JohnNord

It was think about this topic recently. Safety was the biggest reason for pessimism from Joe Buscaglia. But Joe Marino echoed much of the same sentiment as you did regarding McDermott and safeties. I think the best example is Damar Hamlin in 2022. As a 6th round draft pick he stepped in for Micah Hyde and played decent given limited experience. Having Poyer probably helped as did being in the system for a second season. But I think recent example should give optimism.

Damn, you wouldn’t normally expect this in San Fransisco but I’ve heard about an increase in crime and homelessness in that area. Hope he is ok

Yeah I think part of the problem was that Daboll and later Dorsey never really developed a run game. When Dorsey tried to last season it was incredibly bland. Brady seemed to have more success including in the AFC Divisional Game versus KC. In my opinion, I think releasing Morse was primarily about his contract and age. But I also think they saw it as an opportunity to get more physical up front.

I’d completely agree with your point on physicality on both sides of the ball in 2021 and 2023. But this past January the OL was decent with running the ball and protected Josh fairly well sans the missed throw to Shakir. But the common denominator has been a failure to pressure the QB in the post season. The numbers that Mahomes and Burrow put up on the defense in the postseason is disgusting and I think it starts with a lack of pass rush. Whether it’s Mario Addison, Jerry Hughes, Greg Rosseau, Ed Oliver, or AJ Epinesa the Defensive Line has been invisible in the biggest moments. The guy who was signed to be their “closer” has been hampered by injuries. Again…crappy luck

Some of this is true. I remember John Brown and Duke Williams not coming up with receptions. But not sure how you can watch that game and not come away with the realization that Josh was pressing. This is “Sugar High Josh”. He was completely reckless. His legs is what help take the game to OT. Had he just relaxed and taken what was given to him, rather than forcing the ball to Pat DiMarco or trying an horrible lateral to Dawson Knox late in the game. His fumbles and failure to generate points allowed Houston to climb back in. To your point - I do believe that Josh and the entire team learned from this failure

It’s speed and explosiveness. Ben Albright who covers Denver said Virgil impressed in the preseason and they were really hoping to get him on their PS

Yes it was the one with Josh, McD, and two random fans. I don’t think they expected the crazy demand which saw people buy huge quantities and sell them online for 5X the markup at $100. It seems like over the past few years, they’ve actually been able to keep them on store shelves which is good for everyone

This lacks a lot of context. The 9-7 Bills team that took on Jacksonville didn’t really have great talent. Yet they held Jacksonville, who came close to beating NE in the AFCCG, to their lowest post season output at 10 points. It was an excellent defensive performance. The team lost because Tyrod and his lack of playmakers. The Texans game is the definition of “Sugar High Josh.” That and a fluke missed sack by Milano are the reasons they lost the football game. Few want to admit it, but Josh didn’t really play that well in the second half of that football game

Combination of a few things: #1 Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs They have been to the Super Bowl 4 out of the 5 seasons. The Bengals got past them in 2021. The Bills SHOULD have beaten them that season as well. Whether it’s Tennessee, Buffalo, Cincy or Baltimore KC continues to be a really tough opponent in the post season. #2 Very very bad injury luck 2021 was All Pro Tre White 2022 saw “difference maker” Von Miller go down and other injuries late in the year 2023 saw Milano, Jones, and Tre out of most of the season. Then you had multiple injuries to positions of weak depth at WR and LB. Both which bit them in the ass. Yes, all teams face injuries. It’s part of the game. But having their best players face long term injuries is just horrible luck. #3 Anyone not named Josh Allen hasn’t stepped up. This includes Sean McDermott though it’s not all on him. Too many of the teams superstars are invisible at times when they are needed the most. This had nothing to do with coaching and more about stepping up. Players like Ed Oliver, Tremaine Edmunds, Stefon Diggs, etc.. where are these guys in big football games? So between KC being a dynasty, bad luck, and just failure the team is where it is

Seems like the people at FP after the first run when it was nearly impossible to pick one up at a Wegmans. They boosted the production and there doesn’t seem to be shortage that there once was.

It sounds like they are trying to get an International Pathways PS Exemption for Kingsley Jonathan that has not been approved yet. If this happens, I think Virgil signs

This seems like such a grift from Erie county. There has to be better ways to spend $5,000!!!!

I really liked Osborn in Minnesota and thought he would have been a great signing in Buffalo

He’s also not very good at this point in his career and couldn’t beat out Tyquan Thornton. If we’re going to hire based on past accolades the Bills should’ve kept JuJu’s old teammate Chase Claypool

Sure but the difference is that even though he’s not starting, he’s finally playing closer to the level they envisioned him for him. If this was a Cody Ford situation, it would be different

Sal Carpaccio was speculating whether Buffalo could trade Kair Elam. His rationale was that Jamarcus Ingram has played well and could now be CB3 and Daequan Hardy has shown he can play on the outside. Personally I don’t think it happens because Elam would probably command a 4th round pick at best. The way Beane values his draft picks, I can’t see him selling a 1st rounder for pennies on the dollar

I thought about this yesterday. Plummer looked really good. Of course, he won’t be throwing against Kyron Brown every week either!

Makes sense….you might be right - this is what Erik from Cover1 said. Obviously we don’t know the call so all any fan can do is guess:

Problem is that Andereesen have overachieved whereas Ulofoshio has been really lousy.

I’ve been checking around this morning and it seems like the TD was definitely on him. He should have have taken the crossing route. Instead both Joe and Deion Jones jumped the RB. Outsider of that play I don’t think there were any lowlights. He played reasonably well for a UDFA

UP: DiNucci & Brown - nothing crazy here but I think both showed that they are at least competent enough for a PS spot somewhere in the NFL. Frank Gore Jr - not only did he run hard but also showed really good vision. A strong showing and a player Buffalo should try to get on their PS. Aaron Kromer’s OL - Both 2nd and 3rd team squads did a really good job all day. Deon Cane - Took those screen passes and made something out of nothing multiple times. Te’Cory Couch - seemed to make a lot of plays today. Missed a few as well but he was around the ball a lot! Daequan Hardy - Largely regarded as a slot CB due to his size but it was amazing to see him play outside against Dionte Johnson. KJ Hamler - you could see his explosiveness and speed late in the game. DOWN: Kyron Brown - one of the worst players on the field today. Gave up many catches including the game clincher. Eddie Ulofoshio - First game action of his career but was bad both against the run and in pass coverage. Dee Delaney - Looked ridiculously slow and was out of position on the Marshall TD. Tyler Bass - After a shaky performance at practice his missed 50 yarder was hardly encouraging. What did you see? i watched Anderseen and thought he played ok. He didn’t have the splash played he had last week but aside from the TD I didn’t see anything too bad.

Amateur wrestlers usually end fights. They won’t throw down but will instead take you down and end things with a front face lock. Pretty sure McDermott could handle himself

I read the story by Ty Dunne. It said that while Terry loved Mahomes he wanted to empower his new HC and didn’t interfere in the decision. I believe the comment you’re referring to was from Doug Whaley on the Go Long podcast. IMO taking about Mahomes at 27 was hyperbole to illustrate how much Terry liked him. Whaley had zero real power that draft - McDermott was fully in control by all reports. If Terry didn’t stop McDermott from trading down why would he force him to take Mahomes at 27? Just about everyone who covered the Bills explained that the Bills were trying to acquire draft capital to position for themselves for a top QB in 2018. I’ll take their word over a guy who hasn’t worked in a front office since that draft.

Anyone feeling leery about the KC trade in 2017 is just being overly dramatic. The context that you’re missing here is that the Bills GM and his scouting staff were all about to be fired days after the draft. If you were Sean McDermott, a defensive coordinator up to that point, are you going to trust the intel THE most important from a crew that has been largely unsuccessful. Plus the 2017 QB prospect pool was somewhat polarizing depending on the evaluator and the 2018 group seemed to be much stronger. This is why Buffalo passed on Mahomes and Watson in 2017. McDermott knew he wasn’t qualified to make that decision and he didn’t trust Doug Whaley. So he punted on the QB and waiting until someone he knew, trusted and valued help him make that decision after a year’s worth of scouting. So all in all it was a bad situation, which is largely moot considering Buffalo came away with arguably the #2 QB. As far as 2024, I think once Thomas was off the board they ranked the next group of WR’s similarly. So they knew they could trade down and come away with one in the group. I don’t think Beane should have given much thought KC taking Worthy.