Shaw66

He's one of the reasons they won't pay Poyer.

Yes, that deep ball to Waddle was pure safety inexperience. I know it's not popular, but I think Poyer's stand out play just makes it more likely that he won't be back next season. The reason he didn't get his extension was NOT because there was a disagreement about how much Poyer is worth as a player. The Bills already know who he is and how he contributes. He was extended because the Bills know how much they want to spend to keep him. They have a plan for the position, and they have a plan for overall cap spending and where they want to go with big dollars. Poyer playing well only widens the gap between what the Bills are willing to pay and what he can get elsewhere. The question always has been how much money from some other team is Poyer willing to turn down in order to stay in Buffalo and play for Super Bowls with Hyde and White. As Poyer plays great, the amount he'd have to walk away from is going to get bigger, which means he's less likely to stay.

I'm not giving up on him, but he has to start doing something. Every player makes mistakes. The difference between players who play and players decide to go back and finish their degrees is not the mistakes, it's the contributions. When you get on the field, you have to contribute. Cook and Shakir both are making mistakes; so far, only Shakir has contributed.

Good stuff. I didn't mention Milano because, well, he does the same thing every week. He's an amazing constant. I agree about tight formations about running. The Bills should never line up in tight formations. They run better out of plays that look to get wide, and they pass better, too. In general, the name of the game early in the season is to find a way to win while you're figuring out who you are. So a lot of things you say are works in process. We'll see how well they put it all together.

I agree with all of this except Cook. I mean, I'm not giving up on him, but a second round running back should be ready to play by week four, and that means ready whenever he gets put into the game. He needed to be ready to catch the ball in wet weather, and it was a simple NFL catch. He wasn't ready. Every play is important. Shakir plays that way. Cook needs to.

Well, I didn't say he was star because, frankly, I didn't see everything he did. He's inexperienced, and I expect he made several mistakes I didn't see. All I know is that I was impressed by his tackling.

M&T Stadium. Baltimore Ravens. Week four. The Bills were 2-1, coming off a devastating loss to the Dolphins, a loss that raised questions about whether the Bills have a problem winning close games. They didn’t want to drop to 2-2, not so much that because they didn’t want to be a game behind the Dolphins in the AFC, but because they didn’t want to fall behind in the race for home field in the playoffs. The practice week was far from ideal. Without question, the recovery from the Dolphins game would be longer than normal, because players experienced a whole new level of exhaustion in the south Florida sunshine. The Bills’ injury list was so long, it seemed simpler to ask which starters were available than to ask who was out. The Ravens’ offense had been extraordinarily effective over the first three weeks of the season, and Lamar Jackson had been an absolute star. This was the test. Challenged with adversity, this was the game for the Bills to prove to themselves that they are a team to be reckoned with. Well, that’s not exactly correct. The Bills know who they are. This was the game for the Bills to show the rest of us that they are a team to be reckoned with. In the first half, whatever it was that the Bills did during the week to recover from the Dolphins and get ready for the Ravens didn’t seem to have worked. For the second week in a row, Josh had an early turnover that spotted the opponent seven points. Singletary fumbled, receivers couldn’t hold onto Allen lasers in the wet weather, and the defense struggled. The Ravens ran up 20 points and should have had more, while the Bills managed only a field goal while going three and out or worse on four drives. With less than three minutes left in the first half, the real Bills showed up. The defense forced a three-and-out, and the offense put up seven. 20-10 at the half. I said to my friend, “McDermott teaches his team to win the second half. They prepare to win games like this.” And so it was, after the worst of weeks, with injuries all over the lineup, after an ugly first half, the Buffalo Bills showed they are who we thought they were. Lamar Jackson is spectacular, but Josh Allen was the championship quarterback in the second half. Jackson made big plays, but Allen led his team on drives for a field goal and a touchdown to tie it. Then John Harbaugh put the ball in Jackson's hands on fourth and goal from the two yard line, and Jackson flinched. His ill-advised heave into the end zone was intercepted. Starting from the 20, Allen took the Bills on a masterful 77-yard, four-minute field-goal drive. Ordinarily, the drive would have taken less time and would have resulted in touchdown, but Allen took a knee on two plays so that the field goal would be the final play of the game. Sean McDermott didn’t want to leave, say, 13 seconds for Jackson to play with. It was a classic gut check. A few observations on the game: 1. Bills fans don’t have a monopoly on support for their team, but the lack of support for some teams amazes me. Ravens fans have a playoff contender and a legitimate MVP candidate at quarterback. This was an important early-season game that featured an equally legitimate MVP candidate. Still, there were plenty of empty seats all around the upper deck at M&T. Yes, it rained a little, but the weather wasn’t nearly bad enough to keep real fans away. And the Ravens fans came alive on third down occasionally, but making noise for the defense obviously is not all that important to them. There were a lot of Bills fans at the game, but we didn’t exactly take over the place, either. 2. The rain wasn’t bad, but the field and the ball were wet all the time. Both teams managed it pretty well, but at times the weather was a factor. 3. James Cook is digging himself into a pretty deep hole. He continues to fail to take advantage of the opportunities he gets, and those opportunities are becoming fewer and fewer. Zero carries. One target, one drop. 4. Kahlil Shakir, on the other hand, has been waiting for his chance. When McKenzie and Crowder went down, he made two big plays on two targets. 5. Kaiir Elam was solid. 6. Damar Hamlin’s tackling stood out. 7. Fans who have been waiting for Tremaine Edmunds to make plays like a normal middle linebacker have been rewarded for their patience. He’s hitting harder, tackling with authority, and blitzing more effectively. His tackle on the Ravens’ first touchdown, which won’t show up in the stats, was textbook. 8. It was a great game to demonstrate why you’d rather be good at passing than at running. First downs were even, total plays were nearly even, Bills had only a modest advantage in total yards. Allen’s and Jackson’s running numbers were a wash. But the Bills outgained the Ravens in the air by 70, and the Ravens outgained the Bills on the ground by 35, and it was clear which offense was a threat. Yes, the Ravens had some nice runs, but the Bills knew that with discipline they could limit the damage on the ground. Even with Davis being a non-factor, with Diggs doubled most of the time, and with McKenzie and Crowder out, the Bills still had Allen, and with Allen a big play is always just a throw away. 9. The starting offensive line was back on the field, and Allen was the beneficiary. For the first time in the past few weeks, he often was upright in the pocket, looking downfield. The protection wasn’t perfect, but the difference was noticeable. 10. Unfortunately, the starting offensive line didn’t have the same impact on the run game, which continued to be anemic. There were successful runs here and there, but it’s pretty clear that the Bills can’t depend on the run game in short yardage situations. Win every quarter of the season, and you’ll be happy. First quarter, mission accomplished. Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Green Bay, and the Jets make a pretty formidable second quarter. But we know now, and their opponents know, that the Bills are a team to be reckoned with. GO BILLS!!! The Rockpile Review is written to share the passion we have for the Buffalo Bills. That passion was born in the Rockpile; its parents were everyday people of western New York who translated their dedication to a full day’s hard work and simple pleasures into love for a pro football team.

I've stopped listening to the WGR postgame, because those two guys say very little and then they open it up to callers. On Car Talk on NPR, one day those guys asked an important question: Do two people who don't know what they're talking about know more or less than one person who doesn't know what he's talking about? Talk radio is 20 consecutive people who don't know what they're talking about. It adds up to negative knowledge.

I have chaired the board of two of the largest urban nonprofits in the country. I've also created and helped run privatee foundations like Tua's. I've also earned with financial advisors like Tua's. I've also created and operated a public charity. I know I don't need to look up data about Tua's foundation to give it $17. I gave a Boy Scout $5 this morning. I hope $1.25 isn't going to administration, but I don't really know. Maybe his scout master is going to spend it on booze.

Both of those organizations have administrative costs that must be met somehow. My 25% ti both helps them cover their fundraising and admin costs. Remarkable how much you guys will argue to try to convince people not to do good. Good night boys. Knock yourselves out

Chartiy Navigator says the typical charity spends 75% on program/grant making. 15% on admin and 10% on fundraising. So that means most, probably the great majority of charities, are 60% or better. Maybe Tua will take all my money and give his oline a vacation in Hawaii, but the odds are much better that my $17 is going to a good cause. If I'm writing a $100,000 check, sure, I'll do some research. For $100, I'll trust people.

I don't deny that it happens. But there is a lot of oversight, including federal tax laws, and a lot of people watching most charities. That all tends to keep the abuses relatively low. That includes the watchdog agencies that publish lots of data. And what I said about administrative costs still holds. Someone earning $200,000 a year as CFO or CEO of a foundation with $200,000,000 in assets earns every nickel, but to some critics it looks like a lot. And, indirectly, those services are provided for the benefit of people in need. If you take all of the charitable dollars given in the country and compare it to total administrative cost, the amount spend on administration on average is not inappropriate.

Actually, FilthyBeast said this somewhere, and it's a simple rendition of why Sunday is a big game. Tough, tough challenge. The challenge for McDermott is to get everyone on the same page, playing their best football. Hard to concentrate on that with the nature of the Miami loss, the Ravens' toughness, the injuries. But that's kind of what's interesting about this video. These guys seem to be just enjoying their time together, doing their work and working at being their best. It's who they are. This seems like a team that always will recover, always will rise up to fight, regardless of the outcome. Don't want to be 2-2, although as he says, with this schedule it always was a possibility. My personal objective for the team, not my idea, is win every quarter - that is go at least 3-1 on every quarter of the schedule. Bills will be delight where they sit if they can beat the Ravens.

Is there much of anything that McDermott and Beane miss? I mean, their emphasis on veteran leadership, their emphasis on locker-room leaders, when they first showed up, it was a little hard to swallow. We fans had just spent 20 years just wishing the Bills had enough talent, and these guys come in and say the culture is essential. Really. But as we began to watch them build that culture, it started to become clear that they weren't saying it because it played well in sound bites. They were saying it because they understood that culture was the true foundation of everything the team would be built on. They knew what they were getting in Micah and Poyer, they knew what they were getting in Josh. They knew what they getting in Diggs and Miller. And they knew why they were keeping McKenzie, investing in him, developing him. These guys get it.

Oh, my. The point of doing charity is NOT to get something in return. That's business, not charity. Charity is the not selfish, at least not in the usual way. It's the notion that everyone should give to help others without expecting anything in return. Charity is selfish in a different way - if we all are in the habit of helping others, then someone, somewhere will be there to help you when the time comes.

I'm not going to look into. I'll trust the guy with my $17. He'll do what he thinks best with the money or as occurs sometimes, he'll misuse it. As I said, I'll trust him. Trust makes the world work.

Charities have employees who do the work of the charity. They get paid a salary and benefits. Do you expect all those people to work for free? From my experience, most people who work for charities like these are women, with children. They're working 40-hours a week. Do you think they should just work for free? Of course there's administrative overhead. Do some charities overdo it and run essentially for their own benefit? Yes, but not very many these days, because there's a lot of disclosure now about how they run and where the money goes. The charities that are essentially stealing get exposed, and often people get prosecuted. Charitable organizations help people who need help, and not the people who work for them. You need a better excuse not to give to charities than "administrative overhead."

I hear you. And I agree about the performative stunt aspect of this. The way I see it, though, is that anyone who has a major medical problem can use a kind word or other indication of support from anyone, including strangers. Tua had that kind word for Josh, so I figure I can return the favor by sending him a message. If five Bills fans send $17, fine. I'm one of the five. If 5,000 Bills fans send $17, well, then not only does Tua feel the support of a lot of strangers who care about what's happened to him, but people around the country get to see Bills fans and Buffalo at their best. And some charity, whatever it works for, gets the benefit. Works for me.

$17? I'm in. That scene of Tua and Josh was amazing. Tua was there for Josh. We can be there for Tua. Doesn't matter what color his uniform is.

Never been concussed, so far as I know. And that's another part of this - concussions that do brain damage sometimes are mild enough that they don't generate the symptoms people are talking about here - headache, dizziness, loss of memory, etc. Apparently concussion damage is cumulative, and if you're concussed and have no symptoms, you've still added to your long-term damage. And so, you have guys who even today can still talk their way back into the game, because they don't have apparent symptoms. I think that's what happened with Tua. I think the testing they did on him in the Bills game wasn't thorough enough to determine that he had in fact been concussed, so they let him go back into the game. It seems to me that any doctor who looked at the replay of his head injury and how he walked when he got up should have said, "You're done for the day." Over 20 years ago, sliding in on a close play at the plate in a high school game, my son got smacked in the head on a swipe tag by the catcher. (This was before the concussion issue had become serious in the NFL.) He lay at the plate for a few seconds, stunned. The coach came out. I was thinking, "get up and shake it off." Coach kept him on the ground for a few minutes, then took him out of the game. He told us to go to the doctor after the game. My son had a headache and didn't feel well that night. Doctor wouldn't let him play until he had been symptom free for a week. Symptoms lasted a week, and as a result he missed the end of the regular season and the first round of the playoffs. Still, I was really grateful that they were that proactive about it. There simply is no question about the long-term impacts of this stuff, maybe not for every player, but for too many. It's one thing if their fingers are mangled or their knees are failing them. It's another thing altogether when at age 50, guys' ability to think clearly is fading, memory is shot, etc. The NFL won't like it, but their protocol should be fail-safe. That is, if there's any question at all, the injured guy should not be allowed back in the game. There haven't been many cases recently like Tua's, because the protocol seems to be working pretty well. There's very little question this time, however, that either the protocol failed or someone cheated. Is it possible that Tua's problem last Sunday was not a concussion? Sure, it's possible. But given what happened Thursday night, there just seems to be no reason to have allowed him to play just because Sunday MIGHT not have been a concussion.

The loss. I find I'm developing a players mentality. Nothing matters except winning. Play the game. Then move on. I hope they're recovering fro. The heat and have some good practices.

Thank you both for responding. I didn't know all that. I'd say, however, that this explanation points out exactly why no one has oline depth. Feliciano on the bench in Buffalo would have been perfect. He can't play center and guard at the same time, but the Bills would have been in position to plug one of the holes they currently have. Feliciano isn't a star, but he knows he can start in the league, so why would he stay somewhere to be a backup? I just keep coming back to the point that Gunner and others have been made - Bills haven't invested in the oline, and that's looking like it's a problem. And one of the touchdowns was a gift after the strip sack at the seven. And, by the way, after the offense failed from the two late in the game, the defense forced a three and out, kept the Dolphins pinned on the goal line, and got a safety. All the Bills needed from their offense was a field goal, and they couldn't do that, either. No way at all that the loss was on the defense.

Why not?

All the more reason to draft them early. The bust rate may be worse for linemen than other positions, even high in the draft, but it's completely clear that the talent is generally at the top of the draft. Bust rate may be bad for those guys, but the bust rate for guys you take in the 6th is worse. In a sense, it's the opposite of taking a running back high. You can always find a running back, so you shouldn't use high picks on them. It's hard to find olinemen, so that's where you should use your draft picks.

I'd guess that the fault lies with McDermott. He and Beane talk regularly about what McDermott needs, and my guess would be that McDermott told Beane that Brown and Bates were the answers he needed on the right side. Between the two of them they decided to let Feliciano go. Bills would be much better off today if Feliciano was still on the roster.