JohnNord

They are better…pretty solid against the run and they rush the passer better. I still do think teams can thrown on them. What you can’t do is follow the Mike Tomlin blueprint and punt on 4th and short. That killed Pittsburgh in the first half - especially since they couldn’t get Baltimore off the field without a TD

Pittsburgh did fairly well on the first drive on 1st and 2nd down. Their 3rd down defense was terrible in the first half (sound familiar?). Baltimore was like 6/7 and most weren’t short yardage. The TD to Bateman was on 3rd and 13. The result was some super long drives ending in 7, that limited chances to score (not like Russ would have done anything) To beat Baltimore you have to make some important stops on 3rd down - especially in the red zone.

That’s why I said they need to take a big swing and trade up.

I thought the same thing!

They won’t do anything unless they find a better QB. Missing on Pickett was pretty huge. If I’m Pittsburgh I take a big swing and trade up in the draft for a QB to start in 2026. Instead they’ll probably sign Aaron Rodgers

On offense their running game is scary. You can definitely throw on their secondary.

“If they Ravens can rush for 289 yards against Pittsburgh, they rush for 700 against Buffalo”

TBH neither quarterback was a great option. Russ is ok but it seemed like the only time the offense could do anything was when he threw it deep to Pickens. He doesn’t handle pressure well and can’t create much with legs anymore. He’s just not very good. Much like McDermott in Buffalo, Tomlin has a ton of support in Pittsburgh and isn’t going anywhere

You could be right and let’s not forget who his OC is… My problem is that everyone makes so many excuses for Herbert…at what point do the excuses stop?

Oh they are going to get smoked

I don’t think that was the expectation. It seems to me like Hyde was going to be more of a “player coach.” When he first what signed, reporters asked McDermott what he expects from Micah and he candidly said “not much.” If they were going to activate Hyde it would have been done in week 18

Teams have unlimited elevations for PS players. Considering no one on defense is questionable, I’m guessing Jackson’s elevation was a “thank you” of sorts so he can get a game check. I’m guessing Virgil is insurance if Codrington can’t go. Not sure if he returns kicks, but he can at least give them some reps at WR in the event that Shakir takes returner duties. IMO I don’t think either of them play. It is funny that both were broncos last season

Kyle Williams has the wit, charisma and delivery of a southern preacher with that famous speech. Amazing. Imagine if he fires up the crowd with this speech!

Bills are 4-1 versus the NFC…not bad

If they are giving it to the player with the best stats it should go to Joe Burrow. It sucks but this season was never about MVP

Is this something that developed throughout the course of 2 years? Or did he refine his motion during the 2020 offseason? The video makes it sound like it happened all on three 2020 offseason which is truly impressive if that’s the case

He’s a true 1TDT which no one else other than DaQuan Jones is. He won’t make big plays but he can anchor and won’t get blown off the ball like the rest of the DT’s do.

I’d be surprised if Matthew Smiley is back as ST’s coach next season. Im not sure that the problem with the DL not getting pressure is related to McDermott and Babich, as much as just losing matchups. You can to run a loop or stunt or blitz but if your players are losing their assignments there’s only so much you can do. We all knew the roster was limited in areas. WR turned out better than expected. Safety was about the same. But DL underperformed. What McDermott can do is take more chances and be aggressive to compensate for the lack of talent

There is a lot of pressure on McDermott this season IMO. I don’t think he’s coaching for his job at all but he desperately wants to win a Super Bowl in Buffalo

I meant he hasn’t beaten Kansas City in the playoffs. The only coaches who have are Bill Belichick (2018) and Zac Taylor (2021). So while he hasn’t gotten to a Super Bowl yet, no AFC coaches have either besides those 2.

Surprisingly Dan is pretty low on Buffalo:

“Bugaboo?”

I’ve argued with Bills fans before but Sammy was an BUST of a draft pick and IMO Doug Whaley should shoulder the majority of the blame.. Sammy was not injury prone in college, so some of his failure can be chalked up to bad luck. But he also had a pizz poor attitude, bad worth ethic, and didn’t want to be Buffalo. So for that, Sammy deserves a lot blame. But Whaley clearly was in self-preservation mode hoping to double down on his investment. He made a move everyone said was reckless and laughed by saying “I like those odds!” The problem was that he traded up for a receiver who was far less productive than Evans, OBJ, Brandin Cooks, and others Davante Adams and others selected after him. Also it showed Whaley’s weakness. He took the most spectacular player of need without factoring how he would be use or whether he’d be a good fit within their culture… there was no culture!

Hiring an unproven HC like Ben Johnson to take over would be a massive mistake. McDermott has built a successful program that runs itself. He has one of the best records since 2020, won the AFCE 5X straight and will likely have the MVP this season. The only thing he hasn’t done is found a way to beat Kansas City - which only has happened 3 times since 2018. IMO if you move on from McDermott you don’t replace him with a first year coach. Everyone the examples of replacing Tony Dungy and John Fox - both those teams replaced them with proven, experienced HC’s.

Saleh to Jacksonville makes a lot of sense, especially if Kahn is married to Balkke as GM. I can’t see one of the main HC candidates turn down jobs for Jacksonville otherwise. Part of me is wondering it’s a Doug Whaley situation where he’ll allow the HC to dump the GM after the draft.