Virgil

Looking back at all the offseason moves to support this team the past three years is a lot more eye opening than I expected. I went and bolded all the players who are contributing this season in a meaningful way, it's a scary sight. On draft classes alone, you could argue Beane should be fired. 3 total starters from the last three drafts. That's horrific. Add to that the new contact extensions that we can't get out of, and it looks to be time.... 2025 Draft Round 1 (30th overall): Maxwell Hairston, CB, Kentucky Round 2 (41st overall): T.J. Sanders, DT, South Carolina Round 3 (72nd overall): Landon Jackson, DE, Arkansas Round 4 (109th overall): Deone Walker, DT, Kentucky Round 5 (170th overall): Jordan Hancock, DB, Ohio State Round 5 (173rd overall): Jackson Hawes, TE, Georgia Tech 2024 Draft Round 2: WR Keon Coleman, Florida State, No. 33 overall (from Panthers) Round 2: S Cole Bishop, Utah, No. 60 Round 3: DT DeWayne Carter, Duke, No. 95 (from Chiefs) Round 4: RB Ray Davis, Kentucky, No. 128 Round 5: C/G Sedrick Van Pran-Granger, Georgia, No. 141 (from Panthers) Round 5: LB Edefuan Ulofoshio, Washington, No. 160 (from Packers) Round 5: DE Javon Solomon, Troy, No. 168 Round 6: T Tylan Grable, UCF, No. 204 Round 6: CB Daequan Hardy, Penn State, No. 219 Round 7: G Travis Clayton, International Player Pathway, No. 221 (from Chiefs) 2023 Draft Round 1, Pick 25: Dalton Kincaid, TE, Utah Round 2, Pick 59: O'Cyrus Torrence, G, Florida Round 3, Pick 91: Dorian Williams, LB, Tulane Round 5, Pick 150: Justin Shorter, WR, Florida Round 7, Pick 230: Nick Broeker, G, Ole Miss Round 7, Pick 252: Alex Austin, DB, Oregon State 2025 Contract extensions James Cook: Signed a four year extension Josh Allen: Signed a six-year, $330 million contract. Khalil Shakir: Received a contract extension. Terrel Bernard: Received a contract extension. Greg Rousseau: Signed a four-year extension. Christian Benford: Received an extension. 2025 Free agent signings Joey Bosa: Signed a one-year deal. Larry Ogunjobi: Signed a one-year deal. Joshua Palmer: Signed a three-year contract. Darrick Forrest: Signed a contract. Laviska Shenault: Signed a contract. Dane Jackson: Signed a one-year deal. Kendrick Green: Signed a one-year deal. Reggie Gilliam: Re-signed to a one-year deal. Damar Hamlin: Re-signed to a one-year deal. 2024 Extensions Taron Johnson: Signed a three-year, $31 million contract extension. DaQuan Jones: Re-signed on a two-year, $16 million deal. Dion Dawkins: Signed a three-year, $60.5 million contract extension. Taylor Rapp: Re-signed on a three-year deal. Will Clapp: Signed a one-year deal. Quintin Morris: Re-signed to a one-year deal. 2024 Signings Curtis Samuel: Signed a three-year, $24 million contract. Casey Toohill: Signed a one-year contract. Mike Edwards: Signed a one-year contract. Mack Hollins: Signed a one-year contract. Nicholas Morrow: Signed a one-year contract. Mitchell Trubisky: Signed a two-year contract. David Edwards: Signed a two-year contract. 2023 Signings Signed QB Kyle Allen: Added a new backup quarterback. Signed G Connor McGovern: Signed WR Deonte Harty: Signed WR Trent Sherfield: Signed G David Edwards: Signed OT David Quessenberry: Re-signed OL Ike Boetger:

They aren't going to fire him in season. There's also no one on the team to replace him I tell McD that you have until the rest of the season to keep your job and allow him to pull any levers he wants. If he can right the ship by the playoffs, okay, If not, he needs to go. We owe it to Josh.

It's been at least two years since I went into a Bills game feeling like they would be lucky to win. We are 6 weeks into the 2025 season where we were Super Bowl favorites, favored to win every single game after the opener, and and ranked #1 in the power rankings, and I honestly am starting to wonder if this is the end of the McD era. Overreaction? Possibly. But anyone with confidence in this team is lying to themselves. 1 - Walker - I figured I would start with a positive, and Walker is the only positive from this game. Walker was a beast in his starting role and made multiple impact plays, including some solid one arm tackles in the backfield. In a fluke game where Jones got hurt in warmups, Walker is showing that he can be our future run stuffing DT. 2 - Josh - All you need to know about the Bills right now can be learned by watching Josh's body language. Josh is a team guy who typically says and does all the right things. He doesn't ruffle any feathers. He doesn't call people out. However, you can see very clearly that Josh is losing faith in the "process." For years now, Josh has been working on playing team ball with everyone eats, not playing hero ball, and taking what the defense gives him. Starting against the Pats, you are starting to see Josh feeling the need to play hero ball because no one else can step up. He's forcing throws, creating turnovers, and leaving the pocket too early. Sadly, I think Josh is correct in doing all of those things because the Bills can't seem to do anything on offense if he doesn't. 3 - Offensive weapons - Coleman has officially entered bust territory for someone that was our first pick just last year. I don't know if Brady is stubborn of if Coleman can't run any routes besides back shoulder throws, but Coleman is essentially useless out there. Shakir was never going to be a number one guy. Knox is still being paid like a starting TE. And Cook is still doing great, yet we stopped passing to him. We spend 52% of our cap on the offense and only scored touchdowns to start each half. 4 - Andreesen and Poyer - I could talk about the injuries on defense, and it would be a fair point to make. However, in what world did we end up with Poyer and Andreesen on the field in week 6? Every team battles injuries, but you can tell from watching this game that our issues go far beyond injuries. Robinson had over 230 yards on offense and we had no answer for London. Which leads me to... 5 - Babich - This defense has shown nothing since Babich took over as defensive coordinator. Babich needs to be fired before the plane touches down in Buffalo. The Falcons have two weapons in total, and they killed us with it. Our inability to take any offensive player out of a game is painful to watch. Just look at how Diggs picked us apart last week, then had one catch the next week. We commit huge penalties (thanks Groot), can't get off the field on third down, can't tackle, and found a way to make almost every returning player on defense regress. Babich needs to be fired, McD needs to run the defense, and see if he can keep his job. Falcons offensive yards - 436 ( Robinson and London had 379 of them) 6 - Brady - I think Brady thought McD was complimenting him when referring to his offense as cute, because he called another series ending sweep on short yardage that ended up on the turf. When the Falcons sent 5 on defense, we didn't have a sixth lineman on the field. No slants our quick release passes to slow down the pass rush. Cook off the field on third and short. No passes to Cook. When Palmer left with an injury, the offense looked helpless. If Palmer is the dealbreaker on offense, we are in a lot of trouble. Also, our lack of go-to plays on 4th and short or 2 point conversions is baffling to me. I don't know who his replacement would be, but this just isn't working. 7 - Groot - Can someone please tell me why we paid this man? He blocked a FG. Wow. That and his first quarter against the Pats is all we've seen from him all season. Sadly, it's a new contract as well, so we are stuck with him for a bit, which bring me to..... 8 - Beane - I've been a Beane guy for a while now, but I'm at the point now where I would understand if he needs to go as part of the regime change. Knox, Milano, Jones, Samuel, AJ, and Groot are 6 of our top 12 salary makers. Walker is the only player from the current draft contributing anything. Palmer and Coleman were meant to push this offense to the next level. At the end of the day, you are your record and results. Beane does a great job getting value for guys and has build a great team since getting here. But, is he willing to do what needs to be done to turn this around? Is he willing to fire the coaches, including McD? I'm going to say no. 9 - McD - I don't follow the Sabres, so I can't say I know how Pegula's brain works. However, to only have one dominant win this season be against the Jets in a Super Bowl year, I really hope that McD is on the hot seat and knows it. McD lets his coaches coach, but he also needs to know when to be the head coach and step in when needed. Well, it's needed. This team has come out flat for four straight weeks. Josh is frustrated. Defense is bottom tier (McD's speciality). Penalties are killing us. The team just isn't prepared. If McD is smart, he is doing a reset on the bye week and doing anything he can to get this team on track. If not, then it's time to make a change. The process is hanging on life support, this could be the season we pull the plug. 10 - Next? We went from not knowing when our first loss would come to going 0-2 into the bye week. The cap is a real thing. You only have so much draft capital and can't mortgage the future away. If it were easy to get a #1 receiver and #2 DB, everyone would do it. We have to accept the fact that maybe this is our roster for the year. We can't bank on the team getting healthy as we have people getting stepped on, injured during warm-ups. Hopefully some guys come back, Hairston can contribute, and the suspension boys help out. I never thought I would feel this defeated so early in the season, but as of right now, we would be lucky to be one and done in the playoffs. The good news is, we have Josh Allen, a new stadium coming, and an owner who will spend money. If the GM and HC position comes open, we should have our pick of the litter. To me, if dead cap wasn't an issue, the only players on this team I would bring to the next season would be Josh, offensive Line, Kincaid, Shakir, and Cook. On defense, Walker, Oliver, Bosa, and Benford. Can't do much worse replacing everyone else.

Hahahahaa

Sadly, this is how bad we need to be to get McD fired. We need this team to look like they’ve given up, which they have.

He better be. I’d fire him after the Falcons game. I don’t care about the injuries or suspensions. All teams deal with it. Penalties, missed tackles, 3rd down conversions. That’s coaching. Move on

So we are just going to let Drake London do whatever he wants, got it

Yes, but they aren’t going to fire him mid season. Let him earn his job after this game

In just two weeks, I went from expecting to win every week to have zero expectations of anyone on this team. Fire Babbich, let McD run the defense for the season. Eveyone is under review by the seasons end. This is the worst I’ve seen this team play in years.

I don’t want to see another back shoulder throw to Coleman for the rest of the season.

It’s impossible to make excuses for the defense anymore. Defensive minded head coach Tons of draft capitol Multiple FA focuses. All equal bottom tier defense. It’s on everyone

Bernard covering London. Solid choice. Then more missed tackles. This defense is putrid, penalties be damned.

Three penalties, zero replays. That’s weird, right?

The lack of replays on these penalties is insane. Meanwhile, Chiefs with zero flags in their last game.

This defense is terrible. Scripted plays or not, that was too easy. And if they were deflated from the Groot play, they are too soft.

Good job Groot. You’ve play one solid quarter of football all season.

At this point, I'm more upset we didn't draft Cooper DeJean over Coleman. I was on the WR train with everyone else in that draft, but DeJean really called to me and I wish we had drafted him.

What the actual ***** is going on with this team? Both our first and second round picks already this injured? This is crazy

Falcons 27 Bills 16 Bills take a page out of the Eagles playbook and get manhandled by an inferior opponent. Josh plays hero ball, pissed about last week, and forces some throws. Atlanta able to stay two dimensional, draining clock in the second. Milano gets hurt watching from the sidelines.

It's all coming together

What happened to Owen? He was a rising star there and seems to have fallen off a cliff. Crazy that the Ravens felt they needed to add a safety as well. This feels like a move by the GM and Harbaugh to prove they aren't just going to sit around. It would be crazy if they were both on the hot-seat, but this move makes it feel that way. Who knows.

I wonder if Wilson or Winston was ever available from the Giants. I feel like both would be a huge upgrade in Cincy.

For a second year player, I would say he played great. He came into a primetime game on the road when the fans were hyped, and did what he needed to for the win. Yes, the evaded sack to Diggs on the last drive was an amazing play. But, he also made quite a few top tier plays that I would consider elite. I would also say he appears to be ahead of Josh from where he was in his career. So yes, there is plenty to get hyped about as a Pats fan, and worry about as competition for the Bills for years to come. They have both a young coach and QB who seem to know what they are doing. That's all you need sometimes to build something great.

I wonder if they will use these jersey's again next season. If not, what a permanent stain on a jersey that most fans paid $140-$180 to never wear again after this loss. All you will see then you look at it in the closet is this loss.

If there's one benefit about adjusting the format of these "thoughts" in this new format, is that I don't feel the need to wait a day and let the emotions calm down. Time to let it fly... 1 - Maye and Diggs - Credit where credit is due. Diggs carved us up and Maye didn't make as many mistakes as Josh did. Maye and Diggs sealed this game on the final drive with Maye eluding the Jones sack and Diggs getting the YAC. It's tough for me to root for Diggs and his new "leader" mentality, because you know it's only a matter of time until he becomes the Diggs at the end of his Bills tenure. It's also not great to see another QB develop in our division that will be around for a while. 2 - Tre - I really hope Hairston is able to get on the field soon and be worthy of his 1st round status, because it's painful to watch Tre get abused out there. I was hoping Strong would become another Benford, but his sudden IR stint and rumors about his neck have me worried. Regardless, Tre gets lost out there too easily and opposing offenses are finding him. This isn't to say that Benford has been lock down by any means, but Tre needs to get off the field. 3 - Brady - I understand having the occasional trick play or misdirection to keep the opposing defense honest, but they should not be in our scripted drives and we should not be seeing them as much as we are through five weeks. We are maybe 50/50 successful with them and they've been drive killers as of late. Also, why would you run a sweep with Knox of all people? Just a terrible play call, execution, and a momentum killer early in the game. I know we've been scoring 30 a game, but it really feels like our drive are all or nothing. We need to get back to basics, let Josh and Jimbo Cook, and move adjust as needed. We are playing way too cute. Cook's rushing numbers in this game were abysmal, and I can't say that it's because the Pats defense shut him down. 4 - Kincaid - If there's one bright spot on offense, it's been the emergence of Kincaid these past few weeks. Not only has become a focus, but he's really shown some great route running and finding gaps in space. Sadly, he's the only consistent pass catcher out there right now, minus maybe Shakir. 5 - Coleman - After a terrible start to the game with a fumble and penalty, Coleman went right back to being our 50/50 jump ball guy. I just don't understand how that's the only thing we seem to think he is good for. Can Coleman not run actual scripted routes and get open on his own? Whatever we were hearing in the preseason about a next step from Coleman seems to be greatly exaggerated. Since the 4th quarter of the Ravens game, he's been the same disappearing act in this offense until it's time to throw up prayers. 6 - Josh - This was not a great game for him, and I'm not talking about the loss or stats. Replays showed a lot of open guys for either check downs, or guys that got open after Josh bailed from the pocket too quickly. I think the first quarter really got in Josh's head as you could see his body language on the sideline. I think Josh starting getting impatient and became one dimension. Roll to the right, look for someone to get open, or run with it. I know Brady and those around him weren't doing him any favors, but he still needs to calm down. 7 - Milano - I would love to know what the actual status was of Milano's injury prior to this game, and if he was rushed back. I would think not, missing four games, but to not even make it to halftime before leaving with another pectoral injury isn't a good look. Either way, this has to be our last season relying on him as a starter. I love Milano, I really do, but he's just not reliable out there anymore. The defense was shell of itself once he left the game and we can't keep doing this year after year with him. 8 - McD - It's always tough for me to pin things on the head coach, because you don't know what the distribution of tasks are amongst the coaching staff. However, penalties and how players get up for the game fall on the HC for me. Granted, the refs were calling some pretty weak calls in the first half, but this is the 3rd straight game where the Bills just didn't have it going out the gate. I don't doubt that we are getting the best effort from opposing teams, as you could see what this win meant to the Pats, but we are not coming out like a Super Bowl favorite, and it doesn't make any sense. For that, it has to fall on McD. 9 - Groot - I really thought this was finally going to be his coming out game after the first drive, but then I never noticed him again. Maybe the Pats made protection adjustments, but all of our pressure seemed to come up the middle or from blitzes in this game. AJ did get a hand on a pass and Bosa got pressure a few times, but overall were ineffective. I get that Oliver is hurt, but there is still no excuse for our DE's to be this ineffective with all the money and time we've invested there. 10 - 4-1 - While I'm not happy we lost, you had to know a loss was coming somewhere in this stretch with the way we've been playing. I was hoping our slow starts and poor defense would have been a wake-up call sooner, but maybe we needed a loss to get going. Who knows. Either way, we are still in good shape, get defensive reinforcements after next week, and still have a relatively easy schedule. It sucks to lose to the Pats and on a fun night with new uniforms (which will be forever tainted and a waste of money for a lot of fans), but all is fine. The reality is, if this is the actual Bills team, as well as the team we saw for half against the Saints and Dolphins, then maybe we weren't the team we thought we were. Go Bills!