Low Positive

But we don't care about the Eagles. I watched that NFC game with dispassionate interest. It was a good watch. I watch Bills games like my life depends on the outcome. What's interesting about this upcoming game is that both teams are coming in after losing games that they should have won. Remember, they just lost to the Bears.

I know you're joking, but it's not. They still have two games against the hated Ravens that will decide the division.

We watch other games, just differently than we watch the Bills. Our assessment of the Eagles or Bucs is much more rational than our assessment of the Bills. All fans are like that, though. I think most of us would rationally say that the Eagles loss yesterday was just one close division game against a desperate team, but this thread exists on the Eagles forum right now: https://www.eaglesmessageboard.com/topic/13704-season-over-bad-team-one-more-win-left-at-most/

People keep talking as if the 49ers have released Aiyuk. They have not. If you read carefully, it turns out that the 49ers voided his contract guarantees back in July, but we're just learning about this now for some reason. Everything beyond that is speculation and talking heads trying to put two and two together to generate content. Kyle Shanahan, when asked about it, doesn't dismiss him returning to the team. Strange situation, but as of now, he's still a Niner. https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/47065408/niners-shanahan-admits-aiyuk-contract-situation-unusual

Or as Rick Pitino said, “Larry Bird’s not walking through that door, fans.”

It is a stretch, but it felt like that. The Bills got punched in the mouth, and when people see Steelers uniforms, they expect Jack Lambert to walk through the tunnel. I have no idea what will happen on Sunday. I have no read on this team.

The Bills looked like the worst team in the NFL on Thursday night, and fans are reacting to that.

They're not doing things just to spite Josh Allen and Bills fans. McDermott and Beane want to win, of course. They believe that the place to spend resources are on QB, OL, and DL. And there is data to suggest that this is the correct approach. I don't agree, mostly because elite WRs are fun to watch and the Bills right now are a boring team that isn't winning enough to make up for it.

Read tha damn original post. No one is asking for Matt Canada to be hired at Bills' OC. The thread is asking if we agree that the number of fired OCs is a QB stat.

It says "empower," not "force." Josh wants to spend more time making plays and reading the defense after the snap. In other words, being in a flow state, not thinking, and "playing freer," instead of "directing more of his energy and preparation toward setting protections." Of course, the protections are designed by Kromer, and are built into the play that Brady calls from the booth. But it is always on a player on the field to set the specifics of the protection on a play-by-play basis, because the OC has no way to do that. He has no control over what happens from 15 seconds on the play clock until they turn his mic on again. The article states that the protections are simple by design, allowing Josh to play "freer." You can disagree, but you're disagreeing with Mike Sando and "coaches familiar with Buffalo," not me. I have no idea about NFL protection schemes. I just know that the Bills seem to allow a lot of free rushers, and this article provides a nuanced answer for why that is. All QBs have strengths and weaknesses. Pointing out that Josh Allen is not elite pre-snap like Brady and Manning doesn't make me a hater. Josh Allen is my favorite current player in the NFL, but he's going to have to get better at pre-snap reads and setting coverages if he's going to play past the point where he can avoid NFL DEs. FWIW, the rest of the article about Brady's schemes not being dynamic is maddening and is a fireable offense. And I want to punt McDermott to the moon for his defense allowing that end of the half drive to Davis Freaking Mills. Plenty of blame to go around for a game like that, and Josh Allen still almost led the Bills to a win. He's that great.

There is a lot of blame to go around. Brady doesn't run imaginative plays and Beane has dropped the ball in building the WR room. There is no question about that. But It's on Josh to protect himself by calling the correct protections. Brady's mic is cut off with 15 seconds on the play clock, long before the defense shows their hand. Josh (and McGovern) need to read the defense and adjust the protection accordingly. The fact that teams get free rushers is as much on them as it is on the coaches.

From the article we are discussing: "On the sack front, the Bills have empowered Allen to handle free rushers instead of leaning on intricate protection schemes to do the job, according to coaches familiar with Buffalo. ... Allen can make defenders miss and break away from their grasp as well as just about any quarterback. He can also play freer without directing more of his energy and preparation toward setting protections." He puts it on himself.

Don't most teams with great QBs? Yesterday, the Chiefs lose if Mahomes doesn't roll right, evade a rush, and complete a miracle pass to Noah Gray. They even needed some help from the refs on that play to save their season.

I didn't see that. Wow! I'm sure Stefanski would say he didn't want to run up the score, but that's pretty obvious.

It's just that I have no control over the decisions of the team, so all my anger does is raise my blood pressure. We all want something very badly, but we completely depend on a bunch of men we don't even know to get it done. It's beyond frustrating, and we all react to that in different ways.