SoTier

Why is Shaq a "silver lining" in this case? Are you implying that Shaq wouldn't start playing betters if Murphy had stayed healthy? Signing a FA DE who can stay on the field with Lawson playing better would constitute a true "silver lining".

Don't much like your double standard being pointed out, do you?

How can you possibly be so negative???? McDermott and Beane don't make mistakes.

Because the Jests have already determined that they're going to start Darnold in the season opener, and they aren't going to allow something as minor as Darnold's actual on-field performance to derail their plans. They'll limit him to doing what he does well, knowing that the media will uncritically gush all over him over any little success. They are manipulating their rookie QB to insure that they get the results they want in the short term even if it explodes in their faces later in the season ... or in Darnold's career. That's my explanation for the Jests' keeping Darnold so tightly under wraps.

Actually, I think most young QBs taken in the first round tend to air it out in preseason because they think they can beat NFL secondaries like they did collegiate ones. Darnold seems reminiscent of another USC QB drafted by the Jests in the first round: Mark Sanchez. It's a bit early to declare this QB a great one. The 2012 class was supposed to be so great, too, with Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin, Ryan Tannehill, and Brandon Weeden going in the first round, but if it hadn't been for the three QBs taken in the third and fourth rounds -- Russell Wilson, Nick Foles, and Kirk Cousins -- 2012 would have been just another average QB class.

McDermott is probably the best HC the Bills have had since Chuck Knox. I think the Bills would have a Lombardi if he'd been the HC against the Giants rather than Marv Levy despite going against Parcells (and his evil assistant, DC Bill Belichick).

Which is why when the Bills devolve into their usual sucky selves on offense, I bail. It's why I no longer have seasons. I never walked out early of a Bills game until the Jauron era. They were unwatchable. Sometimes the Bills since then have been almost as bad.

With the Bills, that seems to be how things work ... and have worked since Bill Polian packed his bags about a quarter of a century ago.

ROTFLMAO! The offense CAN certainly be worse than the offense was last year! Maybe you don't remember the offenses under Dick Jauron in 2008 and 2009, but I do. Those offensive offenses make the 2017 Bills look like a juggernaut. While the Bills showed lots of passing in Preseason Game 1, there's no guarantee that they'll continue to be a passing team in the regular season ... or that the OL will perform even close to its 2017 level ... or that any of the QBs are competent NFL starters ... or that injury won't take out Shady or Clay or Benjamin ... or all three.

The problem with this explanation is that Zay didn't just drop that one pass in the Carolina game. He dropped numerous passes throughout the season. He failed to regain any confidence all last season, so why do you think he will magically regain it in 2018? I'm not saying he won't, but I do question why you are so sure that he will.

Sorry, but the Pegulas lost me as a supporter when they not only kept Russ Brandon as president of the Bills, but promoted him to head honcho of both the Bills and Sabres. Brandon's claim to fame before coming to the Bills was the dismantling of the MLB Florida Marlins the season after they won the WS ... but increasing profitability by cutting payroll. Brandon's record as Bills' boss was all of 2 winning seasons in the last 12 years and 1 lucky playoff appearance while keeping the Bills notably profitable. That merits a promotion only if profitability counts more than winning. I'll believe that the Bills have made winning rather than profits their top priority when I see them start winning regularly ... and so many of their best players aren't going off to help NE, New Orleans, Seattle, and Philadelphia win Super Bowls because the Bills wouldn't pay them what they were worth.

Why do you feel that you have the right to speak for all the members of TBD? This is a message board, not a propaganda site for the Bills, and posters have the right to express their opinions even if they are critical of the Bills. If you don't like that, then you should follow your own advice about leaving. You are out of line.

This is what too many Bills fans don't see or refuse to acknowledge. The 2017 team was very flawed, and making the playoffs was due partly to McDermott's coaching (keeping the team from imploding in mid-season and maximizing its opportunities) but mostly to sheer good luck. They could have easily been a 5 or 6 win team last year, and even then, they needed the Ravens pass defense to suffer a brain fart and enable Andy Dalton to throw a winning TD pass in the closing minutes of the final game of the season that put the Bills in the playoffs. The playoffs were "fun" but they hardly portended anything dynastic; too many usually good AFC teams had off-years, opening the WCs to teams with only 9 wins, which is pretty unusual.

I wish it was, but it's how I feel, and it's going to take several years to determine who's right or wrong. Certainly the Pegulas' ownership of the Sabres hasn't produced success since the team has missed the playoffs seven straight years.

This has been my exact problem with all the cheerleaders this off-season/pre-season. I am very skeptical about most of the personnel moves the Bills have made in 2017 and 2018, primarily because too many of them seem to be in the same short-sighted philosophy of sending proven vets packing rather than pay them that has plagued the Bills since at least John Butler and AJ Smith departed for California. As a Bills fan for more than fifty years and a former season ticket holder, I'm no longer willing to give any HC or GM/HC combo or owner a free pass without concrete results for more than a single season. The Bills have conned their fanbase too many times in the past, so I'll believe that the current regime has a formula for winning regularly when double digit wins, playoff appearances, and playoff wins happen frequently rather than maybe once every two decades.

That's easy. I think that McDermott is an excellent HC. His teams are well disciplined, and he gets the most out of the talent he has.

You obviously choose to ignore what doesn't fit your narrative. Below is the first post in this thread. I think declaring Daboll god just might qualify as a poster going "over the top positive after the first preseason game" but maybe that's just me being my usual negative self.

How dare you NOT blindly jump on the Beane/McDermott bandwagon! You are definitely a TROLL! What do you mean by "meaningless"? Didn't the Browns go 4-0 last preseason? If all these Bills cheerleaders watched some of the other preseason games on the NFL network, they'd see that most of the teams expected not to be playoff contenders probably looked "better than expected". Most of the QBs who played in Preseason Game 1 looked competent or better. Those should be red flags warning fans not to read a whole lot into success in Preseason Game 1.

Actually, even if a QB looks good in"some games in the regular season", it might not mean much. Both Trent Edwards and Mark Sanchez looked pretty good as rookie QB starters. They even started out their sophomore seasons very well. Unfortunately, neither one progressed as QBs beyond where they were early in their sophomomore seasons. Most QBs who become starters early on and then fail frequently follow this pattern of looking good up to a certain point, and never getting any better.

IIRC, Zay looked pretty good in preseason but couldn't catch a cold in the regular season, so I'm not jumping on his bandwagon until he starts producing when the games actually count.

It's getting lots of hype on NFL network, so there's going to be a big national audience. If he's playing with their 2s vs our 2s, probably. I think Allen could have a good outing against their 2s on defense but our 2s on offense may not be good enough. Agreed. He looked better than lots of teams veteran backups, most notably Paxton Lynch.

Tell that to Derrius Guice, the Redskins, and their fans.

Bradford was a proven starter. He still is. Peterman played well in a couple of series in the first preseason game ... he also played decently in the preseason as a rookie and then screwed the pooch when he got his opportunity to start in the regular season. I don't think the Bills will get much for Peterman even if he shines in preseason.

I agree. I watched the replay of the game. Lynch's performance was easily the worst one by a QB that I saw among the first preseason games. One of the Denver announcers said that he hadn't developed at all, but his performance really wasn't even acceptable for a rookie QB much less a third year veteran. Lynch doesn't seem to have a future even as a backup. Kelly looked really good, but he followed Lynch which made him look even better.

Isn't your statement a perfect example of a "sense of entitlement" ....justifying why some idiot throws away a rare career opportunity simply because the specific job situation doesn't meet his standards?