newcam2012

Agree but the Bills offense is a concern too. The playbook seems to be double Diggs and let someone else WR beat them. The Bills need an upgrade at the WR2 position. Hopefully Kincaid opens things up or the other acquired Wrs do. Also, the oline has been very inconsistent. Allen has to be superman. Hopefully, the oline improves as does the running game. Lastly, Dorsey was learning on the job. He needs to get better and hopefully he does.

Really nice post Shaw! That's some good reading.

Great post. I echo the same sentiments.

Ignorance is playing doctor from the seat of your living tv. You have no idea who and what impact that incident played on each Bills player. Making a blanket statement about PTSD doesn't cut it... Great point. Everyone deals with trauma differently. To suggest the level of impact on a team is something that's impossible.

Shaw, you have no idea how much of an impact the Damar incident affected the Bills players. You have no idea if any of them suffered from PTSD? For how long? How they coped with it? If it affected their play and practice? You have no idea if the Damar incident could have been used as a positive when he was released from the hospital, talked to his teammates, and perhaps gave them inspirational words. It's unknown. What's known is that it certainly was used as an explanation as to why the Bills lost to the Bengals. Along with snowstorms, injuries, etc...Pick you explanation...

Lots of good points here Thurman. Always, enjoy your post even if they conflict with my perspective. I don't think anyone disputes last season was "one of the hardest and most draining seasons in NFL history." I'd be foolish to debate that premise. To suggest anyone is saying this is pretty disingenuous. What's debatable is how much did the season's events impact the team? More specifically, the playoff games vs Miami and Cinci? You don't know nor do I. It's all speculation. Many suggest it had a great impact since the Bills players so poorly vs Cinci and barely beat Miami. Is that an opinion or fact? Could one say with validity that the Bills just weren't that good? That the Damar impact was behind them due to his miracle recover? Let's go back in history sort of speak. Upon entering the playoffs the Bills players and fans were getting fantastic updates on Damar's progress. It was increasing clear that Damar was going to be fine. He was alive, getting stronger each day, humble, and inspirational. It was fairly clear to me that Damar's life threatening experience was being transitioned into a motivating experience for fans and players. Fans and players gravitating towards win it all for Damar! It's fate! Fans packed the stadium with Damar jerseys and signs. You could feel the relief on the fans and players. It was time to play football! If you didn't feel it " you just don't get it." The Bills played a resilant, upstart, gritty, and AFC rival Dolphins. A very tough fought out win. Resilience is a word that comes to mind. Not one word about how tough the season's journey was. Not one word about how Damar negatively impacted the players. No "explanations" if you will. No excuses if you will. Fast forward to the Cinci game. Did you hear anything about how the season's journey was too much to overcome? Did it even enter your mind? This wasn't even a consideration for anyone on this board. In fact, it was quite the opposite. Most thought the Bills would win. They were playing at home vs a depleted Cinci Oline. Damar was likely going to make an impact prior to the game. This was looked at as a positive not a negative. We know how the game was played and ended. No need to go there. Actually, brings back a little pain, frustration, and anger to reminess. Point being no one really knows what level of impact the season's journey had on the outcome of the Miami or Cinci games. I'd be naive to think it didn't have some role. However, I tend to think that the season's journey played a significant role to the Bills playoff loss. Instead, I think the Bills were the inferior team. Led by an inferior coaching staff that didn't put the players in the best position to win.

I can see them Thurman. It's just not as green as I would like. Can't an explanation be an excuse? I don't believe they are independent. Or does the term "explanation" fit your narrative? Clever...

Going with optimism here. 61 catches 680 yards 6 TDS

He certainly deserves much of the credit for the fast turnaround. He was nothing short of a miracle worker during the transformation sort of speak. The above clearly makes him a good to very good coach. A great team builder and culture changer. He deserves accolades for this. However, at some point the bar should change when you land a franchise QB. The bar changes when you continue to make playoff appearances. The real and only debate is if McD is the guy to push the Bills further. Van He lead the team to a SB? Can he win a SB? Obviously, it's unknown if he can and the opinions vary widely.

Bingo!

F Fantastic post!

Really solid post. The last paragraph is really eye opening. I don't disagree. Hopefully, I can grow and learn from it. Thanks for the post. Sorry Gunner that was me. I respect your views on here a lot. I always look forward to your input. It has mostly served to ground some of my negativity.

Not saying You are wrong but that's where we disagree. I'm at the point where making the playoffs and losing early is disappointing. Maybe my standards for the team are too high?

Appreciate that. I know my views are often unpopular and often wrong. Often, I jump to conclusions too early. I suspect this is the case with McD. I know he's a solid coach. I know he deserves more time to get over the hump. Yet, I can't get over his failures in the playoffs. The last two have been piercing and painful. With that said, I do stand behind my convictions. Others have rightly pointed out my wrongs or thinking errors. I truly welcome construction criticism. I am well aware that my negativity is often over the top. I apologize for that because I don't want to contribute to making this forum less enjoyable for others. I don't have that kind of power or influence anyway. I'm not here to troll anyone or just say things to create controversy. I really do believe what I say as crazy as that sounds. Lastly, the board is best when there's various degrees of differing opinions. People sharing their thoughts even in disagreement is a beautiful thing.

I like the optimism but I'm not convinced it will happen. Why? I can't remember when the Bills under McD have really ever really committed to a running game or using a RB ascan effective pass catcher. Dorsey showed his elementary offensive scheme last year. You know how many balls were thrown to Cook and Hines? It's ridiculously low and inexcusable. Having faith in Dorsey is an x factor to say the least. Lastly, I'm not totally convinced that Cook is the guy. He's young and he showed promise. There is a lot to like. However, we've seen this several times with other Bills RBs. Cook is no sure thing to progress and light up offenses. He still has a lot to learn and relatively unproven.

Fantastic post. Very thorough and thought out. I am one to get ahead of things and not afraid to make a change. Sure there is risk but there's always reward. I see a pattern here of McD falling short. Of course, there's a possibility that a turnaround is possible. How likely is debatable. There is certainly an argument for McD to stay. I think your assessment about McD and previous and current coaches is pretty spot on. Whether on purpose or by default, McD has always had a scape goat in his path. For years it was Fraizer and now it's Dorsey. I will also add that most Bills fans seem to be more acceptable to making the playoffs only to fizzle out early in the playoffs. I believe this mentality exists because of the past decades of failures. What follows is: it's hard to win it all, we made the playoffs again and had a shot at it, we will improve, and next year will be the year. Optimism certainly prevails over skepticism. Sean P would have been a great asset for the Bills. The guy has a ring, coached a franchise QB, and is offensive minded and aggressive. Hard for me to believe that Allen wouldn't have excelled under his tenure. He came at steep cost but I believe it was worth it. Another season with this regime, coaches or lack of, similiar schemes, etc..seems destined for similar results. Change sometimes is difficult, risky, and unpleasant. I for one would have been extremely excited to see a Sean P led Bills team. I think it's exactly what the Bills needed.

(1) You have no idea what kind of Hall the Jets will get. He's young and might peak mid season or so. Based on your logic how is an aging Von going to do? (2) Pure conjecture on Rodgers and his WRs. One could say its a positive that Rodgers has a rapport with his WRs. Also, their WR core looks decent. (3) No Hackett fan here. A familiarity still could be a good thing though. (4) Not worth addressing. Meaningless gibberish. (5) Yes a very tough schedule and division. We are in agreement finally. Certainly, it's plausible the Jets go 7-10. The same can be said for them going 10-7.

I get what you are saying. Making the playoffs is only half the battle. The Bills have made the playoffs for five straight years. The Bills have an experienced franchise QB. Beane made a huge win now move with Von. Making the playoffs just doesn't seem to cut it for this fan. The "bar" is much higher than that for me. Why? I don't get that logic. The Jets are definitely a playoff contender. Their defense is really solid. They have weapons on offense is Rodgers is a huge upgrade. It's likely he doesn't have to be great in order for the Jets to win.

No I don't know that. I never said once that Halim didn't effect the team. I'm saying the narrative came out after the fact. I'm saying we have no idea how much of a negative impact it had. Was it mild, medium, or very significant? You don't know either. However, so many here assume it was devastating and the major reason why the Bills lost. I truly believe that there was a negative effect when Hamlin's life was in on the line. When his health was in question. Of course that played a negative role. However, circumstances changed dramatocally; thank God! Hamlin was released from the hospital. Word was coming out he was likely to be fine. Whispers that he might even play football. I'd agrue Hamlin was a rallying point not a distraction. That is no small circumstance to omit. The team and the players and fans were elated and relieved. Halim love and his miracle story was embraced by everyone. Signs everywhere! Win for Damar was a common theme. It's destiny was another common theme. Correct? It was time to play football! The Bills got outcoached by Miami. Had Tia played the game like my would have been lost. Imho, it would have had little to do with Hamlin. More about the Bills lack of talent, coaching and injuries. Ditto for the Cinci game too. Folks let's stop with the Damar narrative...The Von narrative was likely more significant.

Perhaps you are correct. We will really never know. Before that Monday Cinci game the Bills were on a big winning streak. If you closely look at those games you could reasonable conclude that the Bills weren't playing at their best. Several ugly wins for sure. That should be factored in as a piece to the puzzle. I'm already talking too. I get a lot of heat for it too. Just hard to watch McD, Fraizer, and Dorsey get outclassed come playoff time. At least Fraizer is gone.

That's fair. Soon we will see how good he really is. He has nowhere to hide now. That's a good thing.

Exactly my point. The team's injuries were taking its toll and they were outcoached by miles. I never saw the lack of motivation or being unfocused as an excuse. Never saw the narrative that the season's obstacles caused the players to be unfocused and unmotivated. Frankly, I didn't see that at all after the Miami game. Great breakdown to further illustrate that McD has been less than stellar in the playoffs.

Were they emotional spent? Or were they outcoached, out game planned, and an inferior team? The Bills were playing a home playoff game. It was arguably the biggest playoff game in years. The players were well aware Hamlin was going to be alive and well. It's reasonable to conclude Hamlin gave his team inspirational words. I can't recall one person on this board calling for a Bills loss due to the season's tough journey. I can't recall one person, media member, or Bills player indicating the season's journey has taken its toll. I saw a motivated Diggs, Allen, Singletary, etc...I saw a clapping McD with fire in his eyes. I saw Hamlin make a motivating appearence. I saw a rabid optimistic fans base with Hamlin signs everywhere. I heard a familiar sound of fans cheering for their team. I saw a team get throttled, outclassed, outcoached, and frankly had zero answers for whatever Cinci did. I didn't see an unmotivated Bills team. I saw a lost coaching staff, a coaching staff that couldn't make adjustments, a coaching staff that had a terrible game plan. I saw a Bills pass rush that could not beat Cinci's 2nd and 3rd stringers. I saw Allen running for his life. I saw Lou A outscheme Fraizer with blitzes. I saw A doubled Diggs. Surprise surprise. A WR core that was bad. I don't attribute any of the above to the team's unfortunate season's journey.

After the Miami game no one was talking about how the Bills players were emotionally spent. That's non sense! The team played their hearts out and won a very very close game vs an up start competitive Dolphin team who had nothing to lose. After the game, there was no mention of the negative effects of the season's events. In fact, those events were used to display how tough and resilient the team was. It was an opposite narrative. Then the Cinci game changed the narrative. People are always likely to believe what fits their narrative.

They looked pretty focused and motivated the week before when they played Miami. There was little or no talk about the negative Hamlin effect. In fact, there was plenty of motivating talk. Win one for Damar! People talking about how Damar showing up at the game be great, awesome, and motivating. All that positivity disappeared after the Bills got throttled. The Hamlin negative effect became the narrative. Those are the facts!