Chaos

I think the Pats are better team right now. I don't like it.

Everyone needs a first stint before they can have a second stint. Planning for the future.

I love the use of the word eschews.

The Bills schedule is not that much harder this year.

At the 155 vote mark, a majority project 1 loss for the Bills on the remaining schedule. So 13-4 for both. Patriots win the division with a by virtue of having only one loss in the division. Meaning last weeks loss to the Dolphins will be the difference between the #1 seed and the #5 side. This because as I am so often told, the early season games don't really matter.

I think everyone is over complicating this. Its pretty simple. Josh Allen is not as effective this season as in recent seasons. This is not open for debate. Why Allen is not as effective this season is open for debate. The following is my opinion McDermott is a system coach and wants players that conform to the system. The alternative is an adaptive coach who modifies his systems to optimize the talents of the players. Both types can succeed. I do prefer the second type. I believe Bellichek and Reid both are/were both more of the adaptive types. Allen, like most high end athletes perform best when in the proper rythym. In football one of the primary goals of the defense is to get the QB out of their natural rythm. In games where Tom Brady struggled, it was almost always because the defense got him out of his rythym. This season the Bills offensive scheme takes Allen out of his rythym, which saves the defense the trouble. Every year with the Bills it seems like there is a new grand experiment from the coaches. This year's experiment is: can we change Josh Allen's natural rythym to conform to something that is not natural to him, and get equal production. So far the experiment is failing. The problems with the WR corp are real, but they are secondary to to the problems this experiment is creating. The solution from my perspective is that In the first or second series of each game, the defense needs to be reminded that Josh is a running threat on passing downs, when Mr. Cook is having his well deserved third down rests. This will put Josh back in his natural rythym, and it will make the defenses account for that the rest of the game. This one change would have a profound impact.

It does not ignore the offense leaving points on the field. It actually specifically says the offense is broken. Previously it was not broken. A logical person does not thing the defense somehow was fixed, because it played well against an Andy Dalton led defense. And the defense played so great against the Chiefs (who have a lot of other losses. Sidenote - the 2025 Chiefs are not the same as the 2023 Chiefs) that they gave up a 4th and 18, and let the Chiefs stay in the game until the last play.

McDermott is on his 9th 1/32 chance. 8 of those with one of the two top QBs in the NFL. Its just not a good performance.

This is the most rational thought on the situation I have seen. Having said that, someone has to win the Super Bowl this year, and every contender has pretty big flaws. Bills probably still have a 1 in 10 chance.

What #2 seed are the Chiefs getting by to play the Patriots?

Sean McVay, Nick Siriani were basic unknown quanties as head coaches. , Andy Reid was a "retread". Bruce Arians was a guy finally getting a real chance. These are the guys winning super bowls the last few years. If we are limited to the names that fans know about, we probably won't even be discussion the best options.

Nick Faldo was a good golfer early in his career but decided that his swing would never allow him to win a major. So he went to David Leadbetter and asked him to rebuild his swing. Faldo went through a miserable period but he was steadfast in his belief that what he was doing was the right thing. Many outsiders shook their heads in disbelief. But then it all clicked into place. Faldo went on to win six majors. He knew what he was doing. Sean McVay massive rebuilding after getting to the Super Bowl is a recent similar football analogy. The missing link in the McDermott era was not recognizing 3 or 4 years ago, that the problem with the schemes were using wasn't with the offense, but with the defense. The deconstruction of the unstoppable offensive attack that once able to play a perfect game against New England, seems to be related to trying to preserve the concept that our once innovative defensesive scheme (circa 2018) was and is never going to be effective against a string of top tier playoff teams.

The traditional NFL magic is top tier coach plus top tier QB. Based on production, Maye is a top tier QB this season. Vrabel might very well be a top tier coach. It more common for a first year coach to make the super bowl for the first time than a ninth year coach (mostly because there many first year coaches, and not too many year nine coaches who never made the super bowl) for the first 80 votes, the majority think the Bills will have one loss outside of the NE game. A slim majority expects the Patriots to beat the Bills. The majority expects the Pats to lose one additional. If the polls are correct. The Bills end 12-5, the Patriots end 14-3. If the Bills beat the Patriots, both end up 13-4. Pretty big game. Added bonus. The majority expects the division winner to be the AFC #1 seed.

My sense was that he was the only one who ever called out McDermott on his blunders.

Diggs is still looking pretty prime for the Pats.

The play the games for a reason. Who wins the Division, Bills or Pats? Who do each beat along the way. I project a 13-4 tie between the Bills and Pats. With the winner being the #1 seed in the AFC.

#1 seeds win 50% of the Super Bowls since the league expanded to 14 playoff teams. The regular season matters more than ever.

Tell me you have mental problems without telling me you have mental problems.

So many people forget this. Thank you for reminding the masses.

You clearly miss the point. The thesis I responded to is that starting assignments are being made politically. Not what is best for the team.

At this point in the year, there is no human on earth on could learn the playbook quickly enough to get on the field.

The Colts (Manning years) , Steelers (Big Ben years), Patriots (Voltomort years) all reached the pinnacle and reloaded regularly, all built around a Super Star QB. The chiefs are down some this year, but they have won a couple of super bowls and the Mahome era will never be considered a failure. You see the Rams rapidly rebuildind, and the Eagles reloading each year. Bills really haven't reached the pinnacle, and dont seem to know how to reload. (hint - in 2025, its not drafting guys that take 3 to 4 years to developand then sign to long term contracts). Bills management is better than a lot of teams (Jets, Titans, Dolphins, Jaguars) but they really are not in the top tier. Josh Allen is my favorite athlete to root for in my life (I am a senior citizen). But someone needs to figure out if we 1) are rebuilding rapidly around Allen. And if this is the choice, are Beane and McDermott the right guys to do this or 2) and its painful to say, Consider if Allen could be used to for a drove of picks. And if that is the case, are Beane and McDermott the right guys to manage it. It does not seem fathomable that we are going to continue to follow the strategy combining running it back with putting the band back together (Phillips, Davis, White, Pryor, Trubisky)

I have been wondering this for a few weeks. If this is true, it is very demoralizing to the other players. Most of us remember having to be on a little team, where the coaches bosses kid had to pitch, and every kid knew they were going to lose.

this made me chuckle:

He and his wife have lots of ties to California. Josh won't badmouth anyone or blame anyone else. But this season has stopped being fun for him, and if next season is not fun, he will start considering options.