Logic

I'm heading out Friday night. Just gonna take a break from football this weekend (the whole slate is pretty bad, prime time games in particular). We have an exciting 11 weeks ahead before the playoffs start. Gotta rest those vocal chords and beer hoisting muscles! Enjoy your trip!

This feels like one of those instances where the team with the player on the trade block refuses to budge because they want compensation in return that no one is willing to give, then they eventually end up outright releasing the player the next offseason and not getting anything in return anyway. That's what I predict will happen. Panthers hold firm because they have unrealistic expectations for what McCaffrey should fetch, then a new coach comes in next season and they end up releasing McCaffrey for cap savings and the team gets nothing. Meanwhile, Beane has at times shown a tendency not to give up on players he wants once he's decided he wants them. He tried to trade for Diggs, got rebuffed, then came back a season later and got him. He tried unsuccessfully to trade for Emmanuel Sanders, then circled back and signed him in free agency. He tried to sign John Brown, failed, and then signed him a season or two later. If the Panthers do end up holding on to McCaffrey past the trade deadline, I can't help but wonder if the Bills still ultimately end up getting him either via trade or free agency further on down the line.

Perfect weekend to take a vacation.

That happens to me sometimes, too. My usual go-to is to think about baseball.

Welcome to the forum. Thanks for the congrats. As @John from Riverside points out, the Bills were missing key players to injuries (two All-Pro DBs) and are playing a lot of rookies (two corners, a wide receiver, and a running back), too. Such is life in the NFL. Mahomes is awesome. Kelce is a monster. Reid is arguably a HOF candidate. KC is a great squad and will likely continue to be for many years. Since you're here, let's talk a little football. Is there anything you'd like to see the Chiefs do at the trade deadline? Why isn't Skyy Moore playing more? Do you think Reid starts to play Pacheco more and Edwdards-Helaire less? Good luck the rest of the way, until we see y'all again in January.

Fair points. But in six games this season, McCaffrey has 673 yards from scrimmage and 3 TDs. He's averaging 112 yards from scrimmage per game. He is on pace for 85 receptions. I think he's still a highly productive player who would upgrade the Bills backfield. I'd rather improve the offensive line, but I don't see many teams out there trading away quality guards. Other than that, I'm not sure what position the Bills would realistically be looking at in the trade market.

The overvaluing of draft picks is a leftover mentality from the drought years, in my opinion. The draft used to be in constant rebuilding mode, and the draft was like the Super Bowl for Bills fans. Now, the Bills have finally rebuilt. They already HAVE an amazing roster. The Super Bowl for Bills fans this year should be, well...THE ACTUAL SUPER BOWL! And adding a star player could hugely help them to reach that game. Yes, draft picks are valuable, and yes, Beane will continue to build through the draft and follow his mantra of "draft, develop, re-sign". But that doesn't mean that the Bills should be hording future draft picks at the expense of improving their team NOW, in the midst of a Super Bowl push. The fact that the Bills have been mentioned as the primary suitor for McCaffrey tells me that Beane feels the same way.

I liked Buscaglia's pitch: They can choose between either Moss and a 2nd or Cook and a 3rd. This allows the Panthers to get a young RB in return to replace CMC, as well as getting a day two draft pick. While I don't WANT to give up Cook, I would do so for CMC. As Buscaglia points out, the Bills can afford CMC with no problem this season, and since only $1million of future money is guaranteed, they could re-structure future years. At the end of the day, they should be able to roster him without gut wrenching cap implications for at least two seasons. In my mind, the Bills are as close as they've ever been to a Super Bowl trophy, which puts them in "all-in" mode. Push your chips into the center of the table. Go get that Lombardi. Singletary can continue to get a decent amount of snaps and help keep McCaffrey fresh. Both can be deployed in the same formation, with McCaffrey splitting out wide or operating as more of a passing game piece. I'm not sure people fully grasp how much CMC could bring to this offense. As great as the Bills have been, adding CMC would basically cause opposing defensive coordinators to throw their hands up in the air and say "forget it. We're *****. Why bother?"

I was gonna say "because you can't trust a guy with two first names", but then I remembered who the Bills have under center 😳

True...but that was three years ago now. Overcoming bad, sloppy starts hasn't consistently been a strong feature of this team in recent seasons.

So far I've preferred Dorsey's playcalling to Daboll's. The one thing I want to see brought back from Daboll's playbook were the jet sweep actions to McKenzie. Even when he didn't actually get the ball, his speed and the threat of it forced defenses to have another thing to account for before the snap. A split second of hesitation by a defender before the ball is snapped can make all the difference. I have advocated for, and will continue to advocate for, Shakir becoming the primary WR3 and starting slot receiver, and McKenzie returning to his WR4/gadget role.

Thanks for the writeup. Just wanted to comment on the quoted items above. 1 - This is my favorite part about Dorsey so far. The way he moves Diggs around and, unlike Daboll, basically doesn't allow defenses to take him out of the ball game. The way Dorsey has schemed up ways to isolate Diggs on a linebacker the past few weeks is a thing of beauty. 3 - Mahomes is amazing. In all of the dislike of other teams and the Bills-centric viewing habits, I hope Bills fans are able to step back every now and again and appreciate just how awesome Mahomes is and how great it is that we live in an era where we get to watch Josh Allen AND Patrick Mahomes. He will be Allen's primary rival throughout his career. There's no doubt about it. 6 - I agree that the Bills need to get over the dumb mistakes. The one silver lining is that it seems that for the first time in a long time, they're learning to do just that. A mistake-filled start like the one we saw against Baltimore or in moments against the Chiefs used to doom this team. Not any more. They FINALLY seem to be learning to consistently push through that adversity and come out on top. Still, it would be better if they didn't make the mistakes to begin with, obviously. 9 - I hope Motor's usage this week means that the running back by committee experiment is over and he'll be the bellcow going forward. Let Cook be the change of pace, and if you want a third back active, let's see what Duke Johnson's got. 10 - This game ABSOLUTELY meant more to McDermott. I think that beating his mentor gets him fired up, and I think that beating the other "best team in the league" gets him fired up. One need only watch the post-game speech he gave to see just how fired up he really was. Enjoy the bye week, Virgil. GO BILLS!!!

Isaiah McKenzie has a higher grade than Matt Milano. That pretty much tells you all you need to know about PFF's grading system. As someone on Twitter said, there's a reason NFL teams pay them for their raw data but not for their grades/opinions.

I think I had this video fresh in my mind.

I know he was a late rounder, and those players rarely pan out anyway, but... The Bills should've never drafted Tenuta anyway. Nothing about him said "good developmental project" other than his being enormous. If they were set on drafting a developmental offensive line prospect at that point in the draft, I'd rather have seen them draft a guard or center prospect, at least. Finding an eventual starting level guard that late in the draft seems much more likely than finding an eventual starting level tackle.

Classic case of a guy who is a good player and has a long, productive NFL career, but isn't worth the draft capital spent on him. As a DE1 and the guy you depend on to lead your team in sacks? He's just not that guy. As a rotational guy who can set the edge, occasionally be a plus pass rusher, and definitely has a valuable role on your roster? He's great to have. I like Shaq. Glad he came home.

After Sunday's game, I'm not really hearing it much. Leading up to it, I still heard/saw a decent amount of Bills/Allen doubt and people saying they weren't at the Chiefs' level and that Allen wasn't at Mahomes' level. Sunday's game definitely seems to have shut most of them up. Except Nick Wright, but he's just a pro wrestling heel persona.

I don't think they're going to bring anyone in via free agency or trade. Sitting at 5-1, having just beaten the Chiefs on the road, having the #1 offensive and defensive DVOA, and with Beane being relatively hesitant to put his team in cap trouble.... What would be their incentive to make a big move? With our cornerback depth chart having gotten healthy, and with the dearth of available high quality offensive linemen, the ONLY position I could see them burnishing would be running back. Even that position, though, has improved in the past two weeks, with back-to-back good performances by Singletary and Cook against the Steelers and Chiefs. IF McCaffrey can be had for cheap, then great, but I doubt it. I predict "snooze".

This article, which is behind a paywall, does a great job detailing the defensive strategy, too. There are accompanying pictures that I can't get to post correctly here, but Athletic subscribers may want to give it a read. https://theathletic.com/3700790/2022/10/18/bills-chiefs-defense-patrick-mahomes/ On the [game deciding] next play, Frazier called the same rush, but this time with coverage designed to “trap” Mahomes. Again, Miller rushed inside and Milano dropped to spy. Before Mahomes even moved, Milano was already anticipating Miller would do his job and force Mahomes to break to his right. The Bills played a combo coverage with Cover 2 zone to the three-receiver side and 2-man (man-to-man with a deep hash safety) to the weak side. As Mahomes broke to his right, he thought the defense was in 2-man, meaning he would have receiver Skyy Moore running open on a shallow route across the field because there is no inside help in 2-man. However, on the other side, nickel corner Taron Johnson was in zone coverage and had his eyes on Mahomes. Milano triggered and might have impeded Mahomes’ vision. Johnson jumped the pass for the game-clinching interception. In last year’s divisional-round playoff game between these two teams, both offenses looked unstoppable. This season, with Miller leading the Buffalo pass rush, the Bills proved that their defense can stop one of the league’s most dangerous offenses on the road. The next time these two teams meet, possibly in the playoffs, Andy Reid and the Chiefs will likely have more effective answers for Buffalo’s spy games. It’ll be up to Frazier to anticipate those answers and have counters to the counters.

No. The Colts did it before us, and the Bengals did it before them.

Obviously. He created Deep fried bacon and meerkats, too. But not candy corn. That was all Satan.

Personally, I think the way the new stadium is designed is going to shut down all the "I wish it was a dome!" talk once and for all. Assuming it's somewhat like the Seahawks' stadium, and given the 90 degree rotation of the new stadium's orientation...it's going to be the best of both worlds: Football outside, in the elements, as God intended...AND some legitimate protection from the wind, rain, and other elements. I really think Bills fans will be pleased. Actually, I take that back. Some people are NEVER pleased. What was I thinking?

Bills number 1 in offensive and defensive DVOA, just beat the big kid on the block in their house (not to mention already having beaten the defending Super Bowl champs on the road), lead the league in point differential by far, and have the best QB in the league... Talking heads, probably: "I don't know. I just don't believe in the Bills yet."