Sierra Foothills

I think some of the disappointment regarding Kincaid is justified. He's hard to put in the right perspective. Historically for someone 26 games into his career, his numbers are pretty good but not great. And he did set a Bills rookie record for a TE last year. On the other hand those who are propping him up by saying he helps the Bills O dictate coverage remind me of when people used to say that Tremaine Edmunds helped the Bills D dictate coverage. Personally I'm a bit underwhelmed but I do wonder if it's how he's being utilized. Everything is a process and it's possible that the Bills learn how to utilize him better as time passes. It seems he's underneath too much and not enough downfield in the seams. Overall I would say that my biggest disappointment in Kincaid is him having just 4 TDs in 26 games. As far as availability for the Chiefs, tomorrow's injury report should give us an indication of whether he can play.

Except Russell Wilson's career was very different from Daniel Jones'. Don't forget about John Elway drafting Bradley Chubb instead of Josh. This. I'm pretty sure Daboll's gone but I'm less sure about Schoen. I think Gettleman was guilty of showing too much respect to Eli. Interestingly Gettleman never fired anyone when he took over in Carolina or in New York. Almost too nice a guy to be an NFL GM. I don't think there's too much basis to think that Trubisky is better than DJ. They're roughly equivalent IMO.

Clearly I didn't notice the exact time of the substitution... so I'm glad you did. So the Bills played 7 defensive snaps with a 3 score lead before putting in the reserves. That's definitely 7 snaps wasted. On the plus side, that's the first bull rush sack from Epenesa I can remember as a pro. He had lots of sacks like that in college. In general I have high hopes for the Bills D-line in this last third of the season.

I agree with those who say the approach should not be a "win at all costs" because it isn't for either team Both teams will play hard undoubtedly... too much pride and bragging rights on the line. But it wouldn't surprise me if both coaches employed vanilla game planning and let the outcome play out. I highly doubt either team will dip into their "bag of tricks" for instance. And there's absolutely something to say about trying to strike the balance between playoff seedings and player health. I don't think people are overlooking it. That game is a ways out: 11/17 CHIEFS 4:25 PM 12/01 49ERS 8:20 PM 12/08 @ Rams 4:25 PM 12/15 @ Lions 4:25 PM Everyone knows that will be an epic battle but again, will either team take a "win at all costs" mentality? The Bills play the Patriots twice and the Jets once to finish the regular season.

FWIW, in Mark Gaughan's breakdown of the video for the Buffalo News he said "Hamlin took a bad angle and lost containment on Jonathan Taylor’s 59-yard run. But Hamlin’s tackling and pre-snap disguise otherwise were excellent." Hamlin saw there was no clear path to the QB so he aborted his blitz but showed enough awareness to recover the fumble. He maximized his assignment on that play. It's funny to criticize a player who recovered a fumble. To my point above, the update is that Bishop (along with Elam, Ingram, Andreesen, and Morrow) played 5 snaps against Indy... about 8%. Javon Solomon played 2 snaps (3%). It's much like I outlined above: The Bills scored 7 points with 3 minutes left in the 4th quarter to make the score 30-13... which is a 3 score game. Until that moment it had been a 2 score game. Upon making the score 30-13 the Bills brought in the reserves mentioned above and the Colts drove the field and scored a late, meaningless touchdown. Now an argument can be made that a sole individual (i.e.- Bishop) could be slotted in to get snaps with the starters but the Bills like substituting in groups.

Retool, rebuild, reload... it's all semantics anyways. We're talking about varying degrees. When is something more of a retool than a rebuild? Rhetorical question... it's splitting hairs. Anyways the Bills are never gonna say it's a rebuilding year and it's not. As long as you have Josh Allen you have to do enough to at least have a shot at the big prize if luck happens to swing your way a bit. You might not go all-in every year but there's a certain level you have to try to attain each year because when you have someone like Josh, you have a chance every year. You know, before the season began the Bills had the 6th most difficult schedule in the league: https://www.giants.com/news/2024-nfl-strength-of-schedule-for-all-32-teams-steelers-packers-cowboys-49ers Part of the reason for the poor record of the teams the Bills have beaten is because the Bills are 8-0 against them. Also teams with fragile psyches like Jacksonville and the Jets let the losses to the Bills compound and affect the course of their seasons. Every year lots of teams underperform. The Bills are not one of those teams. Amari Cooper? Ray Davis? DeWayne Carter? Mack Hollins? Smoot and Toohill are better than the reserve DEs from last year. Dorian Williams has made a big jump in development. Your assessment of the before/after has some notable ommissions. On the other hand if the team prioritizes player health above standings/playoff seeding then maybe we do rest some players.

I understand a lot of guys want Josh to win the MVP because he got screwed out of it last year. But I think a lot of fans care more about this than Josh does himself.

Not in the least. The less Josh has to carry us on his shoulders, the better. Save it up for when it's really needed. I hope he's much less sore tomorrow than he usually is.

People keep wanting to disparage the Bills wins. It's popular to point out the mediocre record of the opponents they've beaten and that's a legitimate criticism. That said the Bills only have 2 losses and the combined record of the teams they lost to is 13-6. So the Bills have beat every "inferior team" on their schedule and haven't been upset by anyone. Obviously not a high bar but I would have taken 8-2 before the season started.

Funny thing is, I couldn't care less about the MVP and I think a lot of players and fans feel the same way. Individual achievements don't come before team goals. Thanks for posting this. Yes, and we were the visitors. The media is way better than coming to this place... pretty much regardless of outcomes. While I agree, I thought Mack Hollins really answered his critics. He was a fundamental reason why the Bills won.

I specifically bolded your stated opinion that offensive holding not be called unless the holder takes the holdee to the ground. That's what I disagree with you on. I don't disagree with you on the above opinion.

Some of the officials are really out of touch. Rapp had suffered his 2nd known concussion only one month earlier trying to tackle Derrick Henry, and was wearing a Guardian Cap to address those concerns. Had they been aware of this they might have asked themselves, why would this guy attempt to hurt a big, physical running back with his helmet? As I mentioned in the "NFL Officiating is Broken" topic, under the current rules, penalties are not challengable. Making them so would be a huge improvement for the game, IMO.

"I'm not the one who let Saquon walk..."

I'm a big Beane supporter but this is true. Go on...

Is this according to "The Thigh Doctor?" Except the Bills didn't make the playoffs over that stretch whereas the Cowboys usually do.

My boss hasn't been laughing at my jokes lately... I know he was just demoted from OC but there's been persistent rumors that GM Aaron Rodgers will be hiring Nathaniel Hackett as the new Head Coach. Of the 8 Head Coaches that Jerry Jones has hired, he's only fired one during the season. If Jones no longer wants someone coaching his team he doesn't extend their contracts. McCarthy's contract expires after this season. He'll be replaced... this offseason.

I'm in the group that doesn't believe making officials full-time will improve officiating. I actually don't think the zebras are the problem with NFL officiating. Every NFL official is graded after every game. Good officials are rewarded with post-season assignments. Poor officials are terminated. There is accountability as it pertains to the actual zebras. To your first comment, I disagree with those that say it's the preponderance of cameras and social media scrutiny that makes it seem like officiating is poor. Officiating is poor and it's affecting the product and people's enjoyment of the product. Many people are talking about unwatchable games. Several posters in this topic have advocated for fewer cameras but as you know, it's not gonna happen. I think the NFL should double down and require pylon cams for every game (they only do some games). I also believe that a ball tracking chip, when synced with the video (to monitor forward progress) would be a useful way to determine whether the plane has been broken. I agree that there are some rules that should be simplified but I strongly disagree with the bolded. That would be great but unfortunately he's no longer with us here on earth. IMO most serious NFL fans believe that the officiating is broken and is adversely affecting the product. I agree with your post 100%. What happened to Burrow's facemask should not be roughing IMO. Also re the non-call on Gesicki 1) He's "The Boy that cried Wolf"... as usual he was complaining when he should have been playing 2) There were two defenders in press coverage in his face... there's zero chance he was going to get a free release and pre-snap, there was no way Burrow was even considering throwing him the ball. Again inconsequential to the play. The best major rule change the NFL could make is one that Bill Belichick made years ago: Everything should be challengable. That includes penalties which are currently not challengable.

If nothing else, with Virgil and Hamler dressing the Bills will have more speed at WR than they've had in a pretty long time.

There's a clear pattern of opinions on this topic (as in almost all the topics). So far Bishop's played 133 of 571 defensive snaps which is 23% but since his disastrous start in week 5 he's only played 4 defensive snaps in 4 weeks. The crux is how to get Bishop live game action to accelerate his development. Most everyone would like to see him get more snaps in the name of development and being game ready if an injury were to happen to one of the starters. The problem as everyone knows is trust from the coaching staff. Consider that even with a "comfortable lead" most teams will keep their starters in. Say that the Bills are leading by 15 points late in the 3rd quarter... is that an appropriate time to get some of the reserves more snaps? Probably not because if they make a mistake which costs the team a TD suddenly the opponent is down 8 points (technically a one score game) and has some momentum... they've gone from likely losing the game to feeling like they have a chance to win. As we saw again in the Bengals-Ravens, games swing on one play all the time. THIS is why it's hard to get Bishop (and others) more meaningful reps. Coaches are simply not willing to give young players PT if doing so increases the chances of losing a game.

The NFL instituted the "slide rule" in 1985 which protected QBs that were running. Jimbo played from 1986 till 1996 so that protection was already in place. Do I think Josh would run as much if he played during the Kelly era? Maybe not because QBs simply did not run the ball as much back then. It had not yet become part of the game. But if he did he would have been able to slide to avoid taking excessive hits. To your point about the difference in eras, the bigger rule change came in 2018 with the addition of the "body weight" provision to roughing the passer. That was Josh's first year so he has been the beneficiary of that rule change. Perhaps Jimbo's greatest asset was his toughness but IMO Josh takes a back seat to no QB in that category. Josh's best comparable in terms of size is Ben Roethlisberger who like Josh is 6'5" and 240 lbs. Big Ben played 17 years in the NFL. Interesting point and one that could be viewed a few different ways: Jimbo was 101-59 in the regular season for a 63.125% winning percentage. He was 9-8 in the playoffs (52.94%) and 110-67 combined (62.15%). Josh is 70-32 in the regular seasons for a 68.63% winning percentage. He is 5-5 in the playoffs (50.00%) and 75-37 combined (66.96%). So this is just another way of comparing the two.

Incorrect. I don't meaan to sharpshoot you but Edmunds doesn't turn 19 years old until May 2nd.

One big factor in the comparison that hasn't been mentioned is the caliber of players each QB was surrounded with. Jimbo played with HOFers Hull, Thurman, Reed, Lofton, Bruce... and many All-Pro and Pro Bowl caliber players. Josh on the other hand has not played with any HOF caliber players and many fewer All-Pro and Pro Bowl caliber players. So as far as supporting cast it's not even close... Jimbo was surrounded with WAY more talent.

This from The Athletic: "While the Bills offense may be a bit shorthanded, the defense will have to contend with a Colts offensive line that can win with physicality, and one of the most talented running backs in the league in Jonathan Taylor. The Colts have a talented offensive line that plays well together, and excellent left tackle Bernhard Raimann appears to be on track to play after missing last week with a concussion. As they failed to do last week at the line of scrimmage, the Bills defensive line has to win that battle far more often this week to deal with this collective group."

PFT: "The Patriots claimed Ngakoue on waivers, after he was waived by the Ravens. Baltimore signed him to the active roster on October 15, after signing him to the practice squad on September 23. Before that, he was free to sign with any team, at any time. If the Ravens had released Ngakoue before the trade deadline, he would have been a free agent all over again. After the trade deadline, all players who are cut — regardless of experience — must go through waivers. And they must go to the team that claims them (if they want to keep playing). It’s unclear why the Ravens didn’t cut him before the deadline. He would have been entitled to termination pay, if the Ravens had simply cut him. By waiving him, the Patriots assumed responsibility for the balance of his prorated contract for the veteran minimum of $1.21 million. The Patriots become Ngakoue’s seventh NFL team. The 2016 fourth-round pick played for the Jaguars, Vikings, Raiders, Colts, and Bears. He now has two stints in Baltimore."

Well let me ask you this then... if the Madubuike facemask was a penalty, was it a 5 yarder or a 15 yarder?