Dr. Who

Yeah, well, your qb sounds like Kermit the frog.

Yes, I agree about Josh. I do believe the coaching staff is cognizant on that matter. The problem is that mode of play is built into Josh's DNA. He knows it is not conducive to longevity, but when he gets on the field all that prudential counsel goes bye-bye. My hope is the offense will continue to evolve and enough playmakers emerge that Josh will have confidence in a number of individuals. It can't just be DIggs. That should minimize his feeling that he has to carry the team in every crucial moment. I'm going to remain agnostic on the Defensive staff. It's McDermott's baby. I'm willing to see what happens in the coming year. I'd like to see more aggression. Injuries to the secondary hampered us considerably last year. If it's not a wise strategy, we'll know soon enough.

A fair amount of this discussion is folks talking past one another. I find myself in a "middle position" with regards to the dominant perspectives apparently. I incurred the wrath of a chippy poster because I pointed out the relatively disappointing playoff performance of a team with a top 3 franchise qb. I credit McDermott and Beane with building a strong team that consistently achieves regular season success. But surely the point of the latter is to ultimately succeed in the former. If Josh Allen had a twenty year career in front of him, there would be no compelling urgency, but the effective window for a franchise qb is about the lifespan of a dog. So you have to take advantage of your opportunities. Despite the overall quality of the team, there are still some questions about roster construction. I think Gabe Davis at WR2 is deficient, for instance. Nonetheless, McDermott and Beane are a winning combination. However, I still believe there needs to be appreciable advancement in the playoffs. Conference finals or Super Bowl ought to be the expectation and if they continue to miss out from that level of accomplishment for say the next two or three years, all the other achievements become less flattering.

I know they have advanced beyond the Wild Card round, but they have not consistently done well in the playoffs. They need to do better or they will be a disappointment in terms of the potential of the talent on the team. That is my "global" sense of it and your petty jibes don't alter a thing. I don't mind dialogue with folks who disagree with me. I do mind interacting with individuals of your temperament. My feelings are not hurt. I am annoyed by your attitude.

Alright, done talking to you. They've been a disappointment in the playoffs in general. You think differently, that's your business.

Maybe don't play fast and loose with context. Directly after the "holding them accountable" that you quote is "and expecting playoff wins beyond the Wild Card round." That is not the same as requiring a Super Bowl victory to justify the Process and it is rather dishonest to portray my statements as implying that. I've written quite a bit about the formidable and unprecedented factors that hurt the team last year. One should take mitigating circumstances and sheer luck into consideration. All that said, the playoff performances remain uneven and a question mark. They will figure it out or they won't. I hope they accomplish great things. They changed the culture and have built a quality team. It still has to be better and I am pretty sure McDermott and Beane would agree with that.

Buffalo Bills Message Board. It was a scruffy, Wild West Show with eccentric moderation.

I've been a fan of this team for over five decades. I'd like to see a Super Bowl win in my lifetime. I'm not denigrating the current regime. I'd like to see them succeed and nothing I said implied otherwise. In fact, I stipulated that I liked them in order to anticipate and ward off your kind of vehemence. If you think holding them accountable and expecting playoff wins beyond the Wild Card round is too much to ask, that's too bad. And if Sean McDermott cannot win with this bunch, the alternative is not fated to be a bad coach, even if out of misplaced Schadenfreude you would like to see that happen.

Your counterexample is also loaded and ridiculous, even if rhetorical. Expectations are measured by many factors. One of them is the quality of your team. Do you have a franchise qb, etc.? No one can plausibly expect a team without one to have much of a chance at a Super Bowl. Given the nature of the Bills, I think there ought to be an expectation that the team will do well and advance beyond the division round of the playoffs. I'm not writing off McDermott and Beane. I like them, but they will be judged by post-season success or lack thereof.

It's absolutely perfect just the way it is. Add the throwback blues and it's the best uniform in sports.

Dorsey seemed unable to make use of Hines and Cook who are dangerous receivers out of the backfield. We've added Kincaid who is a red zone threat. Prior to last year, Allen was terrific in the RZ and avoided turnovers. Last year, it was a nightmare. I'm not Einstein, so I can't tell you if that should directly correlate to play calling, but I rather suspect it does.

They absolutely bet on him playing well above his current level of accomplishment. I hope they hit, because he could be a nice piece. If not, folks are going to be angry if the cost expenditure is the reason you can't acquire a Hopkins who presumably is more likely to be enough of his prior self to be an automatic upgrade to the unreliable Davis.

He hasn't been showing up to the OTAs, this is news to you? It will only mean something if he doesn't show up for the upcoming mandatory mini-camp sessions.

Sorry, you have to change your handle to Soggy Socks.

Some folks pay extra for that.

I think middle of the pack OL unleashes Josh Allen. He's that good. The bad oline play has been a drag on his capacity to be a force multiplier for the offense. I don't totally disagree with what you say about Kincaid. I would not count on him being a dominant threat this year, though I believe there is a chance it happens. My take is the position is morphing. What Beane calls a flex TE is the kind of hybrid the H-back was a generation ago. I think the learning curve is less and Kincaid can have more of an immediate impact. Harty has been hurt. Maybe he is just injury prone because of his size. If he can stay healthy, he might be a Darren Sproles type. I don't see him as doomed to repeat his past and I suppose neither does Beane because they gave him a contract you give to someone you think can make a difference. Naturally, it's a gamble. Skepticism is not ridiculous. Presuming a bad result seems to me a prejudice without merit. I don't equate optimal with absolutely pushing all the chips in. I don't think that is particularly prudent. In my estimation, Beane pushed a lot of chips in and I think he might be willing to do a bit more. It's definitely not a bare bones fill-the-holes off-season because he's cash strapped by the cap. He may talk like that, but his actions belie the rhetoric. I am not willing to conclude that McD is destined to be a mediocre coach just yet, but he has to do better in the post-season. He might be Marty Schottenheimer or Marvin Lewis.

Dog had puppies under the barn last night so I was up in the early hours of the morning. I rarely respond to Bull, but logged in because I could not sleep and decided to answer because there was so much wrong with the entire oration. I realize it is futile as an effort at persuasion.

I don't recall ever agreeing with one of his takes, though there may be an exception to the rule.

McGovern simply cannot be as bad as Saffold. Casper the Ghost would not be as bad as Saffold. If Edwards is healthy, he's kind of a forgotten addition. He'll help. I'll be surprised if Torrence isn't at least a serviceable guard. That's his floor. Overall, the IOL should be stronger, and better. I'm not sold on the tackles, Dawkins had a poor year and he's somewhat overrated, but it's not an incredible hope that the oline will accomplish middle of the pack status which would make a difference. Having decent guard play will help the tackles. I think you are playing games with the TE position. Knox is better than you credit and Kincaid is a big slot, so it's not quite accurate to treat him as TE2 in the conventional sense. You were down on Cook when he was drafted and you still are. I think he was a good pick and will prove it this year. It would be nice if Dorsey remembers he is a superior receiver out of the backfield. Hines, too. I understand questioning the coaching in the playoffs. It's an issue until they show they can win more consistently. Nonetheless, 13 - 3 under excruciating, unprecedented conditions was a real accomplishment. They won seven straight to close out the year. Folks dismiss it because of the post-season. The accumulation of injuries alone, especially on defense, just torpedoed the team. Laugh at that all you like. When healthy, this D is formidable. The risk you take with older players is they are perhaps more likely to get wore down by the end of the season. If Miller comes back close to his old self (and I don't think that's a huge stretch, I'm going to guess you are a skeptic,) the addition of Floyd gives you two twitchy athletes that can bring the qb down. Poona Ford is a solid 1 tech DT. They're going to be better at DL despite your casual assertion that nothing has changed. Here's my guess: LB is going to end up being better than last year. Edmund's was a physical freak whose athleticism helped the D. His lack of instincts hurt it. I bet Dorian Williams is starting by mid-season or earlier. Bernard may turn out not to be a bust. The coaching staff is not as worried as the fans about LB and I trust them to know D. McD is going to call a more aggressive game, even if Frazier was running his system. No one can plan against injury, but if they experience relative good health, the D could be a lot better. A healthy Hyde, Poyer, Tre White coming back more confident and closer to his old self, Benford and Elam, that is not a bad secondary. Nothing about it says mediocre team destined to wilt in big games. I'd like to add Hopkins. I don't think Davis is an adequate WR2, but as is, there is enough talent for the offense to be improved. I have more questions about Dorsey than I do about the offense. And Josh Allen needs to use the short and intermediate routes more. Long ball priority is a welcome change from the old days when third and long was an automatic punt, but the reason Knox's numbers don't stand out to you is both too often he was required to stay in and help the porous oline and when that didn't happen, Josh looked elsewhere while TE1 is wide open. And that summary rejection of Harty you make, let's just use that to include all the new additions on the back end of the WR room. The proper response is not to treat that as deficient and null until proven otherwise, but as a genuine potential to be determined. You don't know and can't know, so no one is compelled to logically follow your assertion that it's more of the same or that Beane is unintentionally fielding a less than optimum team. Given the constraints of the cap while paying up a franchise qb, it appears to me on the contrary that Beane has perhaps had his best off-season. So there, I match your rant with a rant from the other point of view.

I like this year's additions. I was elated with the Kincaid pick. I think he has the potential to be a game-changing weapon, but I wouldn't count on that level as a rookie. We've improved the bottom end of the WR room. Maybe someone breaks out. Diggs needs a complementary threat. Hopkins would be that for a year. Still think Beane is playing poker and he will get him at the right price if he can.

From now on I am going to think of you as Broccoli. I'm told it is supposed to be good for you.

Well, it's good to know you are here for the general optimization of the board.

I don't know if he will work out. I do know there was apparently competition for him, so GMs around the league thought differently. Your pessimism is tiresome, but at least you spelled the fella's name correctly.

I'm assuming the latter. We should be under the cap, so we have 3 to 5M which seems somewhat imprecise. The implied context is if there is an expensive FA out there, we'd have to make further moves unless they want to lower their asking price. Or maybe it's just badly written. People don't read and can't write anything much over fifty words nowadays.

Good for him. He's a real fella and not a stuffed shirt.