Ethan in Portland

No one has addressed my other point. Maybe the staff did a good job in developing him but it just took too long to see the finished product. Heck maybe he completely regresses next year. Who knows.

Yes and no. Teller and Thomas were already on the team when they added more talent at TE and guard. But you are correct, teh deeper the roseter the more liekly they are to lose a quality player. This year will be no different i'm sure. They are usually good for one "IR" draft pick per year. I'm sure you will see one of the swing tackles or the C/G from the 7th round tweak a calf and be put on IR to stash them for next year.

And what? If you don't like the thread don't read it or don't comment on it. Logan Thomas was the lead story for the NFL section of ESPN.com today making the thread timely.

I didn't say he was the missing piece. I agree he may very well be a one-hit wonder. Good take. I do think on balance McD's staff seems to coach players up more than not. As others have said, he may have been getting better just not fast enough and they made the move to draft Knox and Sweeney.

After seeing Logan Thomas break out with the WFT, my initial thought was how did the staff miss his future development having him in Buffalo for two years. It's not as if there was a superstar TE that got 90% of the reps. Of course it reminds you of the Wyatt Teller story as well. I then decided to put a different spin on it. Maybe the Bills' staff is the reason he has progressed. Maybe they deserve a lot of the credit. Maybe they can do the same with Knox and Sweeney,

Still massive question marks at the linebacker position and our safeties are getting up there in age. Beane needs to hit on two of the three DEs he drafted. If they are at least solid then he can spend draft capital on safety and center next year. If Edmunds doesn't get better or Milano proves to be injury prone they will have big holes to fill. Chargers will be a factor this year if Herbert does not regress. They had a great off-season. Sadly so did KC and Cleveland.

I was at that game. Amazing! Huge Bills fan attendance. I have a signed Thurman jersey. It would be cool to get Jim Kelly and Bruce Smith as well. I was not born but a Cookie Gilchrist jersey would be awesome. I have a signed ball from the 1980 team. Real pen ink - not something that was mass produced. Butler, Cribbs, Ferguson, Smerlas, Williams, Haslett, Freeland and Nixon and even Mickemeyer are all on there.

Good point on the losing

Darkhorse is an interesting choice of words. As many have said, most expect the players to play well. I will go with Cody Ford as my dark horse candidate to play really well. Many expect him to be competing just for a roster spot. My darkhorse to lose his job is Feliciano. He was never that good but seems to be a fan favorite. He drew little FA interest that we know. He is on my short list of surprise camp cuts.

We do know. When he was traded to Seattle he was a SB winner and a superstar.

I have defended Dareus and given McD crap for not coaching him up and taking the easy way out by trading him. However it's wrong to say he had no role models. He had Kyle Williams playing next to him. He had Hughes who by all reports is a good locker room guy. Maybe if McD and Frazier had been his initial coaches instead of Ryan it could have turned out better. Dareus is one of many NFL players to get the second contract signing bonus and then give up. He won't be the last. I still suspect given the right circumstance Dareus could still play at a high level. At least be solid rotation

Good comments so far. How about Ryan Lindell? He was a really good kicker. If the Bills had a better offense he probably has a much higher total point total.

Beating the defending champion Steelers to clinch a playoff spot but not the Division title yet

Wow that was really cool to watch. A few thoughts... I was ten and knew nothing of the streak and was just beginning to follow NFL football. I knew very little of the details of this game other than the victory and the post-victory celebration. I knew more about the rest of the 1980 season including Cribbs amazing year and sadly Ferguson's ankle. Cribbs and Butler could play in 2021 NFL. Maybe Smerlas as 3-tech DT. Not sure there is another player on either team athletic enough to play by current standards. The 2020 Clemson, Alabama, or Ohio Stat

Wasn’t Dak leading the NFL in yards before his injury? Last year Elliott took a step back as their o-line was banged up. If they can stay healthy they will be very good. Same goes with the Bills