Logic

So you typed out that whole thread title... but when it came to the word "for", those two extra keystrokes were too much, eh?

Are you asking which Bills would be good enough to be on our hypothetical "All League" team? Or are you asking what our "All League" team would look like? I'm bored at work, so I'll bite. QB: Patrick Mahomes HB: Christian McCaffrey, Derrick Henry FB: Kyle Juszczyk WR: JaMarr Chase, Justin Jefferson, Tyreek Hill, Stefon Diggs, Devante Adams TE: Travis Kelce, Mark Andrews, Kyle Pitts Edge: Myles Garrett, Maxx Crosby, TJ Watt, Nick Bosa DT: Aaron Donald, Chris Jones, Dexter Lawrence, Quinnen Williams OLB: Micah Parsons, Matt Milano ILB: Fred Warner, Roquan Smith CB: Jaire Alexander, Sauce Gardner, Patrick Surtain II, Tre'Davious White S: Derwin James, Jordan Poyer, Minkah Fitzpatrick, Antoine Winfield Jr. So Diggs, Milano, Poyer, and White would make my roster. I don't feel that the inclusion of Diggs or Milano is very disputable. People could pick nits with Poyer and White and have an argument.

I went down to the OTB and put a sawbuck on the Washington Generals +10 for that game. I've got a good feeling.

I've said before that I don't believe in giving out second contracts to running backs unless they're either elite game changers (Derrick Henry, Dalvin Cook) or big pieces of the passing offense (CMC, Kamara). That said, as much as I like Singletary, I'm letting him walk. If the Bills had oodles of cap space, then sure, re-sign him to a team friendly deal if he's willing. The free agent running back class this year is loaded, so maybe he doesn't get many big offers and signs back here for peanuts. But since the Bills DON'T have oodles of cap space and have bigger needs elsewhere and just spent a 2nd round pick on a running back, I'm saying "so long and thanks for the memories" to Motor. Cook/Hines is a versatile and speedy duo. Draft a late round guy or bring in a few UDFAs to compete for the third running back spot. Perhaps someone with a little more size and pop in his pads, since Cook and Hines are both on the smaller side.

My story mirrors yours, except with Pearl Jam. Grew up listening to The Beatles, Elvis, Neil Young, and the Who. Lost my Dad at age 13. Overtaken with grief. Pulled my hood up, put my headphones on, and retreated into my own little world. Just about that time, I discovered Pearl Jam, and like you say, it was the first music that was MINE. And Eddie lost his Dad around the same age, and his music...really A LOT of the music of that era...was speaking directly to me. It was like it was written for me specifically. While I was lost in Pearl Jam land, my brother Joe was a monstrous Nirvana fan. He grew his hair out like Kurt, dressed like him, formed a Nirvana cover band called "Sliver". He bought all the b-sides and imports and magazines and VHS's from those old record stores in the malls. Through him, I wound up hearing and learning by heart just about every Nirvana tune. I don't listen as much to them these days, with the exception of Unplugged in NY, because my musical tastes have mellowed out a bit over the years. Kurt was such a sweet, vulnerable, gentle soul. Heavier Than Heaven is possibly the best biography I've ever read, and I love biographies. It IS, well...heavy, though. I can't recommend it highly enough.

The feeling of thumbing through the selection at a record store and coming across a rare import or b-side that you've never seen before. Ringing it up, taking it home, inspecting the packaging and liner notes like you're looking for a hidden treasure map while you listen on repeat. Man, I miss that.

When I think about what Kurt Cobain might have gone on to do musically if he had lived, it makes me really sad. Unplugged in NY is a masterpiece. I still listen to that album regularly. I listen to it the most of any Nirvana album, in fact. It's just amazing, and showed this whole new side of Kurt and direction that the music could take. The fact that we never got to see/hear where it could lead is just heartbreaking. "Heavier Than Heaven", the in-depth biography of Cobain by Charles R Cross, remains the only time ever in my life that I finished the last page of a book and just started bawling. Dave Grohl is still my favorite drummer of all time, and the fact that he plays guitar for a living now is crazy to me. It would be like Hendrix deciding to play drums for the balance of his career. I get WHY Grohl stepped away from drums (he said in his book that it's basically just too emotionally painful), but still... Part of me thinks Kurt HAD to die early, in the same way that Morrison and Hendrix and Joplin had to die early. There's a way in which that kind of early death freezes the musician in this idyllic, mythologized state. Maybe if any of them had lived to old age, they would have made awful music and become sad, fat caricatures. I don't know.

Taking my personal bias out of it, I would probably say: Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Green Day, Red Hot Chili Peppers Can't make a 90s rock Mt Rushmore without Nirvana. You just can't. Pearl Jam had the longevity and were the last men standing from the grunge boom. Green Day aren't necessarily my personal cup of tea, but it's hard to argue against their longevity and mainstream success. Plus, they represent the 90s punk/"pop punk" section of the market. The Chili Peppers...again, they had INCREDIBLE mainstream success and appeal, made a bunch of hits and really catchy tunes, and they sort of cover the rap/rock/funk crossover corner of rock. I feel confident saying that you could present 90s rock music to someone who had never heard it before using just the music of the four above bands, and it would be a pretty good and thorough representation.

I don't disagree with your point. I wish they WOULD take more from other defenses. I wish they would be more adaptable. I wish they'd be as good in the playoffs as they are in the regular season. Still, I stand by my statement. Saying that the Bills defense is going to suddenly stink after last year...I don't buy it.

Meh. It's too early to say this, IMO. What if Greg Rousseau takes another step and becomes a double digit sack guy next year? What if the Bills re-sign Tremaine Edmunds? What if Kaiir Elam breaks out and becomes a shutdown corner? What if the coaches move Christian Benford to safety and he looks really good there? What if the Bills draft a defensive tackle in round 3 and he winds up being a really productive rotational pass-rusher? Tremaine Edmunds is 24. Taron Johnson is 26. Greg Rousseau is 22. Kaiir Elam is 21. Matt Milano is 28. Tre'Davious White is 28. Taron Johnson is 26. Christian Benford is 22. The Bills finished as a top 3 scoring defense in three out of the past four seasons. Yes, I know the defense has been unimpressive in the playoffs the past few seasons. But no, that doesn't mean we can just pretend that they're not typically a top five defense all season long. I'm salty about the way the season ended, too. I'm concerned about the fact that the defense doesn't look the same in the playoffs as it does in the regular season, too. I want to see some tweaks to playcalling going forward, too. But to say, as more and more seem to be doing on this forum, that the Bills defense is bad or "only has one year left" is, in my opinion, erroneous.

Bryant Johnson Watch '08 was a favorite BBMB memory of mine.

oh, mykidsdad.

I was there. Goganious, then Logic. Toward the end, it got really out of hand. Still, my hands can still type "boards.buffalobills.com" into the URL box incredibly quickly. I spent farrrrrr too many hours on that forum. Then there was the "but" forum.

Nate Hackett stunk as Bills OC and has stunk ever since. The Jets hiring him is my favorite thing of the offseason so far.

This line pretty much sums up. So correct that I felt the need to re-post it here instead of trying to add anything.

Your lips to God's ears. Two speedy, shifty running backs, and an offensive line who, for all their faults, are all very athletic and can move in space....and yet? No screen game. The Bills haven't had a good, consistent screen game in YEARS. I last remember seeing quality running back screens under Chan Gailey. That's ridiculous.

Yeah, I saw that All-22 angle where Knox is definitely open and with room to run. My meme is just poking fun. I agree that the play was there to be made and Josh didn't make it. And don't get me wrong, I'm absolutely not absolving Josh of his contributions to the maddening offensive decisions throughout the season. There were many times this season where there were options open underneath for 1st downs and Josh instead went big play hunting. He definitely seemed to regress a bit this year with regard to situational awareness and taking what the defense gave him. Any offensive failures this season were NOT all on Dorsey, and Allen should be held accountable, too, as should the o-line, as should the receivers, etc, etc... Nevertheless, my point in the OP still stands. Dorsey could and should have done more to make use of his talented and underused offensive weapons, Hines and Cook chief among them.

Knox is another one. Dawson Knox is talented enough to be the Bills de facto #2 receiver. People say the Bills didn't have a legitimate #2 receiver. Well guess what, all the years that Mahomes was rolling out excellent offenses with Tyreek Hill, ya know who their #2 receiver was? Travis Kelce! Knox may not be at Travis Kelce's level, but he's damned sure talented enough to operate as a featured passing game piece, and not just an afterthought, as he seems to be now. Knox, Cook, Hines. Three talented players with valuable skillsets and the ability to help an offense. All either underused, poorly used, or not used at all. Maddening.

It just seemed like Dorsey used all three running backs the same way, which is to say, they either ran the ball (and the run game generally lacked creativity) or ran a basic curl or leaked into the backfield to be a checkdown option. He didn't have a special package of plays for Cook and Hines, he didn't seem to have designed any plays whose goal was to get those players the ball in space. He didn't seem to have made any efforts to say "let's see if we can use these guys as receivers". He didn't go into any particular week saying "today, we're gonna give Hines 5-8 touches on offense in creative ways and see if he can spark our offense". Ultimately, Dorsey just didn't seem to have any creative ideas up his sleeve to make use of two fast and talented players who can both catch the ball. ESPECIALLY on an offense that sends its receivers deep so often, their talent sure could have paid dividends if given time and opportunity on the field in more creative ways.

That ***** got out of control. People legitimately thought we were saving this excellent bag of tricks all season long, just to roll it out in the playoffs and shock our opponents. Preposterous. Someone earlier mentioned a disconnect between Beane and the coaching staff with regard to use of personnel, and I think that hits the nail on the head pretty squarely. Guys like Hines, Cook, and Shakir all had things to offer this offense -- and at times, these things were direly needed! -- and Dorsey just couldn't/wouldn't make it happen. And that's not even to mention the inability of Hodgins to get snaps on offense. To have talent and speed like Hines and Cook, and to just NOT use it and have it sitting on your bench, shows a real lack of imagination and creativity and adaptability to personnel. It's very concerning.

See, but to me, the first two things you mention -- bad WR play and bad OL play -- are all the MORE reason to get your running backs going. Like..."oh, our receivers are struggling? Our protection is bad, leading to Josh running for his life?"...those seem like the EXACT type of factors that would make you go "let's get the ball quickly to our speedy running backs in space and let them make plays. I dunno, maybe I'm taking crazy pills.