Logic

They're going to get a Wild Card spot based on a very weak schedule (just like the Bills have, starting after the bye) and then get bounced in round one. Count on it.

He’s GOT to be better than Wal Mart housewares associate Ja’Marcus Ingram, right?!

So easy for Monday Morning Armchair QBs to talk about what players "should have" done -- nevermind the heat, exhaustion, physical toll, or split second decision making needed. Respectfully, I'd like to eye-gouge anyone who questions, second guesses, or belittles the effort or decision making of any of the Bills players after the absolute war that we saw on Sunday. They laid their bodies on the line and left it all out on the field to get a win. Do players make mistakes? Of course. Certainly not for lack of effort or talent, though. Would love to see how you'd do in the same circumstance.

Given his years of experience in the league, his previously high level of play on the field. and his presumed knowledge of Leslie Frazier's defense... Rhodes seems like the best available option. If he's in shape, sign him and get him up to speed. The Bills cannot enter matchups against the Ravens and Chiefs with Ja'Marcus Ingram at corner. No offense to Ingram, he played well, but he's an undrafted, practice squad rookie. The Bills can do better.

***Bills are down to third stringers across the o-line, d-line, and in the secondary, a Doordash driver is covering Jaylen Waddle, our starting QB can barely take an in-breath, and players are literally dropping to the field play after play, exhausted, heat-sick, and unable or barely able to continue in a game that one Dolphins player called "a war zone"*** Multiple TSWers: "COACHES are the reason we lost!!!"

@Airseven makes his own rules. He is not beholden to your silly human logic.

Your word salad contradicts itself. If the Bills aren't acclimated to the heat and the Dolphins are, that means the heat was an advantage for the Dolphins. It also means that the heat was an obvious contributing factor to the final outcome.

Anyone who doesn't think the weather was a MAJOR factor yesterday must've watched a different game than me. THE reason? No. An absolutely MAJOR contributing factor? Indisputably. One need only look at the Bills missing their starting right tackle for the majority of the game due to "heat related illness" and Diggs having to come off the field every other play in the fourth quarter to know that the heat was an enormous factor. OR just listen to the MULTIPLE players who literally said so, including Josh Allen, who said it was "tough to even take a breath" a lot of the time.

If you believe that the Bills are the best team in the league, then it necessarily follows that McDermott must be a very good coach. You don't play as exciting and dominant a brand of football as the Bills play without good coaching. Think about the best parts of this roster -- Hyde and Poyer, Tre White, Von Miller, Josh Allen, Stefon Diggs....none of them would be the factors they are for Buffalo if it were not for McDermott. It was McDermott that took two unwanted corners in free agency and coached them up into All-Pro safeties. It was McDermott that coached an afterthought draftee at cornerback into a top five corner in the league. It was the culture that McDermott built that lured Von Miller here and that has helped make Stefon Diggs happy enough here that he remains supremely productive and wants to finish his career in Buffalo. And last but not least...Josh Allen. The patience, consistency, and support this coaching staff has given Allen, thus allowing him to become the best QB in the league, has been MASTERFUL. I get it -- McDermott is an elite Monday through Saturday coach and sometimes not quite as elite on Sundays. His game management is not always perfect. Very few coaches have perfect game management. Andy Reid STILL struggles with it, and he has a Lombardi and multiple NFC and AFC Championship Game apperances. The bottom line is that it's not reasonable to only point out the flaws in McDermott's coaching without also pointing out the absolutely ELITE job he's done coaching up the Bills roster, fostering an environment in which a raw QB prospect could ascend to greatness, and ultimately creating a consistent championship contending team. For anyone that thinks it would be easy to find a coaching upgrade to Sean McDermott, I beg you to look around the league and follow its annual hiring and firing cycle. Coaching turnover in the NFL is CONSTANT. Consistently good head coaches are incredibly hard to find. Who's walking through the door that's better than McDermott? Be careful what you wish for.

He's really, really not, though. The Bills are exceedingly aggressive both in offensive approach and in 4th down go-for-it frequency. They also typically continue to pile up points when they have big leads rather than becoming conservative on offense, hence the 20 straight double digit wins. None of these are traits of overly "conservative" coaches. If people want to say that they don't think McDermott is the guy for various reasons -- game management, for instance -- then so be it. But he's really NOT conservative, let alone "pathetically" conservative. That's just an unreasonable and unfounded take.

I didn't read all 17 pages of this thread, probably because I don't hate myself, but... Matt Milano dropped a pick-six. Josh Allen skipped a pass off the ground to a wide open Isaiah McKenzie that would've given the Bills the lead with under two minutes left in the game. Greg Van Roten botched a snap that could've given the Bills a field goal before halftime. Tyler Bass missed a 38 yard kick. If any one of the above things goes the other way, the Bills possibly win the game. If two of those things go the other way, the Bills almost certainly win the game. Solely blaming the coaches for the loss is nonsense. I mean...blame the coaches if you want. Blame the players for the plays I just mentioned if you want. Blame the heat, injuries, and insane war of attrition if you want. Me? I say it took a perfect storm of all of the above for the Bills to lose by two points. They'll be fine. They're the best team in the league. Get a grip. P.S. Citing the "0-7 in close games" without mentioning that they've also won 20 games in a row by double digits and didn't punt in 4 of their last 7 games (which is the first time that's ever happened since 1939) is lame. Another way of saying "they're bad in close games!" is "the Bills either win huge or barely get beaten, and just about never get blown out or beaten by big margins".

Their pass defense is rather awful. 31st in DVOA. 💩

Spot on. He's also the quarterback of the defense. He's McDermott and Frazier's mouthpiece and essentially a coach on the field. Aside from his play on the field, the intangibles he brings to the tables can't be overstated.

I echo what others have said: Obviously it's a huge blow to our defense, but more importantly, I feel so bad for Micah the person. To build toward this team and this type of season for five years and then have it ripped away from you two games in....just brutal. Football is a cruel game sometimes. Here's hoping #4 is ready for the challenge.

I heard it's gonna be downtown and there's a wind confusion roof.

Mr Osteen's conduct is very un-Christian. I'm guessing he's never read Matthew 21:12-13 "And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money changers, and the seats of them that sold doves, And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves."

The fact that these three dudes are all healthy takes on even MORE importance when you consider that Xavien Howard and Terron Armstead may not play for the Dolphins. The former two should feast if Howard is out, while the latter should be licking his chops if he's going up against....um....whoever the backup left tackle is. I checked the Miami Dolphins official website's depth chart, and they don't have a backup listed at left tackle. So...yeah.

To me, there are two clear defensive objectives: 1.) Limit explosive plays 2.) Tackle well With two rookie corners and a backup safety (or two), the Bills will likely play primarily zone defense, just as they have the past two games (92% of the time). They'll stay in two-high a lot, aim to keep everything in front of them, and ask their defensive backs to rally to the football and tackle. I predict that the Fins will compile a lot of yardage through the short and intermediate passing game, looking to get the ball out quick and force the Bills defensive backs to cheat up, at which point they'll look to go deep to the speedsters. The Bills defense must resist this temptation, continue to employ consistent and conservative zone schemes all game, and make life easier for their depleted secondary. In the end, I think the Bills will be fine with giving up "cheap" yardage and forcing the Phins to go on long, sustained drives throughout the game. So long as they limit explosive plays and tackle well to mitigate the screen and short passing game, they ought to be able to stop the Phins offense enough times to allow the Allen-led Bills offense to outscore them.

Presuming Gabe is healthy and our offense is essentially intact, I keep coming back to the same thought: I just don't see how the Dolphins are going to stop Josh Allen or score enough points to keep up with the Bills offense. Will they put up points against our defense, given the incredibly banged up secondary? Probably, yes. But I watched Lamar Jackson cut through the Dolphins defense like a hot knife through butter last Sunday. The Ravens were a goal line fumble away from scoring 42 points. Even WITH our defensive injuries, I can't see the Dolphins scoring more points than the Bills. I firmly believe that our defense will limit their offense more effectively than their defense will limit our offense.

I really think this is the winning reply. Go with the flow of the section you're in.