Logic

Other than the one long TD run, the Bills limited them to 3.5 ypc. The Pats also actually have a WORSE run defense than the Bills do. 🤷‍♂️

Respectfully... Kelly, Brady and Elway (among others) had Hall of Fame careers built on prolific passing attacks in outdoor, cold weather stadium. Peyton Manning, who played the majority of his career indoors, had the best year of his career playing at Mile High in Denver. Currently, Patrick Mahomes has an incredibly prolific aerial attack in Kansas City, and things get rather cold, windy, and rainy/snowy there, too (as we saw when we played them earlier this season). This idea that prolific passing attacks can't thrive in outdoor stadiums doesn't hold water for me. Above and beyond that, though, I just don't see it as likely that the extra cost and red tape necessary to build a dome would make things any EASIER in terms of getting a budget passed and a stadium built.

Pats* fans that have already built Jones up in their minds to be the next Tom Brady are in for a rude awakening over the next couple seasons, in my opinion. He seems to be a quarterback that you can win with so long as your defense and running game are doing well. I don't see him being a transcendent talent that can put teams on his back and carry them the way that true franchise quarterbacks sometimes need to do. Put differently: immobile, pocket-only QBs with limited improvisational, off-structure ability don't tend to be among the elite signal callers these days. Brady is about the only one, and he's obviously more the exception than the rule when it comes to quarterbacking. I'm not saying Jones definitely can't or won't be elite. Maybe he will be. But many Pats* fans seem to think it's a foregone conclusion, based solely on his being a capable care taker and winning some games on the backs of an elite defense and coach.

Not to mention the endless slobbering over the elite Patriots defense, without mentioning whatsoever that the Bills give up only 1.2 points more per game and are ranked second in scoring defense, right behind the Pats.

Why do I have the feeling that most of the people wanting a dome (which is undeniably the more expensive option) will be the same ones complaining about the price tag when it comes time for the public funding discussion? I think, given the realities of the economic constraints of the Buffalo market, that certain realities have to be faced. Namely, the most affordable and most feasible option is an open air stadium in Orchard Park. Building either a dome or a downtown stadium -- or both -- would be more expensive, have a lot more red tape associated with it, and would be less likely to receive the necessary funding and to be successfully completed on a realistic timeline. This, in turn, would imperil the future of the Bills in Buffalo. A roof in cold weather would be nice. A downtown mega-plex would be nice. All things considered, and confronting the economic realities of the situation, give me whatever is necessary to actually get a new stadium built and to keep the team in Buffalo.

I'm soooo glad we get to experience another week of Pats* fans telling us what wins we get to feel good about and how great Mac Jones is. 🤢

Riiiiiiiiight.

You mean when they showed three of his seven incompletions and didn’t mention that he was 15 of 22 with a TD pass? You’re right about one thing: we see what we wanna see. If three TD passes against the league’s #1 pass defense is “subpar”, then your expectations are unrealistic.

Only five pages in, but a lot of awful takes in this thread so far. Regardless of the Panthers’ record, they have one of the best defenses in the league, including the #1 pass defense, which features two outstanding pass rushers and a still dangerous Stephon Gilmore. Despite that, a Bills offense with backups at four out of five o-line positions (!) and a QB with a sprained foot just scored 31 points to win a game they HAD to have. And what do I see in this thread? People complaining that we didn’t have enough style points or that Josh played a subpar game?! Sometimes I wonder if these people are even watching the same game I’m watching. The name of the game in the NFL is to win at all costs. We just won by 17 against a very good defense. Ask the Cardinals if they would’ve preferred an “ugly win” over what happened to them today. Sheesh.

Panthers DT Derrick Brown has been placed on the COVID reserve list.

Amazing. Thanks for the laugh!

This comment seems a bit harsh. While he's struggled a few times in recent games, he has looked quite good at RT overall for a rookie -- particularly one drafted in the third round. I definitely don't think he should move to LT full time, but it won't surprise me if he starts there on Sunday if Dawkins is out. He's listed as the backup LT on the Bills' depth chart.

1. I hope more COVID positives aren't soon to follow for the Bills, but looking logically at how this has gone for other teams lately, I fear there will be more. 2. I read recently that the only reason the NFL didn't want to acquiesce to the NFLPA and have daily testing -- even for vaccinated players -- is because it would be too expensive. It's absolutely MIND BOGGLING to me (though sadly not surprising) that the NFL would so readily put money ahead of the safety of its players and the integrity and legitimacy of its games. Sometimes I hate that I'm so addicted to the Bills, because the NFL is an evil, negligent, greedy enterprise that cares nothing for the safety of its players. 3. It looks increasingly like the final quarter of this season and perhaps the playoffs are going to be nothing more than a war of attrition. This is largely avoidable, but because of item number 2, is NOT being avoided. Very disappointing.

If JUST Dawkins winds up on the COVID list, it would be kind of a shocker. Lately, with this variant, where one COVID positive pops up for an NFL team, others are close behind. I won't speculate too wildly, but I'll be surprised if he's the only Bills player that ends up on the COVID reserve list.

Another priceless contribution to our forum.

The list says that his "EPI" ranking, which it defines as "Calls/performance in every situation", is 4th. So it actually ranks more than his 4th down decision making. In fact, at 14, his "CCI" --4th down decision making -- is only slightly above average. It is his "calls/performance in every situation" rankings that brings him up to 5th overall.

When Sal posted this on Twitter, SO MANY people replied calling it nonsense and ragging on McDermott. The only thing is, 99% of their arguments were, well....not really arguments at all. While you may not agree with Edj Sports' list or their reasoning, it's at least based on a quantifiable set of statistics that are based on how each decision affects win likelihood percentage. In other words, there is at least method to their madness. By contrast, the people who want to crap on the list and say it's nonsense don't really have anything to back up their claims other than their subjective opinion, their gut feeling, or their lingering upset over recent Bills losses. Put differently: Who is more likely to have an accurate read on this situation? The unbiased, statistical analysis based study, or the angry Bills fans that call into radio shows? I know who I'm going with.

But what everyone REALLY wants to know is....... What was Wawrow wearing?

I agree that Josh will play, but I do believe that them preparing Mitch to play is more than just gamesmanship. All it takes is one player to step on Allen's foot, or for him to come up seriously limping after a play, and I believe it's possible we'd see Trubisky come in. While they need to win the game, they surely also realize that they need to go at least 3-1 in the remaining four, and getting Josh more seriously injured won't help us achieve that goal.

Didn't see this mentioned yet in this thread, but... Panthers QB Sam Darnold has been activated from IR and will practice today. It's possible we don't see the Walker/Newton poo-poo platter on Sunday, but instead see Sam Darnold. I realize that the Panthers offense is hot garbage right now and the Bills have no excuses this Sunday, but....having to prepare for three different quarterbacks is not exactly ideal.

I'll tell ya why McDermott should be fired: He slipped on 4th down against the Titans! He dropped two passes in the end zone against the Pats! He failed to throw a flag against Carlton Davis in the Bucs game! Had he done his job better on those three instances, the Bills would be 10-3 right now and the number 1 seed in the AFC. FIRE McDERMOTT!!!!!!!!!

That's my complaint, too. If you've decided you're going for it, do you REALLY think a punt fake sweep to Breida has a better chance of getting two yards than letting Allen -- the best player on your roster -- run or throw it?

I would sure love it if the Bills could build a big lead in the first half and then sit Josh for the entire second half.

I read that Breida hasn't lined up at the position on special teams at which he lined up for that play ALL SEASON LONG. So yeah, seeing a guy who is not usually out there, on the field for the punt, at a spot on the field where defenses are on the alert for a fake anyway, would certainly be a massive tip of the hand to any opposing unit with decent intelligence. Just like putting Breida in the backfield on the fake QB sneak HB pitch in week 1 against the Steelers. If you put a dude out there that's not usually out there, it's gonna be pretty hard to fool the defense.

I can't believe that this thread has made it to 17 pages, or that anyone with a functioning brain actually wants to fire Sean McDermott. Good lord.