Ethan in Cleveland

Its a product of 13 seconds. If Bills had just been beaten the questions about McDermott would likely not exist. But when your coaching staff blows the best shot at a SuperBowl in 25 years it is a fair criticism. Last year honestly deserves an asterisk for all that the team and coaching staff endured. I'm as big a McDermott skeptic as anyone on this board but you have to praise the guy for all he did through the mass of injuries, the weather, and the Hamlin incident.

The clock is not the issue. It is the mechanics of how they monitor the clock. The ref apparently can't watch the clock and the ball at the same time. I call BS on this. If the QB can see the clock in the endzone so should the ref. You could put a mobile play clock the lines up with the LOS to the line judges are looking at clock and ball at same time. I doubt a buzzer would work given how loud it is but there are better ways to enforce this including the use of replay.

Yes a 6th of all plays are STs but half of those are FGs and XPs, which 99% of the time come down to snap, hold, kick. So real percentage of meaningful plays is far less than 10%. Add punts and KOs that are touchbacks or fair catches and you are getting down to low single digit meaningful plays. I won't argue that every once in a while you get an exciting play but the game will be fine with less kick offs. I'm for any rule that further demphasizes special teams. I dont want bottom of roster guys deciding the outcome of the game. More than not you get a holding penalty on the kick return just putting your offense is worse shape. I'd take Josh Allen at the 25 after every kick off returning the kick any day. I hope 2024 they eliminate the entire play and just start at the 25. Less TV timeouts, less injury, less penalties.

We have great fans and a great connection to the city but so does Pittsburgh, Chicago, Green Bay, Seattle, KC, Cleveland, and several others. I'd say we travel better than any other franchise, but that may be in part because so many of us have left WNY already. And that is just NFL. Baseball in places like St Louis are just as linked as the Bills are to Buffalo.

49ers at 3 is a joke. Not having a QB trumps the next ten best players. Bills for 17 years had decent rosters but no QB. Browns the last few years have had great OL, great pass rusher, and decent WRs and still suck. Packers have had terrible rosters for years yet Rodgers and one good to great WR was good enough to get in the playoffs year after year. You can't speak about a roster as if they are all equal parts. Its a team sport in name only. Its a QB and 52 other guys sport. The exceptions are incredibly rare over the last two plus decades.

Life happens - I would avoid getting a tattoo of any sports team. Oh wait that wasn't the question As others have said, I'm a Bills fan not a NFL fan. If Bills left Buffalo even though I have not lived there since 1988 I would stop watching NFL. I'd casually watch college football but not follow any one team. There is a game of the year every weekend in college football to entertain me. I would not give up 3 or 4 hours of my weekend for any NFL team besides the Bills. What part of Portland?

They have in the past

I think the jury is still out on playing in the rain though. Cold is not his issue. I suspect all QBs struggle with a wet ball and sadly Bills have had more than their fair share of rain games the last two years it seems.

Great list. No arguments on the the list or the order. I would add one shout out game that I think goes overlooked. That is the Hopkins Hail Mary Cardinal game. Allen's come from behind drive and TD pass to Diggs is one of the great passing TD in Bills history. Absolute incredible throw leaning backwards across the field in front of future HOF Patrick Peterson.

He's still in my top 5 NFL players of all time though 3-5 bounce around in my head sometimes. 1. Jerry Rice 2. Tom Brady 3. Lawrence Taylor 4. Joe Montana 5. Jim Brown

Why? If its the truth its the truth. After OJ dies, are we not supposed to talk about the murder of two people anymore? No person is perfect. Our heros are not perfect people. They can still be revered for all they accomplish but death doesn't erase all aspects good and bad of their lives.

Getting back to the OP original question. It is a good question. My guess is no one really knows. In Portland Paul Allen had a leadership group called Vulcan. It managed all aspects of his business interests but was intimately involved in the sports operations of both the Blazers and Seahawks. In the case of the Seahawks they hired a good GM and backed off. In The Blazers case they were constantly meddling in player and coach decisions. Heck even Jerry Jones listens (sometimes) to his son. With Kim out of the picture it is a good question to ask who does Terry consult for business decisions for Sabres and Bills. He almost assuredly had someone else besides Kim but reportedly she was essentially a co-owner when it came to decisions. If anything there is a void there.

Good post. I agree. I wanted them to add an OT but by the time they picked in first round all the top prospects were gone. Agree with Kincaid pick. Torrence was too good to pass up in second round. I'm actually equally worried about Dawkins as I am Brown. Dawkins has played poorly in two consecutive years with the exception of about 5 games at the end of 2021. Those 5 or 6 games were some of his best football played however. Really enigma. I see them moving on from Dawkins in 2024 unless he really rebounds. He is way overpaid for the level of play he showed in 2022.

Get no argument on Kelly. As for Thurman, if you put him behind Dallas O-line that Smith had he would have produced even more yards. Sanders was a better runner, but Thurman was just as good a running back when you take into account receiving and pass blocking.

Apparently winning and individual achievements are not part of your criteria.

Please dont leave out Thurman Thomas in the history of Buffalo superstars. He was a league MVP. Allen is more physically gifted than all but OJ and Bruce, but has yet to even come close to the accomplishments of Thomas, Reed, Lofton, and Kelly. In time he will though. Don't forget Perreault, Mogilny, Hasek,and LaFontaine. All Buffalo superstars in their day.

That is a good question. It all depends on what you pay him. If he plays just slightly better than last year and would accept a contract paying him somewhere around 30-35th best WR that would be fair for both sides. He is still young and has not had any major injuries. However my guess is he will want more money than that and there will be some team with enough money to pay him top 20 money.

Perhaps. Not sure a DL coach really matters that much. In the hierarchy of importance I would put DL coach only above ST coordinator in terms of importance. Im sure there are some techniques to learn but doubt there is much difference between college and pro for DL. That said DT takes a long time to develop where edge guys can make a difference right away. Lol. I think "playing contain" is code word for suck at pass rush. You can maintain contain and still rush the passer. Now setting the edge is different. That is key for run defense and letting the linebackers flow to the ball.

Edge is the biggest need. I like Lawson but he is putrid as a pass rusher. Rousseau looked good opposite Miller until both got hurt. He didn’t play well after the injury. He needs a big year. I have no hopes for Basham and Epenesa. They are as bad as the Ford pick. Maybe one of these backup LBs can pass rush from time to time. Maybe they kick Oliver to end for a few snaps a game. Maybe Miller shows up and is ready to go and we all still question what the hell happened with White last year.

Basham, Epenesa, Morse, and Oliver are gone after this season. Davis most likely too unless he really balls out and Diggs becomes a distraction. White is my cap casualty for 2024. They didn't extend him so they can move on from him next year as a post June 1 cut. Elam and Benford are cheaper options. Make or break has to be Brown. If he plays well he can be RT for several years. That allows them to draft Dawkins replacement next season. If Brown doesn't get any better they will really be hurting at OT in 2024. Its not about failure. Its about pretending to be GM and predicting what you or Beane might do in the future

Nope. He had one good half of football otherwise he was terrible. Correct about defense and Woods. The offense was better with Brissett.

They had consistent play with Brissett. Stefanski is a moron. Their DC last year was even worse. Watson was awful. Offseason addressed many issues. But HC and QB are the same. Stefanski will be first HC fired on Nov 20th after a home loss to Pittsburgh.

Agree

I'd take Lee Smith over Ertz, Morris, or Gilliam. He's a better blocker than all three of them. If you paid attention you would know that Kincaid is not a TE. He is a tall slot WR. He will never be the #1 line up next to the tackle TE.

1. Oline was bad so you can get home with rushing 4 or less 2. Josh has proven he is a blitz killer so it makes sense to drop 7 in coverage. 3. Every good defense we have seen for more than a decade now is predicated on getting pressure with the front four. McD is no different. The truly great defenses can rush four from odd formations to confuse and create matchup issues