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This is what I pointed out in another thread where a certain poster keeps clamoring for a 300 yard game from Allen. I pointed out how Winston has had ten games with over 300 yards passing and three with over 400 yards... and he'll be watching the playoffs from his couch. It ain't always pretty but it doesn't matter, a win is a win. The identity of this team is that they're going to grind it out, they're going to outwork the opponent and win as a team.

Nice summary, OP, appreciate it.

Bench Ford and start who? Ryan Bates? Nothing against the guy, but if he was the better player, he'd be starting. Again I ask... what exactly are the expectations for these players? Especially rookies and younger players. It seems like if these guys aren't performing like All-Pros right away then people are calling for them to be benched or even cut. Right now, OL positions are some of the toughest to adjust to for young players. College offenses rarely ask their OL to put their hand in the dirt and they limit the blocking schemes. Just takes time for these guys to adjust. Has he struggled? Sure, but that's part of the learning experience. And these guys are still in the midst of a crazy whirlwind point in their lives where they've just left college, prepared for the draft, did the combine, met with countless teams, getting poked and prodded by doctors, grilled with questions, challenged mentally as well as physically, then they become a pro, need to attend all sorts seminars on what being in the NFL is all about, there are off-field obligations required by their team, OTAs, workouts, practices, training camp, film review, play installation, learn all their schemes, adjust to how your teammates play, adjust to your new surroundings, adjust to your new coaches, work on your technique, etc. etc. etc. There's just a whole lot of stuff for an NFL rookie to deal with. Now, I'm certain some fans look at this and think, "So? They're professionals, I expect excellence!" Yeah, well, expect it all you want, they aren't machines and no player is perfect and no player wins every single rep. Sometimes I'm reminded of a dude I used to work with in a place where we would turn on Sabres games in the winter. Anytime a goal was allowed he'd be yelling for the goalie to get pulled. Didn't matter if the goal was a defensive breakdown or even if their own player accidentally scored the goal, he would think the solution would be replacing the goalie. I dunno, the grass isn't always greener is what I guess I'm trying to say. Obviously there's always room for improvement and the entire staff knows that. But at this point in the season, you got who you got. You can try to make some minor tweaks but you're not going to get anywhere if you just start going, "Eh, let's try this guy. Nope, he didn't work, how's about this guy?" I trust the coaches to start the right players and put them in positions to succeed. That said, I think they do need to find room for Yeldon. Nothing against Gore, he's a legend, we all know that, but it's clear that he's lost a step. I don't know if they hold allegiance to him out of respect or if they prefer him to be in the game based on his presence and the example he sets as a pro, but right now the production just isn't there. I wouldn't even care if they chose to dress all three backs and bench a player from a different position. They've shown that they like throwing to Singletary, which is great, the more he gets the ball the better, but Yeldon is known for catching the ball out of the backfield, plus I think at this point he probably has a bit more juice in his legs than Gore. Lastly, nothing against Duke but I figured his impact would be minimal given his difficulty in separating. The guy I'd really like to see get going is Foster. I'm not sure if he's grounded or in timeout or what but last season he showed out several times and you'd think he would've carried that into this season but he hasn't. As for off-season stuff, I would like to see them add a receiver with some size and a big catch radius. Seems like that would make sense when you have a QB who's ball placement is a little off sometimes.

Warp speed, Mr. Sulu!

I'm pretty sure I heard Brady say, "I bet youse guys can't pick me off five times!"

Just what, exactly, are the expectations for the players on this team? Perfection every single game? Every single play? I'm not sure if everyone knows this, BUT... the opponent is also made up of professionals... and they are going to make plays as well. That doesn't mean the player who lost the rep is suddenly "the worstest evurrr!!!" Did everyone miss Dionte Johnson getting a big catch on Tre' and then stiff-arming him straight onto his rear-end? I don't see people calling him out for that. It's just the nature of the game, the other team will make plays. Sure, Wallace has had some struggles this season but if he was as awful as some want to believe, would they still be third in the league in passing yards allowed? Third in passing TD's allowed... 8th in interceptions... or third in the league in net yards gained per pass attempt (5.1)...? That stat right there would indicate that the secondary is actually pretty good at tackling. McDermott puts a lot of emphasis on his secondary being able to contain and tackle since they play a lot of zone and ask their secondary to prevent the big play, keep things in front of them and fly to the ball. And, it's kind of common knowledge that most DBs aren't the greatest tacklers. Deion Sanders is viewed as one of the greatest DBs of all time, dude actively avoided tackling for most of his career. I think Wallace is, and will be fine.

Yikes, dude wants to have his cake and eat it too... which is a dumb gotdamn quote, what the heck else do you do with cake? Seems like he wants to play ball and still do whatever recreational things he wants to do in his down time.

The tackle made an audible "pop" noise and I thought, "Wow, good hit," but then he went down and my thought was, "Oh lawd, I hope that pop wasn't his shoulder." Seemed like a stinger, those are awful. I played JV football and got one in the collarbone when I ended up at the bottom of a pile for a fumble. Someone's facemask came down right in that little area where the shoulder pads don't quite cover your neck.

What the fudge is the difference if they're winning games? Did you not hear Beane after the game? He said they really don't give too much of a sh*t about all the things people wanna criticize Allen for, all they care about is him leading the team to wins. Garoppolo isn't chucking it around for 300 yards every single game, and before you or anyone mentions that he has two games over 300 yards and one over 400, two of those came against Arizona. I guess I'm not sure why you seem to think a 300 yard passing game correlates with victory. Jameis Winston has ten games with over 300 yards passing, three of which he went over 400 yards... and he'll be sitting on his couch during the playoffs.

I've always thought it's been pretty cool to see how Pittsburgh coaches have had such longevity. Like it or not, they've been one of the best run organizations in all of professional sports for a long time now. And surely some other teams have had way more coaches than Buffalo during that time span. Without looking, I can only go back as far as when Levy replaced Stephenson, and then they went Wade Phillips, Gregg Williams (barf), Mike Mularkey (quitter), Dickie J, Perry Fewell, Uncle Chan, St. Douggie (quitter part deux!), Rexy (workin' 9 to noon!), Lynn, and The Clappinator.

Probably gonna take a lot for the league to adjust the playoff format. They really wanna keep divisions so they can promote their division rival games.

Earl Thomas can sit and spin. Aside from that, though, what I find kind of ironic is how the media and commentary teams will praise the crap out of Lamar's amazingly amazing talent to run with the ball, yet with just about every other QB who might scramble or even get the occasional designed run you'll just hear them say, "Oh boy, his coaches sure don't want him doing that!" And then the color commentary guy: "Yeah, I can understand diving for a first down when it's late in the game and whatnot, but this guy here really puts himself at risk and you know what, it's just a darn selfish decision to do that and increase his risk for injury! If he were to miss any time, he'd really hurt his team. What a turd!" I think I've said it before... I hate the talking heads... most of them, anyway.

He's steadily improved as the season has gone on. Yeah, at times he struggles to shed blocks but no player wins every rep in a game. Sometimes the opponent does a good job, simple as that. Sometimes the expectations on this board baffle me. It's as if these guys are busts unless they perform like a perennial All-Pro from day one. Edmunds has flashed quite a bit lately and I'd like to see them start getting a little creative with him as a pass rusher because he has those skills as well.

Sproles, really? Maybe the same in height but Singletary is a little thicker and not as fast... but now that I think about it, I can see where you're coming from as both guys have the ability to wiggle out of a pile-up and find a crease for a positive gain.

I've been looking for a big time defensive TD over the last few games, but no dice. I feel like it's gonna happen, though. Perhaps a rookie third string QB is just what they need to get a pick-six or a strip-sack-scoop-n-score...yeesh, say that five times fast. I'd been feeling like Edmunds was due to get a turnover and he got a pick Sunday... unfortunately the offense couldn't do jack with the extra possession. Hopefully it happens, players on defense have said several times this season that Frazier emphasizes taking the ball away constantly so it's not like they're not trying to get one, but tackling is priority. I just shake my head when you see a defender stand up to a ball carrier and try to strip the ball as opposed to making the tackle. Most times the defender ends up going for a ride as he's dragged across the field while the ball carrier picks up another 5-10 yards. I'mma call it. I never call anything, too afraid of the jinx but eff it, here goes: Edmunds with the pick-six midway through the 3rd this Sunday night.

Yeah, I think most stores ended their layaway programs years ago due to people not paying. Then there was a demand for it to be available so I think Walmart brought it back but initially they only had it going for the holidays with some stricter rules. I dunno how they run it these days but yeah, it's handy sometimes.

I'm not sure of the level of complexity Daboll's system has, but they discovered that one of the hindrances to success was the constant substitutions. Daboll developed his system after New England's scheme which exploits mismatches and aims to adapt from week to week based on opponent. What they started doing a few weeks ago that has helped them get better was cutting back on all the subs. Instead, they've stuck with the same few personnel groupings over the last few games. This has made communication a bit easier and it's allowed them to get up to the line with time to spare so Allen can diagnose the defense and determine if he needs to check into another play. It definitely worked for them against Dallas, Denver, and Miami in weeks prior, but against Baltimore, odds are Allen was given a whole bunch of looks and disguises he hasn't seen before or hasn't seen much of Despite the poor offensive performance, they were still in the game with a chance to tie late. That's all you can ask for is an opportunity. They fell short, it happens. I think they come back strong against Pittsburgh.

Same here. I was so bummed when they took down the BBMB, on my birthday no less, haha. Before that happened, this forum was a lot smaller, kudos to the admins for handling the mass, uh... what's the opposite of exodus? It's 11 AM and my brain is still asleep. Cripes. Anywho... kicking this year has been wild. Seems like no kick is a gimme and even the best kickers have struggled... unless you're Justin Tucker. I'm convinced he's a football kicking machine the Ravens have dressed in an Edgar suit.

I kinda have a half-brain theory on the slow starts and I'm probably way off but here goes. The team has definitely taken on the identity of their head coach and the message he preaches. They play in a calm, collected manner with a focus on not beating themselves and not allowing negative plays to have a major impact. This is fine, as we've seen them demonstrate the ability to weather an early storm and overcome. Usually this applies more for the defense, though. They might give up a big play or allow a drive where the opponent marches straight down the field but they stay calm and handle it. And as of this point in time, the defense is just a more well-oiled machine than the offense is. Now, offensively, they have overcome some slow starts but the issue is them starting slow so often. They either have a bunch of drives with 3-and-outs or drives where mistakes/penalties negate solid plays. They keep the same demeanor, they stay calm, they go about their business, great. However, it only seems when time is of the essence do they start playing with a bit more of a spark than I normally see in comparison to their earlier drives. So, I dunno, I think maybe they aren't playing with a ton of urgency to start the game. I get that they don't wanna get overzealous or too amped up which can lead to mistakes, but sometimes it also feels like they're not too concerned about a bad drive cause they're like, "We'll put together a drive soon here." But as we've seen, they get it going too late and run out of time. I dunno, those are just my thoughts. Like I said, I'm probably way off, but maybe if they could take some of that energy they seem to find later in games and find it earlier, haha.

Whatever happens with the Texans, one thing is for sure, that team baffles me. They're bipolar. Look at their results this year: Week 1: 30-28 loss to the Saints, close one against a good team, fair enough. Week 2: A one point win over the Jags... (score was 13-12) Week 3: Beat the overrated Chargers. Week 4: Clunker against Carolina, lose 16-10. Week 5: Beatdown on the Falcons, fine. Week 6: Solid win over the Chiefs. Week 7: Loss against the Colts who have since fallen off. Week 8: Win a close one against the Raiders, who, at that point were the "don't sleep on 'em" team but have since returned to the dumpster. Week 9: Smacked around the Jags. Week 10: Bye Week 11: Destroyed by Baltimore 41-7. Week 12: Eek out a close one against Indy. Week 13: Beat the Patriots, and then... Week 14: Get blown out by the "we're on our 97th QB since Peyton left us!" Broncos. So, I'd have no idea what to expect if Buffalo ends up meeting them in the playoffs.

I've yet to listen to E. Wood with Murph. I kinda don't care for Murph but I've heard nothing but good things about Wood. There's an article in the Buffalo News today about how he's a massive upgrade over Mark Kelso. Dan Fouts was killin' me yesterday. Allen and Jackson both started the game with some poorly thrown balls. Lamar was throwing real high and Allen too far on some deep routes. But for Lamar, Fouts kept blaming the wind. For Allen, it was just a bad throw. There was even a bumbled shotgun snap where the Ravens center just snapped it towards Jackson's left side and he had to kinda reel it in. Fouts blamed the wind on that one too lol. I know most people say that these types of things are trivial to get worked up over and that's true, I'm not one to clamor for more national recognition or anything. But what annoys me is the narratives that get built as the season goes on and then the effort from production crews and commentary teams to continue to push that narrative. Right now the narrative is "Lamar Jackson MVP!" So that's all they friggin' talked about. They were raving at halftime about him, dude had like 45 yards passing and 30 yards on the ground at that point but with the way they were talking you'd think the guy had thrown for 400 and ran for 250. So that crap gets old. Even some of the media guys themselves get tired with it. Last week Nate Burleson tore up his notes on Dallas because he was tired of talking about a team that just had their rear-ends handed to them. It'd just be nice if there was less bias and more objective coverage. But there are ratings to score, clicks to get, markets to appeal to, etc. etc. blah blah blah.

It was a pretty bad day for the offense as a whole, coaches, players, etc. The amount of free rushers Baltimore had was maddening and beyond that it seemed like every other play at least one of their OL was getting beat by his guy. Receivers dropped passes, Allen missed open guys, etc. Despite all this, they still had a chance at the end and that's all you can ask for. And that definitely proves how different this team is than past teams. A past team that had a first half performance like they did yesterday would've likely imploded even worse and the game would've been a blowout. We've seen that show quite a few times. But this group is tough, resilient, and I don't think they're afraid/intimidated by anyone. They can hang with the better teams in this league, the next step is obviously winning those games. But hey, win one more this season and they're in the playoffs with a clean slate where anything can happen.

Talented guy but he's gotta be a headache to coach and manage. Sometimes I kinda feel as though he's made his living off that one-handed catch during his rookie year. He doesn't appear to be the guy that gets a team over the hump and into contention. He had a 15-year veteran QB who force-fed him the ball. The one year he makes the playoffs he's out doing a photo shoot on a boat two days before the game. Asks for a monster deal, gets a monster deal. Gets traded to go play across from his college teammate in Landry, they immediately act as if they're going to destroy records and then they come out and quickly transform into a dumpster fire this season. And didn't he just say last week that the rumors of him asking for a trade were false? And now this. Talent is there but the buy-in isn't.

It was a rough day for him, but the line and receiver group didn't help much. I like Dawson Knox, but man, dude has to catch passes that hit him in the hands. He dropped a big one on that 3rd and 8, then he dropped one in the end zone, throw could've been a bit better but it was there. So he misses on those but then he goes and pulls in a one-hander on a perfectly placed ball. Beasely missed a well-thrown ball, Singletary had the one drop. It felt like they were rusty. That was one of my concerns with the 10 day break, it can take teams out of their rhythm and routine. Obviously it's good for the players so they can get extra rest/rehab but sometimes it seems like it's a bit of detriment. However, every team plays at least one Thursday game per season so they have to just work with the schedule change. It's definitely a bummer to continue to see Josh miss on deep throws, especially when his receiver has a step or two on his man. But, I'm hopeful that Josh will turn it around with that like he did with short/intermediate throws. He struggled with those last season and spent all off-season working on it and showed a ton of improvement this year. I think this off-season he'll do the same with the long ball. He shows a great ability to be coached, to adapt, adjust, etc. I think right now he might be in his head a bit too much, he might be overthinking things. We know his instinct has been, "I must make a play on every play!" so he keeps that in mind when he's out there, don't go slapping on the Superman cape and try to do too much. Also, the path to success is never linear, there are ups and downs and this week he was on the downside, it happens. Despite the rough outing, he still had his team in position to at least tie the game. I'm sure the competitor in him wants to show that he can be/will be the guy that we saw against Dallas. I hope he comes out next week on fire outta the gate and through the whole game.

I really can't stand "The Champ is Here!" I mean, I'm glad they cut it down a bit as the original, full-length ad has "the champ is here!" being said about 94,000 frickin' times. On Sundays my wife and I will randomly say, "Hey babe, did you know the champ is here?" "Is he? Tell him I'm busy and that he can #*@$ off!" Mayhem is alright. The guy who plays him is Dean Winters, a really good improv actor (he also had a role on Oz). He came up in the Second City in Chicago along with Tina Fey, who cast him in a recurring role on 30 Rock and now she's doing the Mayhem commercials with him. I don't know why I know this random sh*t. With the amount of commercials he's already done, it's pretty clear that Mayfield really prioritizes landing sponsorship and commercial deals. I've heard rumors that the dude is more interested in the fame of being a pro athlete than actually putting in the work and that coaches have kinda had to twist his arm to get him to take on more of a leadership role. Dude thinks because he walked on that he can not put the time in and just wing it every game. It does seem as though they've tried to scale back on the whole commercial break after a TD, then back for the kickoff, then another break, then back to the game. They still do it at times but they tend to do a picture-in-picture and leave the game on while players just stand around.