LSHMEAB

I think Trump has done and said MANY things that have polarized voters, and caused some to believe he is awesome and some to believe he is wholly unqualified. I do agree that the policies have been somewhat conventional in terms of the tax cuts/deregulation etc. Where he's diverged from conventional conservatism is the "trade wars" for lack of a better term. Oddly enough, I support the tariffs and tough tactics because I care about American workers. It's not our responsibility to worry about workers worldwide. Not really interested in a political tit for tat at the moment and there's really no way to verify either of our opinions as it pertains to the "middle." My personal BELIEF is that there are many, many people who will vote FOR Bernie Sanders.(Personal political views aside) I don't believe there is anyone who will vote FOR Joe Biden. I'm quite sure you'd vote for neither, which is fine. There are certainly voters who may vote for Joe Biden, but wouldn't vote for Bernie Sanders. What I'm positing is that the number of folks who will show up to vote FOR Sanders outweighs the number of folks who will abstain/vote for Trump should he be the nominee instead of a milquetoast candidate like Biden. Just my opinion.

This shtick is getting OLD.

Peerless Price wasn't as overt, but he made it clear through his agent that he wanted out of Buffalo. TD(I think) tagged him with zero intent of resigning him. Bills (of that era) made an uncharacteristically terrific trade with ATL. I don't think it's all that uncommon. Maybe bad form, but not particularly uncommon. The situation is somewhat unique in that Yannick has been very public about his desire to get out; I'll give you that much.

The middle has dwindled in this country. For Democrats, it's far less important to "woo" this tiny number of folks than it is to actually motivate people to vote. Based on your description of the "rational middle, just living their lives," they sound quite a bit like the new "dumb voters" who are also just living their lives. I would counter that this mythical "middle" is just as dumb as those who generally don't vote. You're an ideologue. I'm an ideologue. That's because we pay attention. To state anything to the contrary would be disingenuous. Very partisan slant you just concocted, which is only noteworthy because you opined on the importance of the "middle." Anyone dumb enough to not have formulated an opinion on whether they'd like to give Trump a second term shouldn't be allowed to vote.

There are A LOT of Buffalo transplants here in Vegas. Wouldn't be surprised if the Raiders/Bills fan attendance rate was pretty evenly split.

On the STREETS making 66k?? I think you need a financial consultant my man.

Doug Flutie was never a BUFFALO BILL.

McGee brought a ton of value as a KR, but I don't think he was a better corner than Winfield. Like the train of thought though. I always thought they were the same guy. Going back a bit further, Thomas Smith was better than all of them and Greer. That guy would have been a perennial all pro if he didn't have stone hands.

Right. I respect where Augie is coming from in terms of SF as an outlier, but the outliers are the best teams that eventually have a chance to play in and win Superbowls. These are the teams doing it better than the rest. I'm very pleased with the progress the team has made, but I'm not complacent. My hope is that Beane and McDermott are "outliers." We're gonna find out quite a bit this season. Sadly, Bill Walsh is no longer with us to mentor BD.

Not really surprised by this result and it doesn't mean much of anything. AA SC dems are generally old and moderate. The good thing is these type of voters WILL show up to vote in the general, regardless of the D candidate. Not that it means anything in SC, but it means something nationally. People here will be very pleased when Sanders dominates Super Tuesday; in the sense that you view him as the weakest candidate with no shot. If Biden is the nominee, the election will be nothing more than "vote against Trump." That NEVER works. Never has. Never will. Kerry was vote against Bush. Romney was vote against Obama etc. Hoping to woo this non existent "middle" is a surefire way to lose an election. Who's gonna be riled up on election day to get out of bed, take time off work, and vote for JOE BIDEN? I know, I know; Sanders folks don't have jobs. Like him or hate him, Sanders is the only candidate anyone is going to vote FOR. The left wing outlet coverage of Bernie is reminiscent of the coverage Trump received from right wing outlets in 16. They were petrified of his candidacy because he was guaranteed to lose. How'd that work out? Not saying Sanders would beat Trump, but he's got the best shot (IMO) despite the fact that the know nothing beltway crowd is terrified.

Eh. Kind of cherry picking. I think, unfortunately, he was expecting Neal to create more of an impact on Watson and got into clean up mode. Horrible moment for Milano, but I think we've all seen that play as much as we'd like. Once was enough for me.

The guy does everything well and has a knack for finding the football. The one ding is that he's not the strongest LB at the point of attack, but he makes up for that (and them some) with excellent coverage skills and run game awareness. The defense has not looked the same in the games he's missed. My favorite player on the roster.

Not here to drag Josh, but the reason I say his ceiling APPEARS to have fallen is that we really haven't seen those super prolific performances you see from the top guys. We haven't seen that performance in which he's slinging the rock all over the place. Doesn't mean he can't or won't get there, but there's your answer. Like I said, his FLOOR is significantly higher, so that's the good news.

Yeah. This may very well have been the most IMPACTFUL play of the season. We've got some issues while playing with a lead against good teams/QB's. We don't run the ball effectively and the defense often fails to get much pressure on opposing QB.s Last drive against Cleveland comes to mind. When you've got the defense out there flipping fields and creating points, it changes everything. That's the play we needed against Houston. This is why I'm so interested in seeing them add a stud edge athlete.

Good post overall; what's changed since he entered the league is that as of RIGHT NOW, his floor is much higher and his ceiling APPEARS to have fallen a bit. We all know what he needs to do to reach the next level, but the positive take is that his floor has significantly risen. He's clearly not a "bust." He does too many things well to "suck." What I would like to see in year 3 is.....what everyone knows we want to see.

As to the OP; I became a Bills fan at age 9 and never looked back. Mom is from Buffalo and I was hooked immediately. As far as heartbreak, I think I got you beat buddy. I "love" 3 teams; The Bills, the Tigers, and Michigan BASKETBALL. Since I became "of age" in terms of sports, those teams have played in and lost a combined 10 STRAIGHT championship games/series. You'd be hard pressed to find 3 random teams with that kind of record over a 30 year span. The Bills obviously lost 4 straight starting in 1990. Michigan basketball has lost 4 straight starting with the FAB 5. The Tigers have lost 2 (2006/2012). When you consider a team has to be really good to even reach a championship, most of these are more or less a coin toss. Three teams; 10 STRAIGHT losses. Please forgive my cynicism when it comes to the teams I support.

I think all the talk of "must win the division" has some merit, but also some flaws. If the Bills are competitive next season, nobody is getting fired, so "must win" is kind of extreme. The issue is this; it's year 4. You've got your QB going into his third full season. The division is relatively weak. Once again, it's year FOUR. I think what we're driving at is that some serious question marks will and should arise if this team doesn't once again make the playoffs AND win at least one playoff game. As much enthusiasm has been generated by the process, the time to start seeing big results is NOW.

Was it a titlist?

Not to mention the fact that Quinn will be less expensive (IMO) and brings more to the table as a disrupter, something the defense is lacking. Hap's paraphrase of the the article regarding Shaq is precisely the reason I think the contract he receives is gonna blow people away. His career trajectory will lead teams to believe he's on the precipice of greatness(he is not). He's also just 25. The guy is a solid player who's maxed out his potential, especially in terms of TACKLING the QB. Quinn would be a great signing because he's still got a lot of gas left in the tank and he's still capable of bringing HEAT. He's 29, and Hughes is 30+, so they would still need to draft a guy in the early/middle rounds to really solidify the position. My preference is that they go big here and try to land Clowney or Yannick, but I'd be fine with Quinn as well. Several other interesting names on the list, but Clayborn doesn't do it for me. Takes money to make money. Agreed. I take everything I hear from a GM in a press conference with a grain of salt.

We'll have to agree to disagree, but a tangible measure of his improvement in this area WILL be YPA. If you're consistently throwing guys open and hitting targets, it will reflect in the YPA. Josh made tremendous strides in year 2, but the YPA still isn't where it needs to be (at all). Let's just hope they acquire the right offensive personnel so we can assess the QB play with a more comprehensive picture.

Just curious how you arrived at this conclusion. In my estimation, throwing receivers open, which creates opportunities for YAC is going to be vital going forward. Allen is accurate on "stick" routes if you will. Where he needs to improve is ball placement on both the long balls and hitting RB's/TE's/guys like Beasley in stride. If he going to take that next step from decent to elite, improvement in this particular aspect is crucial. Probably why this is such a focal point for Palmer and Allen's offseason training.

We don't need picks. We need STUDS. No interest in trading back.

I mean, bang. The poster viewing this as some kind of sinister plot is really blowing my mind. McD has gotten results and I'm glad he's the HC. If we're judging results, he's by far the most PROVEN of the big 3(Beane, McD, Allen) Culture is clearly a priority for these guys, but I believe Beane/McD would be willing to give a less than stellar "character" a shot. They were absolutely sniffing around AB last offseason. What does that tell you? In the grand scheme of things, all it really means is that we've got a HC who's gotten results and is fully committed to his job and the team. I don't think he deserves extreme praise for this, but he sure as all () doesn't deserve critique. At the end of the day, the regime has got to do a better job evaluating offensive talent or they won't get where they need to be. But picking THIS to bash? Just off the wall really.

A) You have to be extremely careful with Pats OL. Nate Solder was the best LT in football! B) Thuney is more of a finesse guard, and what this line needs is a mauler. Hope this doesn't come to fruition.

There's really NOTHING to criticize here, although the positive extrapolations are a bit extreme. With the weather/small market issues the Bills face, it's absolutely vital that the GM/HC do everything in their power to make Buffalo an appealing destination. McDermott seems to do a great job "inspiring" men and fostering a positive environment. That much is self evident. Results are really the only thing that matter, and McD has eked every single win possible out of his rosters ALL 3 seasons in Buffalo. While I question the importance of "culture" and all of that jazz, the proof is in the pudding. While the draft is the lifeblood of the team, I do think it's important for the Bills to acquire some top end talent via FA'cy. If this helps, that's great.