Inigo Montoya

Tyler Bass opened camp strong yesterday going 5 for 5 on field goals including a 48 yarder. Bass had a strong rookie season finishing 10th in the NFL among kickers in extra point percentage at 95.38%. He finished tied for 10th in the NFL in field goal completion percentage a 82.4%. He was 4 of 6 on field goals beyond 50 yards and had a season long 58 yarder. He did all this while playing in what is likely the most difficult kicking venue in the entire League. He showed he has the leg to make attempts beyond 60 yards and I don't think the BIlls would hesitate to run him out there for a 60+ yarder if the game script was right. He has a howitzer of a leg. He can boom the ball out of the endzone on kickoffs everytime if that's what the coach wants, negating an opposing teams kick return game if needed. He has earned the confidence of the coaching staff as a rookie kicker. No small feat. He was also money in the playoffs when the pressure was greatest. In the Colts game he was 2 for 2 with field goals of 46 and 54 yards, and 3 for 3 on extra points. In the Ravens' Divisional Hurricane Bowl he was 1 for 3 on field goals, the same as Justin Tucker, and 2 of 2 on extra points. In the AFC Championship game he was 4 for 4 on field goals including two 51 yarders, but did have a rare extra point miss on his only attempt. Looking back on last year's playoff run, it's clear the moment wasn't too big for Bass when he was called on to make the most important kicks of the season. In a draft class that is full of potential with Gabe Davis, A.J. Epenesa, Zack Moss and Dane Jackson, we might look back years from now and find that the Bills' 6th round selection; Tyler Bass, Kicker, Georgia Southern -- was the best pick of the Bills' draft class. I'm not ready to say the Bills have found their Justin Tucker just yet, but it sure looks promising. An accurate and reliable kicker is absolutely essential for an NFL franchise to have sustained success. Let's hope that Beane has finally found that kicker for the Bills over the next decade in Tyler Bass.

Can you imagine the narrative if Allen threw a Super Bowl losing interception at the goal line?

I think Allen belongs in the 1st Tier, but if someone wants to make the argument that he's had a single great season and needs to do it again before he is considered elite, I can understand that line of thinking. Personally, I don't think last year was lightning in a bottle for Josh, I think it was the first gusts of a hurricane.

https://www.nbcsportsedge.com/edge/football/nfl/teams/nyj/new-york-jets Only Jets player missing. Hasn't signed contract yet. Can't say I'm upset... J-E-T-S JETS! JETS! JETS!

I agree with all of you and the other posters who share this opinion. It's a combination of all of these talented people coming together and making each other better. Diggs is a special talent and my OP is not meant to diminish how great Diggs was last year. My OP was to point out that for many the narrative is that Josh Allen is good because others made him good. Allen was a nobody until Diggs arrived. I don't buy that at all. No one seems to acknowledge that Allen elevated John Brown, and then Beasley, and then Diggs, leading all of them to career years. What was the common denominator for those three receivers? The guy who was throwing them the ball. That is the missing narrative out there. To circle back to the original Lamar vs Allen debate, does Lamar look better with Diggs in a Ravens uniform? Probably. Does Diggs finish first in the League in receptions and receiving yards with Lamar throwing him the ball? Not a chance in hell.

I was watching this video on YouTube, the latest installment in the Lamar vs Josh debate. It's a Ravens' fans channel and the two guys debate a 49ers fan who believes Allen is the better QB. The actual debate starts at the 9 minute mark if you're interested. It doesn't take very long for everyone's favorite Lamar excuse to come up, if only Lamar had Stefon Diggs... How many times have you heard it in the media, if only Lamar had Diggs? What these Ravens' fans and media pundits don't get is that you can just as easily say that without Josh Allen, Diggs is not an elite WR in 2020. It's obvious that Allen and Diggs both benefited from having the other on the field, you just never hear people talk about how Allen lifted up Diggs, it's always the other way around. Let's look at some Stefon Diggs' career stats. Average Catch Percentage 5 seasons in Minn; 68.4% 1 season in Buff; 76.5% What can possibly explain this 8.1% jump in Diggs' catch percentage over his career average? Did he suddenly develop better hands? Or could it be that Allen was putting the ball right where Diggs needed it to be? I don't remember a lot of circus catches from Diggs last season. Allen just made great throws that gave Diggs a chance to make the catch. Diggs would make his break and the ball was there. Seems like Diggs really benefitted from a lot of accurate passes last year. Receptions NFL Rank 2015; 52 #61 2016; 84 #16 2017; 64 #30 2018; 102 #11 2019; 63 #43 2020: 127 #1 Diggs was not a perennial hundred reception receiver. He broke 100 catches one season and never came close the other four. His total of 127 receptions obliterates his best season in 2018. Diggs must have had a QB who trusted him and fed him the ball constantly. He had a QB who fed him the ball so much that Diggs finished first in receptions. The competition wasn't even close, Diggs beat Davante Adams and DeAndre Hopkins by a dozen receptions each. Rec Yardage NFL Rank 2015; 720 #52 2016; 903 #34 2017; 849 #25 2018; 1,021 #20 2019; 1,131 #17 2020; 1,535 #1 Same thing here. Look at that jump with Allen throwing Diggs the ball. He surpassed his best season in yardage by over 400 yards with Allen, and had finished no higher than 17th in receiving yards before playing with Josh Allen. People also seem to forget that Beasley had a career year last year with Allen throwing him the ball. After nine seasons in the League, Beasley set career highs in completions and receiving yards. Maybe it was Diggs throwing Beasley the ball. I've yet to hear one pundit say that Stefon Diggs and Cole Beasley were the beneficiaries of the best quarterback play of their careers. It's always the other way around, Diggs and Beasley made Allen. It's a lazy opinion. After a combined 15 years in the League, both Diggs and Beasley had career years in 2020. Did Diggs and Beasley help Allen? Absolutely. But not as much as Josh Allen helped them.

There's a new article in The Athletic that details the high tech equipment Palmer is using to help his QB clients improve their biomechanics. The Athletic is a subscription service that I highly recommend. As an out of towner the only subscriptions I pay for are the Buffalo News and The Athletic. "Josh Allen is firing one perfect pass after another to a trio of receivers some 25 yards downfield. As the Bills star hones his mechanics, a few feet away private QB coach Jordan Palmer observes every little maneuver while two other young NFL quarterbacks loosen up. On the sideline there is almost a quarter-million dollars’ worth of high-tech equipment that is another part of Palmer’s unique quarterback ecosystem." https://theathletic.com/2719015/2021/07/23/this-technology-could-give-bills-qb-josh-allen-and-bengals-qb-joe-burrow-a-big-boost-in-their-nfl-careers/?source=freedailyemail As a Bills fan it's gratifying to see Josh continue to work hard to improve. How many QBs who finish second in the league MVP voting spend a portion of their next off season continuing to work with a private QB coach? It's this commitment to be the best and the work ethic to make it happen that gives me hope for the Buffalo Bills going forward. Contrast this with Baker Mayfields' attitude. Remember the end of season press conference in 2019 when asked by the press if he was going to hire a private QB tutor after his lackluster sophomore season, he answered that he wouldn't; “I do not need somebody to teach me how to do a three-step drop,” Mayfield said. “I can look at film and be critical of myself." https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2019/12/27/baker-mayfield-says-hell-be-working-hard-this-offseason-but-not-with-a-qb-tutor/ Baker has real talent and played great last year in his new system, but I think his ceiling is limited by his hubris. I think we've seen Mayfields' best ball already. I don't think that's the case with Josh Allen.

Fair point. The announcement followed a three year stadium feasibility study the Pegulas had commissioned. It looks like the study concluded that an open roofed stadium in OP was the best option and the Pegulas have agreed with it. I don't think Kim and Terry would spend more money on the concept if they hadn't already made up their minds. For what it's worth, here's a link on a short article about it. https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/sports/football/nfl/bills/2021/06/19/report-states-buffalo-bills-build-new-stadium-orchard-park/7753860002/ Having said that, your point still stands, it's not official yet. 🍻 I actually though about throwing TE's and Ertz in there but that would give me 11 storylines, and who's ever heard of a Top 11 list? 😉

It's been a long off season and the anticipation for the upcoming season where the Bills are legitimate Super Bowl contenders for the first time in 20+ years is building. I listed the top 10 off season developments that affected our Bills in no particular order below. Training camp starts in 12 days and the Bills kick off at Highmark stadium against the Steelers in just 59 days. Let's hope this is finally the year the Lombardi comes home to Buffalo. 1. We kept the coaching staff together. I had little hope both Frazier and Daboll would be back for the 21-22 season. Daboll in particular looked like a lock for the Chargers' gig. Another year of scheme stability for the Bills is huge. The recent promotion of Ken Dorsey to Passing Game Coordinator, hopefully with a nice pay raise, was a smart way for Beane and Co. to reward Dorsey for a job well done and to set him up to move into the OC roll if Daboll finally gets his shot after this season. 2. We kept the roster intact. Edmunds got his 5th year option picked up. The sole big loss on offense was John Brown but Beane replaced him with Emmanuel Sanders. I loved Brown and wish him all the best, but sliding Sanders in there has the possibility to be an upgrade at the position. Beane managed to resign Feliciano, D. Williams, and Milano. I didn't think that would be possible with the cap restraints. Let's hope that McBeane's strategy of keeping the band together for another year will pay dividends. The only loss that gives me pause was BoJo. He had a shank every now and then but had really become a boomer routinely knocking 60+ yard punts to flip the field. I know you can't keep everyone and it looks like BoJo just drew the short straw. 3. Training camp will be in Orchard Park this year. I think this is a big plus. It might be bad for marketing, but having easy access to the Bills' new state of the art training and rehab facilities should be beneficial for the health of the team coming out of training camp. 4. The competition for a starting spot on the O-Line is going to be stout in camp, but nothing like the battle to land a spot on the D-Line. The Bills spent their first two draft picks on pass rushers and suddenly there are people we thought would be back this season who are going to be on the outside looking in. Do the Bills decide to keep an extra D-Lineman on the roster? If so, where do they find a roster spot? I don't see us keeping a third QB on the roster this season. 5. The long debate is over. It looks like Terry and Kim have finally decided to build a new open air stadium in Orchard Park. It was a decision that cheers those who love to tailgate and disappoints those who wanted a downtown Buffalo location. I didn't have a preference for OP or downtown Buffalo, but hoped it would be a domed stadium to help our passing game. Let's hope the architects can position and design the new stadium in a manner to limit the crazy winds down at field level. That should be doable... right? 6. The Bills brought in Matt Breida to provide a speed element to the running game but did not do much else on paper to address the running game that was lackluster at times. It looks like Beane is counting on O-Line continuity and better play up front to make a difference. The Bills offense did score 501 points last season, second only to GB with 509, so it's hard to be too critical of the offense, but I think many were expecting more moves addressing the run game. 7. The Chiefs and Browns had good off seasons too and didn't suffer a talent exodus following their successful campaigns last year. It's way too early to say whether the Bills, Chiefs, or Browns had the best off season, but for people hoping the Chiefs and Browns might take a step backwards this season, I think they are going to be disappointed. The AFC is going to be a donnybrook this year. If the Bills can stay healthy, I like our chances. 8. Cole Beasley may end up missing significant time this season if he isn't willing to follow League COVID guidelines. I'm not here to argue right or wrong, just the significant impact his absence would have on the Bills' offense. He is an integral part of the offense and would have caught 100 balls last season if not for his late season injury. He routinely moves the sticks and is Josh's security blanket. Let's hope this situation gets figured out because losing Beasley would be a huge blow to the offense during what should be a Super Bowl run. 9. The landscape of the AFCE underwent some huge changes this off season with a new regime in place for the Jets and new rookie QBs for the Jets and Pats. The Jets and Phins also had a bushel of draft picks this year and have been at work overhauling their rosters with young talent. The Phins could have drafted one of the blue chip QBs in this year's draft but decided to roll the dice with Tua. The Pats went out and spent money like drunken sailors in free agency and bolstered their roster on both sides of the ball. Time will tell how successful these moves are, but there is no doubt that the AFCE is now a completely different division than it was just two seasons ago when Brady was still under center in New England. 10. Lastly, no extension for Josh...yet. It's coming and I hope that Beane follows the same strategy he had with Tre' White and signs Josh first, before Mayfield and Jackson get their deals done. Each contract seems to be bigger and it would be best to get Josh locked down first. I don't think we've seen the best of Josh Allen yet and I hope Beane locks him up for as many seasons as Allen will agree to.

Today there is human slavery in Africa and the Middle East. There are concentration camps in China. Drug cartels control governments in Mexico and Central America. In Russia, Europe, and Canada you can be imprisoned for speaking your mind. Happy 4th of July TBD God Bless America

You deliberately take things out of context and argue just to argue. You are the first poster in over 3 years on this website that I've decided to block. You're not worth the aggravation. Cheers

The post I was responding to said "Vaccination is a broader public health issue that goes beyond the individual." Thank you for your contribution.

Hey Capco, I can't think of anything more personal than what you allow someone else to put into your body. Cole Beasley should have no say in what you choose to put in your body and you should have a say in what Cole puts in his. Ultimately, that how I see it. I agree with you that vaccinations are a public health issue, but I don't believe that a public health concern trumps your right as an individual to say what happens to your body. Remember that in this particular instance, we are talking about a vaccine being used under an emergency use authorization. The usual process to get FDA approval for a vaccine takes over a decade. I looked at the data as we understand it today, and decided that getting the vaccine was the right choice for me. It's not my place or the government's place to force this vaccine on someone who doesn't want it. We'll just have to agree to disagree on this one. 🍻

There are people for and against getting the vaccine who are perfectly reasonable. Neither side is objectively correct. It is a subjective decision people make as individuals about whether or not to get the vaccine. Let people do their own thing and give them the benefit of the doubt that they might know what is best for them better than you do. I personally took the vaccine. I'm over 50 and I work in the ER. I'm in a high risk environment almost daily. If someone else chooses against the vaccine, that's their choice. It has no bearing on me, I'm vaccinated and protected. Agree with Cole or disagree with Cole, but it's his choice not to get the vaccine just like it was my choice to get the vaccine. People need to be civil and not attack someone for coming to a deferent decision about this highly subjective and personal issue.

Aspirin works by stopping the platelets in our blood from sticking together and starting to form a clot to stop bleeding when an injury occurs. Theoretically Toradol could do the same. I think the risk of bleeding is very small with taking aspirin or Toradol. Coumadin, Eliquis, Xarelto, Lovenox are what most people call a blood thinner, and also Plavix to a lesser extent. Plavix works on platelets too, more so than aspirin does. The others work by interfering with the liver making coagulation factors that help stop bleeding. They are very strong medicines and you will bleed more even with minor injuries if you are taking these medicines. Playing football on any of these meds would be life threatening.

I’ve worked in the ER for 24 years and I use Toradol (ketorolac) daily. You can put it through an IV, use it in a shot, there’s a pill, and there’s even an eye drop for inflamed eyes. There is a theoretical risk of increased bleeding with any medicine related to aspirin, which Toradol is. I think the risk of bleeding is very small. The major benefit is that almost every other pain medicine we have is a narcotic, and obviously regular opiate use opens the door to possible addiction issues. Toradol is the best non-narcotic pain medicine we have. Bruce Smith said playing in the NFL was like being in a car wreck every Sunday. These players are going to take something for their pain. Looking at the big picture, if it were me, I’d choose the theoretical risk of more bruises or bleeding with Toradol over the very real risk of addiction with opiates.

This is my top 10 guess; Rodgers Mahomes Brady A. Donald L. Jackson Allen Henry Diggs D. Adams Watson

I said that Star could show up out of game shape, never get on the field all season and still make his guaranteed money. I'm pretty sure you're right that he just can't quit the team and still get paid. The issue is that Star could show up out of shape and unmotivated to play this year like Albert Haynesworth did with the Redskins. I think that's what McDermott and those guys might be worried about. If they had been in contact with Star and knew he was working hard to stay in shape and he would be ready to strap them up for training camp, I don't think McDermott would have had any concern with Star not being there for the OTAs like a lot of the other vets. I hope this is all just a bunch of pointless off season message board speculation and Star is working hard and shows up in great shape ready to clog up the line of scrimmage again. I just didn't get that vibe from McDermott when he answered that question.

One of the narratives in the national media about Allen and Diggs that irks me a bit is that Diggs is always bailing Allen out and that without Diggs Allen would half as good as he is today. Two points, Diggs is amazing and is hard to cover and he makes Allen's life way easier because he is open so often. That is a given, and in that respect, Diggs does help Allen out a lot. No argument from me. Thank God we have Diggs, he is incredible. The second point, and the one that bothers me, is that the media pundits make it sound like Allen is throwing Diggs bad balls and Diggs is making circus catches all over the place saving Josh's hide. I just don't think that is the case at all. Diggs gets open, and Josh puts the ball on the money. There is no YouTube video on all of Diggs' circus catches from last year, because he didn't make many last year. The overwhelming majority of balls that came his way were right on the money, on time, and where he could catch it and run. Those were great throws that Josh Allen made. The insinuation by pundits that Diggs is bailing Allen out of bad throws all the time is simply false.

Thanks for the interpretation. I know the Bills want him, I think the worry is that Star may not want to play football anymore after taking a year off. His money is guaranteed this year whether he plays or not, and he wouldn't lose very much money if he decides to hang up his cleats after this year. He can show up at training camp out of game shape and never play a single snap all season and the Bills are still going to pay him $4.5 million. With his cap numbers the Bills are not going to cut him. This year's guaranteed salary of $4.5 million is the last big chunk of money he is going to make in his career. I suspect the Bills have reached out to him about how he is doing and he either hasn't responded, or he has responded and the Bills have some reason to worry about his state of mind, and that is why they want him in OTAs to get a sense of where he is at.

Here is Star's contract summary. https://overthecap.com/player/star-lotulelei/2282/ I don't pretend to be an expert on reading these things but a couple things stand out to me. The first is that the Bills take a huge cap hit if they cut Star this year. If they cut him during the next two years of his contract the cap hit is manageable. The second thing that strikes me about his contract is that this season is the last year he is owed any guaranteed salary. After this year he is not guaranteed any salary. He does get a part of his prorated signing bonus. I'm not sure how that signing bonus would be effected if this ended up being his last year in Buffalo. My take away is that there is a good chance that this is Star's last year on the Bills. His salary of $4.5 million is fully guaranteed this year whether he steps foot on the field or not. Star could show up out of shape and never play a single snap this season and it won't cost him a dime. I think that is what the Bills are worried about and I think they would like to see Star and get a sense of where his mind is. I think that is why McDermott seemed irked about the Star no show. I may be wrong on my contract interpretation, if some of you money ball guys get a different sense, please share.

I'm a Josh guy and here's why Mahomes has had the best offensive supporting cast in football since he took his first snap. Great offensive coach, great O-line, great WR / TE corps, and a legit running game. In the Super Bowl a couple of months ago Mahomes had to play behind a bad O-Line for the first time in his career and he looked pedestrian at best. It was really the first time in Mahomes career that he was asked to overcome a deficiency on the Chiefs offense and he couldn't do it. Contrast that with Josh who has been asked to win year one with no WRs, year two with an average at best O-line, and last year with no running game. In all those situations Josh put the team on his back, overcame the shortcomings of the offense around him, and kept finding ways to win games on his own. Even as a rookie Josh willed that horrible offense to victories. It's my opinion that Josh has done more with less. I think Mahomes is the perfect QB to run a high octane offense like the Chiefs have fielded. Josh doesn't need a high octane offense to win, I think Josh would have won 8 games with the Jets' offense last year. That's the difference. Mahomes plays fantastic football inside a fantastic offense. I think Josh can play fantastic football with anyone.

I think Beane went out and got Trubiski as an insurance policy for a championship run this season if Josh goes down for 3-4 games. If Trubisky can go .500 in any starts he has this season, I think we still make the playoffs and a healthy Josh can hopefully step back in and make the playoff run. I don't think Beane will give up that insurance policy for any one year rental.

Watching Embedded tonight they played a short clip at the beginning of the episode of Diggs standing alone out on the field after the AFC Championship game watching the Chiefs celebrate. Then McDermott was there with Diggs and they stood there for a moment watching together, hugged, and McDermott walked him back into the Bills locker room to be with the rest of his teammates. Watching that moment again it struck me what a great leader Sean McDermott is. After the game in the visitor's locker room at Arrowhead, I'm sure McDermott was just as devastated as anyone. He had just lost the biggest game of his career, but instead of being absorbed in his own emotions and feelings, he continued to lead that team. He discovered that Diggs was still out on the field and he went back out there to be with one of his guys who was enduring the loss on his own. No man left behind. It was a moment that perfectly demonstrated McDermott's ethos of "service leadership", and it's why the players in that Bills' locker room play so hard for him and for each other. It was a moment that I think defines who Sean McDermott is and what he is all about. The future of this entire franchise changed the day that Kim and Terry Pegula hired McDermott to be the next head coach of the Buffalo Bills. McDermott came in with a vision of how he was going to build his football team and he jolted this franchise out of a twenty year funk. I had no idea who Sean McDermott was when he was hired, and to be honest, I didn't have a lot of expectations that he would be the one to finally turn this franchise around. In retrospect, it's easy to see now that he was an inspired choice.

Careful there Milton... Folks 'round these parts don't take too kindly to anyone saying somethin' nice about them Brownies... 😉