Rigotz

I've seen a lot of this lately: Doom and gloom and "boo hoo, our season is over, I'll never forgive for the 13 seconds" ... So, I wanted to to draw a picture of exactly where we stand this year vs last year, from a roster perspective. OFFENSE: QB 2022: Josh Allen QB 2021: Josh Allen Same RB 2022: James Cook + Devin Singletary + Nyheim Hines RB 2021: Devin Singletary + Zach Moss + Matt Breida Significant Upgrade WR 2022: Stefon Diggs + Gabriel Davis + Isaiah McKenzie + Khalil Shakir WR 2021: Stefon Diggs + Gabriel Davis + Isaiah McKenzie + Cole Beasley + Emmanuel Sanders Slight Downgrade: Sanders had a maximum of 36 yards in the last 5 games and Beasley had a max of 35 outside of the KC game (60) TE 2022: Dawson Knox TE 2021: Dawson Knox Same LT 2022: Dion Dawkins LT 2021: Dion Dawkins LG 2022: Rodger Saffold LG 2021: Jon Feliciano / Daryl Williams (swapped to RG later) C 2022: Mitch Morse C 2021: Mitch Morse RG 2022: Rick Bates RG 2021: Rick Bates RT 2022: Spencer Brown RT 2021: Spencer Brown Slight Upgrade: Bates and Brown have more experience gelling and Saffold > Feliciano/Williams DEFENSE: CB 2022: Tre White, Kaiir Elam, Dane Jackson, Christian Benford (expected back for playoffs) CB 2021: Levi Wallace, Dane Jackson, Nick McCloud, Olaijah Griffin, ??? Significant Upgrade Safety 2022: Jordan Poyer + Demar Hamlin Safety 2021: Jordan Poyer + Micah Hyde Significant Downgrade DT 2022: Ed Oliver, DaQuan Jones, Jordan Phillips, Tim Settle, CJ Brewer DT 2021: Ed Oliver, Star Lotulelei, Harrison Phillips, Efe Obada, Vernon Butler Significant Upgrade DE 2022: Greg Rousseau, Boogie Basham, Shaq Lawson, AJ Epenesa DE 2021: Greg Rousseau, Boogie Basham, Mario Addison, Jerry Hughes, AJ Epenesa Slight Downgrade? Rousseau is significantly better in 2022 and Boogie, AJ, and Shaq have been decent role players LB 2022: Matt Milano, Tremaine Edmunds, AJ Klein, Tyrel Dodson, Terrel Bernard LB 2021: Matt Milano, Tremaine Edmunds, AJ Klein, Tyrel Dodson Slight Upgrade: Milano and Edmunds are playing their best ball and depth has improved Punter + Kicker 2022: Bass + Haack Punter + Kicker 2021: Bass + Martin Better, but meh PR/KR 2022: Nyheim Hines PR/KR 2021: Isaiah McKenzie Slight Upgrade Other important considerations: - Bills are currently the #1 seed. They were 7-6 at this point last season. - The Chiefs are arguably the Bills biggest threats this year in the AFC and they lost Tyreek Hill. - The Bills have looked absolutely dominant for the vast majority of the season. So ... RIGHT NOW, better team, better record, better seeding, arguably worse competition. Why are we even talking about 2021 as our best chance or last chance?

I'll try an equally inspirational message. Having YOUR BEST players get HURT and injured for THE ENTIRE YEAR AND MAYBE LONGER is not a GOOD THING.

You should listen to any podcast that features Gregg Thompsett of Cover 1. He has a very good handle on how the current contracts are structured. He went through an exercise a few weeks ago and was able to easily find $65M of free space this offseason if we want to use it. We have a very intelligent front office that has signed our best players to long deals in which you can punt money to future years by converting it to bonus. Like Von's contract, for example.

For my money, here's what I think he's doing ... - Go on a publicity tour with 3 competitive teams that need WR help. - Ask for way too much money. - Hope that one of the superstar WR's go down (Lamb, Diggs, etc.). - Hope that they come crawling back out of desperation and familiarity.

Wow... didn't expect you to go this direction. First off, the Bills are the current #1 seed, so maybe we shouldn't be crowning the Bengals yet? Second, read any book by any influential business leader. Time off to rest is absolutely integral to optimal performance. I would imagine this is equally necessary when you're putting your body through war every week. I'm happy that the Bengals are motivated and putting in extra time. They're also a very young team and might not understand how much extra stress that puts on their bodies. Either way, it's insane to criticize the Bills for not doing the same.

With 5 weeks left, the Bills are in the drivers seat. Here's what the rest of the year looks like. I'lll highlight the games that each team won't be heavy favorites. Bills Remaining Games: Home vs Jets (-9.5 favorites) Home vs Dolphins (likely big favorites) Away vs Bears (likely big favorites) Away vs Bengals (???) Home vs Patriots (likely big favorites) Chiefs Remaining Games: Away vs Broncos (-8 favorites) Away vs Texans (likely big favorites) Away vs Seattle (sneaky tough in Seattle) Home vs Broncos (likely big favorites) Away vs Raiders (likely big favorites) Bengals Remaining Games: Home vs Browns (-4.5 favorites) Away vs Bucs (should be close) Away vs Patriots (favorites, but should be close) Home vs Bills (???) Home vs Ravens (should be close if Lamar is back) With a tiebreaker over the Ravens and Titans, we have less to worry about and can afford to lose one. If we beat Dolphins and Bengals, they will be the least of our worries. In short, there is very little margin for error, particularly with the Chiefs remaining schedule, but we're in a great spot.

EVERYBODY PANIC! EVERYTHING WORKED OUT IN OUR FAVOR!

The Patriots are irrelevant. The Bills are generally considered the #1 team in the league. We care about the Patriots because they’re in our division and whooped us for 20 years. That doesn’t mean we actually fear them or care about them more than, say, the Dolphins. This is a desperate attempt to drag a Bills team down that has no legitimate reason to be dragged down. It’s the same as the losers that keep saying “Super Bowl Or Bust” to try to collect a win when the next 10 years look awful for them.

To the people who have no worries that he would divide the locker room... look at his damn Twitter page. He's re-tweeting stuff like this and it's a problem. Cant believe you guys can't see that. He also DOESN'T know the Offense, so I'm not sure why anyone is saying that. Dorsey's offense is not the same as Daboll's.

Surprised this is getting so much love. As a player, he would help the team. As a person, it would be a huge risk. He clearly has very strong views on a lot of things and there's a big risk that welcoming him back would divide the locker room.

Classic Jerry Hughes meltdown. I’d welcome him back on a vet minimum if released and am simultaneously not sad he’s gone.

Nope.

Honest question. Why does that matter? What is the benefit of constantly bringing up a past failure, or even worse, assuming it will never get better? That, to me, just seems like a loser mentality.

Not sure if anyone caught it, but at the end of Diggs's press conference they asked him "what's it like going against Tre these days?" He said two things that should alleviate any concerns: 1) "He's one of the hardest working players I've ever met, if not the hardest working." 2) "He's looking good and he'll be ready soon."

I think I've got it. In 2003 the Bills were 9-6 and just needed to beat the Steelers 2nd string players to clinch playoffs. Bills were winning 17-16 midway through the 3rd quarter. The Bills drove down to the 1 yard line, didn't have the balls to go for it on 4th down, and Rian Lindell missed a 28 yard field goal. The Steelers broke a 58 yard run the next play and never gave up the lead again, as Drew Bledsoe stood in the pocket and got destroyed by backup D-linemen and Linebackers the rest of the game. That cowardly field goal and ensuing miss perfectly encapsulates a 20-year drought.

E.J. Epensa MUST GO!!!1111

Eh. Browns defense is garbage. Specifically, their defensive tackles. I think we get a lead early and sell out against the run. Make Jacoby Brissett keep up with Josh. In that scenario, zero chance he “runs wild” on us. Wouldnt you do that as a coach?

Maybe you didn't read one of the two sentences I put in my original post.

Yes, and Odell Beckham is also available. He was probably asking for money similar to the 3 year $24M he was coming off from the Bills. I don't understand how he goes from valued starter to completely useless to you guys in less than a year. The suggestion was a cheap deal, as his market has settled and he wouldn't be able to ask for starter money anymore.

Pretty wild that he's still available. Matt Parrino had a rumor last month that he's "retired" but I wonder if he'd take a cheap deal for just the playoff run? I think we can all agree, he'd be great depth this late in the season and we don't want to wait for a "must have" scenario where he has all the leverage. What do you think?

These type of comments are so disrespectful and embarrassing as a Bills fan. The guy has a history of working arguably harder than anyone else on the team and you sit there on your couch with your TV dinner criticizing him for not working hard enough. One thread wasn't enough for you?

Only reason we let him go was the $5M/yr salary. Sneaky good pickup. LOVED him here and great insurance too.

I can't help but wonder if that contributes to our #2 ranking in points scored in the first half and our #20 ranking in the 2nd half.

The entire season he has 3 rushes on third down for a total of 2 yards. 0.7 YPC …. wow. There’s your predictability. Either Josh runs on third and short, or he throws.

Does anyone have access to 1st half vs 2nd half stats? I would be curious to see Singletary’s 1st half vs 2nd half stats, particularly because I have a theory that we don’t give him the ball enough in the 2nd half. He looked great in the 1st half against the Vikings, then got 4 touches in the second half and that feels like a theme.