BigDingus

I believe they definitely can win, they've just have a huge challenge ahead of them. The media has put an unfair amount of pressure on the Bills, giving them a massive target on their back for each & every game. Sean McVay is 5-0 in home openers, and NEVER has had a record below .500 ever in his career. The Bills being 2.5 point favorites on the road, cross country, against the SB winners is going to be seen as a sign of disrespect & a point of contention for other fanbases. Instead of the tough underdogs, the Bills are now viewed as the anointed media favorites to win the Super Bowl, giving fans of other teams something to whine about. In the past, our fans would whine about the media not giving us enough respect (during the drought... when we sucked), now they've overcorrected too much. After all this excessive hype, a Bills loss will lead to an even dumber overreaction in the headlines. I think it's just not fair to this team who didn't ask for any of this.

He could be, but he may not have more success tonight (don't hate me 😅) Diggs is going up against Ramsey, while Cupp is going up against Dane Jackson (7th round pick in 2020) & a rookie 1st rounder in Elam. Or maybe our 6th round rookie Benford Will be paired up against him on occasion... Either way it's a lot of green, young players being asked to go up against the #1 WR in the league last year & a top 10 player in the league (according to players). According to GMF, when matched up together, Ramsey held Diggs to 2 receptions for 9 yards on 4 targets the last 2 games they went at it (I didn't check to verify though). So Diggs may be "better" in terms of talent, but Cupp is in the better position to put up numbers.

At least not ROUTINELY fooled... Sure, he gets "fooled," sometimes, just as every QB does. I mean that's half the game every snap... Coaches & Coordinators make big money for the sole purpose of putting their defenses in the best position to stop opposing offenses. Of course they're going to be at least semi-competent at their jobs. But misdirecting Allen on some plays doesn't automatically mean you stopped him, nor does it mean he's being "fooled" more than other elite QBs. Imagine in basketball discrediting MJ because he occasionally got stuffed or had a ball stolen from him. Remember, defenders get paid too. It's just the nature of the game. Point being, he still succeeds regardless.

*Has he committed any potential crimes that will get him cut?

Too much common sense... We'll have none of that here mister!

Can he punt?

Not to single you out, but there are so many comments like these that remind me at the end of the day, we fans too often see what we want to see. We all have a bit of homer in us, but we have a tendency to envision the best potential scenario, then convince ourselves that's how things will play out regardless of anything else. I do it plenty, so again, not singling you out!

Doesn't that apply to basically anything he can fit in his mouth? 🤭

Correct. Step 1) ask prospective players & employees to take off their shoes Step 2) pour gas station nacho cheese sauce on their feet Step 3) large inhale through the nose, then decide their fate. That legendary process is responsible for about... 1.7% of the team's overall success today, so don't ever forget what Rex Ryan did for you!

That may be true at the moment, but the local stuff is being spread nationally. Already seen 2 articles on Yahoo complaining about them. Here's the most recent one - https://www.google.com/amp/s/sports.yahoo.com/amphtml/bills-blast-matt-araiza-situation-092356838.html

Remember, it's the NFL players themselves determining this list, so don't blame the NFL execs, fans or media 😅 And remember, there's around 1,700 NFL players, so Josh being ranked 13th out of 1,700 is still great! He's in the top 0.7%, and only behind Brady, Mahomes & Rodgers in terms of QBs. Sorry, just trying to be a positive Pete! 🤣

This is exactly right. Unforced errors, and we're only a couple days removed from even hearing about this story... It definitely has room for more info to be brought to light, so let's just be happy they made the right decision & move on.

I see I touched a nerve simply expressing a bit of restraint on giving too much credit. Feels like people like setting themselves up for disappointment. Imagine if tomorrow Washington Post releases some emails where Beane dismisses concerns about the legal investigation dated in June... then how would boasting about the great morals of the Bills be? Not saying it would happen, just leave SOME room for human error. This post paints the entire Bills organization & everyone involved like a shining beacon of morality, something we know better than to do. Hell, I didn't even disagree with the OP, but hey... get mad for me passing on a friendly reminder 😅

I mostly agree, but I'd still pump the breaks just a tiny bit, as we can't confirm for sure what they knew before even drafting him, or how much they knew the past couple months. Some reports suggest other teams were aware of certain things about this case pre-draft (hence the best punting prospect in ages being the 3rd off the board), and others say the Bills were made aware of aspects as early as June. I really don't know, but I'd just caution heaping too much praise right away. Still, they do deserve credit for moving on this quickly, and that is something I 100% support.

And her's.

You wanted the Bills, a team expected to compete for a Super Bowl, to die on this hill for a 6th round rookie punter accused of something THIS heinous (therefore leading to months of headlines, boycotts, backlash & fan anger each day he's on the team)? Pretty stupid hill to die on when you have much more important things to worry about. Should probably be wishing good luck to the victim.

On the flipside, the Browns fully knew of the allegations against Watson, & still decided to trade a massive amount of capital & award him a record breaking contract. The Bills on the other hand, either didn't know at all or knew very little, and only used a 6th round pick on him.

And yeah, I'm very passionate about this because something similar happened to a person very close to me. If it took nearly a year after reporting to the cops, going to the hospital & doing all the tests, and fully cooperating with the investigation, only to STILL be waiting to see if they're even going to bring charges? Yeah, it'd be insanely painful! Add to that the person who did it is now all over sports media & social networks getting hype & praise, it only would add to the misery. If the person who attacked my close friend wouldn't have done it two more times in neighboring cities, who knows how long it would've taken to finally arrest him. It's not like they could force him to take a DNA test when he wasn't already in the system, but he then left his DNA at the scene & was identified in a lineup soon after the 3rd attack. Until that happened, people asked me if my friend was partying or if a date went sideways, not even realizing they were trying to mentally establish some sort of possible innocence for the attacker. Telling people "NO. She went out to grab laundry basket from her car at 2 in the morning, then some random guy brutally beat her down & ****** her" was not information she or I wanted to explain to the world. Now imagine the attacker suddenly was on the news for being drafted by the NFL, then kicking an 80+ yard punt that spread all over the internet. Pretty sure the last thing you want is the entire world to suddenly start Screaming at you "innocent until proven guilty!" Or "she was drunk at a party" or "she's after his money!" The victim I knew would've died under that kind of scrutiny. The saddest part of this story is that the 3rd victim of this attacker got in touch with my friend trying to reconcile her trauma. After a month, her father called one night while we're grilling, and my friend started balling. I asked what was wrong, and she said the girl committed suicide, writing a letter to my friend saying she felt so dirty she couldn't live anymore. Didn't mean for this to be so dark, but people need to realize these things are extremely serious, & isnt the same as someone who said their coworker made disparaging sexual remarks or they were sent inappropriate texts. Allegations this severe, and reported to authorities immediately with no incentive beyond proving guilt & getting justice, rarely appear out of the blue. Something very bad happened to a 17 yr old, intoxicated high school girl involving Araiza, and being shaken down for money doesn't cut it. /rant #2

People were mad when I said this was obvious, but just the already available facts were enough to cut him. Rushing to needlessly remind everyone "innocent until proven guilty!" & trying to defend him was pointless. These allegations didn't just magically fall into his lap, nor the other 2 people involved, & his lawyer's rationale was a dead giveaway he was in deep s*** Claiming she was after a "shakedown" & coming after his nonexistent, 6th round rookie punter money... LAST FALL... was a terrible defense, and falls flat on its face if you did more than 2 seconds of research. I'm sure some people will act like accusations of such heinous magnitude just happen all the time to 100% innocent people, but how many times has it happened to you, your family, or friends? For most, it's never. They rarely just fall from the sky & blindside innocent bystanders. Araiza can prove his innocence away from the Bills, & if the DA doesnt file charges (still wouldnt prove him "innocent" though), all his supporters can cry about his "raw deal," elsewhere when he shows up on another roster. /rant

Araiza will likely get released, but people aren't going to want to admit that considering all the hype that was heaped on him. Too bad the Ravens just signed Cameron Dicker... I wanted him, if only for that last name.

Yeah, I think he's like 6 foot, 225. Will be lucky not to get injured as a LB hitting these massive pro players. Then again, I have no idea what I'm talking about since I can't watch the game & don't really remember what he looks like in pads 😅

Unless Araiza's DNA is already in the system from another crime, or he volunteers for a DNA analysis, it wouldn't matter if there was DNA left behind. The police never demanded a DNA sample to compare it to, and a Civil court won't require it, so that part won't really matter. Also, there were 3 men involved, and there's a good chance not every one left something behind.

I mean he still was involved with 2 other guys in having their way with a 17 year old, highly intoxicated high school girl while he was at his last year in college. Either way, if the guy makes choices like that, I don't think he's all too great a guy. Considering the pictures of the aftermath, it was a very aggressive & physical 1 & a half hours at that... again, on a very intoxicated, non-consenting, high school girl (only 4 months removed from her junior year btw). And this girl considered it so awful, she immediately reported it to police the next day (when she was likely sobered up & surveying the extent of the damage). Whether you need more messed up details or a CIVIL court to inform you of how to feel, that's all up to you & perfectly fine. For me & many others, I think the known actions are enough that I don't want anything to do with him. It's not like he's being thrown in jail anyway, even if he is guilty. I don't want this story to be affiliated with the Bills AT ALL. Especially not for a rookie punter that hasn't played a single snap for us. We are not the Browns.

It actually did... better than your post (no offense) 😂

"A day after the party, Doe reported the rape to San Diego police, who opened an investigation." "We were recently made aware of a civil complaint involving Matt from October 2021," the Bills said in a statement on Thursday" Ok, how tf was this a "civil complaint" & not a criminal investigation immediately? Also, if an investigation was opened the day following the assault, how did this not come up pre-draft, or did the Bills & other teams just not care? This isn't some vague complaint or something people can pass off as a date gone wrong. These accusations aren't even unwanted sexual misconduct like Deshaun Watson... It's straight up accused r*pe, over the period of an hour & a half, with multiple people involved against a SEVENTEEN YEAR OLD, HIGH SCHOOL girl! No matter how I look at it, I can't see this going well for Araiza. And getting involved with a high schooler is even worse. This was in October, so first couple months of a school year, the girl was still in the early stages of her senior year still too... essentially 4 months out of being a junior in HS. Given the years of police reports I've handled working at the county jail, this just shocks me it's only a "civil" matter. Given the details about the damage suffered, it makes even less sense if ANY examination was done by a medical professional following the event.