Rochesterfan

I thought he struggled early in the season and had been getting better. He played well in the Pittsburgh game - handling a very good player in Hayward much better than we had in the past, but still had a few negative plays. I thought he was very good against KC - to the point I believe the announcers stated the Chiefs had to move Jones away from him because Saffold was beating him every play. I think they are getting better as a unit - the left side of the OL has definitely been better than the right and significantly more consistent. I will continue to give them time as throughout the preseason they could not play together at all. Saffold was hurt with the car accident, Brown had back surgery, Bates and Morris both missed time, and then they got like one series of live action with Josh. We will see, but he was not a concern to me in this game and I thought against another ProBowl level player he outplayed Jones and forced the D to move around. Considering we have played the Rams with Donald, Tennessee with Simmons, Miami with Wilkins, Pittsburgh with Hayward, KC and Jones, and Baltimore who is always tough inside - the OL and Saffold in particular has held up pretty well. Miami I think (like most of the team) was his worst game and there have been strides since.

Is 4 years of that player at a cost controlled price better than 10 games of McCaffrey. That 2nd round pick may not be better right away, but may have significantly more long term help to maintain the team we have.

Or I can expect in 20 years we are going through this same discussion like Nashville, Cleveland, Baltimore, and Washington - all who have stadiums that are still within the useful life and all are looking to rebuild into covered stadiums. My guess is this costs more money for a shorter time and becomes a bigger issue before the lease is up. Get it right should be the motto, but nope some Neanderthals think this a gladiatorial contest to be played outdoors when the reality is changing toward a more controlled environment across the league.

You have 10 of 32 with 7 built since 2006 and of the remaining open air stadiums - 3 are being replaced or proposed with Tennessee and Chicago going towards domes and Buffalo bucking the trend and staying open air. You also have both Washington and Baltimore looking for new stadiums and both want Covered facilities to bring in Superbowls and other upgrades. It will not be long before it is 50/50 with covered stadiums and as we (in Buffalo) are going the wrong way - we will miss out on things like hosting the draft and the combine and other potential off season events that other sites with enclosed stadiums will get, but rest assured you get to experience NFL in the elements for our 8-11 games and hope that the weather doesn’t cost us a crucial game or even worse - force us to play in Detroit again because of snow. Enjoy being tough.

Yep that is why 7 of the last 9 stadiums have been covered and the Titans and Bears are looking at covered stadiums. You are going the wrong way on history. As newer stadiums are built they are all going toward coverings and places like MetLife in NYC regret not having the covering because it costs them a ton in potential SB and CFL playoff games. The biggest issue is the huge money being spent that will have to be spen again in a shorter time period because the weather will impact this stadium and cause us to have to remodel and upgrade sooner.

See This is what I don’t get. They doing everything they can to reduce the impact of weather. We are going to confuse the wind, coverings to protect the fans from rain, heaters to lessen the impact of the cold - yet people are arguing that well Josh can throw the ball and cut through the wind - well that is gone. The players in Buffalo get to practice in the cold - but the majority of our team is from the south and other warm weather climates and do not like the cold - hence why the majority of practices are inside. There is little to no advantage to having an open air stadium and the fact that they have to try and add amenities to warm the fans and give them inside protection mean they know based upon history that late in the season and the playoffs - there is a time of difficulty to sell out those games. Instead of doing all of that to try and block and change things - make it a significantly better experience with a Minnesota style stadium.

Pretty sure McD specifically said Moss was inactive because the Bills were worried about Knox and his foot and getting through the game - so they had to have Knox, Morris, and Sweeney active. He gave a very direct and specific answer when asked why Moss was inactive and what do you tell guys. He was clear in that he liked what he has done, but this was a numbers need for an extra TE with Knox. Now you can choose to believe that or not, but he was clear it had nothing to do with a trade.

Are they playing the Colts? Tenuta has not been with the Bills since before the final cuts - not sure there is much info he could bring on the Bills. For people wanting good OL pick-ups - this just shows how bad the OL depth is across the league that a 7th round rookie that was bad -has made it onto his 3rd roster already this season.

I totally agree with this - the only thing I will add is I think the Dorsey/Spags battle was a draw. I think pre-game - just as if you told KC they were going to hold the Bills to 24 - the Chiefs take that. I think if you told the Bills that Allen would throw for 330 and the Bills would rush for over 130 (-8 on the 2 kneel downs) with nearly 100 of that by RBs - Dorsey and the Bills staff would be ecstatic. Nearly 460 total yards by the Bills team should be a win by the offensive staff most weeks. The Bills on Offense struggled with a few of the same issues - short yardage and Red zone - and a lot of that looked like execution. The Allen fumble with McK was over cute, but if McK takes that pitch - there is space there for him to either score or get very close. The TD drop by McK on a pressure look - could have help get KC out of the Blitzing mind frame sooner if he just catches a ball thrown right to him. I think that play was a bit improvised and McK was not expecting it, but in the end - he needs to make that play. The defensive gameplan by the Bills was absolutely genius. They also made a few mistakes - interestingly both long mistakes were on missed tackles on JuJu and then a missed tackle on McKinnon before the half. Just a quick rewatch showed the Bills ran a butt ton of different coverages and schemes in this game from the defensive side. They ran some straight man, off man, zone with coverage rotating outside the hash and zone with coverage CB staying outside and pushing the offense toward the middle. They ran a bunch of Man/Zone combo covers and they ran both 3 and 4 DL set-ups with straight rush and blitzes with spy. It was very impressive and no wonder that Mahomes was having issues getting a solid feel of what to do. They also played a lot of Big Dime with Neal in the game to help tackle against any run plays, but still give added coverage against the spread. The best play though was the close out interception as I think that was a schemed play specifically for Mahomes and it worked to perfection. the Bills ran Straight Man on the backside and Zoned off the front/wide side. They were in the Big Dime with 3 DL, 2 LB and 6 DBs. I think they knew Mahomes loves to leak out to his Right and if they looped Miller inside - it would look like the right side was wide open, but they brought Milano outside as a spy/delayed rusher to make him uncomfortable. Milano was right in the passing lane as Mahomes pumps once and when he gets a step further outside and the WR clears Milano - Taron is already breaking on the ball and beats the WR to the spot. Johnson was playing a Robber role to take that exact pass away and the Bills got exactly what they wanted. I just think that was a masterclass in coaching as they stopped the run and held Mahomes in check most of the day.

Not to give any leeway to Herbert, but how much of that is due to his injury? I have not thought he was on the same level as Allen, but he is dealing with a severe Rib injury that probably limits his mobility and impacts his ability to throw to some degree. He has always been less impactful as a runner/mover than Allen and Mahomes, but right now he has no mobility and I think that and the pain is causing him to play less like he did his 1st 2 year and more like a stiff robot.

Correct, but as was stated right in the article they are allowed to include NF, Rochester, Buffalo, and southern Toronto and at the time of writing the article that qualified as 36,000 rooms - plus unaccounted for rooms on the thruway south and east of Buffalo and along the QEW to Toronto. The weather and the spread out nature is a bigger obstacle, but Goodell did state that similar to NYC - if that was a requirement for a new arena - the NFL would review the bid, but it would have to be a dome - they were not having a cold weather game like NYC again. I still get it - it would be a long shot and the most hated venue - beating out the hatred of Jacksonville that had nothing going on, but the potential was there for discussion. Now maybe privately they were told no way - so don’t bother and I would get that, but Hotel Rooms could be covered - the travel logistics and the spread out nature - with a large number being across the border in NF Canada was a bigger issue. It is not a hill I will die on, but that piece was proven by the very article you provided. They could have worked to force 1 like NYC and Jacksonville, but building a dome for that was deemed a waste. Now if they had moved the stadium to the Northside using NF as the site or even downtown Buffalo with an enhanced Peace Bridge we were promised - maybe the dream could of come true, but not-in OP.

Actually it is not true - it was discussed and the mileage allowed (100 miles) that is included in the required area includes NF, Toronto, and Rochester. There was discussion that if a domed was built and the Bills put that as a requirement- the NFL would have looked at it. They allowed Jacksonville to bring in cruise ships to meet the requirement. Now the reality is - a SB in Buffalo would suck for the destination fans and the media, but if they had gone dome and used that as leverage - I think they could of forced something. It would also have helped with bringing the draft here as a large enclosed site after the fiasco that was Cleveland, but again that is not a reason - just a potential result if they decided to go that way. Now we don’t have to worry - we could be forced to go on the road and play in someone’s else’s home stadium like has happened the last 2 years.

They don’t want to spend money and out price the area. If given full funding a multi-use dome downtown would have been the first and most logical choice. The rest of it is just garbage - more and more sites are going to fabulous covered stadiums that are gorgeous and can do lots of things. The DNA is old school thinking from the 50-70s when the majority of players were from the North East - now it is seen mostly as a negative by players across the league. The fact that the Bills were looking to be ahead of the curve years ago and build a domed arena rather than Highmark stadium and the final plans got scuttled very late shows at one time teams thought ahead. Now the area is skimping and calling it Buffalo culture when we know darn well the only thought process was money. 7 of the last 9 built stadiums have been covered and the Jets/Giants open air got to host 1 SB and the weather will stop it from happening again. If they had built a covered stadium - NYC would be in the regular rotation. It is and was short sighted, but you be you and think the DNA will drive the team - when even this year the Bills were offering discounted division game tickets for the end of the year because they were still having trouble selling out the cold weather games.

It depends on if it was an option. I heard it said it was a run option with a pass back- hand off to McK for outside or Josh could keep it himself - no pitch was planned. McK job was to draw people to the outside leaving a space inside. Josh elected to keep the ball, but the outside guy crashed down - Much like Josh did to Knox in the Houston playoff game - I think Josh then realized McK would be free and pitched it, but by that time McK had completed his fake and was not expecting the ball. Knox learned and know McK will have to learn - you never give up on a Josh Allen play. If he had kept running that had huge potential, but McK stopped on the play after his part was over.

It sounds like it from McD. The medical staff in consultation with Poyer throughout the week - proposed this option and it sounds like the Bills got a nice vehicle that could take Poyer entire family and then allowed him to leave after practice Friday to keep him on the same schedule. I am sure they have someone on staff to handle the drive - and when they are spending huge money on a charter - my guess is a car and an extra hotel room doesn’t add up to much if it allows him to play.

His ban was for 6 games and after playing the 6th game we had to decide what to do with him before activating him. His release does not free up a roster spot as suspended players do not count on the roster. It does prevent us from having to make a move to activate him though. I do not believe it saves us any money as a suspended player collects no salary and therefore has no cost against the cap. His release at this point does allow us to keep the 2 cheaper rookies than having to activate him and then include his salary over whomever you cut. I agree - I think they let him go looking and if he wants to come back - there may be a spot on the PS, but they do have the LB position fairly covered.

I have not gone through the All-22, but after just watching highlights and listening to a few trusted people - I am going to strongly disagree with your first line and I will wait until the player stats all come out, but I think at halftime the Bills made some major adjustments that kept Mahomes off his game. First off the Bills played a variety of coverages including more Man, some zone, and some Man Zone combo coverages going side versus side. They also came up with what I will call a BIG DIME - where they switched up and had only 3 DL in the game rushing and used Milano as a 4th DL and a spy. They then dropped 7 into coverage with Edmunds as the sole LB and used Neal and Taron as thumpers to help with coverage, but not lose the ability to tackle. It worked for the most part although Neal got burned and missed JuJu on the long TD. On the Int - the Bills used combo coverage and Mahomes tendencies against the Chiefs to win the game. The Bills played Man on the Defenses right side and a Robber Zone on the left. They know that Mahomes likes to escape to his right (D’s Left) so they set up a Pass Rush from Von to specifically move Mahomes and allow him to move right and then attack with Milano - similar to how Belichek attacked Josh last year. Give him what he wants, but attack him so he can’t get comfortable. Milano flashed causing Mahomes to hold the ball and then Taron playing Robber attacked the spot for the pick. It was a defense I believe specifically created for later in the game to attack the Chiefs by showing them what they wanted and preying on those tendencies. The Bills played multiple different defenses throughout the game making Mahomes adjust and by trying to keep things in front - they forced them to have to figure things out continuously throughout the game leading to KC mistakes. Just because the Bills have a specific philosophy of not getting beat deep does not mean they do not flip the script on teams and show a ton of variety. The staff is very good at being variable and they pull things out against specific opponents and hide it at other times. Brilliant Job by McD and staff!!!!!

I agree, but after I saw the Morris post and the flight delay - I actually thought - I have time from Rochester to make it. This was not the game, but it is something I love about the fans - they show out and Heck we deserve this as much as anyone.

The Players seem to love it - with guys like Quentin Morris calling for it. I think it means a lot to these guys after a big win.

Except - I think they did play different - especially in the second half. They are still going to play off and try to keep things in front, but the switched it up using Milano as a spy/attacker and created frustration in Mahomes - who took a couple of hits from Milano leading to the pick. I just don’t think they care if Kelce gets 1 catch or 10 catches - they just want to tackle him immediately after the catch and they did that. The important piece was stopping the run and getting pressure and they did both. Then using Milano so that when Mahomes did slip through a crack - he was under attack created a new twist.

Yeah he has looked good for almost 5 games - we will see if it lasts.

Totally agree - AT HIS PEAK - McCaffrey is a game changer, but when was his peak? 3 years ago - 2019 maybe. Right now his numbers suggest he is a middle of the road back. He definitely has some play as a receiving back, but even that is limited. For the limited touches and usage - I have no issues with a 3rd rounder or later, but as this team is not at the end or even late in their Super Bowl window - a first or second is just more than I am willing to give up. The question for me is 2 fold: 1) As he has played 3 and 7 games the last 2 years and is nicked up by 5 games this year - what are you realistically looking to give up with the knowledge that there is a good chance he is unavailable for the games you need him most for and that to nurse him to those games means giving him little play for the next 10-12 weeks to keep him fresh. 2) What is the long term plan for the position - as I stated the Bills are not the Rams and near the end of their window with an aging QB - they are still pressing near the beginning. I am not willing to Trade a potential future 4-5 year cheap starter for a 1 year rental that we then cut meaning you do not even get a potential Comp pick. If there is Compensation worked out to cheaply extend him 3 more years or we give up a 1st and got a 3rd back or additional young players with term - great, but a 2nd contract RB for a 1 year rental with this window - no thanks. If we could sign him like OBJ for no compensation- great sign me up, but to give up big draft capital for a 1 year rental at this point in the window is just a hard NO. For the right compensation and length of term - yep he could be a nice add, but I am not risking my window for an oft injured RB.

Except his average is less than Singletary and Singletary has had a longer run and a longer reception in 2 of his 4 years. How explosive is he really compared to his injury potential. I am fine with the move at the right cost. Maybe a 3rd or a 3rd and Moss. I would not give up a second or a first for CMC any longer - he just is not worth it.

It makes no sense to trade for a guy out for the season🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦

I agree totally - he would have been a PS call up when they were short, but no unless something changes in the next couple of weeks - I think he gets cut rather than the Bills using an IR call up on him. He may also be content to sit on IR just in case something happens late in the season, but with Tre coming back - Rhodes is just no longer a need at all in my opinion.