Logic

Like Romo and Nantz said yesterday: Ground and pound is all good well until you face a team with a good defensive gameplan to stop you. And if you get down on the scoreboard and have to pass to catch up? God help you. Bills fans know because we lived through it for three seasons under Tyrod and Roman/Lynn/Dennison. Speaking of "good defensive gameplan", the Chargers' played 7 defensive backs on all but one defensive play against the Ravens. This was after they had played 7 defensive backs on the least defensive snaps IN THE LEAGUE in 2018. The Ravens were not prepared, and the speed the Chargers had on the field defensively was the difference. The blueprint to beat Jackson's Ravens offense (assuming you have the defensive backs to make it work, that is) is now out there for all to see. We'll see if he can take his game to the next level.

1.) Coaching 2.) QB 3.) Defense Those are the three ingredients to success in the NFL, in order. You could make the argument that #s 1 and 2 could be flipped, but those are the three things you need. The Bills appear to already have two of the three. If the third falls into place, here we go!

Apparently, this kid had lots of interest around the NFL. The Eskimos did him a favor and released him early so he could sign a Futures Contract with the Bills. It is a cheap, zero risk signing in January. The high likelihood is that nothing comes of it and he's cut. But even if you estimate that he has a 5% chance to make the roster, it's still worth a January roll of the dice at a position that desperately needs an upgrade. And hey, it's not unheard of for CFL talent to flourish in the NFL after a few years up north. I'm on board.

Yeah, to be honest, Phillips is sort of a man without a position. Supposedly, the reason he dropped to the third round in the draft is that he lacked the quickness and pass rushing skills to project as a 3, and lacked the sheer strength and anchor ability of a 0 or 1. I'm not saying I agree with that assessment, but that was the scouting report on him. This coming season will tell the tale, I suppose, of where he fits long term. Until further notice, I'd feel more comfortable considering him and Jordan Phillips as valuable rotational pieces and drafting or signing a quality 3.

I feel (and I think the coaching staff agrees, based on where they had him play more snaps this season) that he is a more natural 1T. Go back and read some of the articles from before the season https://www.buffalorumblings.com/2018/8/1/17637648/buffalo-bills-cross-training-rookie-tackle-harrison-phillips-stanford-around-the-defensive-line https://www.nfl.com/prospects/harrison-phillips?id=32462018-0002-5600-691a-386214c1981a They coaching staff cross-trained him at 3T and stated that ideally they want all of their tackles to be interchangeable. Phillips does not have the off-the-snap quickness that a full-time 3T needs. His strength, build, and usage this season lends credence to the notion that, while he will play 3T at times, he is more likely a long term fit at 1T. It's possible that he develops the pass rushing moves necessary to make the full time switch this offseason, but it's not something I feel comfortable enough with to bank on it. I'd rather see the Bills draft a natural fit at the position and let the best man win. They need a 4th DT regardless, based on the degree to which they rotate players at that position.

He's not a 3T. He can play there from time to time, but that's not what they drafted him to be. That's not his skillset.

The thing that a lot of Bills fans won't acknowledge is that 3T has actually become a pretty big need for the Bills after Kyle's retirement. Yes, it seems like they plan to re-sign Jordan Phillips. He's not a guy I want to entrust to be a full time starting 3T in McDermott's defense, though. Having a good 3T is CRUCIAL to the success of this defensive scheme. It's a top need now, there's no doubt about it.

Based on the perceived top-heaviness of this draft is it relates to defensive linemen, that's what I'm expecting the Bills to take. If they don't trade down and Jonah Williams isn't on the board (both very real possibilities), they should take the best 3T or edge rusher on the board. The draft history of the men making the decisions for the Bills support this likelihood, too.

Some analysts planted their flag in the "Allen will be a bust!" turf very early on. Many of them are "analytics guys". They now need Allen to fail in order to validate their strongly stated opinions. It IS silly, and there ARE a lot of overly negative, unfairly biased pieces out there. That being said, when Bills fans overreact to those types of pieces -- even though they reek of confirmation bias -- it makes them look childish and silly. Like I said before, Allen will either prove them wrong with his play or he won't. "Trust the process". The thing is, it's not just those types of pieces that get Bills fans riled up. Even articles like the one posted in this thread from Rosenthal seem to offend some Bills fans. Is calling him the 32nd best quarterback in the league really that crazy or unfair at this point? Has he really so firmly proven that he's better than that already? I like Allen a lot, but I don't see what's so unreasonable about what Rosenthal said.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Bills fans are way too easily offended as it relates to Josh Allen. Not every national pundit needs to give him a glowing review. It's fine. We're all excited about Allen, sure, but it's not the end of the world that non-Bills fans need more convincing. Who cares? Let the kid change their minds with his play on the field. The amount of hurt feelings and persistent pestering I see from Bills fans on Twitter and elsewhere any time someone gives Allen anything but praise is just crazy to me. Ease up. Breathe. It'll all be okay!

I was leery of the Culley hire, too, but Allen's development this season has quieted my fears for the time being. I'm not sure how anyone who is happy with Allen's development this season could ALSO still be ringing the "get rid of Culley" bell. The two views are not compatible, in my estimation.

I'm not crying, you're crying!

First, I'm not so sure it's a great idea career-wise to do what Juan Castillo did in that article. Secondly, the run game coordinator for a running game as putrid as the 2018 Bills' takes zero blame and doesn't think it was fair that he was fired? Really?! The guy has some legitimate complaints, but also seems to severely lack self awareness and accountability. Onward and upward.

Now just cut Chris Kelsay and we can all breathe a sigh of relief!

....It was sarcasm. He's not moving. I just don't get why anyone thinks the "move to OLB" thing has merit whatsoever. First of all, they didn't spend his rookie season letting him QB the defense from the Mike position just to switch him in year two and have to start from scratch at a new position. Secondly, if you move Edmunds to weakside LB, you're bumping Milano out of a job, and that doesn't make any sense because Milano is a playmaker. You're not going to put Edmunds at the strong side linebacker position because that's only a part time player in this defense. He'd be coming off the field for 79% of the snaps (based on how much the Bills were in base defense in 2018). So is it that people want Edmunds to bump the talented Milano out of the lineup, or that they want Edmunds on the bench 79% of the time? Either way, it's ludicrous. He's our long term ILB, Period. All of that being said, I DO believe there's merit to finding a 3rd down pass-rushing sub-package role for Edmunds in year 2. He showed excellent pass rushing efficiency.

You're right. I'll fix that.

Keep Dawkins and Teller. Keep Sirles and McDermott for the time being for depth and competition. The rest can all battle to the death in a steel cage with Bobby Heenan barred from ringside for the "worst lineman ever" world championship.

On a serious note, it's hard to imagine the season ending on a higher note for the Bills. Allen scores 5 TDs and is named AFC Offensive Player of the week* (the first Bills QB to win the award since Drew Bledsoe in 2002). Edmunds is named NFL Defensive rookie of the month. Levi Wallace finishes season as PFF's top ranked rookie corner. Robert Foster and Zay Jones both have breakout seasons at WR. The future's so bright I gotta wear shades!

But seriously, it was widely reported during the draft that the Cardinals desperately wanted Allen and KNEW they were going to have to find a way to beat Buffalo to him. When the Bills picked him, it was immediately reported on NFL Network that the Cardinals were "absolutely heartbroken". Considering how low they picked and how much of a longshot it was going to be for them to be able to get Allen....could it have been them? I mean, if it was an NFL team, they make the most sense to me.

MOVE HIM TO OUTSIDE LINEBACKER!!!

Cardinals.

Awesome. Love it. Just draft or sign another 3T in addition to Jordan and our interior DL is set for the next five years.

LOL

I mean...did you watch the Dolphins game last Sunday? I fully agree that Edmunds needs to improve in the run game. But if you watched him against the Dolphins (and at various other times throughout the year), you saw him making more and more plays against the run. He's learning, he's improving. He's TWENTY YEARS OLD AND PLAYING A POSITION HE'S NEVER PLAYED BEFORE! He DOES need to improve in this area, you're absolutely right. No way around it. Even in that game against NE, though, the lack of Matt Milano and Taron Johnson really hurt us in run defense. We pretty much completely stifled the Patriots' running attack the first time we faced them. Things were drastically different the second time. A lot of it was on Edmunds, too, though. Overall, in 2018, how many teams lined up and dominated the Bills in the running game? Not many. I don't believe that's a big concern going forward, because it wasn't a huge concern in 2018, even with a raw Edmunds needing improvement.