Logic

Even if he was JUST a quality, dependable kick and punt returner and 4 phase special teams player, he'd have been a good acquisition based on how little the Bills gave up to get him. The fact that he has started to be involved in multi-RB packages on offense and is acting as pre-snap motion/eye candy and outlet receiver option for Josh on RPOs is a bonus. And there's also the matter of that little thing called depth. If Singletary or Cook have to miss a few snaps or a few games, I'll feel MUCH better knowing we have Hines in the fold.

Last night was a strange experiece for me. I'm normally Mr "pass the ball!", because it's clear that's how you win in the 2022 NFL, and because not passing the ball means taking it out of the hands of the best player on our team. That said, last night was the first time in a while that I really WANTED them to hand the ball off on most snaps, because it was WORKING! It seemed like the running game was getting between 2 and 5 yards on every play. Keeping the offense in manageable down and distance and controlling the clock was such a sight for sore eyes. Kudos goes to the offensive line for its run blocking (the OL was awful at pass blocking in this game, but exceptional at run blocking) and to Dorsey for sticking with the run game, which he has failed to do at times this year. I was really encouraged to see Cook be essentially the featured back for most of the night. I'm not sure what lead to it. Maybe Motor dropping that pass on the first drive? Maybe Cook had "that look in his eye" all week in practice? Whatever it was, it was awesome to see. As much as I've loved seeing the Bills be one of the pass heaviest teams in the league the past couple years, I am more than okay with them morphing into a balanced offense with a good running game this year -- ESPECIALLY in a season where our quarterback's throwing arm is not at 100%.

I agree. I could feel it during the game and I can feel it again this morning. Hard to put it into words, but... For the first time since the Chiefs game, the Bills LOOKED like the Bills to me. Not the flat, unsure-of-themselves, mistake-prone Bills, who I watch with anxiety and disappointment and a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. Those Bills showed up from the 3rd quarter of the Packers game through the last couple drives of the Lions game. I had this hope that the way they won that Lions game would be the turning point of the season, where they exit their annual slump and get back to being who we know they can be. I can't say I was confident it would actually HAPPEN against a talented Belichick defense lastnight, but I'm so glad that it did. Most fun I've had watching a Bills game since we faced the Chiefs. It feels like Josh is starting to be Josh again, and it feels like the defense is back on track (healthy players equals a much better defense, who'da thunk it?!). Glad the boys get this mini-bye, but excited to see them dominate the Jets. And then, to echo Diggs' sentiment on the sideline lastnight "I want the Dolphins!"

I happen to believe that that intangible energy, confidence, "swagger", whatever you want to call it...is a real and very important thing...ESPECIALLY with defensive players. Shaq and Jordan provide it in spades. I think our defense missed it while they were gone, and I think they benefit from it now that it's back. It helps that both guys are playing well, too, but the intangible spark they provides is noticeable to me.

Thanks for these. During the broadcast, you could definitely notice Knox open a lot. Part of it is that he's often schemed as a checkdown or a third option in this scheme, and Josh always wants to go for the biggest available play. Still, I can't help but wonder if Dorsey could do a better job drawing up 5-7 "Dawson Knox plays", where HE'S the primary target, and the play is designed to go to him. He's talented enough, in my opinion, to warrant such consideration. Then, when teams are locking Diggs up (which hasn't happened often lately, to be fair), the Bills have a changeup to throw. Bottom line, though? Occasional bad drop or not, Dawson Knox is not the problem. I feel certain of that.

That was the most I've enjoyed watching a Bills game since they faced the Chiefs. In my opinion, it was the first time since then that they mostly looked like the team we know they can be and expect them to be. Josh looked more like, well...Josh, too. Some thoughts from the game, which I'll just leave here because I don't want to make a LAMP post. - THAT was Buffalo Bills defense. Yeah, yeah, yeah, "it's just Mac Jones", "Pats stink on offense"...whatever. That was a 6-5, Belichick-coached team at home, with a hammer at running back, a couple good tight ends, and a guy coming off his best passing game of the year. After the first drive or so, once they got their feet under them, the Bills defense played fast, hit hard, communicated well, and flew to the football. There were occasional lapses into bad tackling (though some of that is the fact that Rhamondre Stevenson is an absolute unit), but for the most part, this night saw a return to the defensive form we saw early in the season. Which leads us to... - Edmunds, Milano, Poyer, and Tre White being in the game all made a HUGE difference. Add Rousseau to that list, too. A healthy defense is a much better defense. Imagine that? Edmunds, in particular, is really showing his value this season. I don't know how anyone could watch a game with Edmunds in the lineup and then a game without him and conclude anything other than "he's massively important to the Bills' defensive success". - Xavier Rhodes looked good at corner all night. The Elam benching was a head scratcher that I don't care to get into here, but I thought the outside trio of White, Jackson, and Rhodes, played quite well. Jackson looks like a different guy when Edmunds and White are in the lineup. Seeing Tre White back and playing well was such a sight for sore eyes. - Shaq Lawson is the Bills' third best defensive end. He's really been playing well and bringing juice to that DL. Lord knows we'll need him the next few games with Von out. Excellent signing by Beane. - Oliver was wrecking plays. Again. He's gone full "beast mode" the last two games. He'll be the main guy picking up the passing rushing slack the next few weeks, IMO. - This was Dorsey's best game as a play caller. Multi-RB sets, motion, eye candy, sticking with the run, long, sustained drives, getting Diggs involved, getting Davis involved (drops notwithstanding)...just excellent stuff from Dorsey. I said before the game that he'd really need to bring his "A game" to beat the Pats defense, and he did. If this is a sign of things to come, I'm encouraged. - Josh looked better this week. He still had a boneheaded play or two (one, in particular, that should have been picked and he had no reason to throw), but all in all, a big improvement over the last couple weeks. - I love Stefon Diggs. That's all. I just love him.

In my opinion, Dorsey doesn't scheme him very well. He may be getting open often, but he's not usually the primary read or the person to whom the play is designed to go. So often these days, I just see Knox running a basic flat route to the sideline. Notice how his catches always seem to be near the sideline and rarely in the middle of the field? That wasn't the case the last couple years. It's scheme. The confounding thing is that this Bills offense could really use some middle-of-the-field production in the passing game. A guy like Knox, who is a world class talent at the tight end position, should be absolutely feasting in the middle with all the attention paid to Diggs and to Davis going deep. For that matter, Davis was used more effectively as a big slot under Daboll, too. Much of the middle of the field woes this Bills passing game is facing could be solved if Dorsey more effectively schemed Knox and Davis. That is my contention.

I hope every Bills fan watching on Amazon Prime struck around to watch that post-game interview. It was gold. My favorite part was Josh admitting that one of the reasons he took the Gillette sponsorship was to troll the Patriots and their fans. I'll admit, the extra cherry on top of the "soundly beating the Pats on national TV for the third straight time" sundae was seeing Josh Allen as the face of Gillette in those commercials that were being shown while his team was laying the smackdown in Gillette Stadium. Most fun I've had watching the Bills since the Chiefs game.

I presume the OP was joking, but... If an ACTUAL O/U on receiving yards for John Brown was set tonight (and I haven't checked the books, so maybe it has), it'd be...what...like 9.5 yards?

I believe that if you go back to my pre-draft posts, you'd find that I openly advocated for the Bills to spend a high pick on a wide receiver, and to spend premium assets on the offense in general. Where I generally differed from you and ScottLaw was that I did not feel -- as you and Scott seemed to -- that it was the ONLY way forward, and that not doing so would constitute an outright, unforgivable mistake by Beane. Given that the Bills offense is currently ranked 2nd in PPG 11 games into the season, and that the defense is ranked 5th in PPG allowed despite being absolutely ravaged by injuries, I don't feel I was too far off base. I do admit that I poked fun at you and ScottLaw about the concerns over the outside WR positions. I felt that Gabriel Davis would step up and become a viable #2. For all of the vitriol thrown his way this season, Davis is currently ranked 23rd in the league in receiving yards and has as many receiving TDs as Mark Andrews or Justin Jefferson do. Where I thought they could use help in terms of weaponry -- and I still feel this way -- is in the slot. I DID think that between McKenzie, Crowder, and Shakir, one of them would step up. I admit to being totally wrong in this case. Obviously, none of them has.

I always kind of felt like the "back by the Jets game" timeline seemed really optimistic. I don't blame Von at all for being optimistic. That's a good mindset to have. I just think it's really asking a lot for an injury like that to only cause two games missed. In any case, I really, really thought Von had torn his ACL. The fact that he didn't, and that he seems more likely than not to be available for the playoffs, is a huge plus. Time for the young pups to step up.

Cosell is right: the Bills offense, outside of Allen and Diggs, is nothing special. It depends too much on Allen being Superman every week. The Bills offense is very productive, ranked 2nd in PPG. The Bills are a very good team overall. Dorsey needs to do a better job utilizing the weapons he DOES have, including the speed of Cook and Hines and the quickness of McKenzie. All of these things are simultaneously true somehow. It's a confusing situation, with definite "chicken or the egg" facets to it. Any way you slice it, it would be absolutely in the best interest of Josh Allen and the Bills as a whole if Beane spent the entire offseason building up Josh's protection and weaponry. Just pretend the defense doesn't exist this offseason. I don't even care. Weapons, protection. Weapons, protection. Wash, rinse, repeat.

Last year, yes. Judon played through medical issues and had 12.5 sacks in 17 games. This year, Judon is healthy and playing like a man possessed, with 13 sacks through 11 games, which leads the NFL. I'm not definitively saying he will or won't have a great game against the Bills (though my money would be on him having a big impact), I'm just saying that he's a different player this year than he was last year.

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2022/12/01/tyler-bass-is-the-afc-special-teams-player-of-the-month-2/ Bass connected on 12-of-13 field goals and 8-of-9 extra points in four games. His 44 points were a league-high in November. According to the league, Bass was the only player to hit six field goals of at least 40 yards. He was 5-of-5 on 40-yard attempts.

For what it's worth, I also lay down $5 and $10 bets throughout football season. The key difference is that I usually pick multi-game parlays so that even though I'm betting a small amount, the winnings are comparatively large. Most Sundays, I bet a multi-game parlay, picking the moneylines on about 7 games. Bet $10 to win $200, something like that. To each their own. Winning ANY amount of money is great! Yay, legal sports betting!

You'll have to excuse me if I'm not shocked that a guy with Portnoy's logo as his avatar is laying money on the Pats.

Unless they feel that Stevenson can materially help them in the passing game -- I, personally, happen not to feel that way -- I'd place him in IR for the rest of the season. The trusty ol' IR stash. Give him another shot in training camp next season. - Cut Justin Murray, activate Ike Boettger to active roster. Too early to say on Kumerow and Benford. Other injuries or roster changes may have occurred by the time those players are eligible. Whichever of those players the Bills feel more urgency to bring back to the active roster, Cam Lewis would be next on the "cut" list. I think they could get him back through to the practice squad.

Yep. Quessenberry vs Judon is potentially a game tilting matchup. As others have said, this looks like a week to dial up the short passing game and lean on the running game. Hines, Cook, Singletary, and Knox should all be used with creativity and frequency if the Bills want to mitigate Judon's impact.

If the forecast calls for freezing weather that day, can someone please spray the visiting benches (and maybe the Dolphins players) with a hose before the game? According to Dolphins fans, one team having to deal with dangerous weather elements while the other team does not is a totally fair and legitimate competitive advantage.

Thanks. Your cookie is in the mail.

These charts shows that the Bills are actually the 2nd or 3rd MOST AFFECTED by injury of any team in the NFL.

If anyone has Amazon Prime, I recommend The Wilds. Plane crashes on an uninhabited island. Plane full of teenage girls has to co-exist and survive. Two seasons are available, but very captivating.

The best, most direct route to the one seed for the Bills is indeed for the Bengals to beat the Chiefs and the Bills to beat the Bengals. Obviously, this assumes that the Bills take care of business elsewhere, which is ANYTHING but a safe assumption at the moment, with a tough three game stretch coming up. I hope Chase is back and at full strength for the Bengals. If the Chiefs win out, then so be it, but it would be nice to see them have to actually beat some tough opponents to do it. The Rams practice squad doesn't count.

Didn't watch a ton of soccer over the weekend. Family stuff the first few days and then NFL football took precedence on Sunday. Now that the work week has begun, it's back to World Cup at work! Brazil approaching half time and still no goals against the stingy Swiss defense.