Success

I'd be curious about the "film" comment, if Josh ever made it. I saw it mentioned here & elsewhere - but have a hard time believing I would have missed that if he said it. The media would have run w/ that for a bit, imo. JA's improvement over the course of his young NFL career has been astounding to me - he's such a different QB today than he was his 1st couple of years. That's work. That's not just him slumming it & relying on his skills, which he has always had. I think Whitlock was trying to get some attention - and it worked. But I don't think his commentary has much to do w/ reality. Especially the comment that JA doesn't have that "dawg" in him. Cripes.

He's such a "look at me!" guy. He's kind of the new Bayless. Allen is his Lebron.

I'm normally a huge fan of his. He has such a unique skillset - and is capable of greatness in any moment & in any game. I'm no D expert - but I feel like we'll be able to get pressure on him without blitzing, given the Jets' line. I think the D in this game would be better served by playing physical w/ the receivers and trying to disrupt things enough to give our D-line time to get to him. He's going to make some big plays, but the key is not allowing him to get comfortable and start to pick us apart. I'm truly excited to see the defense under McDermott.

I've always seen negativity in sports as cautionary. It's just easier to not get your hopes up, even if that is warranted. The disappointment if it doesn't pan out like you hope can hurt. I've never cared about that, which I feel fortunate about.. I don't think it makes me better than anyone - I just don't care about it enough to try to "protect" myself. And I've had a lifetime of heartache & disappointment at this point. But more often than not, I've started out September saying "this is definitely the year." Including an embarrassing # of times during the drought.

Marino is a good cautionary tale. Those teams were always poorly constructed - they put more emphasis on weapons for the great QB, instead of building the trenches and shoring up the D. And I agree - he was the best, imo. Football is the ultimate team game - SB wins aren't really much of a measure, as logical as that seems to be. Most fans go by that, but so many things go into winning a SB.

It's the way he talks. I always thought that, too - but he talks like a New Yorker (not sure where he's from originally). I've heard other stories about him like this - seems like a genuinely good guy.

Cancer Man.

You can't "go for a hammy." My goodness.

Everyone keeps saying the Bills are taking a step back this year. It's the Chiefs. There. I said it.

I keep seeing pundits say that the Bills are the only team in the division that didn't improve or add anything. Huh? On the offensive side of the ball, EVERYTHING was upgraded. We are going to have a much more solid line, a potent running attack, and the bottom half of our receiving group are all upgrades - guys who have a resume of better hands & YAC ability. Kincaid & Knox together brings a whole new set of possibilities, and match-up problems for opposing DC's to figure out. It's exciting. It has the potential to be the best offense in Bills history - which probably sounds like hyperbole in light of the '90s teams, but it's on the table.

Me too! We lost 3 games last year, and each one could have been won on a play. We had terrible injury issues, blizzards, the Hamlin situation - it was crazy. This year, I think the O-line will be significantly improved, and we are going to have a REAL running game. Nothing against Singletary, but I see Cook taking a big step, and Harris is pretty underestimated. When healthy, he's a great back. Can't wait.

Beane had found gems, and had some misses. That's the NFL, and that's the NFL draft. Any analysis that judges how he has done HAS to be compared to the rest of the league. The Bills have done pretty well when you add that comparison into the mix - they're one of the better teams in terms of draft success over the past 4-5 years.

That was already guaranteed when we signed Kirksey.

I plan to appreciate & be excited every year Allen is QB, and certainly every year we have a team like this - which is a SB-caliber roster when healthy. I remember all of those years when we'd go through the schedule and hope for breaks, fumbles, bad weather and other flukey things that could maybe get us over .500 and sneaking into the playoffs. And the years when the season was basically over in October.

Gabe is going to quite a few critics this season, imo.

Some fans like to focus on Beane's misses. But sometimes when I read those posts, I can't tell if they understand that EVERY GM in the league has them - in the higher rounds, and the lower rounds, and everything in between. The draft is such a crapshoot. On balance, Beane has done well. And I think this last draft may go down as his best (outside of the Allen pick).

I'm truly looking forward to this season. As w/ each season and every single team - health will be key. But if we stay relatively healthy, it's going to be a fun season.

How much have you seen him play?

He just has better coaching. Nothing against McD - but Reid is the best. I don't see a significant gap between Mahomes & Allen. Hard disagree on this one. They ABSOLUTELY can win a Super Bowl right now. This, imo, is the best team we've had since the '90's. Health is the key. And of course, there are other top teams out there, and we're in a tough division & conference - but I don't put anyone significantly higher than the Bills at the moment.

I'm starting to wish the Bills were in the NFC. I swear - we'd go to the SB just about every year.

When I think of how that team tormented me as a fan for close to 2 decades, everything since Brady left has just been a big, big smile.

This is very true - but it's also not the best reason to treat the position of backup in a casual way. Sometimes, a QB gets hurt and just misses a few games, or a month - and that's when you need someone who can just hold serve for a bit. I don't consider it to be the most important need on the team or anything, but you do need someone capable in those circumstances.

It's contagious in the media. Based on the ultimate hot take of judging our team by the Cincy game, it has become entrenched that "The Bills are taking a step back" and "their window is closing/closed." It's based on nothing. We have the best team we've had in the JA era heading into this season.

The "window" is a myth. It will be varying degrees of open - but as long as Allen is QB, it's not closed.

That all seems incorrect to me.