Richard Noggin

Clapping is much louder and more disruptive. If every fan just clapped on defense the stadium would be incredibly loud. Add in some screamers and we'd be deafening. McDermott knows what I'm talking about... I don't fully understand the towel nonsense. Not to mention, at that Pitt WC game last year, this kinda short Yinzer dingbat was angrily spinning his yellow rag but was hitting the Bills fans in front of and behind him. Got a little heated eventually.

Got more detail on what's entailed in this on-field banner-holding business: it's gonna eat up nearly our entire tailgate. "Check-in" is at 10:45 AM, and we don't get to our seats until after kickoff apparently. Gonna be a sober Wildcard round for this fan. Logistical question: anyone know if leaving lot 1 onto Big Tree, we would be allowed to turn right/westbound onto Big Tree and cross Abbott to get out to Southwestern and our route up the lake and river? We normally park at ECC so getting west is easy-peasy.

Love all this for the most part. Only note (and it's a pedantic one): Miami IS paying Hill and Waddle lol. Otherwise you're breaking it down real nice like.

Pedagogically, one could probably (depending on the grade-level/subject and the instructor's curricular autonomy) justify the integration of community-based engagement and critical reflection. Edit: turns out this is about teaching Sunday school. Just deleted a whole bit about it being a win-win to either reinforce the answering of their hopeful prayers, or an appropriate punishment for and the resulting lifelong guilt from their sinful existences.

While having a defensive HC does doom us to OC turnover BEST CASE (success leads to turnover), I disagree that OC is less important than the TARGET talent around Allen. OL talent might even be more important YoY than elite target talent. Look at 2024 as the perfect example of this: the Bills have multi-year investments in all five starters, at least 3 or 4 of whom seem like long term priorities for the org (only Edwards and to a much lesser extent McGovern (at least as starting C--he could slide back to LG if VPG is legit) are possibly replaceable in the next year). And the QB is THRIVING. Feels like the result of a combo of balanced and effective offensive design and the O-line's ability to execute in both the pass and run game at a high level, thereby allowing Allen to do his thing at an elite level. The talent and traits of the individual targets are not unimportant, but good coaching can allow a multitude of talented NFL prospects to grow and produce. (Obvs elite talent can possibly accomplish a lot irrespective of scheme and adjustments. But that's expensive against the cap and prone to injury and ego innit.) That last paragraph is most compelling for me, in that I'm wondering how many Bills fans think Beane "cheaped it a bit much" while Diggs was on the roster (and especially while Brown and Beasley and/or Sanders were also here). I guess the question is: has Beane, ultimately, forever "cheaped it" on WR2? He's definitely never paid a Chase/Higgins or Hill/Waddle duo on the roster, but then again, have those duos won any SBs (even with elite and above avg QBs, respectively)? I think an increasing casual emphasis on statistics and/or a committed focus on fantasy football clouds judgement for many. Winning it all in the contemporary NFL is very rarely about stacked, elite roster construction at the offensive skill positions outside of QB. And it's definitely rarely about paying multiple elite veteran/2nd contract targets when you're also paying a QB. Which SB winning teams have had high paid guys at QB AND 2 WR spots, and maybe someone else (whether TE or RB)? Plus a good enough o-line to make it all work? And enough defense to get by? Usually at least one or two of those "premium positions" are filled by over-achieving or ascending players who aren't yet getting paid top dollar. KC doesn't qualify, do they? Mahomes and Kelce, and who else? MVS? Rice? Hopkins? Smith-Schuster? Hollywood Brown? Some intriguing names in that list, but nothing bona fide or contemporaneously elite or super expensive. Is it as simple as just 1 or 2 missing day one or two draft picks at WR over the early Beane tenure that could have provided another valid man-beater opposite Diggs, and then taken over this season as a legit #1? Then imagine Cooper being brought in to be a secondary boundary target, pushing Shakir and Coleman into more selective roles against lesser DBs/LBs. I'm guessing that's the kind of WR pipeline most prefer.

Samuel could make an impact, for sure, given the weekly gameplan distribution we've seen when Brady is really scheming. He's almost due, by that logic. Looks to this fan, however, like OC Brady has success scheming space for RBs primarily, TEs secondarily, and WRs tertiarily. Samuel might have some opportunities to line up in places other than out wide. But there are certain OCs, McVay being at the top, who can/choose to scheme/motion/design separation specifically for WRs. Daboll had some aptitude there in Buffalo. Got Diggs BUNCHES of targets against a bunch of opponents. But then had issues maintaining that advantage against super physical, aggressive secondaries (especially in the postseason). Brady is better poised, in my opinion, to adjust and persist, due to less reliance upon a hierarchy of target share. Possibly, this includes Samuel.

This is what fandom looks like when we remove our own egos from it. Couldn't agree more. At least until the season ends. That's when all the online, self-appointed GMs and analysts and pundits get to create and respond to content for the rest of us to consume and regurgitate. The primary reason I loved Madden '02-'05 was the offseasons in franchise mode. All the FA and draft and prospect development stuff was really my jam. (Might have had something to do with the Bills being absolute drought-era shite during these years.) Sidebar: '02 started the trend of outstanding soundtracks: sick individual contributions from the former members of Blackstar, with Mos Def/Yasiin Bey contributing one instrumental track and also Talib Kweli and DJ Hi-Tek (Reflection Eternal) contributing the real theme/banger.

What odds will you give me that she doesn't IMMEDIATELY know who he is, exactly? Let's handicap this.

Might be brain science, though. NFL fans know who Bonito is already, but no, he's not a "household name" yet. @Bills!Win! kind of got this whole thing rolling, of course, with: "I would consider myself an nfl fan. I have never heard of nick Bonnito. Must mean he’s not a household name yet" Bit of a logical leap there ("I don't know who he is, therefore he must not be massively famous") that left room for us to have all this fun so far.

100%. The concern would be that Payton's offense is able to stay on schedule often enough that they avoid Nix having to drop back and execute full-field reads in obvious passing situations. If they use their QB's athleticism in conjunction with eye candy and misdirection and whatnot, they could have some success. Luckily, their running game has not proven to be dangerous or even terribly productive.

On one hand, you hate to see it (player's wife putting it out there so publicly). On the other hand, you really can't be mad at her if she's right. You have to be mad at the leadership and org structure/culture that allowed it to get to this point.

Have to imagine/hope playoffs Bills are like the 1st quarter Detroit v Buffalo Bills AND/OR the regular season Kansas City v Buffalo Bills. Really hope they have been sandbagging down the stretch, and that their approaches to, and performances against, the two 15-win teams they played this season, are the best indicators of how they will handle the playoffs. True, objectively, but we cannot ignore Payton's ability to attack specific defenses. The gameplan his offense executed last week against KC backups actually looked like something the Bills have trouble with: an offense attacking horizontally with motion and misdirection and play-action and screens and a mobile QB. How well our DEs and CBs set the edges and don't take the bait inside will be huge on Sunday IMHO.

yeah I know I wasn't exactly ahead of the curve on predicting Mayo's firing.

Smart. Call him directly and get in his head.

I really appreciate when posters leave room for nuance and disagreement, like you're doing here...

This is a fun one.

Made a little edit to your post. Hope you don't mind.

Fair, but bad weather would provide an even greater advantage, potentially, than nice weather.

Was hoping for the colder and windier long term forecasts we were seeing recently. That would hurt Nix more than it would hurt Allen, obviously. Damn.

Nix is mobile and has developed a decent connection with his #1 WR, Courtland Sutton. Sean Payton found himself an oldish, talented rookie QB with TONS of ELITE college experience to basically download his offensive philosophy into. They don't run the ball well, but they do move the pocket and utilize easy answers in the passing game to matriculate down the field at times. And we all saw them discover some explosivity these last couple weeks. Their defense can be problematic. Their line pressures QBs better than anyone else (inside and outside), and they have one elite shutdown CB. I don't know too much else there. My hope comes from what Nix looked like in the rain early this year: ball control/grip and accuracy issues. It's gonna be cold and probably breezy. That could help limit Denver's offense.

I have not heard this trade rumor. Also, I don't frequent online places where rumors are shared (until they reach us here). That's wild, though, if true. Seems crazy that they'd make a little move up in Round One to guarantee they got McCarthy, with a former QB as their Head Coach, and then fall in love with a former top-3 pick reclamation project and completely light that entire draft process on fire. Would signal a lack of alignment on the pick to begin with. Because if the HC and GM genuinely believed in McCarthy to begin with, this one outlier season of Darnold success would NOT so easily move them to abandon the prospect and pay MUCHO doll hairs to a vet instead. Just can't see McCarthy getting traded before having a chance to compete for the job, nor can I envision him having enough value to justify the move. Minnesota ain't afraid of paying a vet, to be sure. See: Kirk Cousins. But cutting bait with the hand-picked, traded-up-for top-10 prospect seems bonkers so soon.

Did I see a tweet about Mayfield playing scout team DT for Carolina at some point that season? There is a pic out there that essentially shows us this. Crazy. How could Minn sign Darnold to starting QB money while they have a 1st rounder they traded up (slightly) to draft at #10 who just redshirted his first year? MAYBE if Darnold accepted a "bridge" deal (which isn't super realistic) for a few years they'd let the two QBs compete for the job, but I can't see Darnold signing for less than stupid starter money. Terrible ownership listening to OBJ and his dad and the disgruntled fans who agreed with them (in large part due to Mayfield boldly but stupidly playing hurt all year...same shoulder injury and harness that Allen also played through with mixed, at best, results)

Any season ticket holders been selected recently to hold flags on the field pre-game (for team/player announcements I think)? Our two seats got picked, and we have to report to the Fieldhouse pre-game to partake next week. No clue yet what this entails, or how excited we should be. My 72-year old mom (who taught me how to have an unhealthy lifelong relationship with local corporate football) is ecstatic, like the org has finally recognized her LOL.

Hasn't Brady differentiated himself by building the offense to be balanced and NOT built around just one guy? (Obviously Allen will take a handful of pass calls each game and turn them into Superman/off-script plays, but isn't the important thing this year that the Bills can impose their will up front if/when necessary, and they also have the most talented QB ever to then turn balanced offensive production into flawless 30-40+ point outputs almost weekly? Brady is optimizing Allen by optimizing everyone else. Wasn't he a Reid guy in KC or even PHL? (I ask this without looking it up first.) Edit after looking it up: Pederson was Chiefs OC '13-'15 under Reid, so I'm not sure if he actually called plays full-time. But Nagy got an HC gig in Chicago after he left to be Philly HC, so obviously other orgs value Reid's OC pipeline (plus being a former player/QB) as long as you're not Eric Bienemy lol.