Logic

All Bills fans seem to want at the moment are some flashy Bills trades and for Josh Allen to throw for 300 yards in a game. Me? I'll take better tackling, 5-10 more touches per game for Singletary, re-incorporating Foster into the offense, and a win against the Skins.

Boy is there going to be a lot of belly-aching today when the Bills do not make a single trade. Beane, McDermott, Daboll, and Frazier have all stated that they believe they already have what they need in house to turn things around. In the offense's case, I agree. We ALREADY have a big, fast WR in house who was regularly collecting 100-yard games last year. His name's Robert Foster, and we don't use him. We ALREADY have a shifty, playmaking running back in house. His name's Devin Singletary and we don't use him. My crystal ball foresees no Bills trades and a lot of Bills fans' tears.

A few things bothering me about the Bills right now. 1.) Mid-season fall-off is legit. And there's more: It usually seems to involve getting absolutely man-handled in the run game. That's the primary catalyst, in my view. The Bills better hope they find the answer to their run defense woes, because Bill Callahan -- who would just as soon run the ball 50 times a game from the i-formation as greet his mother with a hug -- is on deck for this Sunday. If you think things are uninspiring in Bills land now, just imagine what a loss to the woebegone Redskins would look like. Yikes. 2.) At the midway point of the season, we pretty much know who teams are. Sure, there may be a scheme tweak here, a playing time adjustment there, but for the most part, you is what you is at this point. As such, I've come to realize and accept what the Bills are at this point in time: a middling team who is likely to eek out a Wild Card spot based on an easy schedule, but who has a long way to go to be consistent competitors and to be among the upper echelon of teams in the league. For a while, due to their record and stifling defense and the belief that the offense would improve as the year went on, I thought they might be more. I thought they might ALREADY be a really good team, and one with at least SEMI-realistic aspirations to win a playoff game or two. Now? Reality has hit, and accepting that reality will make the rest of the season easier to watch and accept. The Bills aren't "there" yet. The defense needs some edge rushing talent and direly misses Harrison Phillips on the interior. The offense needs a few game-breaking playmakers. 3.) Brian Daboll is like Jekyll and Hyde. Some games he establishes a really good offensive rhythm, some games his offense is herky-jerky and can't get anything going. Hard to tell if it really is the Xs and Os or if it's the Willies and Joes. Most of all, I hate how easily he seems to abandon the run game sometimes. I understand that philosophically, he wants to follow the New England model of "tailor your offensive gameplan each week to specifically attack your opponent". The problem is that I don't think his offense is good enough or cohesive enough or talented enough yet to follow that model. What I see is a team whose offensive line is WAY better at run blocking than pass blocking, and who has two good running backs in Gore and Singletary and a quarterback who is WAY better on play-action than normal drop back passing. What does that all mean? It means that they should be operating a power run game with play-action deep shots built in. Instead they're insisting on being a ball control, pass-first, short passing offense. Again, I understand WHY Daboll wants this. Analytics all point to pass-first offense being the way to go in 2019. But on the other hand, it's all about winning games. No one is disparaging the Ravens for being run-first in THEIR march to a 5-2 record. Do what wins. Right now, running the ball seems to be the way to go. 4.) This leads me to my biggest gripe: Lack of intelligent use of Singletary, Foster, and McKenzie as of late. While lots of Bills fans want the team to be a player at the trade deadline, I don't really see the need. People want Robby Anderson. Well, we already have him. His name is Robert Foster. We don't use him. People want Gordon or Bell, both of whom are shifty, playmaking running backs without breakaway speed. Well, we already have him. His name is Devin Singeltary. We don't use him. As far as Singletary, I just can't figure out why the offense isn't using him more. He seems to be potentially the biggest offensive playmaker on the team, and he's getting maybe four carries a week. It's unacceptable and illogical. I also don't understand why the Bills can't ever seem to incorporate McKenzie and Foster into the gameplan in the same week. It's always either a McKenzie week or a Foster week, with the other guy being inactive. It seems quite obvious that an offensive lineup that features Brown, Foster, and McKenzie all on the field at once would be quite dangerous and difficult to defend. That's A LOT of speed. And why do we go two or three games at a time without using McKenzie, when he has proven that his presence as an end-around decoy on every single run play is a great boon to the offense? I feel like Daboll sees certain things work really well (like McKenzie as the end-around decoy and occasional pitch man) and then completely scraps them for the next week. Part of his "weekly hand-tailored gameplan" strategy. It's very frustrating. For a team without much offensive explosiveness, the inability/unwillingness to use Foster, McKenzie, and Singeltary -- arguably the three most explosive players on the Bills offense -- is baffling. Need a boost to the deep game? How about making Foster a meaningful part of the gameplan?! I mean...he was routinely collecting 100 yards a game last year against pro defenses. Did he suddenly forget how to play football?! Need a boost to your run game and offensive explosiveness in general? How about giving real run to Singletary and McKenzie?! Phew. That was a lot. Thanks for the opportunity to vent, even if no one listens. A middling football team who runs into inexplicable stretches of bad football defensively and who refuses to use their best offensive playmakers. Enraging.

I cannot believe that this thread reached 10 pages. JFC.

Thanks for the post, Shaw. I was at the game, too, and it was exactly as you described: A perfect fall day in every way. I brought a friend with me who had never been to a Bills (or any NFL) game before, and I made sure to take him on the full tour of the lots. He got a particular kick out of Pinto Ron and the bowling ball shot ceremony pageantry. If I could go back and re-live that day over and over again like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day, I would. Well...the football watching part was a little painful for three and a half quarters, but other than that... One thing I wanted to mention, regarding the onside kick: I could be wrong, but I was of the understanding that there is only one primary "up man" on the hands team who is intended to field it. Hyde is that guy for the Bills, as you stated. Lee Smith's only involvement on the hands team is as a primary blocker, though. At least I THINK that's the case. I suppose the opposition could kick it right at him and he'd have no choice but to field it, but...hmmm. Now you've got me wondering. Check out the video below of the onside kick from the All-22 view. Pretty cool to see how Alexander and Poyer allowed that play to happen the way it did.

"Oh really? You don't say!"

Yeah...I should have figured you wouldn't recognize a joke when you saw one. ?

I definitely believe this. I expect them to start collecting some wins, and by the time their matchup with Buffalo rolls around, it won't seem so easy any longer. That defense under Fangio is starting to fire on all cylinders. They're not as bad as their record says they are. Conversely, as you mention right below that, I don't think the Rams, Ravens, or Colts are as good as their records say they are.

Respects the process. Believes that iron sharpens iron. Likes to stack good days on good days. Has a growth mindset. Digs camo hats.

May I borrow your crystal ball when you're done with it?

Gosh! You're right! That highly specific graph citing the difference in net passing yards per play gained and allowed sure showed me that the Dolphins don't have any chance of beating the Bills this Sunday! ? By the way, you might want to look up "straw man". I don't know that it means what you think it means.

This. Miami is allowing 169 rushing yards per game. Kroft is back from injury. Plenty of 12 and 13 personnel, methinks.

If he ends up sitting, hopefully Foster is well enough to play and produce. In that case, I hope Foster has such a big game that they realize they can't continue to keep him off the field, and he has a much bigger role in the Bills offense going forward. All of this, of course, is contingent on the health of both Brown and Foster.

Does not compute. I am incapable of not worrying about the Bills. It's just who I am as a person.

I'M stunned that bills fans have become so certain, so fast, that the Bills are incapable of laying a stinker on the field and losing a game they should win, ESPECIALLY to a desperate team with Fitzpatrick at quarterback. I'm not saying the Bills WILL lose, mind you, I'm just not at the "Bills are great, definitely getting 12 wins" stage just yet. They've played one good team this year, and they lost. Is it that unreasonable to acknowledge that any given NFL team can beat any other NFL team on any given Sunday?

Sad? Anyone who has watched the last 20 years of Bills football and DOESN'T see at least A LITTLE upset potential in Fitzmagic returning to Orchard Park with a team desperate to get its first win must have been watching a different team. I'll tell ya: a lot of Bills fans have gotten really cocky, really fast. Any given Sunday.

Counterpoint: it's impossible to look at this move and not think that it at least increases the chance of a Dolphins victory. That doesn't mean that the Dolphins will win. They may, for instance, only have gone from a 5% chance at victory to a 10% chance, or whatever arbitrary numbers you want to assign. To say that it DOESN'T increase Miami's chance at victory, though, is wrong. I think just about everyone would agree that Fitz is a better QB than Rosen, and as we have all seen, is capable of having a 4 TD game every now and again. Doesn't mean he WILL, but he's at least shown he's capable of it. Rosen really hasn't. Besides, we saw with Darnold's return against the Cowboys how much a QB change can potentially spark and inspire a formerly winless squad.

Fair enough, and I don't disagree. What I DON'T like, however, and what I fear is setting a dangerous precedent, is this notion that as soon as you decide you don't want to play for your current team for whatever reason, you just start acting like a jerk, refusing to show up for work, making a scene on social media, and creating a big distraction for your team. It worked for AB (I mean, for a minute at least), it worked for Ramsey, it worked for Minkah Fitzpatrick. Players are more and more willing to do whatever it takes to get traded, even if it means losing money and causing huge distractions to their teams. Owners, meanwhile, as you point out, seem more and more willing to oblige the players.

It's weird to me how many people think Spain is playing poorly this year. He's not. He has struggled AT TIMES, as all offensive linemen do, but his positive contributions far outweigh his negative moments. Cover 1 just posted a bunch of clips of him on Twitter. He's an absolute load in the run game, he handles twists and stunts very well, he's a leader in the locker room, and he brings size and attitude that the coaches like. Sometimes I feel like people want a Pro Bowler at every position. Spain is more than adequate at LG. I also don't think the coaching staff has given up on Cody Ford playing right tackle. They must feel that he is progressing at that position. Either that or they don't feel that Nsekhe can hold up there full time, health-wise. In any event. I feel that the Bills have 3/5 of the line solved long term: Dawkins (another one that people are more down on than me this season. He is having a career year), Morse, and Feliciano. Now they just need to decide whether Spain factors into the long term equation. If he doesn't, I'm fine with trying out Spencer Long or Cody Ford at LG. A tackle needs to be drafted or signed this offseason, it appears.

As far as the Rams go...I think all these years of not drafting their own young blue chip players are going to bite Les Snead in the ass. You can't just keep trading away picks for star players forever. First of all, collecting stars does not a great team make. Secondly, you can't pay everyone. Thirdly, at some point, you need to replenish your roster with young, cheap labor. Snead can't play this game forever with his draft picks. As far as the Jaguars go...it's hard to argue with getting two 1st round picks in exchange for a cornerback who has made it clear he wants out. I DO find it funny sometimes, however, how easily teams are willing to part with supremely talented players. Especially lately. Everyone calls it a win for the Jaguars, but draft picks don't mean squat if you don't know what to do with them. In order for the Jags to "win" the trade, they actually need to use their picks wisely. That part's not always so easy.

I mean...any time you can trade away a top five cornerback in his prime, you just have to do it, right?

PFF (I know, I know), has Peters ranked as a top 15 cornerback so far this season.

I know there's more to the story than statistics, but Poyer has more interceptions AND tackles than Hyde the past three seasons. Also, Hyde is more often the traditional center field deep field protector, whereas Poyer often has to play in the box a lot. He plays a crucial role in stopping the run AND leads the Bills in interceptions the past three seasons. It's a great debate to be able to have, though: Which of our two elite safeties is superior. A long way from the days of Donte Whitner and Ko "I'm worth millions!" Simpson.

The NFL community's complete inability/refusal to give Hyde and Poyer the credit they deserve essentially constitutes criminal negligence at this point. It's ridiculous. Best safety duo in the game. And you know what else? I'm not even sure that Hyde is better than Poyer.

That article....basically told me nothing. I didn't learn anything, gain any new perspective, or come away feeling like I had spent my time wisely. That's not a dig at the OP, it's just a dig at the author. I don't know what the thesis of his article was supposed to be.