Logic

How many head coaches consistently have winning records without good quarterbacks? On the flip side, surely all very good QBs in the NFL make the playoffs every year, and coaching has nothing to do with it. I assume Justin Herbert makes the playoffs every year, right? What was McDermott's record the year he DIDN'T have Josh as head coach? What did his team look like, and did it make the playoffs? Is it honestly your contention that if you gave Jauron Josh Allen as his QB, that he'd be just as good of a head coach as Sean McDermott? It's absolutely wild to me that people are legitimately comparing the head coach with the highest winning percentage in franchise history to Jauron, or are claiming that Allen is the only reason McDermott has won so many football games. Again...I'm not a huge McDermott lover. I've been frustrated with him a lot lately, and I'm not sure he's the man for the job long term. But comparing him to Jauron is just nonsense. I would love -- absolutely LOVE -- to hear what makes Sean McDermott "just like Jauron". What makes them similar, specifically? Please enlighten me.

Bad/lazy take. Jauron was 60-82 as a head coach. McDermott is 73-41 as a head coach. Jauron had a .42 win percentage as a head coach. McDermott has a .64 win percentage as a head coach, which is best all time for the Buffalo Bills, and just below Andy Reid and Bill Belichick's career win percentages. Dick Jauron had one playoff season in 10 seasons as head coach. He was 0-1 in the playoffs. Sean McDermott has had six playoff seasons out of seven seasons as head coach. He is 5-6 in the playoffs. I'm no McDermott apologist, and I'm not sure he's the man for the job long term, but to compare him to Jauron is simply unreasonable and unrealistic.

Yeah, I'd say that's a pretty key difference. The statement "never once in seven seasons have we BEATEN a comparable or stronger team in the playoffs" is mostly accurate. "Taken it to" usually means "put up a really good fight". and the Bills have done that multiple times. In fact, I'd say there have only been two playoff games in which the Bills really didn't have a chance. The Chiefs AFCCG in 2020, in which the Chiefs were clearly the superior team, and the Bengals game in the 2022 playoffs, in which the Bills got blown off the field. Other than those two instances, I'd say the Bills pretty much ALWAYS take it to all their opponents in the playoffs. It's that pesky "winning the game" thing that they've failed to do on too many occasions.

I would just like to say, after a few weeks of seeing how much personality and character Keon has, how smart and how hard of a worker he seems to be, etc... I will be rooting incredibly hard for this kid to succeed and make me look like a bozo. I've been very vocal about not liking the pick and not being wild about the prospect. That said, I'm not one of those "hope to see the player fail in order to confirm my take and make me look smart" kind of people. I'd waaaay rather be proven wrong, the way I was with Josh Allen. Few players are as likable as Keon Coleman. Few have endeared themselves to Bills fans as quickly as he has. He is clearly a very physically talented player, and he's clearly a good and funny and likable dude. His succeeding will help the Bills succeed. I will be rooting hard for him for his sake, for the Bills' sake, and for the sake of getting to continue to see his comedic gifts and seemingly great character on display for years to come. Go Keon! Go Bills!

That's simply not true. In both this season's Chiefs playoff game and the 13 seconds game, we "took it to" the Chiefs. We also "took it to", and beat, the Ravens with Lamar in 2020 (and yes, I realize he exited the game with injury, but he played the majority of it). I agree that McDermott hasn't been what he needs to be in the playoffs, and as I just stated above, if he doesn't fix that, then the Bills will never win a title. But to say the bills have "not once" "take it to" a comparable or stronger team is simply not true.

I was calling for McDermott's head midway through last season. From the point at which the Dunne article was published onward, I thought he actually showed a lot of improvement. His calls got gutsier. He showed more trust in both his offense and his defense. There were times when he got so bold in his decision making -- particularly going for it on 4th down on the Bills' own side of the field -- that even I was like "now wait a second coach...". I'll give McDermott this: I feel he has shown consistent improvement from the time he became head coach of the Buffalo Bills until now. It's gotten to the point where the Bills are routinely at the top of the "how often teams go for it on 4th down when they should" lists, neutral situation passing rate lists, and a bunch of other things that analytics tell us add up to generally good decision making. I would argue that his coaching in the playoff hasn't improved at the same rate that his regular season coaching has improved. I do still think he tightens up in the biggest moments, and it costs the Bills football games. Think of the fake punt in the Chiefs game, or the way the Bills handled the end of the game coming out of the two minute warning. If he can just figure out how to loosen up and fix his playoff foibles the way he's fixed his regular season foibles, then I think he can have an Andy Reid like second act of his career. People forget that Reid used to be routinely pilloried for his bad decision making and playoff failures -- until he wasn't. All in all, I expect McDermott to continue to be a better than average regular season coach who routinely gets his teams 10+ wins and a playoff ticket. It's his performance in the "second season" that needs to improve if the Bills are to ever win a title.

On that matter, we'll have to agree to disagree. The best way to provide homefield advantage for our team is to build an imposing, loud, exciting atmosphere. Everyone on their feet on 3rd down, making as much noise as humanly possible, the whole crowd rising to a fever pitch of excitement and creating a deafening roar and a visible united front of enthusiasm and engagement. Affecting and intimidating the opponent. Feeling the excitement of 70,000 people cheering in unison. Having an actual effect on the outcome of a game. THAT, to me, is what seeing football games live is all about. To me, standing for critical junctures feels like part of that. I understand if others disagree, and I understand that some folks have physical impairments that may make it impossible. But if it's 3rd and 8 in the 4th quarter and the Bills defense needs a big stop, I'm absolutely gonna be on my feet, whooping and hollering, and I'm absolutely gonna ignore anyone behind me saying "down in front!". Again -- not all game. That, I agree, is a bit much. But in the big moments? I'm up.

Greatest center who ever lived. Might've set the all time world record for most broken noses, too. Nothing could be cooler than A guy named Otto wearing 00. RIP to the legend.

To be clear, I didn't say standing all game, I just said standing. I think standing for kickoffs, big 3rd downs, and close-in red zone plays, or jumping up out of my seat in excitement at a big play, are all reasonable things to do. Football is exciting. I'd argue that those that sit all game and get bent out of shape when people stand for the exciting parts are just as obnoxious.

I wish people would still go their whole lives without getting a hug from their father, crying in public, or telling platonic friends "I love you", the way God intended!

Disagree.

The Bills clearly like AJ and Groot, hence their re-signing the former and picking up the 5th year option on the latter. I think they're counting on Von looking more like Von this season. Assuming that happens -- and I realize that's a big assumption -- that's a solid "starting" three right there. I think Soloman, Smoot, Toohill, and Kingsley Jonathan battle it out for the remaining two spots. At the end of the day, I think it winds up being AJ, Groot, Von, Soloman, and Smoot. (Side note, we'd have a Groot and a Smoot. That's fun). Honestly, at this point, I'd rather use the post June 1st money on a dependable outside corner than an edge.

That I fully agree with. I saw a petition online for the Chiefs to cut him because of this speech, which I think is just ridiculous. They won't, for what it's worth. There are select times when I feel one's words or actions rise to the level of potentially meriting dismissal from one's job. This is definitely not one of those times. If anyone on the Chiefs is gonna lose his job, it ought to be the guy that drove a car 100mph and nearly killed someone, then (allegedly) assaulted a photographer in a nightclub just weeks later...but that's a different story for a different thread.

Seriously? Not explaining the intricacies of the way I feel about Butker's speech -- though I feel I did a good enough job in my first few points -- isn't about "not abiding by free speech". Your insinuation that it does, followed by an accusation of "signaling" and an exasperated "lol, this place" is eyeroll-inducing. Let me make it clearer for you: This is a football message board. It has a light hearted "off topic" section and a "politics" section. In order not to derail the thread -- which was posted in the former section -- so that it winds up getting mired in endless bickering and moved to the latter section, I didn't go into nuanced detail about my opinions. It had nothing to do with free speech, and everything to do with trying to follow the rules of the message board. That help? Great. Have a lovely day. Bless your heart! Lol. This place.

🤐

We're all on team "standing at a football game is fine, because it's a blood sport and not the ***** opera", right? Just making sure.

Jesus. You're right. I had forgotten that. All the more reason to feel comfortable saying I think Hackett stinks.

Looks like a second consecutive Lombardi trophy to me!

Hackett has had 10 seasons as an OC or HC. In those 10 seasons, he has posted 3 top ten finishes in points scored (2 of them with Rodgers as QB). In the remaining 7 seasons, his offenses have finished: 22nd, 18th, 25th, 31st, 15th, 32nd, and 29th. So he has shown that if he has an elite QB, he can coordinate a top 10 offense. He did also have a good offensive season with Jacksonville with a bad QB, as you point out. But given that his bad offensive performances with average to bad QBs outweigh his lone good "Bad QB" season six to one, I'd argue that that good season looks more like an abberation. Give him Aaron Rodgers, and he can call a game. Give him anyone else, and it's statistically very likely that he's going to post a below average season. I don't think he's good, and I don't think he's going to continue to get OC jobs once Rodgers hangs up his cleats.

When my Broncos loving friends hired Nate Hackett, I tried to warn them. They accused me of sour grapes and touted his time working with Rodgers. When the Jets hired Hackett, I tried to warn Jets fans on their message board. They accused me of sour grapes and of having an agenda because I'm a Bills fan, and touted his time working with Rodgers. I saw all I needed to see when he was OC for the Bills. I admit that OCs can grow and change and get better in time, but Hackett hasn't. He simply can't Hackett in this league.

Loved it. Josh's comedic timing is getting better. Within a year or two, he'll be at the Peyton Manning level of "funny athlete". I could see an SNL hosting gig in his future. Gotta win a Lombardi first. Man...Josh and Keon should literally be mic'd up in the huddle the entire season. Absolute comedy gold.

I think predicting the schedule at this point in the year is incredibly difficult, almost to the point of being a meaningless exercise. As it is, strength of schedule is based off of last year's records, but most teams have between 30 and 40% roster turnover from season to season. Beyond that, there is so much variability in the health of opposing rosters that it really comes down not to WHO you are playing, but WHEN you are playing them. Just as an example, let's suppose Tua Tagovailoa and CJ Stroud get hurt and miss several weeks, spanning the period of time when the Bills play the Dolphins and Texans. That takes those games from "coin flip" status to "probable Bills win" status. That's a very simple example, but it's indicative of what I'm talking about. I've seen years where we have a really "hard" schedule that turns out to be easy, and years where we have a really "easy" schedule that turns out to be hard. Putting aside the difficulty in finding any meaning in the Bills' schedule at this point in the year, I WILL say that the Bills -- by Beane's own admission -- are in a transition year. A retooling, a mini-reset, whatever you want to call it. The youth and inexperience on this roster likely can't help but cause the Bills to take a step back or two, at least temporarily. All in all, despite the roster turnover, youth, and POTENTIALLY difficult schedule (that's all I'll concede on that front), I think the presence of Josh Allen at QB and Sean McDermott at coach put the Bills' floor at about 9-10 wins. At the end of the day, I'll predict 11-6 and a Wild Card.

Because of the sheer amount of good WRs coming into the league now due to all the 7-on-7 camps, wide open offenses in college, etc, I too have thought that perhaps they may go the way of running backs -- eventually. The two counter arguments to the notion that they've ALREADY gone the way of running backs: 1.) They're still drafted highly at a pretty consistent rate. Whereas running backs only tend to go in the 1st any more if they're really rare and exceptional (like Bijan Robinson), most drafts see three+ receivers going in the 1st round. This year saw three go in the top ten picks alone! There's no way that would happen in 2024 and beyond with running backs. 2.) They really good ones are still paid huge money. There are currently 6 WRs making more than $25million per year, and there are 23 making more than $15million a year. By contrast, there is currently just one RB (Christian McCaffrey) making more than $15million per year, and he functions almost as much as a receiver as he does as a running back. So while I agree with the direction that wide receivers seem to be heading, and while I think they'll get there eventually, I feel like the draft capital and salary cap money being spent on receivers currently indicates that they're not quite "a dime a dozen" just yet, because teams are still paying top dollar (or top draft pick) for the very good ones.