JohnNord

Has he flashed enough to earn a second contract?

Keep in mind that Mercilus couldn’t crack the starting lineup for the Houston Texans - one of the worst defensive teams in the NFL. The Bills signing Mercilus is a move that would look bigger on paper than it would on the field - kind of like signing Kenny Stills to the PS last season

Overall, I’m a little disappointed with what we’ve seen from Ed Oliver. Last year, some had theorized that his lack of production was the result of not having a true 1TDT to take on blockers. Well Star is back and is having his best season with the Bills, yet Oliver still hasn’t made much more of an impact. He hasn’t been bad necessarily and can make an occasional splash play. But he also seems to be a non-factor for long stretches of game and has provided little in terms of a pass rush. It seems to me that he doesn’t win his matchup enough. The word on Oliver is that you can take him out of a play completely with a double team. At this point, if I’m Brandon Beane, I definitely wouldn’t pick up his option this off-season, unless Ed takes his game to another level this year. I feel that you can match Oliver’s production with a younger player or a veteran that will sign for a much cheaper deal than what it would take to keep Oliver in town. Would you pick up Oliver’s option after this season?

I’m not really concerned about this. We can improve red zone efficiency a lot easier than we can with line play.

Yes and no…. In the case of the game last night, I don’t think you can blame Allen for not converting the 2 RZ touchdowns, when he kept putting points on the board. The defense was the main issue. I do think there are times in the past where Allen played subpar and fans were overly protective of him. To your point, Allen looks to be the real deal, as long as that happens, the Bills are going to compete every year.

I’m guessing he’ll be down for a few games, though McDermott hasn’t designed him as “week-to-week” which is interesting

They could’ve been better in the redzone for sure, but anyone that wants to pin the loss on the offense is mistaken. The Bills lost largely because the defense couldn’t make one stop in the 2nd half. Not 👏One👏Stop👏 That’s a major reason why the Bills lost. Force TEN off the field once without point and it’s a W. So much for the “elite” defense

This just in…..

This is elite level TSW overreaction

Outside of one running play…they pretty much did stop the running game. It’s the passing conversions that killed the team

Call me crazy but didn’t Henry Jones really provide a huge boost for the Bills defense once he took over for Leonard?

Keep in mind that EJ started the first 4 games of 2014. Orton was 7-5 and really should’ve been 8-4, had the defense have been able to handle a 2-12 football team. He could push the ball downfield and made less mistakes than Fitzpatrick. No doubt the bar was set low, but Orton was probably the best QB since Drew Bledsoe

I don’t buy that McDermott and Daboll could’ve fixed EJ. I think they could’ve put him in a better position to succeed - where they didn’t need to rely on him to win games - but at the end of the day EJ couldn’t read defenses. He also had some struggled with self-confidence which is not ideal for a “franchise” QB. I agree that he never should’ve been a 1st round QB, but he was, and you can’t grade on a curve. Ultimately he could’ve been a decent QB - there’s no way that he should’ve been a team’s savior.

I hear you…but a few things. #1 the reason why some of us love the “ha ha” posts is because many fan bases like the Dolphins, Patriots, Chiefs etc love talking trash about the Bills. And if the Bills ever slip up don’t think you won’t hear it from them. So it’s not like Bills fans are extraordinary unsympathetic. Second - this is professional sports. Isn’t the whole gloating about your team while trashing the rival part of the deal? I think there are worse thing than watching a division rival implode and laughing at it.

This Mahomes is an idiot and I hate defending him but I think it’s more of an example of him being ignorant than disrespectful. He did take the video down - so he did the right thing after he was called on it.

The problem is that the NFL always find a way to justify an official’s terrible call. So while fans find the calls abhorrent they rules are written so vaguely (clear and indisputable evidence) that the league can find a way to support any call. Officiating is an issue in all sports. There’s always missed calls and I don’t think any league has gotten it correct

So you’re comparing McDermott’s Year 2 to Flores’ Year 3? Besides, McDermott finished 10-6 and made the playoffs in his 3rd season and his franchise QB’s 2nd. Flores lost to a team that hasn’t won for nearly 2 seasons Fitzpatrick and turnovers…. Even when Fitzpatrick was “benched,” Miami still won with Tua thanks to a defense that forced turnovers against average to bad teams. It was pretty clear that their model of winning wasn’t sustainable and there was no better example than Week 17 in 2020. I think if anything the 10-6 record last season was a bit of mirage and raised expectations a little higher than they should’ve been

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The problem with Flores is that he never seemed to have a long term plan in any way. After his team overachieved in 2019, he hired Chan to run a Taylor-made for offense for Fitzpatrick…knowing full well that the team would likely be drafting a QB. The QB drafted was a bad fit for the offense and he never had any plan for his development. Then after the Tua failure in 2020, he hires two unknown commodities to call plays and run the offense to terrible results. To his credit Flores was a great motivator and helped his team overachieve at times - especially in 2019. He’s also been a good defensive coach and his team’s ability to force turnovers (many times against poor competition) likely masked some of the teams problems. I think overall he’s an ok coach that in a bad situation with Miami. A big part of his predicament is his fault , though the GM has been terrible as well This was a HUGE red flag for me. I loved how many in the media brushed it off as though it was no big deal, when it could very well be the nail in his coffin. When you switch to a rookie QB you can’t give them the hook in a close game. You need to ride or die with them.

Never started a game

I think Tyrod gets too much credit for “ending the streak” and don’t feel he deserves any credit for Allen. In 2017, he threw for a modest 14 TD’s that year and struggled to pass for over 200 yards. He was a very safe QB but feel several QB’s could have done the same. The culture turnaround was all McDermott. If you credit any players then it should be Kyle Williams and Lorenzo Alexander. No I was referring to Billy Joe. He never started a game

I disagree. Orton wasn’t the problem that year. The Bills defense failed in Oakland which is what screwed their season Never started a game for the Bills Billy Joe never started a game for the Bills. They released him before it got to that point

Leonard’s looking different without the porn stache.

Something fun going around Twitter. Based on the list below rank the Bills starting QB’s since Jim Kelly retired. After Josh it’s a crap shoot and then the next five it gets really interesting. Here’s mine: Josh Allen Drew Bledsoe Kyle Orton Doug Flutie Tyrod Taylor Ryan Fitzpatrick Rob Johnson Kelly Holcomb EJ Manuel Trent Edwards J.P. Losman Todd Collins Matt Barkley Alex Van Pelt Matt Cassel Derek Anderson Thad Lewis Jeff Tuel Nathan Peterman Brian Brohm

I’m not sure any GM/coach prior to Beane & McDermott ever had a vision. Maybe Rex Ryan who wanted to recreate the 2009 Jets defense and win with smash mouth football. The rest just seemed to randomly stack talent