Inigo Montoya

Don't think Bill's opponents are going to be resting anyone going forward!!! I can't believe we won this game..... Go Bills!

I did not think this topic/post would be inane or controversial. I thought I was making the point that a team was resting a star player against us and that I believe if it was a divisional game for the Vikings, and not a game against a bottom three team like the Bills, that decision to rest Cook might swing differently. I suspect that similar decisions in the weeks ahead will break the same way until the Bills show that they can be competitive, and we haven’t been close to competitive in the first two weeks of the season. Scrolling above I see people posting thoughts on both sides of my position. It seems like that is the purpose here, to share thoughts and kick ideas around. I’m not sure what some on this board expect to be posted on Friday nights after the Thursday night game has already been chewed to death and two days before Sunday kickoff. I don’t post here often but I do try to read most of the threads on here. There are some threads that I read the title and skip because I don’t think it would interest me. There is a thread now about a Cleveland Browns football reporter banned from the sidelines. Not my cup of tea but it would never occur to me to make a post criticizing the OP for creating the thread. If they believed that others would be interested in that subject that’s great. If anyone is really bored and wants to hit my profile and go back and read all of my posts you might find that I will disagree with people without being disagreeable. I’m happy to agree to disagree and don’t take a difference of opinion as a personal affront . My response to Transplant’s dive bombing of me and my post today is the first time I’ve ever responded in kind to a negative post. I have never seen much point in getting into a back and forth on an anonymous message board, but there also comes a time when you have to stand up for yourself. Reading this board is supposed to be an enjoyable pass time for all of us, I assume that's why we’re all here. If my post offended your sensibilities, my sincere apologies, it certainly wasn’t my intention. If you think my stated position is dead wrong, I’m fine with that too, and lastly, if you agree with my salient point that teams are going to keep sleep walking on the Bills until we show them we can be competitive, then it shows that you are a person possessed of unusually keen intellect and moral turpitude. ? Inigo

“Utterly horrible” ”ashamed” ”disgraceful” Dear Transplant, How dare I suggest that teams would consider resting their starters against the Bills this season. I’m sure the fact the Vikings are playing the Bills this week had absolutely nothing to do with their decision to shut down Dalvin Cook for the week and let him rest up for a road game against the Rams next week. Nothing at all. In fact, Transplant, that notion is so utterly horrible, shameful, and disgraceful that I am giving myself a strong verbal reprimand and placing myself on Double Secret Probation as soon as I finish this post! I am so grateful there are self-appointed stewards of anonymous chat board standards, like yourself, cruising around the internet in the wee hours of the morning who have the spare time and energy to feel offended and take umbrage at the posts of others. It’s nice to see that all those years of being a Hall Monitor in high school weren’t a complete waste of time for you. Some people would say that you are just trying to be a jerk, but I would defend you against that specious charge. I don’t think you intentionally try to act like a jerk, I think it just comes to you naturally. All my best, Inigo ?

I’m starting to wonder if “Eyeball” has six fingers on his right hand....

I hope you’re right NoHuddle. I’m hoping Allen matures and the game slows down for him and the rest of the team makes some big strides this season, but even then, I’m tempering my expectations. I don’t see us breaking .500 this year, I’d be happy if the Bills would just be competitive by the end of the year. They haven’t been so far.

I think playing the Bills this week makes that decision easier for them. That’s my point.

I grant you the point Shady, “any given Sunday...” I still think until we become competitive and earn some respect in the league people are going to rest their starters against us. I don’t think it’s a defeatist attitude, I think it’s just the opposite. I think many will be confident they can beat us with their “B game”. Gurley didn’t play a snap in the 4th quarter last week. Don’t be surprised to see Diggs and Thielen riding the pine in the second half Sunday.

Icebowl is probably a lonely person who outside of an occasional “thank you” to a cashier has very little human interaction beyond internet chat rooms. There are a lot of people like that out there.

I’d respectfully disagree Shady. I think the fact they’re playing the Bills does factor into the personnel decisions that teams will make this year when they lace up against us. If you know your star RB or whatever is dinged up, and you are facing the team with the best odds to be drafting first next year, how does that not play into it? If they don’t sit outright, do they only play a few series or a half, more in line with a preseason game? Until the Bills become competitive, teams will take advantage of playing us and they will rest their stars whenever possible. I don’t see where that’s a crazy notion.

Thanks for your kind words. ?

I sure hope you’re right. I didn’t think that game was anywhere near as close as the score ended up reflecting. The Bolts looked like they were playing prevent the entire 4th quarter.

I don’t think we have enough talent on this roster to push many teams this year. I doubt there will be more than two weeks in the entire season where the Bills are not at least two score under dogs.

Dalvin Cook is sitting this week. I think we will see this more and more moving forward where teams take advantage of a Bills game on the schedule to rest their starters with any type of an injury.

Nate Peterman is a Buffalo Bill. He has worked hard to be the best QB he can be. He has put his blood sweat and tears into this team and has taken a pounding in the process. I agree with most that it looks like he will not be able to transition from the college to the pro game. He tried and failed. It happens. It's one thing for some national sports talk show hack to bag on Peterman, but we shouldn't be piling on too. He is a part of the family, he wears the uniform that represents our city. It's kinda like I can hit my brother but if you touch him, I'm gonna pop you. I'm not saying you can't be critical of a player's performance, but a lot of the Nate Peterman vitriol simply crosses the line of human decency and what should be expected from people who claim to be a part of the Bill's Mafia. We shouldn't rally around our players just when they do great, we need to stand with them when they fail too. Maybe Nate Peterman isn't a good NFL QB, but he's still a Buffalo Bill, and we need to have his back and not pile on.

“With the first pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, the Buffalo Bills select....”

Good post OP... I think we are going to take all the lumps this year that I expected we'd take last year. I had no expectation of making the playoffs at the beginning of last year's season. We ate a whole lot of dead money this year and finally got our financial house in order. We now have a prospect with real potential to be a franchise QB. That hasn't been the case in a long time. Hopefully this year will pave the way to future success. I think this is a five win team. Considering the big picture, I can live with that.

We need our picks and cap space to bolster the O line next year. Sure would have been nice to get him back to Buffalo though....

We are in a rebuild and we are going to take some lumps this year. Thank God we were able to break the Drought last year and at least get that monkey off our back. Hopefully we now have our QB of the future. No small thing. Next year we will be out of salary cap hell and we will likely have a high draft pick and be able to go out and aggressively upgrade the 53 man roster and add some pieces around Allen to help him develop. It's indisputable that the sun is starting to set in New England. I think that we will be on the upswing after this year. Try not to lose sight of the big picture.

I think the bottom line is that the Bills need to carry three QBs on this roster with the current state of the O-line.

Agree 100% Boatdrinks... Even if we can snag a couple decent free agents after the cut downs it will take time for them to gel. That's why I'm hoping that they keep Allen on the sidelines for the first few weeks and let Peterman take the reins. I think Peterman won the starting job outright anyways. (don't want to start an argument about that point here) As for the value of what Peterman has won, that's another matter all together. He may have won himself a First Class ticket to injured reserve with our current O-line...

Let's see what happens when the league makes their 53 man roster cuts next week. There will be a handful of serviceable veteran O lineman across the league who get released because their particular team decides to go with a younger, cheaper player that they feel can step in and do the job. We don't need a long term solution on the O-line right now, we just need a serviceable stop gap player (or three). An older vet(s) with a little bit of gas left in the tank might be able to step in and help us out this year. I think Buffalo will be an attractive destination for a vet with a year or two of playing time left because Buffalo will offer the one thing that most other places won't... playing time. Is this situation optimal? Hell no... Is it probably our best chance to bolster the O-line before we get all three of our QBs killed? Hell yes...

The two things I'm most excited about this year watching the Bills games are; 1. Seeing what Allen can do. 2. Not hearing the announcers mention 50 times a game that it's been 17 years since the Bills made the playoffs.

@ Dollars to Donuts I think you have a good argument, there is definitely something to be said for trial by fire, but ultimately, we'll just have to agree to disagree on this one. I think you're right, Allen probably is our best chance to win, and if your #1 objective is to beat the Ravens, Chargers, and Vikings, then you should play Allen. If your #1 priority is to give Allen the best chance to succeed long term, then I would sit him for a few games and let the O line figure itself out first and let Allen get more of a feel for the pro game before you throw him in there.

I like Buffalover4life 's position, Let Peterman go the first few weeks. Let Allen learn the nuts and bolts process of how an NFL game week / game day works. Let him see how Daboll installs a game plan for the upcoming game. Give him a chance to see how the offense breaks down film on the opposing defense. Let him see all the hoopla of opening weekend on the road and the spectacle of a few real NFL games before you ask him to go out there and run the offense. Give him a few weeks to get used to all that and then ease him in week four. That also gets him past three meat grinder defenses. I don't think anyone wants to see Peterman / Chargers Part II for Allen. We need to do everything we can to maximize his chance of being a long term successful quarterback. If it turns out that our O-Line is a turnstile, do you really want him out there at all until the O Line has a few games to gel and get their act together? If holding Allen back and starting Peterman means losing the first three games of the season to set Allen up for future success, I'm ok with that. We've been waiting twenty years for a franchise QB in Buffalo, I can wait three more games. Other's may disagree, but that's my opinion. I'm not in the Peterman camp, I personally think Allen is better, but I am in the camp of giving Allen the best shot to be successful and I think that means easing him into the starting lineup this season.

The thing that gets me about Allen's throws is the crazy flat trajectory of them. Most QB's need to put a bit of arc or loft on the ball to get it down the field over twenty yards. Allen's passes come out of his hand moving at Mach 2.3 and just travel in a straight line to the receiver. When I watch those passes it almost looks like an optical illusion. Sometimes the ball gets there so quickly that the DB, who is in good position to defend the pass, doesn't even have a chance to make a play on the ball. It's like Allen handed off the ball to the receiver twenty yards down the field. Inconceivable!