Richard Noggin

More than anyone else on the defense, absolutely. He was almost late to get in position and set on at least two separate plays (possibly following official timeouts) because he was busy trying to get the fans fired up. To be fair, the fans were not as reliably loud as they were the first two home games. Lots of people sold their seats to the highest bidders.

Has anyone cited the 1st defensive drive of the Packers game? Edwards made the first 3 or 4 tackles, solo, I think? He ran down 2 sideline RB passes and maybe stopped someone else in the middle of the field? I was at the game, so details and chronologies are easily mixed up. My memory is that he really displayed his range and improved tackling physicality on that drive, which is something we've seen a LOT more of this season (finally). Never been a big fan of his production, but you can't deny his greatly improved play this year. Naturally that's likely due in part to improved DT play in front of him (until the 2nd half of yesterday's game). Even Ray Lewis admitted during his career that DTs keeping him clean was essential to his performance (at some point in his career, I recall Lewis was critical of the Ravens shifting to a smaller, penetrating 1-gap DL approach).

THE Ko Simpson?!

I was there, and I agree that the crowd did not bring their A-game. Lots of Cheese heads were there, which might have contributed. There was even an audible "Let's go Pack!" chant from across the stadium directly before Allen's last INT.

That's a punk. He plays a tough position, so if he needs to ignore reality to keep himself confident, whatever. But that's some bull$#!t right there.

Totally agree that Kupp is, in fact, the rare TRUE slot WR and his team's undisputed #1 WR by design and production. Bit of an anomaly.

This is the conundrum right here. #1 receiver can connote traits, and it can also connote production. There is your prototypical #1 WR who is tall, strong, and wins even when schemed against; Eric Moulds comes to mind. Then there is your #1 WR according to the stats, which can include a more diverse array of traits and alignments. They are often the same player, but "#1 receiver" means different things to different people.

I love this analogy. But I would argue that while Aaron Judge hit 1st for a portion of this past season, he is not and was not a "leadoff hitter." He was and is a killer 2-hole or 3rd guy. But he hits well enough for average and runs the bases well enough to also hit leadoff if so chosen by the manager. Plus more plate appearances over a long enough timeline made sense at the time. I think what it boils down to, for WRs, is there are guys who can win on the boundaries and get off press and beat CBs even with that additional defender (the sideline) always cutting off space/options...and there are guys who cannot. The guys who can are not automatically relegated to the slot, although they might actually be even more effective with more space and easier releases and traffic and all that (see: Cooper Kupp), we don't often pigeon-hole with the designation of "slot WR." Whereas Jamison Crowder and Cole Beasley are absolutely SLOT WRs. But with respect to objective stat tracking, obviously alignment in the formation is the only concrete way to define X, Y, and Z WRs.

This will wind up an underrated sentence.

That's a bit much. He is not a power back, nor will he ever be. However, in one offseason a physically gifted, young, and dedicated athlete can make tremendous strides in an NFL program. We've seen it happen recently on this team.

Base runners who actually do that are dirty a-holes, though. And subject to retaliation, oftentimes. There is a difference between a lead foot that "tends to come up in the air" and a lead foot that deliberately/defensively targets the jewels (and then rapidly lowers in the case of a guilty Mac Jones). Jones has already established himself as a dirty, delicate, and dramatic doooosh on the field. The images don't lie. He has attempted to injure (or at least "hurt") defenders on multiple occasions. And famously, he does not take his own injuries in stride, in the moment.

YOU think that's a clean play. Upon review, it's objectively, demonstrably NOT a "clean play." There is no argument. That is a foul. Quite simply. Next...

And we probably all agree he WILL be activated by that deadline, right? Doesn't mean he has to be active the following game day, of course. Just means he has to take up a spot on the 53.

To be fair, an underage Watkins also drank himself silly out at many of Buffalo's downtown establishments. He liked the expensive pink bubbles (no shame in that).

You didn't take off Monday?! (I fully recognize most people don't have the flexibility to take off work all willy-nilly.) I won't get home from the game until 1 or 2am, and if we win I'll then be injecting Bills online content directly into my veins until the wee-est hours of the night. If we lose I still won't be able to shut up my brain for a couple hours after getting home. No way I can work a couple hours later. Barely get my daughter on the bus that morning. Ugh. Costumes and high energy at an early hour. At least looking like the walking dead is acceptable and even celebrated for one day.

Technically, yes. He kicked her. But if you watch the video objectively, I defy you to deny that he actually pulled his punch, so to speak. He feinted the kick. Stopped short. Was mostly for show. He makes contact, but he does NOT follow through with it. The caption would read, "Now GET the ***** out of here wit yo ass." Is it acceptable? No. Is it criminal? Yes, technically. Did it intend bodily harm? No way. It intended shame. She didn't deserve battery. So Hunt deserved punishment. Kind of simple.

That dude is living his best life.

Whether or not I agree with your points, this post is pretty effing dooshey. Arrogance and belligerence are like the worst.

For me it's both the terrible blaming of his teammates (really bad form for public comments whether it's true or not) AND the complete unwillingness to acknowledge anything the opponent did. The most arrogant QBs I've rooted against, including Marino, Brady, and now (recent entry) Rodgers, go down yelling at their teammates. It's so delightfully reassuring. Not sure if the latter two can course correct as they have in the past, given their expanded hubris. Never count them out, but don't be afraid to enjoy the current drop-off. They're a-holes.

I think this is an important rhetorical reply to the OP. The consistently ELITE performance of the Bills secondary/pass defense since McD's and Frazier's arrivals, including, mostly, but not at all limited to the presence of specific players such as Hyde, Poyer, and White, makes it really difficult to parse out the individual values OF those specific players. The Bills under McD have become this perfect incubator of consistent pass defense, mostly independent of pass rush and run defense. Defensive performance is statistically less predictable YoY than offensive performance. Yet somehow the Bills pass D under McD has been pretty damned consistently awesome. It MUST be some righteous combination of coaching and personnel, pointing most prominently to McD, Frazier, and Butler on the coaching side, and Hyde, Poyer, and White on the personnel side. We've seen other even unlikelier secondary players exceed expectations and grow into solid starters under this regime. Smart money says that NO SINGLE SECONDARY PLAYER IS SINGULARLY INVALUABLE in this defense. But it would be foolish ignore the importance of a foundational guy like Micah Hyde, the FIRST player targeted by McD upon his arrival, who possesses such underrated athleticism and rare savvy and flexibility. Poyer was brought in soon after. These guys were targeted, as was Tre White. All smart, devoted, sneakily athletic talents. Hopefully Damar Hamlin and Dane Jackson continue to show how well fit this same mold. And of course Taron Johnson is unquestionably awesome at this point. So integral to this defense's design.

Joke's on you. Andy Reid has NEVER uttered the words "discipline" OR "accountability." LOL nerd.

One could ask how valuable any of the guys in the secondary are on an individual basis, given what we've seen this season. (I think Hyde is valuable, ftr)

Can you point me in the direction of such rumor(s)? How does this VERY humbling and humiliating trajectory alter the unfortunate inevitability of Tommy in the broadcast booth? I'm forever fascinated by the prospect of such a ruthless, empty vessel attempting to construct an actual personality that other humans will appreciate watching/hearing while they watch football.

I don't enjoy piling on Bills players who might be weak links. Especially players who obviously possess physical traits that suggest potential, combined with flashes of actual production...but McKenzie is straining even the most forgiving analyses. He has a demonstrable problem with consistent execution. He makes too many costly mistakes on the field when compared to his positive contributions. How is that debatable? (And I really wish the guy would show out like he did against Miami 2 years ago and New England last year. But it has to be noted that those are the only glimpses we can really point to, despite his increased snap count to date in 2022.)

Just build the damned OL the way they've been trying to build the DL. That's the next ESSENTIAL phase of Bills roster building. Been neglected too long. Extend JA17's career.