead on the offensive line or a wide receiver...are you cool with them turning around and spending a 1st round pick on a linebacker? Because it sure seems like an important enough position to this coaching staff that they'd need to devote meaningful resources to finding a replacement. While I can understand wanting to let Edmunds walk and to spend money elsewhere, it still leaves behind the question of: Who replaces Edmunds, and are you okay with the answer being "a premium draft pick"?

I'd like to see them re-sign Edmunds, and for him to be the ONLY guy they commit money to on defense this year. I would then like them to devote almost all remaining resources -- draft and free agency -- to bolstering the offense. As easy as it seems to say "let all the defensive guys go, put that money into the offense instead", the real truth is that letting the defensive guys go creates new holes that this front office and coaching staff will need to fill. If they don't re-sign Edmunds, you can bet they're going to have to commit high draft capital to a replacement. So re-sign Edmunds. He's your defensive captain. He's coming off his best season. He's just 24 years old. We saw the dropoff when he wasn't in the lineup this year. But after that, put all your picks and dollars into the offense. That would be my preference.

Kromer? You mean Aaron "get out of my beach chair or I'm gonna pull a Bobby Knight on your ass" Kromer? Aaron "getting into violent altercations with minors while on vacation" Kromer? I don't buy it. Dude's a beast.

I long ago gave up on the idea of ever attending a Super Bowl live. Just not worth the exorbitant cost. I could take a week long tropical vacation for the same price. Instead, when the Bills go to the Super Bowl, I figure I'll fly to Buffalo and find a big watch party, so that I can be amongst fellow Bills fans, and so that when the final whistle sounds, I can take part in the party to end all parties. I expect there's at least a decent chance I'll get into a fight with a police horse or die in a rain puddle. It's gonna be lit.

I'm sure the power grid is going to handle this weather influx just swimmingly. Privatized energy on three! 1....2....3....

Payton is a turd, and wildly overrated. I have no interest. Aside from that, there's zero point zero chance that McDermott is getting canned anyway, so it's a moot point.

As a Bills fan, I obviously love Josh Allen, too. Patrick Mahomes, in five seasons as a starter, has: 5 division titles 2 MVPs 3 Super Bowl appearances 1 Super Bowl championship He has posted seasons of 50 and 41 touchdown passes. We can play the "if" game with Josh Allen until we're blue in the face. At the end of the day, Patrick Mahomes is the best quarterback on planet earth. Josh Allen is more physically talented. He has more arm strength and is a better and more dangerous runner. But in terms of being the best QUARTERBACK? It's Mahomes. Poll 100 knowledgeable NFL fans, analysts, coaches, executives, whatever. 97 of them (if not all 100) are gonna say Mahomes is #1. I don't see how it's legitimately debatable at this point.

Beat me to it.

Totally fair. I'm taking the optimistic view that he will completely return to form next season. If he does, I don't find it too unreasonable to rank him among the top five or ten corners in the NFL. He has not yet returned to that form, though, and I agree that if we're going solely off of this season, he doesn't come anywhere near the list. I just couldn't in all good conscience put Trevon Diggs or Jalen Ramsey -- both of whom I think are highly overrated -- on my list. Perhaps Tariq Woolen, even though he was a rookie, or Stephon Gilmore, even though he's a garbage person.

"It's hard to win in this league. We'll learn from this game and be better for it".

Thanks. That makes sense to me. For what it's worth, it seemed like a lot of Davis' best moments in 2020 and 2021 came from the slot, too. It seems like both Diggs AND Davis could benefit from more time inside. Adding a legitimate and explosive outside option seems like a part of that, but I'd also like to see Dorsey be more creative in his usage of the receivers, as well.

BADOL: I'm curious to know how you feel about Hunter Renfrow, were he to become available in a trade.

This was in response to the title of a different thread, which got merged into your existing thread.

Fair enough. I was just busting balls. In response to your post: Yeah, it irks me. The Dolphins, later in the season, seemed to be "figured out", and were not producing much on offense. Then they came to Buffalo, and suddenly they were dynamic again. Yes, the Bills won that game, but still. The games immediately before and after the Bills game, the Dolphins were limp on offense. Against us? Gangbusters. The Bengals were very effectively limited on offense by the Ravens in the playoffs. Then they played the Bills -- and with a seriously depleted o-line, no less -- and looked completely unstoppable. Then they faced the Chiefs and, sure enough, multiple sacks, only 20 points produced. Why do teams look stoppable on offense immediately before and after playing the Bills? Why don't the Bills copy what works against these teams on defense, as shown by other teams who played them previously? Why are the Bills so stubborn defensively? Why doesn't a team coached by two undeniably high quality defensive minds in Leslie Frazier an Sean McDermott have more creativity and adaptability on defense? Why do they look great in the regular season and then below average against good offenses in the postseason? If the Bills are going to give up 30+ against the Bengals and Chiefs in the playoffs every year, why bother continuing to have a defensive specialist as a head coach? Why not just find the next young offensive genius and lean into offense? It's all very infuriating and puzzling, and it's a very valid line of inquiry. I don't have any answers. I'm just venting.

IF they could find a good package in return for him? Yes. Do I think they could find a good package in return for him? Not likely. The funny thing about Oliver is that he seems to be exactly what he was in college. He was a great run defender at Houston, but not a very productive pass rusher, at least on the stat sheet. Because of his athleticism and his (arguable) mis-use at Houston, many (including myself) projected that he'd be a much better pass rusher in the NFL than he was in college. Lo and behold, four seasons in, he's pretty much still what he was at Houston: He's a plus run defender with spurts of impressive pass rush play, but not much notable statistical production. He's a good to slightly above average player, but not a difference maker. Not a game wrecker. Not a Chris Jones or a Quinnen Williams. One need only watch the Bengals game to come to some tough conclusions about Oliver. If ever there was a game for him to take over... As such, I don't have any reason to want the Bills to commit a big long term contract to him. If you can find a taker who will offer decent value, do it. I saw the question on Twitter today: If the Raiders offered Hunter Renfrow straight up for Ed Oliver, would you do it? My answer, I think, is yes.