WideNine

It was a mistake - Allen will make them. He did that same thing about 3 games ago where he locked onto a receiver on his left and did not see the safety coming over. He will need to correct that - does not make me overly worried - Allen knew as soon as he let it go... you could see it on his face. He was upset and he will learn from this. This is why he needs these games and not Barkley or any other QB.

Not sure why the Pats are running stretch plays - they can run it right down the middle.

completely rookie mistake - locked on his receiver too long. Josh knew as soon as he let that go.

Not like many on this board have not noted what we lack in the trenches, WR's that can catch, and Special Teams that do suck. We get our hopes up knowing full well that this team is not there on many levels. Should not be surprised, would not mind being surprised, but the Pats have seen all the weaknesses we have noted all year that need to be addressed. McBeane need to know how to let guys go that are no longer effective as players - they seem almost too attached to their players.

Remember that officials are highly accurate based on their assessment of their calls done by their own staff. Wonder how an independent audit group would grade these clowns. I like too how it is a weird WTF call then quick "go to commercial" and don't talk about it.

Let the officiating wierdness continue... no overturn of the non-td and now a kicking team is blocking for the receiving team..

McKenzie looks like he is jogging when he is on kickoffs - he should just find a seam an go... not like you are going to get hit any lighter if your just trotting sideways.

WTF.... can anyone execute on special teams. If Hausch does not pull his play together, the Bills are going to need to go shopping. Not sure what his deal is this year, but has been inconsistent. If he is hurt, they should have just put him on IR and found someone who could kick a 40 yard field goal

Then they have mailed it in all year stopping the run... they have sucked at it and have never consistently gotten any push. They are built pretty well for stopping the pass, but they get outmuscled on the line just about every game.

Just a few things we keep seeing on this team... dropped passes on critical 3rd down yardage - deep in our zone and then we have lousy special team's punting that gives opponents a short field.... its a thing.

yeah - folks get really sensitive about that, but he is an interior pass rusher, not a run stuffer. His forte is shedding blocks not pushing them back... we need someone on the DL to do what Star is supposed to do. Getting run over all year in the red zone.

Overpaid for Star and not getting a lot of help

I almost don't see it anymore, but just about every time he puts an inside move on a lineman you watch and you will see Jerry getting drug backwards with a half-nelson. It just rarely if ever gets called as there is too much personal animus between Hughes and the Officiating organization - not just individual refs. Their official response to the suspension of Roy Ellison, one of their own, just adds more credibility to the theory that they have had a Hughes chip on their collective shoulders. Rather than say that they recognize that Ellison's behavior was out of line and unprofessional, they had what I thought was a telling, unprofessional, and amateurish response, "a player who has a well-documented history of abusive language and inappropriate actions towards our officials". What is missed in this is the frustration of a competitive player who has watched "impartial" officials heap just enough penalties on our Bills to take over games that the Bills may have had a chance to win if they got a penalty here, or no flag there - I guess well-documented refers to a game where the Bills under Rex played the Giants and watched the officials levy 17 penalties for 140 yards against the Bills with several phantom calls - and yes, Jerry lost his cool and was fined. What is lost in their documentation is officiating that has often taken over games in obvious lop-sided favoritism that led to the frustration to begin with. Oh well, the NFL does not seem to be interested in breaking up the Officiating cabal - starting with elevating in 2017 Alberto Riveron the Senior VP of Officiating overseeing operations and replay who is from the old guard of officials and definitely has shown no love for the Bills and the continued favoritism towards the Patriots that we and most of the league have come to expect. Funny that this was featured in the Boston Herald, and we probably have a link to it somewhere on the wall, but figured with the Pats coming up it was worth a re-read. It is a statistical anomaly over the past decade when considering the subjective nature of flagging penalties that the Bills are consistently ranked in the top-half or top-10 in receiving penalties and the Patriots in the bottom 10 - except for one year I think. https://www.bostonherald.com/2017/12/25/borges-of-course-it-seems-like-the-patriots-get-the-calls-to-go-their-way/

He is one of the few that got behind our line and not only executed Daboll's offense pretty well, but survived without getting broken or concussed. I think this is a good move...seems like a good locker room guy too. Josh has had a big ol' target on his back since he runs and creates problems for defenses, so it is not a stretch to think he might get dinged along the way and they will need someone to spell him who is capable, but not a distraction or QB controversy guy. Barkley fits the mold.

Although as a rule I do not like drafting Offensive line in the 1st round of a draft, one cannot help but see how that worked out for Indy with their pick of Quenton Nelson. There are some legit blue chip O-linemen available this year and I could foresee a run on them considering the needs of teams that invested a lot in their QB of the future - Arizona, Buffalo, and some established teams have to be thinking they need to protect better - Aaron Rogers isn't getting any younger and took a lot of shots this year, the Redskins QBs have been destroyed, the Eagles, Detroit, Miami, Houston, Dallas, Tennessee, and the Giants all but said they are retooling their o-line - all of these teams are likely thinking they have to do a better job protecting their current investments at QB. There has been some solid speculation on this forum that this could also lead to more than a bit of a bidding war around FA o-linemen that are worth looking at and would likely price them beyond their value - the Bills have money, but need to spend it wisely. I see them maybe cracking the piggy bank for 1 or 2 FA o-linemen tops depending on how the bidding goes. So the rest would have to come via the draft. I don't think our defense is in as desperate need as the offense, and will be even better if they can get healthy again. They could use some depth at LB and another prospect that can do what Star is supposed to be doing every down - if nothing else, to help spell him in a rotation because taking on double teams without getting blown up is not as easy as some would think and those guys get gassed fast (not excusing him for lack of impact, just saying he and the Bills would do better with a quality rotation at the position) Darius was supposed to be that guy for the d-line to build around before Star - didn't work. If there is a can't miss BPA on defense then you take him, but it will be interesting to see how the next draft unfolds, I also think there are some really solid TE prospects coming out this year would like us to pick up one that has above average blocking, and hands that can catch a bullet.

Not to knock on Allen, but Belicheat also said we had great WRs and TEs. He always talks up the competition, and our team too before they go out and thump us and he trots off the field with a smirk.

And NE scored a whopping 10 against the Titans and the Steelers this year, but I will grant you that the Bills have not been able to put up big offensive numbers. I do think that they have been a drop away from putting up better numbers each week - we will see if the O can get'er done this week.

I ran across a poster who knew a lot more about Culley than I did, and had nothing but praise for what he can do for a QB. I was willing to take a "wait and see approach" I think that McBeane knew that they were going to go all-in for a QB last year and there is a reason they pulled in Culley and Daboll who spent 2 years as a QB coach and has had endorsements from QBs he has worked with. I do think that there is a difference between having QB coaches to turn to and having a veteran QB on the sideline with a clipboard helping settle the nerves. Maybe a young QB is a bit more comfortable asking situational questions from someone who has actually been there done that. Whatever the formula, I think it is clear that Josh is learning week from week and he seems to have the right people around him that are helping him get there.

Thanks for sharing this. I have to think that any team that uses some kind of aggregate numbers method to determine how to beat rookie QB's would be pretty narrow-minded. Most all of these QB's have learned and gotten a bit better over the season - perhaps Allen and Dalton the most. Belichick is not dumb, he isn't watching Allen's first NFL games, he is watching his last few games and knows that he can hit throws from the pocket. Ol' Bill was a bit overly generous heaping praise on the Bills receiving core and Tight Ends, knowing him he was giggling inside, but we do have some of our young WR talent stepping up. Croom can't block a breeze, but is starting to show some clutch grabs. If there is anything I think the Patriots will take out of watching film of the Bills it is that our line has been pretty susceptible to stunts, twists, and delayed blitzes. So he may elect to send guys after Josh but be sure to have his outside rushers play disciplined to not lose contain and ensure he cannot escape the pocket. I think sometimes folks may also underestimate how hard Josh can be to bring down with a smaller corner or safety... he has shown that he can stiff-arm or shed that first guy so we will see. It will be an interesting match-up and if Josh stays healthy he should learn a lot from it.

Good article about the importance of your offensive line. Although written from the Giant's perspective they focus a lot on the moves that Colts made in the offseason to address their line with some quotes from our Frank Reich. Also a cautionary tale for those who think taking or paying for a top-tier running back is a wise move before a team has built a decent line to run behind. Shurmur gives the nod to Colts success due largely to their retooling of their offensive line.

If dealing with the aftermath of that did not make him go back to hitting the pipe, nothing would. And a bit more about how the Patriots plan to fill the gap left by Gordon - and an almost interesting story around how Belichick informed Gilmore of making his 2nd pro-bowl. Its good to know he never breaks character. Game planning after Gordon's departure and other Patriot news "stuff"

Take the over with the the Bills giving up +6 At least (2) roughing the Brady calls, (3) holds (2 by Dawkins, 1 by an interior linemen like our center where replays leave the booth baffled), and a minimum of (1) DPI against White and likely (1) against Wallace as he will probably draw Edelman in the slot. Throw in the usual (1) more for Dawkins being an ineligible receiver downfield on a screen play and you will probably be in the right neighborhood. Last week was an unusual reprieve... I think we could be in for a flag-fest. I believe we have Shawn Smith's officiating crew (unless the schedule has changed) and he seems to be on the high end of tossing flags around. From Pro-Football-Reference site: in 2018 Smith is averaging 15.85 penalties/game for 142.85 yards the league average is 13.51 for a 115.50 yards They were the crew that officiated our game against Chicago earlier this year where: Chicago was assessed 14 penalties for 129 yards and the Bills were assessed 10 penalties for 163 yards.

Not sure a lot of what we are seeing out there today was by design, but everyone is entitled to an opinion - and I mean that. IMO - What I think I have seen is a staff that has been scrambling to fill holes caused by piss-poor play and injuries and what we have in regards to starting roster is what they were able to pull up from the practice squad, or grab off waivers, and some of it turned out to be not terrible. I give a young front office a mulligan now and then, but some moves were just not very well thought out - like not having some veteran QB depth/backup which forced them to pull one guy off the couch and another off the street. That did not seem like a strategic move no matter how much you wrap it in "process" I am honest about the above, but I'll add that if the the staff at OBD can be honest in evaluating their own performance and learn from past mistakes I am willing to see if they can grow into the role a bit and if that growth translates into success on the field.

Don't fall for it - wasn't Aaron Rogers supposed to be on life support when we played GB and he schooled us, even ran for a 1st down if I remember. Stafford was supposedly at the end of his rope too and had a pretty good game all things considered. I will consider Brady to be officially hurt when his backup is playing.

As for o-linemen I think the OP agreed with you that any o-linemen worth his salt will be at least 10 mil - he added at the end of his O-Line spend tally - (thinking 2 @ $11M & 1 @ $5M)