Phil The Thrill

I think that Peko is a problem but ai honestly don’t think it will be too hard to find an upgrade from him

Thank you?? I don’t get why people say this. That’s like saying the Giants ONLY won Super Bowl 25 because Scott Norwood missed a kick. Or taking away The Patriots Super Bowl win because Darrel Bevel was too stupid to call a run on the goal line. Every team has gotten breaks along the way. It seems dumb to always focus on the Bengals game when you could find so many other moments in other seasons.

Thank you. Can’t wait to hear this. I remember when Mike and Sal got into it over culture and tanking. Sal was pretty passionate and then Mike kept apologizing. LOL

I should clarify.... it made me feel like they have a better chance at fixing the run defense, than I did on Sunday. I thought (like Joe B) that Star was a huge reason why the defense was gashed. His job is take on double teams and prevent blockers from getting to the second level. Joe B said that’s exactly what he did and that he did it well. He graded him at an A-. If you trust Joe’s find study then a lot of the issues on the ground involved LB’s not making plays and missing tackles - including the 65 yard run that you referenced. Edmunds and Milano have flashed before and you can argue that they have room to improve and learn. A veteran like Star probably has hit his ceiling. Of course, Peko seems to be a weak link on the defense. Perhaps the answer is playing him less or bringing up Taylor. But either way, knowing that Star wasn’t the huge liability in the Philadelphia game is good to know. Of course, he does need to play better

I think he was better than a “bust” but then again I’m not sure if he ever completely lived up to the hype of a #1 overall pick. I would put him in the same category as a Matthew Stanford or an Alex Smith to a lesser extent. A lot of Bills fans were talking about Bledsoe with him making an appearance at the game Sunday. It’s funny how many people online were like “I knew it was a bad trade. Why would Belichick trade a QB in his own division.” This is revisionist history 101. Back in 2002 the Bills were coming off a 3-13 year and saw the any optimism for Rob Johnson as franchise QB go down in flames. When the trade was made, the Bills fan base and media were PUMPED! We had thought we were getting a great QB. People were very excited for the Bledsoe Era. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise

I think this news is somewhat positive. Like Joe said in his column, I assumed that Star was a major problem last game - it turns out it was Peko and poor play from LB’s. The fact that Star wasn’t getting owned all game gives me hope that McDermott, Frazier and whoever else on the coaching staff can help fix the defense

So many fans were upset when they saw O’Leary catch his 1 TD last season

Beane always says “you have to have a dance partner.” My impression is that he probably tried to make a deal but the asking price was too high. I believe that internally, they see 2020 as the big year to make some noise. I don’t think view this season as “Super Bowl or bust.” If there was a deal that made sense to them like the Benjamin trade in 2017, I believe Beane would make a deal.

Another blowout loss won’t matter. McDermott has been “the most powerful man on One Bills Drive.” The Pegulas love the job McDermott is doing for the franchise. I would guess that he can go 7-9 and still get a 4th year. I think that there is a lot of admiration of McDermott from The Pegulas and he has Brandon Beane is his corner. He’ll survive any record and probably will get a 5th year. I would be willing to be that The Pegulas gave him assurances that he’d have time to complete “the process” Anything short of a rift between Beane and McDermott, and he is staying. He is the Bills coach - for good or for bad.

Thats because coaching staff, players, front office staff and owners haven’t changed over the past 20 years

You make a lot of good points for today. I don’t know that this game is going to be indicative of the rest of the season for the Bills. They’ll get their rushing defense figures out and teams won’t be as strong on the OL as Philly was today. We also need a better performance from the offense. 13 points is not enough. But if you look at the big picture the Bills are 5-2 and can take the next 3 or 4 games. Nothing is a given but it’s not impossible to think that the Bills can be in good shape going into Dallas on Thanksgiving.

Buffalo is pretty reasonable. Where do you live now?

Not the biggest game but it could be a “statement” game

The whole thing is, there is no proof that deliberately tanking actually works in the NFL. It didn’t really work in Cleveland. There’s not telling it will work in Miami. In less teams have success I don’t think they change it

Yeah I agree. You would think that Frazier should be a candidate. He has guided the Bills to pretty good defenses (for the most part) with younger or limited talent. Plus he didn’t completely bomb in Minnesota. The team went 18-18. I do think that he suffers from the stigma of being “old” and being a retread. People assume he has a traditional philosophy which doesn’t sell. Also, I think working under McDermott is hurting him because every assumes the defense is all McD’s. He deserves a second chance

Harrison was getting the majority of snaps at 1 before he was injured!

That is a long time to have someone under contract

I was listening to Joe Buscaglia preview the Bills game this morning on Jerry Sullivan and said the game is a coin flip. He thinks the Eagles have a good offense that will try to challenge the Bills and run inside. Not only is that the strength of the Philly OL, but it was a big weakness last week vs a terrible Miami OL. This is why a nobody like Mark Walton ran for a few big plays - though overall he didn’t put up a ton of numbers. Joe’s main culprit is Star Loutelelei. He said he has been terrible this year and is not winning matchups very well. While he never put up stats, he’s not doing a very good job holding his ground either. His replacement Kyle Peko has been worse. Miami pushed him around all day resulting in more big plays. Since Peko and Star were so terrible, the Bills were forced to line up Jordan Phillips who plays on the other side at 1 technique next to Ed Oliver. This is a pretty big concern to me when the guy you paid $10 million a year is awful at DT and can’t even get on the field a crucial times. The inside runs could be something to watch as Philly might try to set up for a few play action bombs.

IMO I think Beane is going to think twice before trading a high draft asset for rent-a-player. So some of these name that have been thrown around like Mike Evans....it’s not going to happen. The 2020 draft is supposed to be very high on WR’s and I can’t see him giving away a premium pick to have a WR play on the roster for a half a season. As much as I’d love to see AJ Green on the time, I don’t think I’d trade a 1st or even 2nd round pick for him

Except he rips the Bills all of the time. This is his way of throwing more shade

Yeah...you aren’t wrong about this

B+ Im going to score him a lot higher than most Bills fans will. You have to consider the parts he has to work with starting with Allen. He’s trying to get Allen to be a different type of QB than he was last year, which is no easy task. He has improved his completion percentage by a lot and looks a lot better with short throws. He has good talent at WR but really lacks a big time play maker. You could say the same for the RB’s too. Plus the team is moving the ball more effectively than last year. Unfortunately there have been a lot of turnover and drops which resulted in a lower scoring total, but that could change.

For some reason I can’t remember this game

I looked this up too. It surprised me because I thought Miami’s pass defense was worse

Yeah that’s a bit of an exaggeration, though he did miss Andre Roberts by a mile