SoTier

Thanks for the info on his height. It might very well be the reason Gabriel was never considered as a first round pick. Maybe the Browns catch lightning in a bottle like the Seahawks did in 2012 when Wilson fell to the third round because he was dismissed because of his height.

The Vikes/Browns is a really competitive game so far. I'm pleasantly surprised. I was planning on bailing if it got out of hand but both offenses are handicapped by less than ideal QBing. Wentz is what he has always been since his third season: meh. Gabriel has looked better than I expected.

Since it was the problems with his offense in his last 10 games that got Dorsey fired, it is entirely logical. Brady also doesn't have the experience that Shanahan or McVay have. He still has plenty of time to get better, but who knows? Dorsey was the Bills OC in the 2022 playoffs against Cincinnati not Brady. Dude, if you're gonna troll, at least do it competently.

I'm not sure that the Bills "broke them", but they certainly exposed them: their defense isn't as good as it had been, especially their pass defense, and that was before all the injuries; their offense isn't all that potent if a team can force them out of their run game; and Harbaugh's play calling under pressure is suspect. That's a testament to how bad the Texans' offense is. Stroud has sucked behind the Texans' terrible OL. That's not true. The Ravens fans lost their original team, the Colts, when Robert Irsay, Sr moved the team to Indianapolis in 1983. IIRC, the move was rather stealthy: it wasn't publicly announced beforehand, and the moving vans rolled up, packed up the offices and equipment overnight or something like that. The Ravens didn't move to Baltimore until 1996 (after Art Modell screwed over the Cleveland fanbase), but that wasn't the fans' doing, it was the greedy owners'.

I suppose you think that WRs are more important than OLers, too.

McDermott isn't leaving any time soon unless the Bills start losing lots of games and miss the playoffs in multiple years or if McDermott decides to leave for personal or health reasons. There is nothing you can do to change anything, so you can make your peace with that reality and enjoy this most wonderful time to be a Bills fan or you can continue to be angry and miserable while the good times pass you by. I remember just fine ... and I prefer today's Bills team even with their supposedly terrible defense, thank you very much. Winning is always better than not. You can be a top defense and never even make the playoffs. See the 2014 Buffalo Bills and the 2024 Cleveland Browns.

Imagine what Allen could do with Brian Thomas, Jr ... ... ... maybe not.

IIRC, there was a meme floating around TSW that Cook dropped passes as a rookie. Aside from a dropped pass in the EZ, I personally don't remember that being the case. My guess is that it was more likely that Cook's blocking wasn't up-to-snuff.

By the third round, most players are "projects" in one way or another unless they have red flags because of physical or off-field issues. One more time since it's already been mentioned a couple of times: Solomon plays STs. Jackson, at this point, does not, so he's behind Solomon.

I think some posters are going by all the preseason predictions that had Baltimore winning the Super Bowl. On paper, they have the most talented roster in the NFL. On the field, however, they haven't lived up to that billing, especially on defense, and now they have a slew of injuries, including to their QB and to one of their DL stalwarts, Madubuike, which is season ending.

That this is a thread about the Baltimore Ravens, the preseason favorite of nearly every national pundit to win the SB?

I don't think any of the three is mobile enough at present to survive much less find any kindof success behind Cinci's OL. I can see the Ravens going 8-3 in their last 11 games to make the playoffs, possibly even taking the AFCN, but not 10-1. Madubuike is a key, maybe the key piece, to the Ravens having success, and he's out for the season.

Don't underestimate Mike Brown. Burrow's injury gives him total cover for however bad the Bengals are. All he has to say is, "Well, we didn't have Joe Kool ...". IMO, the Bengals would have barely made the playoffs even if Burrow had played most of the season. Their defense was historically bad last season, and it had barely improved this year. They would have had to score 30+ points every single game to have a chance to win, and against good offensive teams, they'd have to have put 40 burgers. Burrow's injury simply postponed the Bengals fans learning the truth that their OL is trash, their defense is sewage, and their owner is laughing all the way to the bank.

Actually, reading this board one would think the Bills are 0-4 rather than 4-0.

That seems to be a reasonable game plan to me in the situation they're in, but if the Texans some how get up 10 points or more early, I would not be all that surprised if Harbaugh/Monken abandon the run and have Rush trying to throw all over the field. FYI: I'm not a big Harbaugh, just in case you didn't realize that.

They need to want to run the ball, but I don't think Harbaugh and Monken do. Monken was brought in to rev up the Baltimore passing game and work with Lamar to be a better passer. He's succeeded, but even though the Ravens have a stout OL and great RBs, they don't use them as they should. I think the 4th quarter of the Bills game demonstrates that. Harbaugh chose to trust his defense over his RBs and it cost them a win.

They would have to go 9-2 over their last 11 games to make 10-7. Even before all the injuries, they were still 1-2 in their first 3 games, and their defense had given up 96 points. IOW, they weren't playing like a team that could go on a 9-2 run. Plus they still have to play the Browns again and the Steelers twice plus the Vikings and Packers. There's also no guarantee that 10-7 will qualify for the playoffs, especially with tie-breakers.

I think that the Ravens can beat Houston even if Lamar doesn't play if they run the damn ball. The Texans' defense is pretty good but their offense really sucks. I can't see the Ravens beating the Rams with their defense as it is now, which is mostly injured. 2-4 doesn't look good for the Ravens. 1-5 seems like a death sentence for the Ravens in the playoffs.

Who the hell cares that a third round draft pick was inactive in the first four games of his rookie season????? The angst of the OP and other like-minded posters over Jackson's being inactive in the Bills first four games is more a reflection of those posters' dislike of the Bills FO and coaching staff than reality. They obviously can't find anything even slightly more significant than obscure stats. Reality is that only about 40-50% of 3rd round picks play in the NFL for three or more years. Reality is that only about 16% of third rounders become quality NFL starters long term. That means that most third rounders are going to be role players, backups or special teamers.

Somebody has to win the division. I think both Ravens and Steelers are capable of getting 9-10 wins. If the Browns had a real QB, they could easily surpass that number. According to some posters, luck has never been a factor in any of the Bills playoff exits since 2019. Wentz has never grown beyond the way he played as a sophomore QB. Given that Philly continued to win with Foles after Wentz went down -- including the Lombardi -- I think Wentz was terribly over rated because his supporting was so good.

Why? Cousins wouldn't help the Bengals because he's a pocket passer with minimal mobility at his age. He would be lucky to last longer than Burrow behind that Bengals OL. IMO, Burrow's injury simply hides how bad the Bengals team were likely to be in 2025 even if he'd played all season. They have a really bad OL, no running game, and a poor defense. They wouldn't look as bad with Burrow, but would likely struggle to get 10 winds.

The biggest need that the Bills have is to improve their defense. If Brown doesn't play defense (which I very well knew), then he certainly wouldn't fill the Bills "biggest need".

You don't know McD's tendencies all that much since every single first rounder drafted during McDermott's tenure except for Kair Elam started multiple games as rookies. Tre'Davious White started every game in his rookie season (2017). Josh Allen started 11 of 12 games as a rookie in 2018 (he missed 4 games because of injury). Tremaine Edmunds started 15 games as a rookie in 2018. Ed Oliver started 7 of 16 games as a rookie in 2019. Greg Rousseau started all 17 games as a rookie in 2021. Dalton Kincaid started 11 of 17 games as a rookie in 2023. There's absolutely no reason to believe that McDermott won't start Max Hairston when he's healthy simply because he's a rookie.

I didn't realize AJ Brown played defense, too.

Yes, it is acceptable, especially on a team with a 4-0 record and serious SB contenders. Teams with crappy rosters start rookies far more frequently than teams aiming for the playoffs. No, we are not all disappointed. He's a rookie, and right now, his practice work isn't as good as other players, so he's sitting. Deal with it. Hughes was a first round bust when the Colts traded him to the Bills for, IIRC, LB Kelvin Sheppard. It was a good trade for both teams and both players as well. Sheppard had a decent NFL career and Hughes became a star for the Bills at a time when they had little to buoy them up. I think it already has. Numerous members of the "Fire Everyone" clan have already chimed in on Jackson being "a bust".