Logic

Agreed. The Bills have some really EXCELLENT teachers on the defensive side of the ball. Bob Babich with the linebackers and his son Bobby Babich with the secondary have been doing some amazing work teaching fundamentals and getting their position groups to play fast. Recently, an opposing coach was asked whether he saw more of McDermott or more of Leslie Frazier in the Bills defense. He replied that the defense seems to feature the schemes and tendencies of McDermott, but the emphasis on fundamentals of Leslie Frazier. This seems to be an outstanding combination. Additionally, the Bills defensive scheme is simple enough that their players are able to play fast and not overthink things, but well-disguised and varied enough that the opposition has a hard time with it. This ALSO seems to be an outstanding combination. Time will tell what this staff is able to do with the offense, but color me highly impressed with their work on defense.

Still waiting on Chris66 to wade back into the ****-pot he stirred up and talk fondly about his memories of BBMB.

I hate the take, but love the screenname. !@#$ing awesome.

Everyone already said it, but let me pile on: Jerry Hughes ABSOLUTELY should be dropping into coverage every now and again. Trent Murphy, too. As a matter of fact....has anyone asked Hughes if he can play wide receiver?

Rachel Bush -- who I, like every other red-blooded male, happen to think is gorgeous -- kind of seems like a nutcase. At the very least, she spews insane right wing nutjob conspiracy theories and blocks/insults anyone who dares to question her.

It's just that I never see you contribute anything worthwhile in terms of football discussion. Ever. You essentially ONLY ever come here to spew negativity about the Bills. You've spoken poorly of Allen (multiple times), the Pegulas, the coaching staff. If your only role is to speak negatively about the Bills, then it IS trolling. What else should I call it?

I'll tell you what: If my team had won 5 Lombardis in the past 18 years, the LAST thing I'd be doing is hanging out on a division rival's message board, talking **** and trolling their members. What an absolutely lame and sad thing to do. Go watch some Patriots** film or something and let the adults talk in peace.

The San Francisco example proves my point perfectly! Kyle Shanahan coordinates that offense. He got the job because he was a good OC for the Falcons. Prior to that, though, he was the OC for the Browns, where his offense ranked 27th in points scored. Not so good. Why? Vastly inferior talent. I do think good coaches can generate schemes to compensate for talent, but you can only keep the smoke and mirrors going for so long. To use your other example of Gailey: How did that work out long term? Once opposing teams figured out Gailey's gameplan, did he adjust and win a bunch of games with the Bills, or did he and Fitz get fired? And to KEEP going off of that example, Fitz at that time was a FAR more capable QB than Allen is now. I'm not saying Allen won't improve, but RIGHT NOW? Not so good. Extremely limiting to an offensive play caller. Given Allen's current deficiencies, in fact, I would argue that the type of game Daboll called against Tennessee is EXACTLY the type of offensive gameplan the Bills need to use right now to win football games.

I dug it. The jury is still out on Daboll, as far as I'm concerned. He has some plays and formations and motions in the playbook that are LIGHT YEARS ahead of what the Bills have had in recent years, which is to say: they're modern. They're 2018 NFL passing concepts. He also had a head-scratching gameplan against Green Bay and underused Shady in weeks 1-4 in general. So there's that. The big thing for me, though, is that it's hard to tell if the playcaller is calling good plays if the players -- the QB, in particular -- can't execute. Now yes, you'd be correct in saying it's the job of the offensive coordinator to call plays that the quarterback CAN execute. Well, that's just it: Daboll is finding out -- along with all of us watching at home -- on a week-to-week basis what Allen can and can't execute. "Well Daboll should be able to tell that from practice!", you might say. Well...sort of. Executing in practice and executing in a live game setting are two different things (just ask Nathan Peterman!). So yes, the OC needs to set the QB up for success. He can only do so much, though (hence the half-field reads and simplified playcalls for Allen this week). Allen showed against Green Bay that he couldn't execute the more nuanced passing concepts, full-field reads, and RPOs with effectiveness, so Daboll curtailed the gameplan and it did just enough against the Titans to eek out a victory. The bottom line is this: An OC can only do so much. The players still have to execute the plays. We have MULTIPLE position groups not executing on various plays. The offensive line, the wide receivers, the quarterback. Until such time as I get to see Daboll's gameplan in action with even a SEMBLANCE of NFL-caliber talent at the skill positions, I am unable to make a sound judgement. Until then, he just has to make chicken salad out of chicken ****, which is what he did this week against the Titans.

Yikes. I'm surprised he even caught the flight out of Buffalo!

I respectfully disagree that their pro scouting has been lacking. The Benjamin, Kerley, and Matthews acquisitions at WR have proven to be bad moves. Otherwise, though? Pretty good results, in my opinion. The additions of Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer -- arguably both Pro Bowl level talents who are just entering the prime -- was a master stroke. Star, Trent, Jordan Phillips, Eddie Yarbrough, and Chris Ivory seem to be working out well, too. Even Vlad Ducasse -- the favorite whipping boy of Bills fans -- has played well this year. In fact, I'd say that all of their pro personnel acquisitions at positions OTHER than WR have worked out anywhere from decent to exceptional. The lack of success finding WR help, however, is cause for concern, based on the fact that the Panthers (from whom Beane came to us) ALSO demonstrated an inability to find quality WRs.

A clear view of Edmunds' forced fumble, to follow up on the discussion of his improved play:

This. Flowers is far, FAR worse than Mills. Believe it.

Thanks for the reply, Shaw. The bolded really worried me about his college tape, and it showed up against Green Bay last week. This week, however, against the Titans, he looked much more comfortable in the pocket and less quick to bail. That's what I keep hearing about him from teammates and coaches "He doesn't make the same mistake twice". I hope that's true. It's funny. I've seen QBs with A+ intangibles fail because they physically couldn't get the job done. I've also seen physical marvels fail at the position because they didn't have the intangibles. It's very rare to see a QB with all the intangibles AND A+ physical gifts. It will be fascinating to watch his progress as the season goes on. I don't really worry too much about his accuracy, by the way. What worries me most is whether or not he can learn to see the field and process coverages, pressures, etc, and respond accordingly. Thus far, he has struggled greatly with this. That is to be expected for a rookie who's only four games into his pro career. As much as I am rooting for him to succeed, I can honestly say I consider his turning into a franchise QB to be a 50-50 proposition at this point. It wouldn't surprise me too much if he succeeded and became a Flacco/Newton/Roethlisberger level starter at the position. It wouldn't surprise me at all, either, if he was out of the league in five years. Here's hoping for the former.

Thanks for the writeup, Shaw. Two things: First (and I know you've already talked a little bit about it, but...), what is it in Allen's game that you see that makes you think he's going to be great? I know you've been watching the Bills for a lot of years and have seen many QBs come and go, so I'm very curious to hear why specifically you think he's a keeper. Second, regarding Edmunds: I think it's IMPOSSIBLE to imagine how hard it would be to quarterback an NFL defense at age 20. I mean...it's mind boggling. It seems to me that he is improving each and every week. And being the QB of the defense, each time HE improves, the defense seems to improve with him. Lorenzo Alexander had mentioned that Edmunds was sometimes making incorrect checks and playcalls in preseason, but they were rolling with it, because they knew he'd get the hang of it and learn from his mistakes. He definitely seems to be doing that. As others have already said, he needs to work a bit on his run defense. He is, however, getting more comfortable each week in zone coverage. He is also not getting suckered by play-action quite so much. He does some things that you just can't teach -- they can only come from God-given gifts. In Tampa 2 coverage, for instance, he is routinely dropping 20 yards into coverage and running stride-for-stride with inside receivers, taking them completely out of the play. I have included a link to a quick video below illustrating this. He DID cause a fumble this week, too. That's a forced turnover in back-to-back weeks for him. And finally, did you see the play where he ran 10 yards straight ahead at Mariota , who was rolling out, and nearly walloped him, and caused an incomplete pass? The announcers even commented that Mariota seemed shocked that Edmunds closed on him so fast. Much like Allen, Edmunds is a physical marvel who just needs more mental seasoning. If BOTH the Bills' rookie stud athletes get the mental part down...look out, NFL!

I like that the Bills are asking for too much. They don't NEED to trade McCoy. It's Philly that wants him. If they want him bad enough, they'll overpay. If not, then no trade, and the Bills keep their best offensive player (who hasn't yet lost a step, by the way). Win-Win for Buffalo.

I'm inclined to agree. If he was disgruntled or something, then so be it. But he's not. He's happy, healthy, and was voted team captain.

Exactly this. When you talk about "building culture", I don't know how you get the team to play hard week in and week out when your coach/GM ship out your best offensive player and a team captain. It screams "we're punting on the season!".

I sincerely doubt the Eagles would give up even a 2nd, let alone a 2nd and a player. At McCoy's age, the Bills are looking at a 3rd round pick AT most, and more likely a 4th or 5th. If I'm right about that, Bills would be better served by hanging onto him.

I'm pretty torn about this. On the one hand, the Bills have already pretty much stripped the offense to the nubs. Getting one more good draft pick in exchange for a player who likely won't be around when the Bills are ready for prime time potentially makes sense. On the other hand, McCoy is a locker room leader, a team captain, and has a great relationship with Allen. Taking away the ONE good offensive player the Bills have -- and thus making life even HARDER on their rookie QB -- might be a foolhardy move. The question, of course, is what would the compensation be? Anything less than a 2nd rounder (which I doubt the Eagles would be willing to part with) probably isn't worth it. Why? Because, again, you don't want to make Allen's difficult development even MORE difficult by stripping him of another good offensive player and a mentor/leader in the locker room.

I'm just curious: What is it about this article that makes it seem biased? What about the article is unfair or inaccurate?

Bills fans any time anyone says ANYTHING bad about Allen, you mean?

Jesus Christ.