transplantbillsfan

That's fine. I understand. Royale just asked for my reasoning, so I gave it.

I agree that's probably what happens. But I think the question the OP asked was whether we should actively try to lose to improve draft position. I agree. Win at all costs, even if we aren't going to the playoffs. For once, with a young QB, we can say winning in even a meaningless season (in terms of playoffs) is actually meaningful. bullcrap. With these young players, it's important to win. Draft position is largely meaningless as long as Beane keeps drafting well and we make good use of all that CAP money we're getting freed up this offseason. I think the Colts are the bigger obstacle. Colts and Ravens both beat Buffalo and are 6-5. Both of those teams would need to go 2-3 or worse in their remaining 5 games. I don't know how you can possibly think that's a guarantee.

Don't want to get in the battle... but you will anyway I see An ambiguous statement. Could go either way. But in sports, when people say "he's done," it's often preceded by the phrase (implicitly or explicitly) "stick a fork in him," and is synonymous with "he's toast." Regardless, still ambiguous. The bolded sure sounds like someone saying "if he comes back for another year, he'll regret it." And the "he'll regret it" wouldn't be because of the work he has to put in. Kyle is obviously a guy who loves to work. Any Bills fan knows that. Seems to imply that he'll regret it because his play will drastically diminish. That's how I came to that conclusion.

You didn't write much. And the way you wrote "time for him to go enjoy his family" sure made it sound like you didn't want him around anymore. Kyle will say "I need to think about it for a little while" to end the year. Then McDermott will convince him to come back for one more year, and he will. Kyle is a grinder. He loves the grind. And he hasn't remotely slowed down. Like a fine wine, he's gettin better with age. He'll be back for a 1 year contract. I think Lorax will, too.

Penalties friggin pi$$ed the hell outta me. That was absolutely a safety. Felt like a roller coaster. Completely agree about Milano and getting a jersey... I think he's one of 3 potential All-pros we have on this team on defense along with White and Hughes. And are we really just going to disregard the Goonies quote here?

I read this thread and this is the 1st response. I think you're almost certainly wrong. McDermott has had our DL on a pretty serious rotation with Star, the Phillips twins, Kyle and Shaq on occasion. Yet, Kyle is constantly getting sacks, pressures and tackles for losses. And he's the friggin heart and soul of this team. How old are you? I get the sense you don't really know much about football or haven't watched this team much... or you're just looking for... Completely agree. I think McDermott will want both him and Lorax back for one more year. But he might not come back, so we'll see.

Yeah, this is friggin impressive. We're 1-5 in games he didn't. We would likely be holding a Wildcard spot if McDermott just named him the starter in Training Camp like he should have. I hope Kyle and Lorax come back for one more year to complete the turnaround.

He did. Thompson and Croom need to catch and our OL needs to learn how to stop getting so many damn holding penalties that negate nice passes by Allen.

Where we are, in responding to the OP, is miracle playoff run. But really it's more about growth of our young QB and young players, but in playing around with the Playoff Machine ESPN has had up a couple of weeks... ...you can see that the only game that really helped us today (other than us winning, obviously) was the Browns beating up on the Bengals. Otherwise, woulda been nice if the 'Phins coulda hung on and if the Raiders could've pulled an upset. Root for the Texans tomorrow and root for the Jags to upset every AFC opponent they play. I think the Colts get the 6 seed. But this is what us Bills fans do in December... play around with the possibilities. At least this year these wins aren't meaningless. It's about legitimate growth in our young players. Still excited about the rest of our season

3-2 in games Josh Allen starts and finishes. 1-5 in games he doesn't. Oh how different this season would've been if McDermott weren't blinded by his Peterman love and we just did what we shoulda done and given Allen the opportunity to get comfortable with his OL and WRs in Training Camp

Please stop. Why does everyone feel like it's necessary to be in a certain QB camp? Barkley was really really good against the Jets, but he's not the future and you wonder how much of his success had to do with the fact that the Jets prepared entirely for Allen, not Barkley. I think Barkley could be the long term backup that could fill in and win some games the way Reich was to Kelly, and I sincerely do hope we lock him up as a backup. But Allen was super impressive today. And I mean as a passer, not just as a runner. I don't even have to spend a lot of time thinking about it but there are immediately at least 3 positive passing plays he had that don't show up positively for him in the stat sheet: 1) 3rd and 5 he passes and converts a 1st down to be called back on a phantom hold IMMEDIATELY followed by 2) 3rd and 15 he passes and converts a 1st down to be called back on an illegal hands to the face 3) Deonte Thompson not able to hold onto a nicely thrown ball over the deep middle. Allen was poised and composed in the pocket. He hung in there for that gorgeous TD pass to Foster. When he felt pressure he moved or ran. He was generally (though not always) smart with his body in terms of not taking unnecessary hits. I don't think Barkley does that against Ramsey and Bouye. Allen was super impressive, especially for his 7th start against an excellent defense. Be happy. Now that Peterman's gone and Barkley's our backup we don't have to be absolutely terrified if our backup has to play.

A misunderstanding apparently, but in responding to the OP, who was talking about roster setup for the season, built over spring and summer, and then you responding with your comments, it made it sound like the plan for Allen to start began during that Spring/early Summer when Beane could have brought in certain WRs. Yeah, leading into the 3rd preseason with Allen game indicates obviously, at that point, he's going to likely start. Still stupid not starting him at that point rather than relying on a single half of football to make your decision. But if it were the plan to have him start for significantly longer--as I thought you meant--it would have been monumentally stupid and almost a firable offense.

Again, when did they say that? When did anyone say that, verbatim? If it were said, it would be in print. I guarantee it. Please find the date of the PC, which you are insinuating, I suppose, would have come when...??? After preseason game 3? ...After Peterman sucked in Baltimore??? Regardless, when you said: I would expect you could at least find a link to those completely "lyin-through-my-teeth-as-I-try-to-cover-my-tracks comments that must've come (if they came at all) after some of the utterly disgraceful QB play we had this season.

You're bluffing or not accurately remembering what was said or interpreting the way something was said to mean something that wasn't directly said. Sorry to put that so bluntly. You're a quality poster and I generally like your posting, but I followed those Summer PCs very closely and never heard or read any such comments. If they happened, you should easily be able to find a link because the media coverage by Joe B and Fairburn and such of comments like that would have been bananas.

7-9. I really wish I could be the optimist. But we don't beat the Patriots and we drop another... probably the Dolphins in Miami. Too bad McBeane screwed up the QB position so bad to start the season.

I completely agree with Thurm... awesome...

Still not understanding it I see.

1st team reps over the Summer with the WRs and OL he would be playing with in order to gain chemistry, obviously. And there's no telling what would've happened in that Baltimore game if Allen got the whole Summer. We were seriously behind and getting blown out largely because of Peterman. If Allen starts after getting most of the Summer reps, who knows? He came in and moved it well in the 2nd half of that game. As for the rest of the games, maybe Allen doesn't get hurt or we at least have a more capable QB behind him who won't actively lose us games the way Peterman and Anderson did.

Oh boy, so much of this is misguided, shortsighted, or just plain wrong. I responded to some of these points already, but what I said was not hindsight. If McDermott were truly evaluating Peterman during the preseason properly, he would have understood all those easy reads against those vanilla defenses and noticed SEVERAL dropped INTs by defenses on exactly the types of throws that demonstrate he should NEVER have been considered for the starting QB. Not hindsight because I (and many others) were saying that before TC even started. McCarron was the wrong guy to bring in if you wanted Allen on the bench. Also not hindsight. Also something I said back in OTAs. Allen sucked for one half in the preseason. Peterman looked good. Taylor sucked last year in preseason pretty much the whole time. Peterman looked a lot better. It was a bad move. It was the wrong move. Not all rookie 1st rounders start right away, but almost all of them do very early on in the 1st year because, much like McDermott, their Head Coaches realize they made a huge mistake not starting them.

Are you kidding? Have you watched the QB play of Anderson and Peterman. Baltimore Peterman couldn't get a SINGLE FIRST DOWN!!! Plus... turnovers. Texans our D was unbelievable and when Allen got hurt we were already in scoring position in a one score game. Instead, pick-Six-Peterman loses us the game. Colts our D was great to start the game for all the 1st quarter and most of the 2nd. Then a sluggish offense and plenty of turnovers. Bears game our D held their offense to less than 200 yards but... ya know, turnovers and defensive TDs. Plus, you forgot the Patriots game, where Buffalo held the Patriots offense to 13 points, but our offense couldn't move and also... ya know, turnovers and defensive TD. All of that is aside from the fact that if Allen or another capable QB were in there from the get go, we would have anywhere between 1-3 more wins and be right in the thick of the playoff race.

Yes, yes it is. McCarron sucked. Peterman was all smoke and mirrors. Unfortunately, McDermott got played a fool by all the smoke and mirrors. The smartest move would have been to cut Peterman in the offseason and bring in 2 vet QBs who have had legitimate NFL starting experience--more than just the 5 games of NfL experience. Actual, legitimate NFL QB competition would have been the best move. That never happened because McCarron and Peterman were NEVER it. That's why at the very latest, Allen should have been named the starter after the 1st preseason game. Ideally even earlier. That's not hindsight on my part. I said Allen would likely be the starter against Baltimore back during OTAs in May. I was obviously wrong, mainly because I didn't think our HC was a total idiot when it came to QB decisions... or at least I thought he wad the type of guy to learn from mistakes. Allen was physically superior, smart, a great leader, a hard worker, and even Beane kept refuting the national narrative that Allen was "too raw." And we traded up to #7 to get him so it's obvious McBeane thought very, very highly of him. Allen struggles in one game after progressively getting better throughout the whole offseason and--I would argue--being the best QB on the roster through those first 2 preseason games from an evaluative standpoint of the types of throws he was making, often under duress. I'm still pissed McDermott basically threw this season away because of blind, stupid faith in a player who he should have realized by the end of last season could NEVER be a starting NFL QB rather than making the obvious and inevitable choice--given the competition--early on in Training Camp to help Allen get more comfortable with the WRs and OL he would quickly be playing with. The answer is yes, Man the ***** up because you watched him play and develop throughout the whole Summer and first 2 preseason games. Relying on a single half of play in the 3rd preseason game to be THE determining factor in the QB decision in this case was absolutely stupid and cowardly.

Me too. Fascinating if true, but I think that was pure speculation. Waiting for @Alphadawg7 to provide a link.

When and where did they say that? Do you actually have a link? If that's true, I lost a little more respect for McDermott for not manning up early in training camp like he should have.

Tim Tebow, Colt McCoy, Matt Leinhart, Kellen Moore, RG3, Landry Jones, Andre Ware, Vince Young, Graham Harrell, Johnny Manziel, Bryce Petty, Sam Bradford, etc. Nuff said

Ummm... yah... how many turnovers with Peterman and Anderson in at QB?