MJS

And how many fans have been critical of McDermott over the years for wanting a better run game? When we finally achieve what he wanted, the offense is awesome and multidimensional. Go figure. He was right. The answer to better offense is taking the ball out of Allen's hands a little more.

Well, the Bills did rank higher in the power rankings on NFL.com, so there's that. We should all be glad that the Bills are doubted. It is just more motivation for the players and coaches.

Josh Allen might need to use his legs more in this game. And I expect Ty Johnson to have a heavy dose of passes come his way. Check downs and screens. If Allen is willing to take the quick, 5-yard throws when they are there, the offense will be fine. On defense, that odd mirror defense they ran (Milano was spying and they rushed 3 on third and long) was really effective. Both sacks came on that defense. I think it could work well against the Ravens, too. The biggest thing about the Ravens is to stay disciplined and don't fall for the misdirection. Crash the line of scrimmage and hurry Jackson. Hit Henry at or behind the line of scrimmage. Make Jackson pull the ball and run it himself. Jackson could have a monster game running and passing, but also be forced into turnovers. He fumbles it a lot, too. I don't think there is any way around them getting yards, scoring points, and getting big plays. That's going to happen. But you can force some bad plays, too, and that could be the difference if the offense is efficient and sustaining long drives again.

But I heard that if your coach is in his 8th year, you get disqualified and the next team gets in.

None of it really means anything. Every situation is completely unique. There are reasons the Bills haven't won it yet. 1) The Chiefs. They are a dominant franchise and the Bills have to go through them, just like everyone else. 2) Defensive injuries. The defense has been decimated with injuries in the playoffs games. They are healthy this year, so let's hope it stays that way. 3) Bad luck. Sometimes the ball doesn't bounce your way. 4) Failures in critical situations. By both coaches and players. 5) Lack of talent. For as good as the team does in the regular season, they have very few pro bowl or all pro players, if any, outside of Josh Allen. Allen and the coaches produce a very high ceiling, but lack of elite talent, like a top pass rusher, hurts you in those critical moments. The Bills have had good depth and decent to good starters, but lack the big time players to make the big time plays in those big time moments (besides Josh). I've always said that you need 3 truly elite players, and 1 of them has to be the QB. Well, the Bills have only 1. They've had 2 when Diggs was here. Could have been 3, but Von got hurt. I really don't care about historical precedence like this. It means nothing. It is not a predictor of future success. Many of the greatest QBs didn't win it all until their 30s. It doesn't matter. Just go do your best every year and get a ring however you can. Maybe we move on from McDermott some day. Maybe not. For now, he is here, and he is a good coach.

It showed that Allen could play efficiently within the offense, take check down throws, and play a more cerebral style. It was exactly what all the fans needed to see. And he still dominated on the ground. It was an awesome game.

Yeah! I forgot about that. Olinemen basically had to play with their arms tied behind their back 😆

It was the hardest era to play QB. You got murdered on almost every play. Receivers were held and grabbed all the way down the field and then murdered if they got anywhere near the ball. Games were being routinely won 9 to 3. It was just a brutal era for offense.

Different era. Those are not bad numbers for the era. He was a three time pro bowler and MVP in 1979. He led the league in passing TDs twice. And then he did a lot in the playoffs, too. He isn't the greatest ever, but he was a good QB.

Cam was not anywhere near Josh's level as a passer. Not even close.

For real. Threw more interceptions than TDs and lost more games than he won.

That doesn't make him a worse QB. He shouldn't be punished for having good players to play with. Bradshaw is one of the NFL greats. He isn't the best ever, or anything, but he was a great QB.

Exactly. If the voters had to actually share their votes, they would be less likely to vote for their friends. When your name is attached to something, you want it to be defensible.

I actually think the former players are the problem. I think they are more likely to vote for the guys they like and are friends with versus the "nerds" who will look at it more objectively and without as much bias. Many of the former players are terrible analysts and got their jobs because of their names, not because they are good journalists or football analysts. Some of them do minimal work and collect a paycheck. That being said, some of them are pretty good, like Orlovsky.

Players talk about it all the time. There are numerous stories from current and former players about things they used for motivation. Tom Brady and the Patriots were always finding comments here and there to get a chip on their shoulder to motivate and play harder. The 90s Bills were constantly finding things like that. Thurman Thomas and Steve Tasker have been on One Bills Live numerous times talking about that. You just aren't correct about this. The players do use bulletin board material and it actually does motivate them to play harder and seek to humiliate and dominate their opponents. Josh Allen and the current Bills have multiple examples of that as well. I don't think Harbaugh said much wrong. It was more the knuckle head reporters. But still. It is a bad look, even for Harbaugh to entertain them on that line of questioning.

Wow. Why take shots at the city? That is pretty gross. Just more reasons not to like that team.

You can't force a guy to stay. He probably has ambitions to be a head coach. You never want to be the organization that is seen as holding guys back. He should have opportunities for advancement. More talent will be attracted to the team that way. That's how it almost always is, though. The teams with good QBs are not usually firing their coaches.

The game against the Vikings was one of his iconic games. Maybe his stats weren't eye popping by today's standards, but he had 3 TDs and a few amazing plays. Also that final week against the Dolphins he scored 5 TDs. That was for real one of his best games ever. 65% completion percentage, 224 yards passing, 3 passing TDs, 95 rushing yards and 2 rushing TDs. He had a passer rating of 114.9.

Thanks for the link. I was wondering if there were actual comments made or if it was just another one of those Bills legends that fans throw around. Cool story.

What is the source for that information? How do we know Pegula wanted Mahomes? I don't really think that is the case. Allen showed flashes even from his rookie season. A couple of his best games ever were from his rookie season. He always had that "it," factor. He passed the eye test even when his stats didn't completely agree. Allen has improved a lot, but he always had what it took. You could say the franchise took a risk, and that is true, but the draft is always a risk. Even the top prospects are a risk. The failure rate for 1st round draft picks is very high.

Part of my problem is I do not watch college football, so I am limited in my ability to form my own opinions. I have to rely on the talking heads somewhat, and the draft rankings, etc. But I know now that any opinion I have of a prospect is practically useless. I don't celebrate or lament picks anymore. I just wait to see how they turn out.

I guess we see. If we do it, I highly doubt it will be more than 20% of the snaps. I know we have done a little 3 linebacker sets this year, but I am pretty sure it has been a low percentage of snaps. But I agree that stopping Henry is the most important thing.

I wanted Darnold or Mayfield. I did NOT want Jackson because I saw him as a Tyrod Taylor type of QB, and I was through with that. I didn't want Josh Allen because of the completion percentage and everyone in the media bashing him. He just seemed like one of those endless projects. And yeah, I settled on Rosen because I figured Darnold and Mayfield would be gone, and the media really hyped him up. It taught me a valuable lesson. Don't make opinions based on the takes of media talking heads.

It is a regular season award and he played well in the regular season.

Letting his contract expire instead of firing him? I'm not sure that is a worse thing.