BigDingus

Very good & concise breakdown of what I viewed out there as well. I hate the fumbles, especially the really silly & completely avoidable ones, but the missing wide open guys burns me up even more. This offense has the potential to really put the pressure on opponents, and for once, the Bills seemingly have a QB capable of taking advantage of the league's cushy QB rules geared towards passing offenses. After a decade+ of the shift towards being a passing-focused league, the Bills finally have the ability to rise to the occasion. Finding the open man, hitting downfield passes, and getting rid of the ball quickly will make this team a threat no matter who they're up against. Only now, we actually have the personnel to make this into a regular thing. Our O-line provided a ton of time for Josh to sit back in the pocket as well. Going back & watching highlights made it even more apparent how high the ceiling really is for this offense if Josh continues to develop the way we need him to.

It makes sense with the defense we have, but yes, our offense not being able to do anything after the 2nd half kickoff doesn't look good. However... In all fairness, the Bills had one of the worst success rates on opening drives last year anyway. Our 1st quarter offensive output was really not that great overall, but our opening drives didn't often to lead to TD's either. So even if we elected to receive, it's just as likely we'd end up punting as we do getting the ball first to start the 2nd half.

This fanbase's tradition of assigning all blame to every OC that the Bills employ is growing quite tiresome. Everything good on the field = players. Anything bad = OC. Even in games where we see some amazing play calls that are just screwed up by poor execution (wide open men downfield who drop passes, over/under thrown, fumbles, etc.) still the blame goes to the OC. Hell, I remember several years ago when Tyrod was the QB, playing the Pats in the 2nd game of the season, and seeing so many brilliant play calls that left Bill Belichick's defense scratching their heads... but Tyrod was throwing bad passes, afraid to pull the trigger, or someone would commit a meaningless penalty ruining the momentum. But after the game, it was all blame the OC! Even though the only reason we were in that game was the OC's excellent game plan giving us every opportunity to target the opponents' limited weaknesses with our limited & inferior offense. Not saying there's never blame to be assigned, but if this fanbase had it's way, we'd be shuffling new OC's in & out every year, or several times a year.

He should've had what, 4 or 5 easy TD passes today though that he just missed? At this point I feel like it's just par for the course for Allen. You need him to run to keep the defenses humble & helps open it up for easier passing plays for him throughout the game. The defense has to see he's going to be used as a running threat to keep them honest, but at the same time you're right, can't just keep taking huge hits all game. Josh also needs to learn how to scamper better, slide, drop to the ground before taking hits or just get out of bounds. There's times he could either go down earlier, protect himself better or even just give up on a failed play sooner. I feel like only letting him run on broken plays will not go well. But yes, we need to find a way to ensure he's not KO'd out of a game or seriously injured.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/2020-nfl-week-1-picks-and-odds-saints-stomp-bucs-panthers-upset-raiders-jets-stun-bills/amp/ " Jets at Bills Sunday, 1 p.m. ET (CBS) Point spread: Bills -6.5 There are four rules that I live by: never get less than 12 hours sleep; never play cards with a guy who has the same first name as a city, never get involved with a woman with a tattoo of a dagger on her body and when the Jets and Bills play you always smash the under. Now you stick to that, and everything else is cream cheese. But seriously, take this under no matter how low it goes. And take the Jets if you need to in a pick 'em league. This is too many points. Sam Darnold is better than Josh Allen. There I said it. The Pick: Jets 17, Bills 14" Yeah... that surprises me, but I get what he's saying about taking the under.

I've been so disinterested I forgot to draft in 2 of my fantasy leagues... Didn't even remember football was starting up soon until I saw a link in another unrelated sports article (Novak Djokovic hitting some woman in the throat with a tennis ball?) that showed a Bills helmet, then popped on over to the boards.

Ok, this post just made me grin at best until the last 2 lines. Then I actually snorted... 10/10 please troll again! The way I read it in my head, it was more Jar Jar Binks than Spanish.

You think that's bad? For the low cost of 1st, 4th, 5th & 6th round pick, $46 million contract & $14.8 million cap hit in 2020, the Bills got this stat line: 0 catches for 0 yards and 0 TD's in 0 games. WHAT A JOKE! F'n slacker WR's these days...

When I had to pick 1 jersey this year, I went with White PRAYING the jersey curse wouldn't continue. Streak is broken! Can now safely purchase jerseys without irrational fear of players disappearing the following year!

People need to quit being so defensive. He's not even saying mean or unreasonable things about Allen. In fact, he's mostly talking up how good the rest of the team around Allen has gotten & crediting the Bills Front Office for piecing together such a great roster. Basically boils down to it's all on Allen now to take the next step, that's it.

And then we just let them ride off to another team Then again, every GM & coach seem to think the only way to possibly succeed in Buffalo is "strong run game, load up on defense," and just hope it all comes together like some elite defensive teams of the past. Thankfully this current staff is at least attempting to put effort into the passing game, as the league has long since favored the pass for years now. Glad the Bills are finally catching up.

Even if the NFL doesn't prevent people from going to games, $100 says the LA Chargers will be playing without fans anyway.

I'd love to be a Bills season ticket holder, just hard when you've never lived anywhere close to Buffalo, much less New York State. Hopefully my overachieving, overqualified for everything wife blows up so big that by the time she's 40, she can get whatever job she wants anywhere in the country. It'd be at that moment I cash in & say "baby, I've never asked you for anything...pick a job in Buffalo." Then my journey will be complete, and i'll finally get my wish of being able to watch the Bills break my heart in person week after week!

As much as I take issue with a lot of what Allen has done so far, I agree with THIS 100%. It's why even though Tyrod & Allen put up virtually the same numbers (though Tyrod is more accurate & less turnovers), I'll take Allen over him even if what we saw last year was his ceiling. At least you can tell he's trying to compete & not phone it in. Nothing is worse than seeing a dump pass on 3rd & long, especially to a covered RB.

I mean, people were also claiming our tandem of a rookie Allen + Nathan Peterman wasn't the worst QB duo in the league that year because the year prior we made the playoffs...and how could we possibly be worse when Allen was an upgrade over Tyrod. Fans always think their team is set for big things and that their players are better positioned than they are. They snark at national writers because "they just don't follow the Bills enough" while at the same time, not following the other 31 teams in the league nearly as much as those national writers do. People always act like the Bills are the only team to make roster upgrades though every team adds to their roster each year. We may have added a nice RB in Zack Moss, but nobody has seen him play at the pro level. We've seen Singletary play well, but never have a full time schedule of carrying the load. It makes sense the sports writers would be cautious in overestimating the duo's value. Hopefully Singletary takes the next step and Moss pans out, then next year we'll be evaluated much higher overall. When we had Lynch, Fred Jackson & CJ Spiller going into 2010, I doubt people thought the team had a bottom tier RB corps.

I think the virus "portends" well for our situation if anything... How many owners are going to be hijacking their fanbases & local governments for handouts while pushing for a new stadium when there's so much uncertainty with future stadium attendance? Sure, some people will still go regardless of the possible risks, but plenty of others will hold out until they know cramming together with 60k-70k other people in a confined area won't just be a contamination breeding ground. Who's going to pay for those PSL's when people rather just watch safely at home on TV? Why build a multi-billion dollar stadium that's possibly going to sit half empty because people don't want to spend hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars in a s*** economy to sit with potentially infected people jammed tightly together? Seems risky...and a good reason for the Bills to hold off for now.

True. If Allen plays well, everyone will be happy campers. Diggs will probably want to prove he's not a diva, and work hard to show he just wants to win. If the offense is the problem, and Allen is constantly overthrowing Diggs by a mile, Diggs will just call him out, drama will heat up, and we've got bigger problems going into next off season. With that mindset, I'm just not going to worry about it. Whatever happens happens. I think Allen's a lot to blame for last year's offensive issues, other people blame everything but Allen. Either way this year will prove once & for all if Allen can take the next step, and I'd love to eat crow. If he continues to play as he did last year against a tougher schedule, oh well...back to the drawing board. As they say, there's always next year.

The problem is our passing offense was as bad as it was against the weakest schedule in the NFL. If our offense just had a rough time because we were playing playoff team after playoff team it'd be a little more understandable. But there were so many close games against bottom of the barrel teams that we should've just destroyed with a competent offense, as well as games against good teams we could've easily won had our offense not just shat the bed. Point is we can't just disappear offensively for 2.5-3 quarters of a game this year. Getting ahead a bit early and then doing absolutely nothing until the 4th quarter isn't a path to success. A lot of that is on Allen, but definitely not all of it. So yes, we have the potential to rise up & really cement ourselves as a legit top team. Or we can play like we did last year, only now against a tougher schedule, and sink to 6-10.

People are failing to understand it's not just so easy for many people to look at this and take it as a joke. The fact that racist comments are joke material in private for white people is part of what really pisses off racial minorities. It could be 100% in jest, but that is part of what really angers those that take this stuff seriously. What you say in private, joking or not, is more of a reflection of who you are than the image you put out there publicly. What you say & do when people aren't around to witness it is closer to reality than a public persona. And to teammates, many of which are black, Fromm isn't just a random name & face we see online or on TV. He's someone they have to interact with & be around in person. Do you think they'll believe that's the ONLY time he's ever casually made racist jokes in private? Even if he's not racist, that won't sit well with a lot of them. You or I may think it'll be easy for them to just forgive him & move on, but these are grown men who have had their own battles in life, and to hear some young man who now works with you can casually say these remarks, it might not be so easy. These guys are rich, don't have any obligation to put up with anyone's s*** and have their own personal social & political beliefs that deeply matter them. If the George Floyd stuff resonated with them on any personal level, they may be even more sensitive to this kind of crap, and see no reason why they should just forgive him and move on. When I was 18, younger than Fromm was when he texted this stuff, I damn well knew that this stuff was toxic. And yes, I've said stuff in private that would ruin my career if it came out. Doesn't mean it was ok, or that because I said in jest everyone should just accept me & forgive me. You make those comments, you live with the consequences. When female celebrities get their phone hacked, people say "if you don't want nude leaks to come out, don't take nude pics! I don't feel sorry for them at all!" Unlike those people who had their accounts hacked to leak private pictures, Fromm willingly sent those messages to someone. Considering the person was willing to share them to the public, it's likely he wasn't even that close with them...in which case, he felt comfortable enough to casually say racist things to someone he hadn't even established a serious relationship with. That leads to the thought, if he can casually make remarks like that to people who aren't even in his close circle, what does he say to those he is close with? I'm not even judging him. I'm simply trying to paint a picture as to why people, especially those in the black community and players who will have to play with him, will have much different views than us bystanders. Black people who have had to experience genuine racism, often casually or passively, probably have no tolerance for this type of stuff. That doesn't mean everyone feels that way. Some may forgive him. Just presenting why it's not as simple as "He's just a kid (he's not), it was in private (which doesn't mean it's ok)! We've all said dumb things (so if others have done bad things we should just disregard all future bad things?)! This woman just wants her 10 mins of fame! (if Fromm is just a kid, then wouldn't she just be a "girl" or "kid" too?)" TL;DR - Just because WE can overlook or excuse these things, doesn't mean those in the black community, teammates, or others can justify or forgive it.

No, most scientists are viewing the pandemic through scientific & medical lenses...they're just not saying things you and others want to hear. The modern day anti-intellectual movement is going too far. The earth is flat, vaccines cause autism, space if fake, Bill Gates caused COVID-19, experts known nothing...only we can find the truth through finding small pockets of echo chambers online telling us what we want to hear! Scientists, doctors, those who actually research this stuff? Ignore them if they say things we don't want to hear. They're bought! They're secretly a Republican or a Democrat pushing their agenda! You know who must have our best interest at heart? Actual politicans who want a certain result to be reelected and are funded by lobbyists to get corporations' goals passed. They are definitely the ones who are looking out for the average Joe. I mean c'mon, a bunch of YouTube videos of random people said so, and it's what I want to hear, so obviously they're worth listening to! C'mon, do your own "research" everyone! Don't be a sheep & buy into this science propaganda!

You realize we're only in May still right? People were saying "but the flu kills X amount and coronavirus only killed X amount!" back in February, but look where we are now... Considering this is an entirely new infectious virus to the human race, nobody in the world had come into contact with this, therefore the numbers were obviously low at first. But now that it's May, how many millions have had the damn thing? And the percentage of deaths is much higher with COVID, along with the incubation period. I thought we all knew this by now? It's a scarier thereat because unlike other viruses which tend to show symptoms much quicker (allowing you to stay away from others or get help quicker), COVID can take quite a while to show anything, all while you're out giving it to everyone around you. That's not considering any 2nd wave.... if you think we're done at 100k deaths in the US, you're going to be very shocked when it'll likely be twice that in a month or 2.

They'll renew it once again, as EA will just throw whatever money they can to keep it exclusive. Plus 2k and other companies have stated that even if the license was available to multiple parties again, it would take years to develop an engine to rival Madden now. Just building an engine that can simulate something as complex as football to a realistic degree, coupled with all the new tech & features they'd need to implement to get realistic players, physics, stadiums, etc. going again in the HD/4k era would be a huge task. They can certainly do it, but it will require a huge investment of time & money. Unless 2k has already been building a prototype behind the scenes that they could show off to the NFL owners that'll persuade them to rethink the deal, it's unlikely they will drop their cushy relationship with EA. You'll probably enjoy Franchise mode after such a long layoff. There's quite a lot going for it if you haven't played for over a decade. But for the rest of us, it leaves a lot to be desired for sure.

Allen also just flat out missed a decent amount of passes. Throwing nearly 40 times that game & completing only 17 passes isn't just lack of receiver size or anything... the fumbles didn't help either. He also held onto the ball too long & got happy feet, taking too many unnecessary sacks (though some were just bad protection). It's not all on Allen, but he played WAY under his capabilities that game, leaving it almost entire to the defense to keep us in it by keeping Jackson in check. Just remember how dominant him & the Ravens offense had been leading up to that game. Holding him to 145 yards passing ,40 rushing (though 3 TD's) & only 24 points is pretty damn good considering they averaged 40 points per game 5 of their last 6 games.

I know people aren't going to like this response, but I think Ed Oliver. I expect his struggles from last season to continue unfortunately, and his recent off the field issues just compound the issue.

The amount he spent on the league, combined with all teams being league-owned, the relatively low costs, the people involved in the front office, and the continued fan interest made me surprised it was outright canned anyway. They were saying the initial investment should've been enough to carry it several years, even with just modest viewership & attendance. Not like they were paying a ton to these players either. Though it sounds kind of shady, this kind of makes more sense than flat out cancelling the league.