buffblue

Perhaps it's a case of preseason optimism as you allude to. This year will tell the tale one way or the other. I keep hoping (maybe foolishly) that the McD who was mentored by Jim Johnson in Philly will be the guy that at least somewhat shows up now that he's back to calling plays

Mostly known for the insane heat the game featured, I decided to take a closer look as the 2023 season fast approaches. There has been much talk about McD taking over the defensive playcalling this year and how he will hopefully improve on Frazier's soft tendencies. I don't know how this will turn out, but the Week 3 game against the Dolphins revealed yet another example of Leslie playing it conservative in crunch time. The situation: Miami faces a 3rd and 22 from around midfield with the Bills leading by 3 early in the 4th. Buffalo had aggressively stuffed the Dolphins to put them in what should have been a hopeless situation to convert. But rather than continuing to bring the heat against a subpar Miami OL (and with an obviously concussed Tua), Frazier elects to run a 3 man rush and our decimated secondary (missing all 4 nominal starters) gives up an easy bomb to Waddle inside the 5 resulting in the Dolphins taking the lead. We all have our complaints as fans, many of them right and plenty wrong. But one thing I am optimistic about going into the 2023 season is the possibility of the Bills becoming an attacking defense. I'm OK with them giving up more yards and even a few more PPG if we can make more impact plays defensively. With Josh in his prime, we should always have an above average scoring offense. The complementary aspect of the game and making a few more critical, game changing plays each Sunday could pay far more dividends than the what the traditional statistical rankings imply.

I don't disagree on what the plan is. I just hope Kincaid will provide the instant impact we desperately need (and am a bit skeptical based on historical results of rookies and our offensive coaching). Go Bills

I didn't forget about him. We all have high hopes for Kincaid, but sometimes the pro adjustment doesn't yield significant results immediately. Renfrow is a proven commodity

Would love it but it's not going to happen. He is an actual legit slot guy as opposed to the guys we are projecting (hoping?) will be

Howard was good and definitely missed, but I don't think White and DiBiase are that bad in terms of knowledge and driving the discussion. The problem is neither possesses the smoothness and professionalism that Howard offered

You gotta make sure that the gooch is protected at all times

Leon Seals gave me his autograph on a napkin at the McDonald's on French Road and Borden when I was a kid. He signed it "Dr. Sack"

One thing is for certain, he had a HOF caliber neckbeard

I agree. That account was genius lol

Oh, I still remember that first game of Taylor's Bills career in 2015 against the Colts. Tyrod hits Percy Harvin on a TD bomb, Ronald Darby intercepts Andrew Luck, and Rex Ryan was going to take us to the Super Bowl lol

Yeah nothing this year it appears (for a weekend). I did the Sabres Saturday night game on October 29 vs Chicago and Bills SNF vs Green Bay last season, and it was a blast

Haha was going to post this myself Yeah, um I was looking at...her tap shoes. I swear

The below is from an ESPN article by Bill Barnwell today ranking every NFL team's offensive weapons. For comparison, he has the Jets at 22 and KC at 19. I pretty much agree with the ranking. If Diggs goes down, this offense will be in trouble. Too bad Hopkins only seems to care about the money 20. Buffalo Bills 2022 rank: 10 | 2021 rank: 9 This is a major downgrade for the Bills, who didn't get a breakout season from any of their young playmakers last season. Gabe Davis, who was coming off a four-touchdown game against the Chiefs in the playoffs, was able to catch only 51.6% of his passes and garner targets on 17.7% of his routes. His style is always going to trade middling efficiency for big plays, but he didn't hit home runs frequently enough in 2022. He has to be something more than Buffalo's version of Marquise Valdes-Scantling in a contract year. Dawson Knox also failed to build on his impressive step forward in 2021, as his touchdown rate regressed back to earth. A Buffalo front office that was reportedly trying to add a tight end to supplement Knox before that season finally got its man this offseason, using a first-round pick on Dalton Kincaid. I'm excited about Kincaid's long-term potential, but rookie tight ends almost always fail to live up to lofty expectations. Neither Devin Singletary nor James Cook won the starting job at running back, while a midseason trade for Nyheim Hines delivered a total of 50 yards from scrimmage in nine games. General manager Brandon Beane wisely swapped out Singletary for power back Damien Harris this offseason, with the Bills hoping to pound light boxes as the Chiefs did with Isiah Pacheco last season. Harris struggled to stay healthy in New England, but the hope will undoubtedly be that he can contribute in a 150-carry role. So much of how this offense goes depends on quarterback Josh Allen and receiver Stefon Diggs, and the former isn't included in this debate. This is a tier of teams with one star wide receiver and questions around that player, and it's hard to argue that the teams ahead of Buffalo in these rankings don't have better options for possible breakouts on their 2023 rosters.

Not going to make a big deal out of this because it really isn't, but Washington is a rather undeserving choice. He was horrible as McD's replacement at DC in Carolina and has underachieved in DL development with the Bills imo

None. All 31 teams besides the Bills can $#!@ off

This is funny as #!*$. S0rry f0r y0ur expense th0ugh

Well then he can pound sand. It doesn't seem anyone even wants to pay him close to his original salary demands

It seems likely to me that Diggs is trying to make a point (what exactly is unclear) and will be in the fold and bought in when the season begins. But he's laying down a marker that in his opinion the current trajectory of the Bills is unacceptable. Whether any of this is helpful or a smart way of going about things is of course highly questionable

I watched it and from my perspective it felt like the latter

Good post. The nature of this situation almost seems to guarantee he will be out there when the games count, and as you stated this is hardly unprecedented. That being said, he is starting to wear my patience thin with how he approaches things. I've always defended Diggs and love his competitiveness. Let's hope this is an issue that doesn't linger through the summer.

I got ya, it just seems like such a minor technicality/talking point that it comes off as kind of lame. If the Jets or Giants played a few miles east I doubt anyone would be boasting about Buffalo compared to the Big Apple

Meh. Absolutely love the City of Buffalo and the Bills, but this "thing", while technically correct, is beyond stale. East Rutherford is basically the same distance from NYC as Orchard Park is from Buffalo.

Not taking them lightly, but Mac Jones makes them clearly the favorite to finish last, with or without Hopkins, given the strength of the rest of the division

Agreed. The scary part for me is imagining a situation where Diggs is unavailable for anything longer than a couple of weeks. We already know that Davis is an iffy #2 at best. I don't want to think about the consequences of needing him to slot up to be our #1 guy. This is why although I have some reservations I am still in favor of pursuing Hopkins (salary permitting of course).