TigerJ

Kyle Pitts is likely long gone by the time the Bills pick. The consensus right now is that the Bills will pick a CB with their first round pick. I agree they have needs at LB and TE in addition to CB. I think they need a good edge rusher too. Hughes and Addison are not going to last forever. Epenesa may develop as an all around defensive end, but he'll never be the athletic edge rusher Buffalo needs.

The Bills have wrestled with health issues for the last several weeks. I think Milano has to sit out one more week, but if Josh Norman gets released from the COVID list, the Bills may be the healthiest they've been since sometime in October. The Bills can field their best DB group instead of scrabbling together whatever they could. Worley in particular can go back to the PS and stay. The offensive line should also be completely healthy. It will be interesting to see what group is on the field. Presumably it will include Dion Dawkins, Darryl Williams and John Feliciano. I hope that Mitch Morse on the sidelines was a one week only situation. If he can come back and play will at center, and Cody Ford is healthy, That might make for a pretty decent offensive line, and one that can run block better than what we've seen in a long time from the Bills.

As the Op says, it's more likely the Jets ship Darnold outside of the AFC East. As another poster suggested, I could see Mitch Trubisky ending up in Buffalo before Darnold. In any case, cap money is going to be tight in the off season, so don't expect Buffalo to spend a lot on a backup QB.

The hit from the from was *in this day and age) highly illegal, and combined with the hit from behind, a guarantee to produce a catastrophic knee injury. The league ought to suspend the guy who hit him low. I did not see how it happened. The video is a pretty small screen. Accounts say Cincinnati's guard, Michael Jordan actually pushed Washington's D-lineman Jonathan Allen low into Burrow's leg.. I guess you can't suspend a guy when that happens. I suspect Michael Jordan's blocking leaves something to be desired though.

I certainly wouldn't mind if Miami ends up stuck at the starting QB position again. Fitz is not going to last forever.

12-4 is my slightly hopeful prediction for the Bills finial record this season. I don't think Talbot's prediction of how they get there will play out exactly, but whatever road they take to get there is fine with me.

I would like to see a contribution from some of our more astute students of the game as to why the running game is struggling on offense. II think it has a lot to do with the lack of consistent personnel in the interior of the line. The Bills have had injuries, let go of players, and have now left Mitch Morse out of the lineup in a "football" decision. The result is the same group is never on the field two weeks in a row. Maybe play calling and play design has something to do with it, but that's where my lack of a football background renders me unqualified to offer an opinion. As far as tight end play is concerned, I think Dawson Knox is running out of time. I really wanted him to be the tight end we've been hoping for for years. Yes, he's got oodles of athleticism and potential, but he's just not getting it done, dropping way to many balls. Tyler Kroft lacks Knox's skill set, but when he has started and the Bills have needed him to make a play, he's been more consistent. Buffalo may still need to look for an upgrade next offseason. I have felt that Buffalo needs a legit 1 technique. Alternatively, I have read assessments from supposed smart football people that suggest that the problem has more to do with players not being consistent with gap integrity. In the case of Ed Oliver, he's been asked to play virtually every possible spot on the defensive line. Every one of those spots has different gap responsibilities and requires different techniques. Analysis shows Oliver does a lot of things well, but maybe all that responsibility means he's still having to do a lot of thinking and as a result can't react quite as quickly as he might. I'm not saying McDermott and Frazier are wrong to put so much on Oliver's plate. He may soon be a terror to opposing offenses, but it may have made his learning curve a good bit longer. I'm not too worried about turnovers. I think as other things get ironed out, turnovers will come for the defense.

I don't think we'll see another leap like we've seen from last season to this season. We should continue to see incremental improvements in consistency, ability to read defenses and make decisions. I expect he'll be able to play at a level for a long time. Eventually, he'll start to lose some of his physical ability, particularly making plays with his legs, but he should have a number of years where he'll still be very mobile. After all Aaron Rodgers is still pretty mobile.

Diggs is a difference maker, obviously, and he was obtained in a trade that gave up a first round pick and others. He is well worth the trade, but among the players Buffalo actually drafted there is not yet any real difference maker. That's not a huge surprise having to start making picks toward the end of the second round. What Buffalo got, at least at this point are role players. Epenesa shows some promise, but there are probably more questions about him than anyone else. He hasn't yet paid off Buffalo's bet on him. Moss is expected to be a tag team running back with Singletary. Neither one has had any consistency at all this season, but I think maybe other areas of the offense are to blame for their ample episodes of ineffective play. I can only guess, but I think a lack of continuity in the interior of the offensive line is a big factor. Maybe play design and play selection have something to do with it too, but I don't really know. Gabe Davis certainly seems to have lots of upside, but doesn't have a lot of room to make a lot of plays on the Bills roster. This season, he'll continue to make a handful of plays in most games. At some point, he may get a chance to do more. I expect less from Jake Fromm than any other draft pick. I think at best he'll be a game manager in the NFL. Maybe he could serve as a backup to Josh Allen when he gets some experience. Serving as a COVID-19 emergency backup doesn't exactly help him much in that regard. I don't think the Bills would regard him as a long term solution even as a backup. He's someone you keep on the roster until something better comes along. Tyler Bass might turn out to be a great kicker. I have no complaints about hi, He displayed some rookie jitters early on, but he's got a huge leg, still, there are a lot of good kickers , and it's only an occasional game where the outcome hangs on the difference between a good and a great kicker. Isaiah Hodgins has even less room than Davis to get a shot with the Bills. We'll see what he does in training camp next summer. Dane Jackson is a really nice 7th round pick. He's not fast, but faster than Wallace or Norman, but he's shorter than both of them. I'd like to see Buffalo eventually get a bigger CB with athleticism to upgrade the secondary, but there's always room for a plucky player like Jackson.

I had said in another thread that there is not a game remaining on the Bills' schedule that they can't possibly win. Buffalo has the horses to beat Pittsburgh if players show up. That said, I think 4-2 is probably a more likely result down the stretch.

I was hoping that it was Miami's perfect season that died. Oh well. R.I.P. Jake Scott.

My perspective is that of a retired pastor and a Christian believer. I agree that praying for a team to win because you're a fan of that team is a sign of an immature faith. I have been a Bills fan for 51 years, a bout 2 years longer than I've been a Christian believer, and have not once prayed that the Bills might win. If I pray anything to do with football, it is that players avoid injury as much as possible and heal completely when they are injured. I think for the players themselves it is legitimate that they pray that they might be able to give their best. They also might pray that God would help them keep their temper in the heat of the game and respect other players even while playing as hard as they can.

Fair evaluation.

To be perfectly fair, the ball had to travel about that far just to get to the LOS. Therefore, it had to travel about twice that far. A terrible punt to be sure, but I probably couldn't do any better on my best day. If he doesn't have any more like that the rest of the year, I'm OK with him. More than once a year starts to be a problem.

I think being in that locker room is going to mess with any player's head. Adam Gase has a gift for creating that kind of locker room culture.

I'm certainly aware of Pittsburgh, but it's not the focus.

I think Epenesa is a guy who will need to win battles more with technique rather than natural talent (understanding that every player needs a mix of both) as such I'm not shocked that he lacks a little in the way of production early in his career. He's going to need development to be a long term success. Getting on the field is an important part of that.

I think the Bills should beat San Diego and Denver comfortably. They can be competitive with an excellent chance of beating San Francisco, New England, Miami. They have a chance of beating Pittsburgh, but a lot of things have to go right, unlike the last game against Arizona. That is not a prediction of running the table or even going 5-1. Both outcomes are possible, but lots of unforeseen obstacles can get in the way of that.

I'm pretty optimistic. I think Buffalo still has an advantage over Miami in the division race, and should make the playoffs if they don't fall apart completely. It also looks like they will be very healthy after their bye. Maybe Milano has to sit one more game under the rules for IR.

The officiating was inconsistent at best. I'll leave it at that.

Buffalo definitely lost some height in their secondary with the loss of the 3 DBs to the COVID reserve list. That might have made a difference in the Hail Mary play at the end.

I think Miami takes their next three games. After that, they might not win another one this season. Buffalo wins their next 2 after the bye. Pittsburgh is iffy. Buffalo could close out the season with three wins after that. That's an optimistic take, I know, but not too far fetched.

Yup. That's what I want to see.

If you're running primarily a man cover scheme, you want Jalen Ramsey. Buffalo runs some man coverage, but I think they're still primarily a zone cover team. Jalen Ramsey would be a waste IMO.

I doubt that. I think trainers can tell an ACL pretty quickly by manipulating the knee. He was on a stationary bike. I can't imagine they'd have him on that if there were any chance of an ACL.