Richard Noggin

So be it, then. Let the best five play. I hope they don't factor in draft capital when making the final depth chart. Give him every chance to succeed now, sure. But don't try to justify what it cost to acquire him by forcing it once the regular season kicks off. All I ask on that front.

I agree in large part. But...am I the only one who thinks the Dolphins will be even more difficult to play this season? (Let the record show: they gave the Bills "fitz" last season, and look to be improved in 2020. Obviously, QB is the wildcard here.) I think they're being built to be a pain in the A$$ for opposing QBs...

I think for most analysts, and many GMs, talent in the secondary has become the most important piece of the defensive puzzle. Heard some pundit on WGR the other day emphasize this point, and certainly we're seeing contracts and cap allocations indicate or at least suggest as much: your secondary sets the tone in a passing league. Pass rushers will always matter, but they can only get there so fast on most plays. They need the back end to force the QB to hold it just a little bit longer, to come off his first or second read, or to doubt what he's seeing just long enough to get home. Brady has always been a great example of this: they say pressure up the middle is his weakness (same goes for all QBs of course), but really, it's always been about making him hold the ball just a LITTLE bit longer through disguise and execution on the back-end, which then exposes his risk-averse, nut-less tendency to turf the ball as real NFL football players close in on him. With this in mind, Buffalo and Miami (and of course New England) have built modern defenses. The Jets are some vestigial anachronism of the 90s and early '00s where Greggo's machismo was rewarded. Eff the Jets. They suck. Miami, for example, is built more progressively.

Right, but the poster's point was that now the Bills HAVE begun to "make their own luck," really bad luck (and other factors) is threatening to eff up the season. We've waited forever to watch a truly competitive team again, and it might get thwarted by something entirely outside of the team's control. That's next-level Billsy. 4D Billsy. Quantum Billsy.

But it's a gif, fellas

+1

I like to think so, too. Might be poised for a breakout season rotating all along the Bills D-line. Love those lengthy tweeners on the line. Then again, Star's sudden absence probably shines a light on Butler now, right? I was thinking of the signing as a moderately expensive roll of the dice on a young, talented, but thus far underwhelming, DT. Like a house money kind of signing to a team with depth at the position. It worked with Jordan Phillips (albeit at a lower price tag). But now that the D-line rotation is missing one "starter," Butler's role has been elevated by default.

This approach would GUARANTEE the season doesn't move forward. Kind of conflicting logic there.

The emboldened phrase, now and forever more, connotes so much more than it should. Certainly not an empathetic sentiment.

The strike against your theory on potentially replacing Dawkins is that Dion drinks and then sweats out process kool-aid. His personality and strength as a teammate means something to this regime. They value locker room leaders, which I think Dawkins has become. That being said, those negotiations will be intriguing. I see a mutually beneficial deal being reached. But I've been wrong. A lot.

WTF? There is so much flawed medical commentary in one post to refute. Please cite a peer-reviewed study that supports using hydroXYchloroquine (fixed the spelling for ya) in any way to combat COVID-19. It would be great if you were correct. There ARE drugs that help treat patients infected with the virus, but the one you're pushing is not among them. HOWEVER, I completely agree that the NBA is absolutely a contact sport and that those guys swap all kinds of spit and snot repeatedly. You're spot-on there. But that's why the bubble is the key.

You strike me as a skeptic, rather than a medical professional. I live with medical professionals, and try my best to keep up on what the peer-reviewed scientific community is learning and sharing about this novel coronavirus. You're absolutely correct that long term health effects of COVID-19 have not been studied and reported upon due its recency. But you're positing a false equivalency when you lump it in with "any severe respiratory infection" with respect to lung damage AND you're using a red herring by focusing on lung damage specifically, when the post you're responding to focuses on deleterious cardiac issues. Also the stay-home-if-you're-immuno-compromised-or-scared argument you shared previously is NOT one shared by public health officials or medical experts, because it's not about each of us protecting ourselves...it's about each of us protecting society by not contracting and spreading the virus. So I'm suggesting your points are slanted away from science. And that downplaying the virus and our responsibilities in this time of crisis is how the NFL could lose the season, and many people could unnecessarily and prematurely lose their lives. Which often gets lost in all this: people are dying when they don't have to. We should really try to prevent that. And maybe the NFL is going to discover its plan is not insular and cautious enough to be sustainable. (I sure hope not, by the way.)

Everyone knows it's spelled "D'oh!" D'uh... ?

Thanks for clarifying. That was gracious of you, and transparent. I'm going to have to shrug my shoulders at Covid levels in waste water as an indicator of anything, because I've not yet seen a single scientific source point to that metric as meaningful (or at all). Seems like we can't responsibly glean anything from that data without some kind of expert support for doing so. And as for the numbers you've come up with on your own, it's difficult for anyone else to find significance in them without transparent evidence and methodology. I appreciate your efforts, but it isn't apparent how accurate or meaningful that effort is without support.

Can you help me understand where your 2nd and 3rd paragraphs are coming from? After looking over the link provided, I'm not seeing any of the specific numbers or conclusions you're sharing in those two paragraphs. After you help me see the origins of your data (and thank you for doing so), could you do me one more favor? Can you help us all better understand or contextualize how useful/accurate sewage studies are in tracking Covid cases (and more specifically Covid death rates, which you cite in your post but I don't see cited anywhere in the article linked)? Thank you. I can be a bit careless in the wee hours of the morning, so I appreciate the help in verifying the stats you've cited in your post.

So...WITHOUT having any idea what's being said by anyone, you felt it necessary to cut in and chastise us for what we MIGHT be saying? How's the weather up there? P.s. not a lot of judgment for players opting out right now. Which you'd know if you took two minutes to scan the discussion before wagging your finger at everyone.

I guess how Vernon Butler performs actually matters now.

Oh mine, too.

Imagine if more people reacted to the world around them like your sister did that night? Empathically. That moment was my first heartbreak, truly. I was in seventh grade. It is burned into my psyche forever. I was hurt, too, and the person I felt really bad for was myself. So cheers to your sister. (Obviously the downtown rally celebrating the season, when Norwood stepped to the mic, displayed the fans' widespread appreciation, so maybe Bills fans in general were a forgiving, graceful lot after only the first SB trauma.)

I really think this is a sober, safe projection. I also really hope for more passing production than this, primarily in completions and total yards. The problem is that 29.56 attempts per game (the A/G above) seems very McD-ish (a slight tick above the 2019 Bills A/G), which is where a CORRECTED LONG BALL could be the key to increased production. As many here before me have pointed out. In 2019 Josh Allen missed on (either overthrew or didn't read) some explosive plays. Enough to justify a more optimistic projection for 2020, perhaps, if we think he'll miss fewer explosive opportunities (because of more and better skill players AND his own progression).

What about the facts--that Prescott's numbers over the past two seasons are STRONG and also that his overall production improved considerably LAST season--gives people here so much pause? Is it really just that the young, media-derided QB of the Bills went into Dallas on national holiday TV and had an efficient, effective, WINNING game with a signature play or two? Prescott didn't play poorly in that game at all, and was in fact far MORE productive. I think his stat-line for that game would give thirsty Bills fans chubbies for days. So what is it? Why not Prescott? (I know his team hasn't won anything forever. What else?)

But like, don't. Because you're the Jets, and I want you to be bad. So..no, Logic. Shhhhhhhhh....

This quote needs to be repeated. Doesn't matter if you like McD's coaching or not. Strong prose here.

But wasn't THAT the point in the game where championship teams historically seem to go for the jugular (I don't have data)? THAT specific drive, post-turnover? Usually the very next play, even? Capitalize on the sudden change and put the damned game away, if you can. THEN go conservative. That's how my armchair philosophy of game management has evolved watching football VERY closely for 3 or 4 decades. I'll bet most see it similarly. It's a cliche, to go play-action, deep shot on the 1st or 2nd play following a turnover in neutral or plus territory, but it's one that persists. It's when momentum feels real. Sudden swings seem to affect players and/or coaches at times. Defenses seem susceptible to the big or chunk play following a turnover. But football is all so complex and inter-reliant, and witness reliability so limited, it's difficult to know if our perceptions are accurate without data/evidence.