dave mcbride

Yes. Exactly. The two positions are not the same. Steve Spagnuolo was a total failure as a head coach (he had a bad team, but whatever), but are we to declare him a joke because of that?

That has literally nothing to do with offensive playcalling. Keep believing that all the way to a Bills wild card appearance this season and no home playoff games.

He had TERRIBLE quarterbacks. He had Tim Freaking Tebow in Denver, for chrissake. The Raiders 2022 offense was actually pretty good as well (12th in yards, 12th in points, 8th fewest turnovers surrendered, 6th in yards per drive, 8th in points per drive), but their defense was awful (26th in yards, 28th in points, 32nd in turnovers forced). Regardless, if you are making an argument based on "blah-blah-blah BRADY" without looking at his scheming success (which should include this season), then I don't know what to tell you. There is not a coach in the NFL who doesn't think McDaniels is an elite OC. Not one.

Anyone who thinks Josh McDaniels is a joke doesn't really understand football. His ability when he was with Brady to dramatically and successfully shift game schemes based on opponent from week to week over the years is unmatched in recent history.

Nicely done, but you gotta include sack rates and fumbles. He had 5 fumbles last year and is on pace for 9 this year.

There not a snowball's chance in hell that Saleh would be a viable candidate to replace McDermott: https://www.pro-football-reference.com/coaches/SaleRo0.htm. He has had a few good years on the defensive yards-allowed side for both SF and the Jets, but the points given up are a problem, even in SF, where they finished 25th, 28th, 8th, and 17th in point allowed per game. I know there is the context of the Jets ownership, but I don't see how Pegula could ever successfully sell Saleh to this fanbase given that McDermott's defenses don't give up many points at all. I mean, they are kind of a shitshow this season, but they are STILL 11th in points given up. Since 2019, they have finished 2nd, 16th, 1st, 2nd, 4th, 11th, and 11th. SF's defense this year is 21st in yards allowed and 15th in points. Sure, they have injuries, and that should be taken into account, but so does everyone at this point.

I am not the biggest Davis fan, and Jax clearly overpaid him. But these playoff numbers over seven games are pretty insane. It wasn't just the 13 seconds game either. Factoring that one out, he still had 273 across six games and averaged around 20 yards per catch with 2 TDs. And of course the 13 seconds game SHOULDN'T be factored out. It was against the highest level competition on the road.

Agreed, I think it deserves its own thread like Kubiak. It’s buried on page 17 of this one and I suspect a lot of folks will miss it as a consequence.

Thank you. This is a lot more convincing than Kubiak. And Simms was a better player at the QB position than position Kubiak, for what it’s worth. Watch the Chris Simms video in this thread at the top of page 17. It is to my mind more convincing than Kubiak.

The Bills would likely have ANNIHILATED the Bengals at home in the 2021 season. The Bengals barely beat a bad Raiders team, somehow beat the Titans despite being outplayed, and were on their way to being utterly blown out by the Chiefs until Patrick Mahomes had the worst half and OT of his career — yips-like, even. The Bengals’ o-line was awful, their D was worse in 2021 than 2022, and the Bills’ offense at that point was unstoppable. I truly believe they would have won by 20 or so points and then beaten a decent Rams team in the SB (and bear in mind that the Bills blew out the Rams in LA in their very next game after the SB - the 2022 season opener). That Bills offense in the postseason that year was playing probably the best stretch of offense in franchise history.

I don’t know. I am guessing data is out there, but there is a lot of it given how long that format lasted.

Yes, all true, but the kicker for me is that on a percentage basis, the new kickoffs have five times the rate of concussions as regular scrimmage plays. Players aren't sprinting 40 yards down the field anymore, but they're sprinting 7-12 yards before contact and can build up a full head of steam in that window.

This all day. In some of these looks I'm seeing where fans say that a guy is wide open, I see 1 and even 2 defenders with leverage waiting to pounce and break on the ball. NFL secondary players are fast.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6798426/2025/11/12/kickoff-returns-concussions-injuries-nfl/ "But the rate of concussions per 100 kickoffs through seven weeks rose from 0.09 in 2024 to 1.18 this season, according to internal league data that was shared with teams and viewed by The Athletic. The concussion rate per 100 kickoff returns climbed to 1.48 through seven weeks, compared to 0.29 last season. The data shared with clubs indicated that it is roughly five times the league’s baseline concussion rate on run or pass plays."

Full participation in practice today and McDermott said he understands Palmer is trending to play vs. TB.

Minimum of 135 snaps. Hairston will be on there soon enough. Bishop has gone up over the course of the season. He is a good player, but he has had some rough outings too.

I feel like Milano really hasn't made a play all season. He has one sack, one TFL, and 11 solo tackles this year. He has zero forced turnovers, zero fumble recoveries, and -- most shocking given how elite he was as a pass defender in 2022 and the first handful of games of 2023 before injury -- zero passes defensed.

Just one person's take on the season so far, but note that his bottom six players are in the defensive back seven. Among players who have played the requisite number of snaps (minimum of 135), he has Matt Milano as the lowest rated player on the team. In the Miami game, he ranked Milano 31st out of 32.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6799104/2025/11/12/bills-offense-josh-allen-gabe-davis-wide-receiver/ Joe B has observations on the entire receiving corps, but here are his takes on Moore, Samuel, and Davis. Elijah Moore vs. Curtis Samuel: 'The player I think deserves some more run, based on what the film shows, is Elijah Moore. He’s the smallest receiver on their roster, but as a route runner, separator and someone who can eat up space in a hurry because of his speed, he’s the fastest option. Moore runs his routes hard and gets in and out of his breaks quickly. You can see defenders giving him a bit more cushion because of those routes, too. His speed, even for a clearout route, can help more than Curtis Samuel, who has been used in that function quite a bit. Samuel gave the Bills some good snaps near the end of the season, but that same player just has not been there in 2025 despite being fully healthy. Inconsistency has followed his Bills career, and it’s gotten even worse this season. Over his five active games, Samuel has run a total of 73 routes, according to TruMedia and Pro Football Focus. He’s been targeted only six times. For wide receivers in 2025 who have run at least 50 routes, Samuel’s 8.2 percent target rate ranks 138th out of 144 qualifying players. He’s run mostly empty-calorie routes this season and has drawn little attention from defenders. He doesn’t provide the same cushion or verticality as Moore. Plus, Samuel’s routes don’t have the same precision as others on the team. Samuel’s lone target against the Dolphins came on a scramble drill when he just stopped and stood where he was while Allen bought more time for someone to get open. Taking Samuel’s snaps and putting them in the hands of receivers who can better threaten a defense can help maximize Allen’s opportunities.' Gabe Davis: 'As of late last week, the Bills had gone through almost two full weeks of practice with Gabe Davis, who is still somehow only 26 years old. ... So, in his five other practices, how has he looked after almost a yearlong layoff from football? And how close has he looked to the player he was during his first stint with the Bills? The Bills have some long-tenured defensive backs who have seen all of his Buffalo career, and The Athletic caught up with them about Davis on Friday, ahead of the Dolphins game. Each of them said many of the same things, most notably that Davis is already making an impact on the field despite his limited practice time. “Once he got on the practice field that first day, he was making some insane catches. Like jumping up in the air, going to get it,” cornerback Tre’Davious White said. “He looked explosive. He looked fast. Catching great balls, great catch radius. He’s up there in the air getting the ball. He could definitely help us. He can help this team.” “I feel like he’s close to the Gabe that you guys remember before he left,” defensive back Cam Lewis said. “He’s going out there and just being himself. The same player, the same Gabe that you remember, is what we’ve seen so far.” Nickel corner Taron Johnson echoed those sentiments in practice as well, including that when Davis gets to play, he’s going to help the team tremendously. And again, this was all said before the Bills struggled to move the ball through the air in Miami. “I feel like it’s a boost for our offense. … Just another attention grabber for defense,” Lewis said. “Who (defenses) need to pay attention to, keep a roof over. And when you do that, you expose a lot of other areas in your defense.” “I mean, he’s got so much talent. But when you mix the talent with a guy that works extremely hard at what he does, the results are going to show,” White added. “I know what type of player he is. I played with him for three, four, five years, so I just know what he brings to the table. And then Josh trusts him, too. He knows the offense. They have a great relationship off the field, so that always helps.” “I feel like that vertical threat is something that Gabe will help us a lot, too,” Lewis said. “I think he can help us in a lot of different ways. Whenever he gets that green light, I know he’s going to make a lot of plays for our football team.” Trust from Allen and verticality — two things the Bills desperately need from their receivers group — are key reasons Davis could be up and active, possibly as soon as against the Buccaneers this weekend.'

The Dolphins lost 28-6 to the Ravens the week before, but if you watched that game, it was quite competitive. Miami just kept shooting itself in the foot after moving the ball well, and then finally the game got away from them. But that was a more competitive game than the score indicated. And they crushed Atlanta the week before. They're not good, obviously, but they're also not horrible. If they win the TO battle, they can beat most teams. And one could argue that they didn't really turn the ball over at all vs. the Bills -- two arm punts on third and very long with an average of 45 net yards. If those had been incompletions, roughly the same result would have occurred the next play. The Bills' four TOs all took place in Miami territory and took at least 6 points off the board (2 FGs) and possibly 17-20 max (two TDs and a 1- 2 FGs). They lost by 17 points. And yes, I count a failed fourth down attempt as a turnover. It's the same as a lost fumble on fourth down. By not punting, the Dolphins got the ball just shy of Bills territory and quickly scored.

Shakir is open for a five yard gain on that play but the play design is to the other side. The TE is covered and Cook is gonna get blown up after a 4-5 yard gain. No one else is open. They just look open because the ball not being thrown in a particular direction means that NFL defenders are not going to break on the ball (hence the spacing between DBs and receivers, which in reality isn't much spacing at all). Also, @Alphadawg7, maybe you're looking at it differently, but Coleman at no point looks open to me until the very end of the play when it's dead anyway. He's bracketed by two DBs the entire team and there's a clean switch by the Miami secondary when he gets to the next, deeper level.

I think he’s a great playcaller. He’d be a good addition to the Bills. I do get the sense he McDermott like each other, btw.

His best first round pick outside of Allen (admittedly, a historically great pick) is Stefon Diggs. The others: Terrell Edmunds, Ed Oliver, Greg Rousseau, Kair Elam, Dalton Kincaid, and Maxwell Hairston. I'd include Keon Coleman here too even though he wasn't technically a first rounder. Waddle is better than all of them, although Kincaid and Oliver are very good players (when healthy). Rousseau is good too. Too early to tell on Hairston.

The ironic thing is that the 2027 draft is reportedly believed to be a historically good draft, and FAR better than the 2026 draft. (Flagging @GunnerBill to see if agrees with this). If that's the case, it would seem to me that trading a 2026 pick instead of 2027 pick is the better move, even factoring in the time value of money issue. https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/news/nfl-trade-deadline-2027-draft-class/ https://www.pff.com/news/draft-why-the-2027-nfl-draft-already-has-scouts-drooling

That was a game-deciding play too.