Long Suffering Fan

You are correct. I will yield to you the dictionary definition of the term. However, the way I always heard of it used in Fortune 500 workplaces was what Daggers said - a situation that is just comfortable enough to make you not move on. Regardless of whether it is Employer or Employee, that is what I meant. We don't really know what happened there - at the time, there were those who pointed out that Bass was not in the ST huddle before the kick and that the way our guys covered the kick, it looked like they expected a squib. McD will always take ownership. Regardless, if McD did make those calls, he was incompetent at that moment.

Close enough. When I worked for a fortune 500 company, we used the term in a much broader sense. The company gave us just enough to try to keep us there. People could honestly say that it was pretty good pay, etc. In the same way Frasier gave us just enough that there were a lot of people who could honestly defend keeping him and they wouldn't be wrong. If he was terrible, he would have been gone, just like if the job was terrible we would have all left. Instead, he was just good enough to make us keep him. I chose the Alex Smith example because of the stats. Frazier's defense has been statistically dominant the last couple of years. Alex Smith was the best QB in football, statistically. Edit: I cross posted Daggers and he said it better.

So, I posted this in February after the Leslie Frazier non-firing. It was quickly taken down in the plethora of Frazier threads that came out. The mod was kind enough to send me a copy so I could repost it later. Now, it is later. 🙂 ***** In other threads there has been a segment of people that are annoyed (or even angry) at people like me who are glad that Frazier won't be the DC here next year. I think the framing of their argument is wrong. - No one is disputing that Frazier is a good and classy guy. He would probably be someone I wanted as a friend. - No one is celebrating him not doing the thing he loves. I have no ill will against him. - We are not becoming Pats fans (I mean, that's a bad insult around here). Pats fans have championships. We are not criticizing people who got us championships like the Pats fans do, we are criticizing those who have failed to. That is a big difference. I am ecstatic that Frazier will not be the DC here next year. While I recognize his skill, I also recognize 13 seconds and the Cincy game. I am not ecstatic that he is gone because he was incompetent. I am ecstatic because I have come to the opinion that he would hurt us in big playoff moments and make it very difficult for us to win the big one. I don't care if the Bills are a dominant defense against bad teams. I need them to be a good defense that limits the best teams. It is the golden handcuff syndrome and I want to take them off. Alex Smith was QB of the Chiefs and, under Andy Reid, he took the Chiefs to the playoffs for three straight years (2015-17). He was a good QB. In his last year, his QB rating was 104.7, which was the highest in the league. Yet the Chiefs moved off of him. Why? Because they didn't think that they could win the Super Bowl with him. I'm sure Alex was a good and classy guy. I'm sure that there were those who pointed out that he had a better QB rating than Tom Brady. The fact is they were not going to win a championship with him. Those celebrating moving on from him realized that he was better than a lot of QBs. They weren't mean spirited. They, for whatever reason, just realized that he wasn't going to get it done.....and they were right. Does anyone think they get 2 SBs without making the switch? That is EXACTLY how I feel about Leslie Frazier. You know, our defense could be worse next year, especially with the looming player departures. I realize that Frazier moving on is not a guarantee of improvement, but its a chance. Bonus Point: How good is Andy Reid? When comparing Mahomes to Allen, we have to remember that Pat (who is great) has a guy calling and designing plays for him that had Alex Smith sitting atop the league statistically. Could Dorsey have done that? Not likely at this stage of his career. ***** It is funny looking back how I mentioned the looming player departures. Edmunds turned out to be the only one and we got better with him leaving. Miami's offense is still really good and we held them to 20 points. That is what I am talking about. I don't expect you to shut them down completely, but you have to make it hard on them and limit them. I know we have had decent defensive performances against the Chiefs in the regular season, but the defense feels different. I know that the blitz percentage isn't that different, but they somehow seem more aggressive even when not blitzing. Love ya, Leslie. Enjoy this stage of your life. Thank you for all you did to help the team, but I'm glad the handcuffs are off.

Well done, Virgil. I always read your recaps.

I tore an achilles playing football. I very much had an Aaron Rodgers moment. You know that hard ridge near the ankle on the back of your leg? That is the achilles and there was a spot on it for me where it just wasn't there. It was creepy weird to run your thumb along it and then you get to a spot where your thumb just sinks into your leg. My point is that if he tore his achilles completely, then they knew on the field. It is not a maybe diagnosis. Maybe that explains Trey's reaction. OTOH, if they knew on the field then why no announcement? On the plus side, that was my third leg surgery and I was a pro at rehab by that point. I was completely out of the boot and doing calf raises at 8 weeks. I think it might actually be possible for him to be ready for the playoffs. Here is to hoping it is just a partial tear and that Trey will not have more time to dedicate to his goalie academy.

I'll allow it.

Scott Sterling! Sweet, buttered crumpets! It starts slow, but well worth the watch.

If you want to go after the OP fine, but don't mock my goals. I'm well on my way. Great croogly-moogly.

Shaw, in my mind you don't just look like your profile pic...you are your profile pic. Please don't correct my misconception.

Curse you. I watched the clip and ended up seeing Dick Jauron's face. Now my nightmares will return.

Okay, try different things, but don't try something that everyone knows will not work. Let me try framing it this way. Would you try that exact same defense, except that all those not rushing are standing on the goal line? No, on third and four, that would be absurd. It would never work. Why is that absurd? Because it automatically gives up the first down. The defense Frazier called is just as absurd for the exact same reason. Again, my rant is not really about this play. This play is merely an example of a REAL problem that will make it much harder for Buffalo to beat good teams in the playoffs. It is the same problem as 13 seconds.

Sure. IMO it makes the way they lined up worse because it is so much harder to close. Burrow was getting the ball out so quick (most of the time) that any pass rush would have a hard time getting home. He could do that effectively because of the cushion his WRs had. Bills WRs, for the most part, had much less space early in the routes, which meant Josh had to hold and gave the Cinn pass rush a chance. I really like the way you think. Honestly, what good is a defense that works against good teams, but not the best offenses. We need our D to have a chance of success against the KCs and the Cinns of the league. I don't care how good their defensive ranking is because they can dominate a team that went 500. Arcane, come on, you know that is not correct, especially if they have to get the pass out quick - which they did most of the day. Throws over the top are harder and Tre is going to be at least in the neighborhood. The one thing that is 100% with that call is that they can get the first down if they want it. That is why the call is so bad. The Tre tackle thing - I respectfully disagree. No one is making that tackle before the sticks. They WR would need to be stood straight up and dropped immediately. A WR of Chase's quality is always going to be able to take an angle and fall forward. He is not going to be stopped, especially with that footing. Let's say you did stop them half a yard short by some miracle. Are we confident we are going to stop the fourth and a half? I'm not. And let's not forget the other three targets were given even more space. Burrow had his pick of ways to get the first.

Right, and this is the right formation for ZERO BLITZ on third and 15, perhaps - not on third and 4. Trey can get to the sticks at the same time as Chase, but there is no way that Chase can't get the first down. He just has to angle a little bit to one side. Trey sold out to try to make the tackle and missed (giving up some more yards) but, even if he made it, it would have been a first down.

The snap was a couple of seconds later, but this was their alignment at snap. After the snap, Trey nervously shuffled his feet, but didn't move. The other three defenders were practically statues. When the ball was on its way to Chase, Trey began to move up.

I have no problem with keeping everything in front of you on early downs - make them earn it, but you can't play that way on third and fourth down.

Third and 4 (see below). You all remember it. This play is important for two reasons: 1. It shows a complete lack of defensive situational awareness on what can be given up on a play. 2. It is the exact same mistake that was made during 13 seconds. On this play, they are guarding the end zone, but will easily give up the first down. On 13 seconds, we were guarding the end zone, but willing to give up the two quick plays needed for a field goal. It is actually worse because this play typified our defensive philosophy for most of the day. I'm a level headed guy who does not normally call for firings (as if that matters), but this is beyond belief. There is simply no excuse to give so much space in this situation. I know I am not an expert. In my mind, this only makes it worse. Like probably half of Bills fandom, I was yelling at my screen before the snap. Shouldn't an expert been able to see what we all saw? I can be patient: Trey - He wasn't what he was last year, but at least I can have hope that he will be back to his old self next year. Poyer - Not his best game, but he was playing with Hyde, Hamlin, Marlowe, Johnson so I'll cut him some slack that he couldn't be himself. Dorsey - Not happy with him, but I can at least talk myself into the fact that this was his first year as a coordinator. But with Frazier I can have absolutely no confidence that he has learned how ridiculously bad this is. Last year I was hoping that he would be hired away from us. This year I don't think I have any hope of that. He's smarter than me, he knows more about defense than I ever will, yada, yada, but you don't have to work for NASA to realize that spacecraft need to be air tight.

It is its own language, like - I am Groot.

Maybe, but that doesn't mean you can't ask. 😀 My kids would get off the boss and always have some unimportant story or detail from their day that they wanted to tell me. I was never interested in the substance or the conversation, but always loved having them none the less. I became interested in things that were "beneath me" because I loved my kids. This. The key to eliminating hate is remembering we are on the same team. So true. Tom Brady was "humble" on the surface but it came across as soooo fake. Josh seems genuinely humble, good dude, guy you would like to hang with, etc.

There are so many major advantages that go with the one seed. 1. It means a first round bye and one less playoff game that you have to win. 2. The bye means that in the next round you go in rested and prepared while your opponent doesn't. 3. It means that you get to play the weakest team (usually) in the next round. That is especially huge this year. There are three teams that stand out above the rest in the AFC. If Buffalo gets the one seed, that means they would only play one of KC/Cinn. Finish 2nd or 3rd and you will have to beat both. 4. And you also get home field advantage in the playoffs. Everyone is always talking about home field. That is not even close to the most important thing on the above list.

I agree with Warriorspikes51. Forfeiting or cancelling the season just doesn't make any sense and I am NOT speaking from the standpoint of a fan. Many of us have put ourselves in the shoes of the players on the field and correctly came to the decision that the game had to be suspended last night. Their brother was getting CPR. If I keep myself in those same shoes, while I am still reeling today, eventually I am going to care. Meaning the players will begin to care about playoffs at some point. For us football is a distraction/entertainment. For them, football is their life. They work their entire lives to get to the point where they are in the NFL. They often work 12 months of the year training and getting ready. They shoot for personal and team goals. They dream. The Superbowl matters to them. It defines careers and impacts contracts and they only have a very short window. I can't imagine putting in the work that they do and not caring. Today, yes, Damar is all the matters - praying. Eventually, the players will also care about the thing they have devoted their life to, while still caring about their brother. Forget the fan. Forfeiting or canceling the season? That is not fair to them.

I haven't posted, but I have been reading and following along everything in this thread. Like most of you, I was shook by what I saw and this thread was helpful for me to process it all. You guys are great. Just as the Bills and Bengals players came together over this, we should as well. Everybody probably needs a little more grace tonight. I'm going to bed. Thanks again, everyone.

Nice. Buy that wasn't a tell. Ryan needed a break. 😀 I too am going to watch for these. I'm sure every team has tells, like the old Josh Reed in motion slowly behind the line meant a run with him as a blocker. And every team should work hard to eliminate them. As you say, if we can see it, so can the other team. If you are right, I tip my cap to the OP because these are pretty detailed.

Shaw looks like a modern QB when he drops. The Lions QB doing that run backwards for a drop back looks so awkward, especially since it is so deep. No three step drops here.

Unless you have him on your fantasy team because of his TD production last year and you thought he would get even more usage after his big contract. 😭

My problem with Frazier is his stubborn refusal to blitz more, even when the situation calls for it. I get why we don't blitz Mahomes, but Goff is not Mahomes. He is TERRIBLE under pressure. There we are with our top two DEs out and he is refusing to blitz. I am begging my TV to blitz all game. Finally in the fourth quarter he pressured Goff two straight plays and it led to a three and out. And on those two plays Goff's throws were way off target. There is Josh under pressure constantly (mainly because of our oline) and fighting thru like a gamer. Goff can't do that consistently.