Logic

Fans of teams who employ Jawaan Taylor should sit this one out.

I don't have much to add to what everyone has already said, except... I offer my sincere condolences. I put my 15 year old cat down (who I'd had my whole adult life) a couple years back, and it was just one of the saddest things I've ever gone through. Our other cat, who is now 17, is slowing down dramatically as we speak. There's just nothing about it that's easy. They're family. Deep, deep unconditional love. As others said, the best anyone can do is be there for them until the end, give them as many good days and good moments as possible, cherish the memories, and then do what needs to be done when the time comes. I'm very sorry for your loss.

How long did you have this post in your drafts folder? I bet you're excited that you finally got to use it!

I'm irritated by the loss yesterday, too. I, too, find it concerning that McDermott still has clock management issues and buckles in big moments. All of that said...everyone's willingness to IMMEDIATELY disregard the 10 wins this year and all the good coaching that was done to get us there, to IMMEDIATELY disregard Sean McDermott's place historically in all time winning percentage both for the Bills and league-wide, and IMMEDIATELY disavow him and talk about firing him after a loss is lame. It's just lame. Reactionary, prisoner of the moment, exaggeration and hyperbole filled, fairweather nonsense. Everyone also automatically assumes that "Hot new coach X", or Bill Belichick, or whomever, is going to come in and just definitely be better than Sean McDermott, when it's very possible that said coach would represent a downgrade. As if Bill Belichick doesn't have a career losing record without Tom Brady. As if Bill Belichick wouldn't wanna come in here and change out a bunch of offensive and defensive personnel and install new systems. As if the fun-loving, family atmosphere of this Bills team would mesh well with a guy who is one of the all-time most strict and grumpy disciplinarians. As if it's a guarantee that a very "fun and vibes" based team would thrive under a guy who had many of his former players say that playing under him was a living hell. Sometimes, I come here the day after a loss and am immediately reminded WHY I don't spend much time on this forum in the days following losses. Just so much drivel and nonsense. See y'all on Thursday to talk about the Lions game.

More importantly, they're assuming the Bills convert three straight 2-point conversions, which is statistically unlikely.

I tend to think the Bills will lose this one, dropping them to 10-4, and all the talking heads will breathlessly ask "what's wrong with the Bills?", and obituaries will be written, and fickle fans will shout "FIRE McDERMOTT!!!".... ...and then the Bills will win the final three games, finish at 13-4 and be the number two seed, and make the AFC Championship game. Football fans are prisoners of the moment. It's just who they are. The Bills could lose another frustrating game again this week and STILL finish as the second best team in the AFC and host 2-3 playoff games. I'd say "relax", but I know people won't, and with how frustrating yesterday's outcome was, I won't blame them. I just don't have the stomach to stick around for the bitching in the week following a loss.

A Rusty Coleman sounds like a sex thing.

Yes I believe they tied but did not surpass the record in 2020.

I guess that answers my question of "can anyone think of a recent example of a player being limited all week and then playing Sunday". Rapp it is. I guess I could change the question to "can anyone think of a recent example of a player being limited all week, having a 'questionable' designation', and playing on Sunday"

I believe the Bills are just one touchdown reception by someone who hasn't caught one yet away from tying the all-time single season record for amount of different players on a team catching a touchdown pass. That was a mouthful, but I think y'all know what I mean. Alec Anderson and Zach Davidson seem like the best bets to help them achieve this record. *Edit: Now that Josh Allen has a touchdown reception, they might only be ONE player away from setting the record.

100% I already knew who this was gonna be before I opened the thread. I saw a picture of her earlier today on Twitter and immediately though "WOULD!". I am a moral person, by my penis is not.

Is this satire? How could anyone possibly know enough about Cole Bishop to label him the worst safety in the league? He played what, one game? And you've ruled him worst safety in the league? Seems a bit much. I'm genuinely asking? Has there been a recent instance of a Bills player being limited all week in practice and then playing on Sunday? It seems like this staff likes to have at least one full practice in the books before they're willing to activate and play a guy. If I'm correct, then even though he hasn't yet ruled out Keon Coleman, I very much doubt that he plays.

As for Coleman and IR...I hear you, but it hasn't adversely affected the team in any way, so I guess I'm not too worried about it. As for Hyde, I'd have to think it's too soon. To me, it wouldn't send a good message to guys like Bishop and Lewis to kick them to the curb for a practice squad signee one week into his return to the team. I hope it winds up being Cole Bishop. I've been wanting him to get some game action in these final few weeks so we can try to figure out what we have in him right now.

I don't think Coleman or Rapp will play this week. I'm fine with letting Coleman sit another week. Let him be full strength for the stretch run and playoffs. As for Rapp, it'll be interesting to see how the Bills handle things if he doesn't play. Does Cam Lewis simply start for him? And if so, when they go into dime, does Ja'Marcus Ingram play the dime 'backer role, or do they elevate Lewis Cine (who has been practicing with both the safeties and linebackers) for a game?

If Coleman is active this week, I believe Carter will take Jalen Virgil's roster spot (and Jordan Phillips will be inactive on game days). If Coleman is not active this week, I believe Carter will take Jordan Phillips' roster spot, but Phillips may be re-signed the practice squad. He seems like a guy they'd want to keep around for emergency depth and locker room reasons.

I totally agree. Ray Davis is an underrated pass catcher. He had 7 receiving touchdowns as a senior! Between Davis, Cook, and Johnson, passes to the running backs should be an even bigger part of our offense. And not just on flares and checkdown curls, but actual routes at times.

Love it. Then again, this is my ACTUAL tree topper:

I'll say the same thing in this thread I said in the last "AFC East moving forward" thread: Jets and Dolphins have bad ownership. The Jets currently have Mike Tenenbaum and the 33rd team leading their GM search. Like...are you kidding me?! The Dolphins have tethered themselves to a QB and coach who I don't believe will ever have what it takes to consistently win the division. They have poor team culture and they're soft. The Patriots at least have good (albeit aging) ownership and a promising young quarterback. Things can change quickly when you find a quarterback. So of the other teams in the division, I'd tend to believe the Patriots currently have the best chance of fielding a good team moving forward, provided that Maye is the guy and that they continue to build around him. They need a BIG TIME talent infusion. The Jets and The Dolphins will continue not to scare me one bit. As others already said, and I will echo: As long as Josh Allen is the quarterback of the Buffalo Bills, they will continue to be the team to beat in the AFC East for the forseeable future.

I think part of what people underestimate about the Bills offense, and what people don't fear about it, is that it IS unusual. It doesn't have an exciting, signature, fancy, innovative scheme to hang its hat on. It doesn't wow you with exotic motions and advanced passing concepts. It's not a dazzling, bomb-it-down-field passing offense or a Greg Roman style exotic/dominant running offense. What it IS is malleable and effective. The first thing the Bills want to do is trot out two tight ends or a 6th offensive lineman and run the ball down your throat. If you sell out to stop that, they'll hit you with play-action chunk plays. If you stop all of THAT and force them to spread it out, they're willing. If you wanna operate our of a deep shell, they'll dink and dunk you to death. If you wanna throw exotic blitzes at them, they'll hit WR screens to Shakir all day. No matter what you want to do, Joe Brady is gonna diagnose it and give Josh Allen some "easy button" answers, and the Bills are gonna methodically move the ball and score more often than not. You're gonna see either a touchdown celebration or a Tyler Bass field goal much more often than you're gonna see a Sam Martin punt. Then all of a sudden, you're gonna look up at the scoreboard and see that the Bills hung 30 on you. "malleable and methodically effective" doesn't scare people. 6 o-lineman and running Duo again and again doesn't grab headlines. But for all the glitz and glamour it lacks, the Bills offense just continues to attack you in whatever way you've left yourself susceptible to, and to the tune of lots of points and lots of wins. Meet the boring but deadly 2024 Buffalo Bills offense.

I like Ray Davis a lot. His vision, contact balance, and north-south running without much dancing are impressive. I continue to operate under the belief -- and I know I'm in the minority here -- that Ray Davis should eventually become the 1B to Cook's 1A, or vice versa. Specifically, I'd like to see the two of them used basically EXACTLY how the Lions use Montgomery and Gibbs. I think Davis an do what Montgomery does, and I think Cook can do what Gibbs does. For those saying that would take the ball out of Cook's hands too much, I disagree. Jahmyr Gibbs, despite ceding serious playing time to Montgomery, has 1016 rushing yards and 10 TDs, plus 316 receiving yards and 1 TD, and he still has five games left to play. I think letting Davis be more of a 1st and 2nd down banger, and/or alternating drives with Cook, will keep Cook fresh and increase his longevity. I also think that Ray Davis has been too impressive in the looks he's gotten to continue to get as few as he does. And to the point of this thread: I'll take Davis over Allen, thank you. He doesn't wow you as much coming off the bus, but he's silky smooth and has looked like a seasoned vet from day 1 (probably because he's 37 years old)

I have to admit: I didn't see this coming. The Bills -- the team with the All-World quarterback with a bazooka for an arm -- seem to operate best offensively with 6 o-linemen, a tight end, two receivers, and a running back on the field. I don't have the stats in front of me that compare their effectiveness with 6 OL vs other groupings, but it certainly seems to be one of their most effective tactics. Not the spread, not the Air Raid, not 10 or 11 personnel, not even 12 personnel. A jumbo set. The Bills offense seems to operate best out of a jumbo set. They've been using it for a few seasons now, here and there. This season, under Brady, they seem to be employing it most often and most effectively. We saw it on Sunday against the 49ers, where they lined up with 6 OL and ran Duo over and over and over again. Who could have foreseen this being such an effective tactic for the Bills? Who could have foreseen Alec Anderson playing such a crucial role in the offense? Why don't more teams do this? It seems to give such a clear advantage in the run game, and then even when you run play-action off of it, the 6th lineman gives the QB extra time to find a receiver. It seems so obvious, and yet, it is certainly not common across the NFL to operate from this set as often as the Bills do. Anyway...for the rest of the season, when you see a 6th o-lineman trot out onto the field, it's fairly likely that a positive play is about to happen for the Bills offense.

Those who haven't listened to Dion Dawkins' answer about what is different about this year's team in its entirety should really do so. It is IMMENSELY interesting, to say the least. Sure seems like those of us who observed that Josh Allen looked the most miserable he has ever looked last year were onto something. Conversely, those observing that he looks as happy as he has ever looked this year are also on to something. As the QB goes, so goes the team. Things are good in Josh land right now (though we can all only guess at what was going wrong last year and what's better this year), and thus, things are going well for the Buffalo Bills. At least, that's the way Dion tells it.

Agreed. The Bills have the 6th ranked scoring defense in the league. Over the past 3 games, they've given up an average of 17 points per game. I don't think McDermott and Babich will be eager to swap out one of the two starters at safety for a guy who hasn't played football in a year. If the safety play starts to decline or injures strike? Sure. Otherwise, I think some people are letting what they WANT to see happen cloud their judgement in terms of what is actually LIKELY to happen.

We'll check back in a few weeks.

So when asked his expectations for Hyde, McDermott replied "very little. This isn't an indictment on how we feel about Hamlin, Rapp, Bishop, or Lewis". He also said he expects Hamlin and Rapp to remain starters. Obviously, words can be empty sometimes. But McDermott has proven himself to be a pretty honest guy over the years, whose words you can usually take at face value. Contrary to what some may want, it really DOES appear as though Hyde is here to be a leader and player/coach in the meeting room and locker room, to get one last chance at a ring, and to operate as a "break glass in case of emergency" option. Barring major regression in level of play or injury from Hamlin or Rapp, I do not expect to see Hyde lining up at safety for the Bills defense.