Richard Noggin

While I agree that the Sanders situation seems legit, I must disagree that NFL teams don't engage in "'clever' roster manipulation." There are ways of red-shirting young players without subjecting them to waiver wires or poaching, if they play along. There are injuries that don't necessarily require immediate surgery, so players/teams can choose the rehab route to keep a season alive, but those same injuries could also be candidates for immediate surgery in order to prioritize long term recovery which then entails missing most or all of the current season. Injury settlements stem from occasions when teams and players disagree about how best to manage injuries in the short term, with the teams usually shelving a guy (with eyes on overall roster management) who feels like he can get back in the fold faster. Like so many things in football, it's not black and white much of the time. The pending returns of IR'd and suspended players is undoubtedly influencing some of the team's personnel decisions, but not necessarily in some nefarious way. It's just part of the in-season roster management reality.

Answer to original question: I cared. I cared too damned much.

Seems like each year under McDermott, with one or two exceptions, the team's weaknesses get exposed over a multiple-game stretch, inviting criticism internally and externally. Luckily, the Bills have also shown a tendency to then rally and redefine themselves down the stretch. I hate the nagging sense that the Bills aren't at the cutting edge of opponent-specific gameplans or in-game play-calling. Margins are super fine in this league, and getting outcoached or doing less to actively attack and disrupt each specific opponent puts too much pressure on players to win in less-than-advantageous circumstances. My favorite coaches do specific things each week to give specific players advantages. I don't see that from the Bills (with success) as often as I'd like. Coaching staffs don't count against the cap and therefore should be mercilessly critiqued and improved upon as needed. Every roster has weaknesses. Which coaches do the best job of maximizing their personnel with what they're given?

It's a rugby play, not a football play. It's a scrum/ruck hybrid through and through. First instance I can remember of this play being allowed (against the rules) was the (Reggie) Bush Push back in 2005. Now Google is telling me the rule against this came off the NFL books that same year?! When did refs actually start allowing it on the field, though? And how many resulting infractions are being overlooked to allow this play to continue? **Has me thinking (or maybe I'm just still thinking) about the chart shared in a separate thread showing the Bills with the most offensive holding penalties FOR and also their opponents having the least offensive holding penalties AGAINST...just exactly how it feels watching the games. A few vocal murmurs in the stands last Sunday about the refs "shaving"...with spots and with flags. Sorry, probably unrelated.

Atlanta and Buffalo about the farthest two teams apart on this graph. Fun little Vegas/NFL storyline brewing for MNF.

The bolded is where we potentially enter into Tremaine Edmunds excuses territory: how do we know Groot is setting the edge with such success? Honest question. And is that enough for a DE with $20+ million cap hits upcoming? It's enough this year at his low cap #, I guess, but the Bills are locked in for a couple more years. I hope the giant, talented dude discovers violence, but I'm not super hopeful.

I think if we look at the top 5-10 sack leaders in recent years we'd see a number of guys drafted later than 30, wouldn't we? I know TJ Watt was the SAME pick as Rousseau, for example, and Hendrickson, Crosby, and Hunter were all much later picks. So...

I will continue to harp on this very question: what happens when an opposing defense is able to bottle up the run game and attack the quick/short passing attack? How does Brady respond? (Might depend on how the Bills D holds up, of course.) Looks to me like the WR Allen is targeting has won his route. The single high S is reacting, but a good "honey hole" shot throw should get the job done. Also, the WR to the field side boundary has enough sideline leverage that Allen could fire in a backside shoulder piss missile IF that WR gets his head around. That was a damning sequence in my opinion. It was obvious to the entire NFL that the Chiefs were prepared to stop that specific play. Failing to recognize that reality and then adjust in-game was just too obviously stubborn and conservative. Brady is often reluctant or even refuses to leverage his own play calling success and predictability on the snap BEFORE the defense adjusts to shut it down. He seemingly waits until the snap is wasted, rather than staying a step ahead. I've become very annoying and repetitive about this, apparently.

No way Allen runs the ball in practice without hearing from the boss. I think you go heavy to stop the RBs and TEs. Run blitz often and really bang into the TEs and RBs on the way, in case it's a pass. We don't yet know how Brady will or won't adjust to a defense who shuts down the run, do we? Will he remain patient and deliberate (and stubborn) in imposing the run and short area passing game? Or will he identify and try to exploit the downfield matchups/openings presented by a defense schematically committed to taking away the run and dominating the LOS?

The issue with this is that while the Bills pass rushers DO individually generate some pressure, they don't often win reps across the LOS as a unit, thereby leaving escape route(s) for mobile QBs (like Maye) to exploit.

I want to agree with you, I do. And it has to be right, doesn't it? But we haven't seen a ton of evidence to support that hope, have we? It's tough after watching the 49ers 2nd string offense last night do some things through the air against the Rams 1st string defense, (the Rams also did some things through the air), and comparing that to what we're seeing out of the Bills thus far. I know that running the ball has immense value, but just imagine Allen playing QB for Johnson, McVay, Shanahan, O'Connell, et al...wow. There is something to be said for well designed and executed passing attacks; it's fun. Ever since (and probably before) Air Coryell. The K-Gun, for example, was a balanced offense, but would aggressively hammer those intermediate and deep routes if they were there. Keep the defenses spread out and guessing. Give the fans some bang for their buck.

I do not share your optimism that Brady will unveil an aggressive gameplan designed to score early and often and force NE to chase the points. I think he will continue to do what he's done, to call a balanced, physical, heavy game. But what I'm interested to see is: what does he do if the Patriots bottle up the running game and WR screens and LOS in general? How stubborn will he be? Or, hopefully, how adaptive will he be?

Someone to compete with Hancock, and the winner eventually (sooner the better) gets to replace Rapp.

New STs coach for Buff 86s most of what Hollins can offer for intel.

It's a candidate for an upset, for sure. Divisional game against a team that has bottled up the Bills offense better than anyone else since the start of 2024. I can see meathead Vrabel's squad coming in here aggressive and physical, on both sides of the ball. We get every team's best shot, and we'll definitely get theirs. I don't expect the Bills coaches to unveil some uniquely brilliant gameplan designed to counter whatever they expect to see out of New England on either side of the ball; instead I expect them to double-down on who and what they want to be, with minor wrinkles for New England. If Cook is bottled up early and often, which will happen eventually, can the Bills win in other ways? Will they adjust their approach early enough?

Difficult to disagree with this plea for perspective. Also important to distinguish between fans who "melt down" versus fans who "make critical observations" of a 4-0 team whose opponents are a collective 2 and 14... WOW!?!? Not melting down about it, but definitely not basking in these early wins where both the winless Saints and Dolphins had the Bills back on their heels in consecutive 4th quarters...

My most frustrating example of this lack of in-game play-calling anticipation/countering, is actually from the offense: every single time Brady (and/or Allen, depending on pre-snap reads and checks) runs Cook repeatedly until the defense finally stuffs one. That predictable, stuffed run play, several times each game, is a wasted down that could have been at least a look at an explosive play-action throw downfield. Why not stay a step AHEAD, rather than waiting for the opposing DC to catch up? I know the cliche of "run it 'till they stop it" but that doesn't have to mean consecutively all at once! Gotta keep defenders off balance and in conflict as much as possible to give your guys every little advantage available.

What if I'm not trying to give Collinsworth's*** company the youtube traffic (like it really matters)? Can anyone summarize or even share a screenshot of the grades? ***

They don't spend time with him, silly. But if they do:

Outside of a handful of impactful individual plays by a combination of Oliver (week 1 monster only), Walker (coming on strong but with limited snaps), and Bosa (his presence has been felt out there a few times, albeit with some lost contains), who else on the DL is causing problems for opposing offenses? Who else is winning reps enough to create opportunities for teammates? Talent up front is not SB caliber right now. For considerable stretches of every game this season, the defense has been dictated to by long drives filled with 3rd down conversions and bad tackling and poor pocket/edge contain and no pass rush. Lack of difference makers on the line is definitely an issue for a defense that wants to blitz, at most, let's say...selectively. Good QB/RB combos can matriculate the ball down the field against the Bills D and in so doing, limit Allen's drives. Maybe the additions of Hoecht and Ogunjobi and Oliver and Milano will allow Babich to be more multiple and unpredictable, manufacturing more disruption. Maybe Hancock and Hairston will have some opportunities to flash their athleticism and noses for the ball. Maybe Babich is currently limited by the state of his DL, primarily. Which is more of McBeane thing. Maybe? EDIT: @Dr. Who basically said it more succinctly in the post above.

Just say no to punting.

Poetic.

looked like a flag in real time

I'd like to see these guys pull off some of the hijinks I've gotten away with (with all applicable self-applied complications of course).