Shaw66

This team was at the league average in scoring defense. Many players are back for their second season in the system. Plenty of reasons it could be good.

I agree with the others who say theres very little we know now. What really matters is to go 4-4 while your team is growing into something good. Whether they will do that depends on too much that is unknowable today. What will Edmund's be like in the second half? Davis? Murphy? Philip's? A half dozen others? What we do know is that the Bill's have a good defensive coach, and that's the single most important factor.

I don't know if he's correct or not. My point is only that he takes data that supports his point and ignores data that doesn't support it.

It's easy to create the narrative you want to support your conclusion. He wanted to conclude the Bills will be bad, and maybe they will be. But he skews the argument in multiple ways to make his point. He says the Bills were horrible in yards gained and yards allowed. True. But they were much, much better in points scored and points allowed. The NFL is not a yards league, it's a points league. He says the Bills were lucky because of McD's coaching. Well, maybe he's just a very good coach. He ignores the possibility that Allen could be really good. He ignores that the offensive line returns three starters and in Miller and Grey have two guys with substantial experience. He just chooses to write about the things that COULD be bad to prove that the BIlls WILL be bad. It's a lot better than 1%. perennially overrated is right. Newton seems to be effectively only of he runs often, and even then he isn't great. Allen almost certainly is a better thrower. He's smarter. His ego is in check. I wouldn't trade Allen for Newton even up.

Thanks for the thoughtful comments. Interesting.

Thanks. Someone needed to say this.

Whoa! A bit over the top, a bit unfair, but generally right on the money. We all miss some good written work here and there by not subscribing, but there's enough good stuff here and other places to satisfy me and I think most people. I've been thinking about subscribing to one or the other, but if the content in the Athletic is thin, then I'm down to BN. I still may try them, in part because I give them credit for dumping Sully and Gleason (even though it was to save money and not because they were so biased they weren't readable).

This more or less right on the money. They show fewer highlights. They report on the same teams and the same players, over and over. It's all just headlines. They do no quality reporting. Take the ESPYs as an example. The ESPYs once was a really good sports highlights show - all the highlights of the year. It used to be fun to watch.

Yes Thomas in the end zone. And Holmes on the right sideline for the first down. And a dozen more. Impressive.

It looks that way to me, too. But it's way, way too early to bank it.

Dream, pal, dream. If losing those guys created such a talent deficit, why did the team do 9-7. Why not give the Beane and McDermott credit for figuring out they could win without those guys. Do you not like Allen? If you do, why are you disappointed that the Bills traded picks to get him? They can't address the entire roster all at once. Can't. McDermott was quick to can Dennison. McDermott must see some things in Castillo that you don't. But none of that is the point. The point is that seeing Allen makes me dream of what could be.

Haha! Wish I'd thought of that. Nice.

Did I say he's right all the time? No. No one is right all the time. I don't remember the tie he played for, but I'm sure he had his reasons. You might not agree with them, and I might not agree with them, but he had his reasons. At least he's smart enough to know that he isn't smart enough to know what to say, so he keeps his mouth shut. Compare with Rex, who literally was too stupid to know what to say and kept talking anyway. In that sense, McD is much smarter than Rex. I agree, his press conferences and interviews are generally useless. Every once in a while there's a nugget worth hearing, but most of the time he's talking to avoid saying anything. "He'll never tell you anything other than a canned response." Never say never. If McD is a big success as a coach, wins a couple of Super Bowls, is five years older and has been through hundreds of press conferences, I think you'll find he will open up more. Here's what I concluded when I heard his press conferences: I thought he was a guy who had studied every detail of being a head coach before he ever got the job. His study told him he had to learn how to do press conferences. He knew that making mistakes in press conferences gets in the way of job performance. So he learned to give answers with no content, because he'd seen other coaches do it. He knew he could get away with it. By doing that he could stay focused on his job. He also knew that over time he'd learn more about how to talk in that situation, and as he learned more, he'd say more. I think that's a very smart, very mature way to approach that situation. I don't like it, because I want him to tell me more, but it's a smart thing to do.

Apart from all the funny remarks, with which I agree, let me add something at least a tad serious: We've been watching and listening to McDermott for a year and a half, and we read a lot about him when he came. One thing we read and we've now seen is that this guy is WAY into the details. There isn't a detail he hasn't thought of. If he's not announcing his starter, it's because he has a reason. He isn't doing it to build suspense, to tease us, or to keep us listening. He has a reason. Maybe it's the Ravens. Maybe he hasn't made up his mind yet. Maybe he likes his QBs not knowing. Maybe, as someone said, there's no reason to do it now, so he's waiting. He's doing what he's doing because it's all part of his process, and I'm fine with letting this coach, any coach, run with his process.

The whole thing was shameless.

Unfortunately, I am not going to live forever. I need the Bills to get the job done pretty soon.

The Rockpile Review – by Shaw66 “Dreams Sports fans have their dreams. For some, the dream becomes an obsession: Cubs fans, Red Sox fans Eagles fans and Bills fans, probably others. Red Sox fans had their dream come true in 2004, and several times since. For Cubs fans, it was two years ago. The Eagles did it last year. Bills fans are still waiting. We live in a fantasy world, believing out team will find the magic for one dream season, or even better, one dream team. When I was packing to move a few years ago, one of the movers caught me wistfully looking at my Jim Kelly bobblehead. He asked what it was, and all I could say was “the stuff dreams are made of.” For Bills fans, the dream is to win the Super Bowl. The details of the dream keep changing. Bledsoe to Price and Moulds. Losman and Edwards and Jauron’s stingy defense. Manuel fools his critics. Rex’s bravado. When you’re dreaming, your dreams are all you have, and you want to believe them. But dreams aren’t real and as Bills fans know, dreams often become nightmares. It’s as though we’re in the State Farm ad where the father gives his daughter her first car and she shouts “is THAT my car?!!!” We’re the other guy in that ad, the guy who finds his car up on blocks, the tires gone, the guy who shouts “is THAT my car?!!!” The most recent nightmare ended when Rex departed, followed by Doug Whaley. Bills fans could begin to dream when Sean McDermott was hired, but for most of us, he wasn’t enough to get us fantasizing. A young, unproven bald guy talking about the process isn’t what we imagined. Then the Bills asked us to buy the magic Beane. “Not so fast,” we said. “We’re not some kid named Jack.” Even when the Bills made the playoffs , Bills fans were joyous but knew it was no Cinderella story. Yes, the Bills were going to the ball, but it felt more like they were parking attendants at a Herman’s Hermits revival tour than the prince’s dance partner. The 2017 playoffs were only the slightest hint of a new dream. Bills fans’ latest honest-to-goodness fantasy began with the 2018 draft. Just like 2004, the Bills traded up for a strong-armed quarterback. Maybe THIS quarterback, with THIS coach and THIS GM can do it. Maybe this Beane stalk will grow into the clouds where we will find the goose that lays Lombardi Trophies. But we’d seen too many dreams turn into nightmares, and whenever we found ourselves starting to dream about Josh Allen, we pulled ourselves back to reality. It will be midnight soon enough, and that carriage will turn into a pumpkin. And then …, and then there was that touchdown pass against the Panthers in the Bills’ first preseason game. We watched it over and over. Did a Buffalo quarterback actually find THAT receiver and make THAT throw? Am I dreaming? Pinch me. Yes, it WAS a Bills quarterback and he actually DID make that throw. But wait - Trent Edwards made a nice throw once in a while, too. Calm down. Come back to reality. You’re still just a wooden puppet, dancing to strings in the hands of Roger Goodell and Bill Belichick. And then it happened again. The touchdown pass against the Browns in the second preseason game. Was THAT guy actually wearing a Bills uniform? He made THAT move in the pocket and THAT throw on the run? Yes, Wyoming, there IS a Santa Claus. A coach who teaches and leads men? A GM with guts and savvy? A quarterback who looks like the QBs who have dominated the playoffs for the past 20 years? I take a quick look in the mirror – no, my nose isn’t growing. I can dream, can’t I? 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 wanted to say this for a while. Maybe David Carr is an examole, but like you, I doubt it. And I can't think of any other examples. If you're good enough to be good, difficult circumstances at the beginning of your pro career won't stop you. Didn't stop Peyton and didn't stop Aikman. If he's the best, he plays. The coach owes it to the other players. Otherwise the coach is saying to the other players that he doesn't care if they get hurt, but he does care about Allen. That's a non starter.

Who is forgetting the O line? There are four threads about the O line in progress right now, including this one.

You're correct about this, and there's more that seals the deal. First, no one remembers six months from now what these guys write. In that sense, they aren't accountable for what they say. If Allen is a star in December, they'll be writing that he's a star, and the coaches get a lot of credit, and the kid really came on. They won't be writing that they were completely wrong about him. Second, there's no mileage for the writers to go against the conventional wisdom. In this case the conventional wisdom is twofold: 1. the Bills suck and always will suck and 2. Allen has a big arm, is inaccurate, is raw and needs a lot development. If you're a writer in June and you write that Allen will be an All-Pro in two years, you lose credibility with your readers, because your readers KNOW, as a matter of certainty that the Bills suck and Allen is a project. So your readers think you've been smoking too much weed, and you lose your readers. So, since no one remembers what you said six months ago, there's no upside in just spouting the conventional wisdom, while there's real downside (loss of readership) going against it. Plus, as others have said, it takes real work and guts to figure out the truth and go with it. That's in short supply in the modern world.

If Allen starts game 3, Peterman has a shot only if Allen blows up. If Peterman starts game 3, Allen still could take the job even if Peterman plays okay. I just don't see how you can keep that kind of talent off the field. And kudos to Daboll - to have installed and taught an offense where Allen has gotten so comfortable so quickly is a credit to him.

I emailed a friend last night and said that Allen throwing looks like it's in a Disney cartoon. The ball disappears out of his hand and seemingly instantly instantly appears in the receiver's hands. The receivers seem already to be used to how quickly the ball gets there, and the defenders seem to have practically no time to react. It IS weird. In comparison, it seems like you could mow the lawn while you're waiting for McCarron's and Peterman's throws to arrive.

That's the kind of play Aaron Rodgers makes, and we're all agog. Put it together with the touchdown pass last week, a completely different play but a TD pass very few NFL QBs throw. Two weeks, two truly big-time TD passes.

I thought Peteman's play last night was eye-opening. He did a lot of good things. I'm usually a stats guy, and I distrust the eyeball test, so I'm way out of my comfort zone here, but I'll take what my eyes tell me about Allen over Peterman's obviously superior stats. Why? In part because of what I was saying about the game getting easier with Allen playing. He's a better scrambler, a better thrower than Peterman. Peterman looked to me like he always was on the edge of a disaster. Allen looked like he was taking candy from a baby.

This is a really important point that seems to have gotten lost in the comparisons to Peterman. This is what we saw when Allen came on the field. Everything got easier for the offense. We hear this point made from time to time about running backs. It's been made about Shady. Run blocking is easier with a back who gets into and out of the whole quickly. The linemen will tell you, I've heard it several times, that they just don't have to hold their blocks as long. They know, in effect, that they can sell out to a move that is effective for the short-term, because that's all a good ball carrier needs. We see it with Brady. Why are those no name linemen always so good? One reason is that they KNOW Brady is getting rid of the ball quickly. Why? Because he's a deadly short-range thrower, and their passing scheme is set up to have receivers open up quickly. And that is what we saw last night. Drop back, look and throw - bang!, the balls to the receiver. As the quoted language says, everything changes for the offense, because a QB with Allen's talents causes the defense to play in certain ways. They have to respect the deep ball, because Allen can chuck it. They have to respect the short ball, because if they play off the receiver, Allen will complete short balls all night long. They have to respect the throws over the middle, because Allen doesn't need much of a window. All of that makes the game easier for the receivers. It makes the game easier for the offensive line - blitzing is dangerous, because blitzing leaves a hole somewhere, and Allen can throw the ball into any hole. It makes the game easier for the running backs, because eight-in-the-box is a recipe for disaster with that arm. Eight in the box means even Benjamin can get deep, let alone Jones and Coleman and Streeter and Holmes. It was apparent last night. The whole game got easier when Allen came into the game.