dave mcbride

Good stuff.

Um, no he doesn’t. Josh Allen is probably his favorite player in the league.

Good comp. The Panthers tried for years to get by with the likes of Ted Ginn Jr and Devin Funchess. They then drafted a catch radius guy in the first (Benjamin). The DJ Moore first round pick in 2018 was wise, though - he is good. But Cam was nearing the end by that point and the Panthers’ window had closed.

I never said he was. I am just saying that one is more of an elite difference maker than the other irrespective of assignment. I mean, that’s not really debatable, right? Also, I am not advocating drafting d-line over offense at all. I am merely making the point that the team lacks high-end elite talent that can change games beyond Allen and Diggs. I am not talking about position at all. The Bills have a lot of perfectly decent-to-good players, of course.

Chris Jones is borderline unblockable and one of the very best d-linemen in the league regardless of what he’s asked to do. He single-handedly wrecked the bills o-line in the 2021 afc championship game. Daquon jones is a nice piece and a big step up from Star L, but he is not a difference maker. He never has been. He s a very solid starter, but that’s kind of beside the point. The larger point is the lack of elite playmakers who make game-changing plays — and sacks are more often than not big, game-changing plays. That’s why teams including the Bills, prioritize guys who can get sacks. I wanted the Bills to go after Hassan Reddick, but it wasn’t to be. He has been grrat for the Eagles.

Jones is good, but he is a complementary piece and not a difference maker. He is not Chris Jones or anything close, in other words.

He goes to town here, and he ain’t wrong: https://www.nbcsports.com/video/buffalo-bills-josh-allen-tries-do-too-much-vs-cincinnati-bengals?ls=pftvod

https://theathletic.com/4116068/2023/01/23/bills-bengals-result-playoffs/ I thought this passage on Dorsey was interesting: “2. Is a serious Dorsey conversation going to happen? The Bills have depended on Allen to bail them out of situations all season, and for the most part, the Bills have found a way to win with their franchise quarterback. But despite winning 14 of 18 games, a great season in its own right, the offense never appeared to reach its optimal state. There were signs of it through the first two games of the season, but once teams had gotten a bit of the book on this version of the Bills offense, from the third week through the end of the year, the offense felt disjointed every week. They were at times predictable, they lacked the creativity that was a staple of Brian Daboll’s game plans, they always seemed to react a bit late and it didn’t seem like they were ever maximizing their potential. That ultimately falls on first-year offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey, who had to go through numerous growing pains as a first-time play-caller. It wasn’t all bad for Dorsey, because the Bills usually found their way to plus results on offense. The rushing offense improved in the second half of the season, likely due to McDermott’s push to be a more multifaceted offense. After all, Dorsey was the offensive play-caller of a 14-win team. But there are plenty of first-year play-callers around the NFL, working with far less at quarterback and at wide receiver, guiding their teams to impressive offensive results. Dorsey had a top-flight quarterback running his offense, and that quarterback seemingly regressed in turnovers and, at times, reverted back to some early-year tendencies. Daboll did wonders for Allen’s career in helping him to become the player the Bills have today, but some of the unflappable qualities began to fade in 2022. It all boils down to a legitimate line of questioning the Bills must discuss in the offseason. These are precious seasons in Allen’s prime, and they are not guaranteed even two or three years from now. Are the Bills a better offense with Dorsey as their offensive coordinator, or do they have room to grow with a more creative mind? Furthermore, did Dorsey get the most out of Allen with his play-calling? This is not a situation where the Bills are trying to build up to something. If it were, patience would be the correct play. But it isn’t. They are already built. They were ready to win now. And they fell short, with a disjointed offense as a prominent feature. If the answer isn’t a resounding yes to both of those questions, the Bills need to think long and hard about who will guide their offense in the future. They have a creative young play-caller on their coaching staff in Joe Brady who reportedly has drawn attention from the Jets, a division rival, for their offensive coordinator job. Dorsey’s future with the Bills is not an unprecedented conversation; McDermott moved on from offensive coordinator Rick Dennison after only one season in 2017. That decision led the Bills to Daboll, who helped mold Allen into the player he is today. Despite 14 wins and lots of passing yards and points, the Dorsey discussions aren’t, and shouldn’t, be an open-and-shut case.”

If people want to talk about bad defensive performances in the playoffs, how can we neglect mentioning the Colts game? The Colts should have beaten Buffalo. They gained 472 yards and didn’t turn the ball over. It was crazy that the Bills won that game given how easily the Colts marched up and down the field. Accurate, experienced qbs with elite qualities shred zones, and that’s what Mahomes, Rivers, and Burrow have all done. The other thing I’ll bring up is Allen vs. blitzes. He was bad against the blitz this season, and someone as good and experienced as he is should be a LOT better against the blitz. Elite qbs generally shred blitzes. His processing was not great this season. Don’t know what’s up with that, but he has to be given some easier answers vs blitzes and he has to choose those answers immediately. I thought he had a sneakily terrible game yesterday - one of his worst ever. Bad decision after bad decision that resulted him holding the ball too long, opting for futile scrambles, and making low percentage throws.

Can’t read it. Paywall. Can you provide the gist?

Aha! Apologies.

This is not true; Chubb had a strip sack late that nearly changed the game. From Jim KubiK’s Buffalo News analysis: ’On third-and-10, Bradley Chubb nearly changed the outcome with this great pass rush to Allen’s left. This view gives you a taste of how disruptive and smothering the Dolphins’ man-to-man defense was as Allen had nowhere to go with the football. The press-man coverage took away quick, easy throws, which forced Allen to hold the football. Press-man is feast or famine: If a defense can disrupt timing and create incompletions while simultaneously forcing the quarterback to wait longer than he wants to, that is a good formulal for winning. The trouble is that most teams don’t possess the high-quality defensive backs the Dolphins have. The combination of great cover players and a potent and physical pass rush is what made the Dolphins such a dangerous team. They were highly coordinated, physical and great in space covering down the field. The Bills were fortunate that Spencer Brown recovered this fumble. Dion Dawkins was clearly beaten around the outside by Chubb on what initially appeared to be a five-man rush, but what was actually only a four-man rush. Allen had a drag route by Knox immediately to his right, but also had no reason to get rid of the ball as everyone had been accounted for in his protection. He couldn’t see Chubb as he was trying to attack the man-press coverage over the top. This fumble was not Allen’s fault. It was great defensive execution, squeezing the Bills receivers with press coverage, making Allen wait, and rushing the passer with abandon. This was the Dolphins' formula, and it nearly worked.’

https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2023/1/20/23563615/josh-allen-buffalo-bills-offense Ringer breakdown of where Allen needs to get a little better.

I know many discount fate, but ... Ohio State QB becoming Chicago Bears QB is unholy matrimony if I've ever seen it. Maybe the curses nullify each other, but so far the signs aren't great.

I'm a Stones guy, but I have to admit that my favorite album of all time now may well be the expanded edition of The Who Sell Out. The Who recorded it as a double album but the label made them release as a single one, and what ended up on the cutting room floor is incredible stuff. The full edition was released in 1995. I change my mind a lot about favorite albums, but this one is always up there for me. I think the Police suck, but that's just my personal taste.

Just watched Todd Haynes' Velvet Underground documentary the other night. It is the best documentary about a band I've ever seen:

So the early 90s Bills are worthless then? "Win it all or you don't count" seems like a pretty extreme way to view the world, but maybe that's just me.

Gronk moved from Williamsville North to an elite Pittsburgh area school for his senior year ...

It worked against the BIlls, but not many other teams. They were 24th in points allowed, 18th in yards allowed, and 30th in turnovers forced. And that's a unit with real talent.

Eric Weddle is arguably the best safety in the NFL over the past 15 years. He's at least in the very top tier.

Why "lmao"? Do you deny that they almost got to the SB in 2011 and 2013 and almost won in 2012? And when I say "almost", I really mean it -- games coming down to one play at the end, basically. Btw, if you thinking I'm advocating hiring Roman, you're missing my point. This has nothing to do with the Bills and everything to do with his actual record.

Because in every one of those years, the final playoff games came down to essentially last-play situations: a weird muff in 2011 in OT, a fourth down miss from within the 10 yard line with a few seconds to go in 2012, and a ridiculously good Richard Sherman breakup of a pass to Crabtree in the EZ on the final play. They played evenly with their opponents in all of those games, and in 2011 and 2013, their opponents went on to win SBs. Yes, the Niners had good defenses, but -- for instance -- the Niners run game in the 2012 SB was unstoppable once it got rolling late in the game. They could easily have won that game. Indeed, on the third down play on their final possession, the play was there but Kaepernick missed seeing the crosser, who would have scored. In 2019, the Ravens put up 530 yards but had a staggering number of turnovers and the like. Tennessee literally couldn't stop them and Baltimore was clearly the better team. They would have beaten TN 8 out of 10 times, but turnovers of course happen. Or they draft five difference makers on D this year with the haul they get from trading out of one, play ball control, and win with a dominant defense, going 13-4 and winning a SB. It's not like this hasn't almost happened multiple times in the past with Roman.

I dunno, CB; I'm less about long term development than winning a SB. And the 2019 Ravens as well as the 49ers every year between 2011 and 2013 were SB caliber teams without a doubt. To put it a different way, what Josh is doing at age 30 doesn't mean much to me if he brings us a SB victory this year. I think @GunnerBill is absolutely right about the Bears, and I'd add another reason. 75-plus years is a long time, and that's been about how long the Bears have lacked anything approaching an elite passing game. If any team is cursed with regard to passing QBs, it is the Bears. They should accept that they can't change fate and instead go all out to be a Ravens-like running QB team with Roman calling the shots.

The year the Ravens went 14-2, they moved up and down the field vs. TN and lost only because of turnovers. They had 530 yards on offense in that game! It was a genuinely fluky loss. They were number one in the league in offense that year too. And Roman OC'd a team that got to three straight NFC championship games and one SB while in SF, where the team's record was 36-11-1.

Good point. Buddy Nix was ALL about that region of the country: https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/buf/2011_draft.htm and https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/buf/2012_draft.htm