Shaw66

That's a great comeback game story.

Certainly more hits than misses, so he's at least a B. But he actually has put the Bills in contention to win Super Bowls, so although I was torn, I gave him the A. I think his career as GM is an object lesson in the reality of being a GM. Every GM has misses, and he's had his. But wherever the misses, he gets enormous credit, enormous, for maneuvering up the first round to get Allen. It was brilliant. And in a minor way, he did it again this year, trading back twice and still getting the receiver he wanted. I wouldn't recommend playing poker with the guy.

There's a difference between minor tweaks and a more general overhaul. Coaches for years looked at Rivers throwing and said, "That's horrible," but everyone knew that trying to get him to switch to a more classic throwing motion would be a mistake. Pitchers tweak their mechanics all the time. Favre tweaked his mechanics all the way to the Hall of Fame. Golfers do it. Baseball hitters do it.

That throw to Davis is interesting. A perfect throw would have been about 2 feet deeper, to allow Davis to pull free a bit. But I'm not complaining - that's a great throw. What I find interesting about it is that Davis exhibits his limitations on this play. His right hand was not being held - he was using it to hold off Sauce. He was looking back and tracking the ball, so his brain should have been telling him when the ball would arrive. However, despite being able to see the ball the way, neither of his hands reacted on time. His left hand was too slow to react, and he left his right hand on Sauce's chest too long. Now, I'm not saying I would have caught it, but a veteran NFL receiver with adequate skills gets his hands on that ball. Davis simply wasn't as good as he should have been. I'd say a good NFL receiver catches that ball 75% of the time, and makes a better play on the ball than Davis did 90+% of the time.

This makes sense to me. I'm sure that it's important for Lamar Jackson, for example, to watch film of what teams have done against him lately, because pretty much every team is going to try to copy whatever some team has used successfully to stop him. Yes, he needs to know the general defensive scheme of next Sunday's opponent, but what's going to be important is how they vary that scheme to deal with what Lamar can do to really hurt you. The same is true with Allen. For a couple of seasons, for example, Josh killed teams when he scrambled to his right. He was deadly. Not so much in 2023. I don't know what teams did in terms of Xs and Os, but they did something, because when Josh escaped right last season he wasn't money. Teams figured out the weakness that Josh was attacking and how to adjust the defense to cover that weakness.

I'm reluctant to dive in here, because occasionally I get into deep discussions with Thurm, on the one hand, and with Beck, on the other, and those deep discussions sometimes have a tendency to spiral into disagreements that aren't work having, especially because both of you have great things to say. However, I want to add a couple of things. First, the most important point is that we really don't know what Josh does during those three or four months. He says things, or we see photos of him someplace, and many of us tend to generalize from what we hear or see. Second, in the 50s and 60s, pro football players often did nothing at all during the off-season and often got out of shape. They would use training camp as the place to drop 20 pounds, increase their stamina, etc., and the coaches say it as their job to drive the players to get them back into shape. Those days are long gone. Players, almost all of them, have a commitment to the game and to their teammates that makes them understand that it is their job to stay in shape and to work on their games all year-round. I seriously doubt that Allen is not thoughtful all year round about what he eats and drinks and about his conditioning. He understands what he needs to be able to do the day he walks into the facility when OTAs and training camp begin. Third, I've mentioned before what I heard JJ Reddick say one time, which is that someone told him his rookie season that every off-season he had to work on improving some part of his game, because if he came back to the NBA in August without something added to his package of skills from last season, his days in the league would be numbered. I think pretty much every player operates with that kind of attitude now. Every veteran will tell you how much better he is now compared to five years ago. I remember something Diggs said a few years ago about he and his trainer having decided that it's nice to develop the muscles needed to get out of his break quickly, but that it also was important to work on the muscles he needed to decelerate going into the break, a different set of muscles. So, one summer he worked on those muscles, and he added them to his ongoing training routine. By all reports, all of the good players are working on developing their game in ways like that. Fourth, that kind of development for veterans requires serious focus, but it doesn't necessarily take a lot of time. I recall hearing a veteran defensive back talk about film study. He described spending hours on Monday studying film of Sunday's game, fast forwarding through the game to find plays where he was the field, winding and rewinding to look at things. He said that now when he gets on the plane to fly home from an away game, he gets a tablet with every one of his plays from the game preloaded - no time wasted scrolling through anything. And more importantly, he's much more skilled watching film, so that he only needs to watch a play a couple of times to see everything that he needs to get from the film. Same thing for prep for next week's game - he can see pretty quickly what he needs to know about the opponent's scheme, routes, moves, and tendencies. My point is that a veteran like Josh, for example, can be working during the off-season on his footwork without spending hours every day for a month or two on the field. Josh already has, naturally, better footwork than 99% of the QBs in the world, and what he's doing is tweaking compared to what most college QBs would have to do. My conclusion is (1) I seriously doubt that Josh takes the off-season off or shows up in Orchard Park out of shape, and (2) at this point in his career, Josh can do serious off-season work on his game in ways that don't require him to be on the field, gym, or film-room full-time. Patrick Mahomes has been courtside at the Mavs home playoff games, but I don't think for a minute that he doesn't put in some productive football work, physical or mental, on those days.

I have a couple of things to say. First, this is a really good point. Cook does fit the offense very nicely. Drops and fumbles are a problem, but he fits nicely. If the Bills win in the next few years, we'll probably be praising him. Second, unrelated to you post, is that many people here responded about stats. They said he hasn't been playing long enough, as though in a few more years he'll have more total yards, and then he'll look better. I wasn't talking about that. I was talking the eyeball test. I don't doubt that he'll put up nice numbers if he stays healthy, but I don't care about that. I was talking about how useful a weapon he is, and I know that regardless of stats, he's not as useful as most the guys we've talked about in Bills history. He's not a weapon who takes over games. Take most of those other guys and put them in place of Cook, and the offense would be better. And put Cook in the place of most of those guys, and those offenses would get worse. You could count on McCoy and Lynch and Thomas and Simpson to carry you in games when nothing else was working. Not Cook. But having said that, you're correct, for this QB in this offense, he's a pretty effective guy to have.

I'm so sick of you trashing the Bills at every opportunity. I may have to put you on the ignore list. 😉

Oilers Titans is a great list.

Thanks for this. I only saw a few of his games, and my recollection is that he was special in the way you describe. I remember just wondering how he could be that quick and that elusive. I thought it was a lot of fun to watch him, but as I said I didn't see him enough to form the opinion I have of someone such as Simpson or Thomas.

Hey Folz: All day long I've been thinking about getting into this thread, because I've always been a big believer that it's imperative that Allen needs to reduce his INTs. In my head, I decided that turnovers average someplace around a four-point swing, and those four points can be the difference between a win and a loss in maybe a couple games a year. And then I read your post. First, I pat myself on the back, because apparently the article you cite backs up my four-point estimate. But second, your analysis of point production net of INTs (with or without fumbles) shuts me up. His point production is so far in the stratosphere that the INTs are negated. I think you're right. (It's sort of like managers putting up with their star's strikeouts when he's crushing 50 dingers.) Still, I'm not completely convinced. I've been arguing for years that Josh always will win less until he gets his passer rating up where the best ratings are. He's several points behind the best passer ratings. Why? Because his completion percentage is lower, and his TD to INT ratio is lower. Why are they both lower? Same reason - he's not as good a decision maker as he needs to be. Josh needs to take the hig percentage throws over the high risk/high reward throws. When he does that, he'll be otherworldly.

KENNETH DAVIS!!!!!! Wow! If the was a Hall of Fame for backups, he would be in it! And I don't disagree. He and Cook are a push.

Sorry, but that's laughable. You must not have seen Cookie. He was one of the great athletes and great ball carriers of his time. He was All-Pro four times. Braxton never led the team in rushing (haha, of course he played with Simpson), but one season he wasn't even second in rushing. In fact, Braxton got his yards BECAUSE he played with Simpson. Fergie would fake the pitch to Simpson and give it Braxton up the middle. The fake to Simpson was essentially a play fake - the entire defense had to honor it, and a great offensive line created holes that anyone could run through. Anyone just happened to be Braxton.

The Bears had Sayers and Payton and some other good players. Browns had Brown and Leroy Kelly. Many people don't remember how good Kelly was, because he played in Jim Brown's wake. When Brown retired and people commented that the Browns would be left without a running back, Brown said that was wrong, because they had Kelly. Brown was correct. Only Dorsett and Smith are in the HOF. Bills have Simpson and Thomas, with LeSean McCoy likely and Frank Gore a lock, if you want to count him. Pro Football Reference has an interesting metric where they measure Hall of Fame worthiness. Running backs who deserve to be in Hall of Fame. Some observations on their list: Top 10, in order: Payton, Brown, Sanders, Smith, Tomlinson, Simpson, Dickerson, Peterson, Faulk, Terrell Davis. Peterson is a lock, as is Gore, who is 11th. Thomas is 14. McCoy is the next guy on the list who isn't in. He's 20th, ahead of Curtis Martin, Leroy Kelly, and Tony Dorsett, who all are in. The next guys on the list are Roger Craig (not in), Bettis and Riggins (both in), Lynch ( a lock), Hornung (in), and - get this -are you ready? - Cookie Gilchrist. Simpson, Thomas, McCoy, Lynch, Gilchrist. Two absolute sure-fire Hall of Famers, two on the bubble, and Cookie. Damn good.

The Jets acquired an aging, somewhat prickly Hall of Fame quarterback when the Green Bay Packers decided it was time to move on from him, only to discover that the guy brought baggage that offset his diminishing skills. Fifteen years later, the Jets did the exact same thing again, apparently with the same result. One of the most delicious sports stories of all time, at least for AFCE fans. Woody Johnson is one of those owners who demonstrate how important ownership is to the success of a franchise.

I really didn't want to start a discussion about the backs in Bills' history, but I should have known that's what would happen. What I wanted to do was to start a discussion about Cook from the perspective of the great backs of the past. I think what I've thought all along, and what the comments hear reinforce, is that Cook really hasn't been all that good. There's a good argument to be made that at this point in his career, Cook may not be in the Bills' top 10. For example, I guess when push comes to shove, I might take McGahee over Cook. Obviously, I'd take Marshawn, even the Buffalo Marshawn, over Cook. Probably Travis Henry. What Cook has going for him is his surprising speed and acceleration and his route running. But to this point in his career, I have trouble getting past his fumbles and his drops. There's a lack of concentration on display that makes me hope that (1) he changes or (2) someone else emerges. I think his job is at risk unless and until he catches the ball and holds onto it more consistently.

Wow. Marshawn. I don't count him on my Bills top-five lists because he didn't really emerge as a great back until after he left. The talent was there, and we all could see it, but between his emotional state and the Bills' dysfunction, he wasn't the great back he would become later. McGahee, in my mind, never was the guy he'd been before the injury. He was a warrior, but I never saw him as a dominant back like the five I started with. Actually, the Bills SECOND five is really pretty good. Something like Lynch, McGahee, Spiller, Henry, and Jackson. I said I think the Bills' top-five is the best in the league. The Bills' second five has to be better than any other team's second five. A lot of solid ball carriers on that list. And Travis Henry. We've been blessed with running backs.

Is there a Bills running back from the past whom, if you could bring him back in his prime, you would start in place of James Cook? I’ve always maintained that the Bills have the best stable of running backs in the history of the league. No other team can match a top five of Gilchrist, Simpson, Cribbs, Thomas, and McCoy. Fred Jackson is my number six, and he’d be number three for many other teams. Let’s skip the obvious choices. Gilchrist was a completely different style of running back, but he ran like and was as good as Derrick Henry. I don’t care if Cookie can’t run pass patterns, he’d play ahead of Cook. Simpson is a top-five all-time running back, and Thomas is at least a top-ten guy. I know, some of you would put them in the other order, but forget that for now. It goes without saying that either one would start ahead of Cook. I didn’t see a lot of Cribbs, but from what I recall of him, Cook would back him up. I think I’d take McCoy over Cook. Different styles, but Shady was special. Finally, Fred Jackson. I loved Freddie, but I think he’s the only great Bills back who would be a backup to Cook. What do you think? Does Cook make the top five?

Yeah, I get it, but don't be shocked. He's probably in the top 5 of college coaches, and his team should be something like top 10 in talent. Not many schools put a combination of coaching and talent on the floor like that. 24/7 Sports ranked UConn's 2023 recruiting class as third in the country, and they lost only one of those guys to the NBA. The same site ranked their 2024 class at #10. UConn got two guys who should play through the portal. ESPN has them #3 in the pre-preseason rankings. UConn will be disappointed with a run only to the Elite 8.

UConn lost three to the NBA after the first title. Hurley went to the portal and got a shooter, and he had a good recruiting year. UConn is now losing three more to the NBA, he had one of the best recruiting classes in the country, and he's gotten another one or two guys through the portal. Not since UCLA (maybe Florida) has a school cruised through the NCAA tournament as easily as UConn has for two straight years. It's because Hurley has shown that he can take talent and get them to play at a really high level. After one game this past season, when asked how UConn won so easily, he said, "Well, if you play elite offense, play elite defense, and outrebound them, there isn't much the other team can do." That can be said about every game his teams have played in the tournament for two years running. He's restocked the team again. It's a tough task, but don't be surprised to see a three-peat. Then he'll go to the Knicks or the 76ers.

Belated happy birthday, Kim. Thinking of you often!

I'm going to Seattle and Detroit. Four games in Orchard Park.

I think Super Bowl experience is really important. I've been to one, and I'll be much better prepared next time.

I've done a lot. There is only one thing left: Be there when the Bills win the Lombardi. Nothing else matters, football-wise.

Thanks. I watch this every time it's posted. Fantastic!