BullBuchanan

Getting your team ready to play is job requirement #1. if you can't get that right, you can't possibly get anything past that right. There was no reason for them to be unprepared, least of all "running out of gas". A player might not be 100% by the time a season ends, but if all 53+ are worn down, that's a coaching problem.

I never agreed to that. "Running out of gas" is not a viable excuse for a team of professional athletes who have been put together at the highest level. In fact, I'd go so far to say that if that is what happened, everyone should be fired without question. It's completely unacceptable to not be prepared at the level these guys are at.

People keep repeating this like it's true. What adversity did they face outside of Hamlin that's unique to them? How many coaches had the opportunity? more than 5?

people supported grifters 50 years ago too and believed whatever it was they wanted to regardless of evidence. The biggest difference today is that every idiot has a megaphone that they can use to find like-minded idiots that they can share their ideas with.

Saffold looked exhausted since we signed him. These guys are professionals. They really don't have any reason to be more "exhausted" than the other teams who are still playing football. Everybody faces adversity and outside of the Hamlin incident, which ended up working out as well as it possibly could, it wasn't anything out of the ordinary.

that may very well be. Josh was certainly under siege. He did have his shots however and came up short on many occasions. 3 passes to Diggs in particular stand out.

He sure wasn't yesterday.

The Bengals aren't built to win a championship yet either. They have too many leaks in their OLine and secondary. They just made us look like chumps because McDermott sets himself up for that and Taylor had a major coaching advantage. They lose that advantage against Reid, Shanahan and maybe even Siriani too. Every team left in the playoffs is better than the Bengals. The NFC will probably smoke whoever goes from the AFC.

Why wouldn't the same team that bent us over yesterday have done the same thing last year when we had an even shittier defense staring Levi Wallace and Dane jackson?

Looks like it was tails

I agree with a lot of this. While we were playing to try to win the game against the Jets, KC was tooling up their team to win in January. The worst part, is that despite our wins, we didn't even look like a team that was well prepared in the regular season. We sure as ***** didn't against the Dolphins or the Bengals either. Think about it - what exactly can you say this team did to exploit the fact we played against a 7th round rookie QB last week? What can you say we did to exploit the Bengals starting 3 backup offensive lineman? We either had no plan at all, or it was so horrendously bad that it looked like we didn't. That to me is the theme of the season - preparedness. No matter the team, no matter the situation you could count on us looking EXACTLY the same week to week. Sure, we'd go run heavy for a quarter here and there, but we quickly abandoned it for the low percentage deep shots When they worked, we won, when they didn't, well you get what we got yesterday. Same on defense and their soft ass nickel zones. Next year I want to see a gameplan from week to week that looks like they've ever spent 5 minutes watching the opposing team, and I'd LOVE to see them use players that either excel at that gameplan or can help us with future gameplans down the road.

It could have been far worse. We only had the one turnover despite being outclassed and outcoached everywhere. This offense relies entirely too much on breaking games open with big plays, and when that doesn't happen we struggle. This defense relies entirely on opposing teams beating themselves. I've never seen a less aggressive team with worse tackling, hitting, ball hawking, and pass rushing. They do nothing to an exceptional level. That's certainly one way to classify them. 😂

I think it's a coin flip. Heads - Our defense exploits the Bengals Oline woes the way the Ravens did which offsets their superior skill position talent. Josh plays like Good Josh and hits the open man taking plenty of underneath stuff to open up the big play and drives it home when it's there. Tails - Bengals dynamic offense looks unstoppable like they did a couple weeks ago against a passive defense that can't get to the QB and can't keep up with the Bengals all-world WRs. Josh Allen forces too much on low percentage plays and we can't keep up. I won't be shocked to see either version.

the same Andre Reed who had 4 1000 yard seasons and none back to back, and only hit 10 TDs once in a 16 year career despite being healthy, having Jim Kelly throwing to him for 12 of them and starting for the overwhelming majority of it?

yea, maybe the last pick in the draft is good on his own merit. Maybe Daniel Jones is too.

my point is that Shanahan is the likely reason why Purdy is good. He's proven it year after year. At every job he's had, he's led QBs to career years including guys like Brian Hoyer, RG III, Matt Ryan, Nick Mullens, CJ Breathard, Jimmy Garoppolo and came just a hair short of his best with Rex Grossman.

Yes, I am well aware that there are "several". There have been maybe 5 of them over ~60 years if you don't count QBs who had great runs the year they won it all with otherwise average or up and down careers. These 5 were all paired with elite defenses with 4 of them being historically good (85 bears, 91 Giants, 00 Ravens, 02 Bucs). Statistically untrue. Of the top 20 NFL passers of all time 15 of them were taken in the 1st round and only 2 were taken after the 3rd (Brady and Moon). There is overwhelming data that says the early rounds of the draft will yield the best QBs. That doesn't mean you can't be great if you're drafted later, but it does mean it's far less likely.

Absolutely. Last years Bills lost too many games, but they also dismantled opponents the way this squad hasn't. We lost our games close this year, yes, but we also won most of them close too. This year's squad has routinely played down to their opponent, imo. Because he's not good enough to play here. Who would you sit to play him? The only reason he's getting reps in NY, is because they have the weakest receiving group in the league. And they play like it regardless of who they play at QB. You're acting like this isn't the NFL where QB isn't more important than the rest of the roster combined.

You're way off on the strength of a lot of these teams.

Nah that's all a really big mischaracterization of what happened. There was talk Daniel Jones wouldn't make it through, because he previously wasn't any good, and now he's turned it around. If the talent wasn't there, he wouldn't have been the 1st QB off the baord. Daboll got that out of him and that's to be commended, but he started with good raw materials. As for Brock Purdy, it's yet to be determined if he's Tom Brady or Nick Mullens. You make it sound like winning games with your #1, #2, and #3 int he NFL isn't a miraculous feat. This isn't Bama. Most NFL teams don't have 1 legitimate talent, yet Shanahan throughout his career has put together great offenses and big seasons despite never having a great QB. I think doing it with a rookie #3 this year cements that legacy that he can win with just about anyone. Obviously they have more talent, but they also have the results to match. The giants mostly puttered through the regular season winning close games. The 49ers on the other hand dismantled team the way the Bills did last year. I think that's more impressive. It's one thing to win, but it's another entirely to roll. The 49ers had the same talent level the last 2 years and didn't roll like this. Daboll may win it, and that's ok. He did an AMAZING job. Shanahan was just better.

Daboll still has a 1st round Qb and #2 overall RB. Shanny did it with Mr irrelevant. QB is everything in the NFL and Kyle Shanahan changed the rules. He'll win with whatever dude is sleeping on your couch.

If Seattle doesn't go 3-5 over their last 8, he probably gets more credit. As it stands I think he's in the argument for 3rd behind Daboll. NYG's cupboard was bare, and the Seahawks still had a lot of talent outside QB, including a possible OROY.

Daboll was the lock until Brock Purdy came along. To storm into the playoffs as a SB favorite with your 3rd string QB is an all-time great accomplishment. I don't know if anyone can stop SF right now. Daboll's story of turning around a ***** team and taking NYG to the playoffs for the first time in 6 years with the exact same talent they had last year when they went 4-13 is awesome, but Shanahan is writing a story that will get him to the HoF this season. McD isn't even on the board for me. The bills were supposed to roll this year, and instead they mostly limped through. Props for showing heart and winning tough games, but they made most of it look way harder than they should have. Maybe they'll have enough gas in the tank to still win it all, but they were a much more impressive looking team in each of the past two years than they were this year from my perspective.

I like plenty of other QBs more than Brady, but this is just blind nonsense. If you're picking any other player besides Brady in his prime, you're objectively wrong. He has more Super Bowl wins than the following franchises combined: New York Jets Chicago Bears Philadelphia Eagles Los Angeles Rams Seattle Seahawks Buffalo Bills Minnesota Vikings Atlanta Falcons Carolina Panthers Cincinnati Bengals Arizona Cardinals Tennessee Titans Los Angeles Chargers Cleveland Browns Jacksonville Jaguars Detroit Lions Houston Texans

I really like PFF, but without explanation of the model used here I'm highly incredulous. Minnesota was ***** awful on offense - everybody saw it. Additionally, San Francisco dominated and looked highly polished. The Giants played well above their standard and the Jags were magnificent in the 2nd half and atrocious in the first. Based on watching the games, I would have expected a model that would have resulting in ranking more like: SF DAL NYG BUF JAX SEA BAL CIN MIN MIA LAC