dave mcbride

But someone above says early season losses don't matter!

Of course they all matter. Cincy was one of the best teams in the league late last season. Does anyone think that opening-game loss to a terrible NE team didn't matter? They would have made the playoffs if they had won it.

He actually had 49 tackles in his rookie season and started 5 games. Interestingly, it's the only season in which he played in every game. He missed 3 games in 2018, 6 games in 2020, and 2 games in 2022. Lotta soft tissue injuries over the years.

? - "Big time drops"? The game was an utter blowout (the Bills could have scored over 40 points easily if they hadn't called off the dogs), and Knox had what appears to be his highest-rated blocking game ever in a contest where the Bills ran it down the Jets' throats all game.

Before the 2024 season, GB was my super bowl pick for the NFC. They ended up with too many injuries, though. I think they're the most likely team to go this year, but I also think the Rams are a respectable pick. Philly of course too.

Fumble. Knox was also legit being interfered with on the final drop, although it was still catchable.

Tough to say. Their defense is elite. But this is a sack/pressure fest on both sides.

He’s just not a playmaker. This is from after the Bears-Vikings game from last Monday night:

He was pretty mediocre in MN.

You can’t have it both ways. He has one elite and one very good receiver, but also a terrible o-line and a dime-a-dozen RB corps now that Mixon is gone. Literally no one who works in actual personnel evaluation in the NFL would agree with you, so think about that.

Allen got sacked a ton in his first two years: 8 and 7.6 percent, respectively -- https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/A/AlleJo02.htm. He became adept at avoiding sacks starting in year three, and he's truly elite at it now.

? - Purdy had a complete tear of his UCL. Allen didn't. Both of his UCL injuries were sprains. If Allen had a complete UCL tear, he would have missed a season. Also, playing with a torn ligament in a toe would make Allen a pretty immobile QB. That's not his game, and I would anticipate the Bills hoping for the best with Trubisky and getting Allen back fully healthy for the final 3-4 games and playoffs.

Turf toe requiring surgery would result in probably the same amount of lost time for Allen.

Huh? David Carr wasn't good. Burrow is elite.

The in-division loss to the Chargers absolutely matters.

Talent-wise and technique-wise, they're both truly elite players. Miller has had the better career, of course, but a lot of that is because Bosa has struggled to stay on the field. Since 2019, he hasn't played a full season, although he did play 16 games in 2021 (so basically full; the Chargers had a dominant D that year too). Until the 2022 season, From 2011 to 2019, Miller--who started in 2011--never missed any games except for the final 7 after he tore his ACL in 2013. And even then, when he came back in 2014, he had a dominating all-pro season. To be fair, he missed the entire 2020 season (ankle). Since coming off of PUP in 2022, he hasn't missed a game except for the suspension. He has played in 32 straight games since coming off of PUP. He generally doesn't get dinged up in season. He's either all in or all out, and in his 15th year, he's been all in for 12 of them (so far).

Through 1.5 games this year, Burrow has been sacked at a 12.2 percent rate. Yeah, it's a small sample size, and Cleveland can get after the QB. But that's a ridiculously high rate.

Rob Johnson was never actually good, though. He was a bad player with physical talent. Burrow has had three MVP-level seasons in six years.

Don’t forget Nathan Peterman throwing a pick to Jalen Ramsey.

Remember that Bills-Chargers game from 2019-2020? Bosa was unblockable in that game.

For those who care: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6623193/2025/09/12/bills-ed-oliver-injury-tj-sanders/

Oh jeez. Jackson had a great game. People need to abandon this stupid narrative. Allen is 77-34 as a a starter. That’s really good. Jackson is 70-25 as a starter. That’s better.

From practice this week. It’s in the original post.

The Bills were so lucky there. But it was a lucky game overall, especially with the Keon catch. Given all the bad luck, they were due.

The Martin House is one of the greatest things to see in Buffalo. Also great. But not close!