folz

I've been thinking something similar. I wonder if they are having a hangover/flashbacks to last year. Tre goes down. Oooof Tre, one of the most likable guys and after working so hard for two years to get back. Then the London game "experiment," and they lose Daquan and Milano (two of their absolutely best defenders). And these are serious injuries...season ending, not we'll have them back in a few weeks. Then Damien Harris is getting taken off the field in an ambulance. Basically in 3 games, they revisited a lot of what they went through all last season. Could it be a subconscious feeling of "what's the point" or something has settled into the team a bit? I really think their issues may be more mental and emotional rather than about the Xs and Os. [Obviously, the missing players themselves is also a big reason.] Tim Graham is correct about them not having fun, but I don't think it has anything to do with trick plays 🙄. With what this team has been through over the last season-and-a-half, I'm sure football just doesn't feel real fun to a lot of them right now. And I think McDermott's tenure may live or die on whether he can pull them out of this funk.

Seems this old saying is appropriate here: A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

Bengals 31 Bills 13, if we're lucky? Seriously? Maybe the Bills should just forfeit the game right now and rest up for week 10. I certainly can't guarantee anything, but I would definitely bet against your take.

Yes, every season is a new season, and a regular season game does not equate to a playoff game, but do you really think there is no revenge factor for this one? The Bills had to hear all off-season how the Bengals have surpassed them, are a tougher team, beat up on the Bills, etc. when the Bills know they were a depleted squad at the time, both roster-wise, and emotionally. They were not at their best by a long shot. Do you think Josh wants to hear how Burrow has surpassed him? Do you think Stefon doesn't want revenge for that playoff loss and will want to outdo Chase & Co., etc. We won't hear any of the Bills talk about it, but I think the revenge/payback/prove ourselves angle will play a big part in this one. Sure, this is a pick-em game, because both teams are very good. But I'm not buying the Bengals are just too good, match up too well against us, are too tough crap either. I think the Bills will WANT this one more and still have the dogs to get it done. Last year was last year. Time for the 2023 team to show that no one has their number. Go Bills!

I watched the play back a few times because I couldn't believe it wasn't called. It looks like a Bills player had #5's facemark and is pulling his helmet up, so #5 takes it off himself (so the Bills player can't continue to mess with his head). But here it gets murky and open to interpretation. It sure looks like he swings it, hits one Bills player and almost a second. But, he could have just still been trying to pull his helmet back from the Bills player who still had a grasp of it (or his arm) and the contact was incidental...i.e., he didn't mean to swing it at the other players, it happened as a consequence of him trying to rip his helmet back (away from the Bills player) and when the Bills player released his grip, #5 is still pulling on it, so it swings. I assume that is how the refs saw it. But yes, in real time, it sure looked like a swing. I'm just not sure I can rule out the other possible interpretation to be too upset about it. If there was any offsetting of penalties, it wouldn't have been on Settle, but on the Bills player that was grabbing #5's facemark.

Yes, the Bills let Tampa hang around and have a shot in a game that should have been well over. But crazy stuff happens in the NFL. Think of Tampa's last TD drive. They were bailed out once on 4th down by the refs with a BS illegal contact penalty. Then on another 4th down, Jordan grabs the facemark when he didn't need to to extend the drive. And both their TD pass (also on 4th down) and 2-point conversion were a bit lucky (ricochets). Then Von gives Baker an extra 5 yards on the Hail Mary on the next drive. Yes, two of those were Bills' players making a mistake, but just look at how many balls bounced just right for Tampa to even have a shot at a desperation attempt (that yes was closer than it should have been). Again, how many near interceptions did the Bills have, how many times was one of Baker's passes hanging in the air after a tip and nothing? Yet the one time they tip one of Josh's passes, it goes right to a Bucs player. A lot of things went the Bucs way for them to even have a slim chance of pulling that game out. Now, I'm not saying I was happy with Dorsey's goal-line play calling (I wasn't). And, yeah, I think that MCD got a little too conservative (I would have gone for that first 4th down at least). Of course, we need to stop the dumb penalties, etc., etc. But, I wanted to focus on some of the positives from the game: 1. The team had emotion and passion again across the squad (feels like we haven't seen that since before London). 2. With Knox and Morris out, we had to go away from the 12-personnel and I think that is good. A buddy of mine said, "they finally look like the offense from early last year." I think because that is who they are at their best. The 12-personnel made a lot of sense (with Knox and Kincaid), but I don't think that is who they are. They will have to do this a few more weeks with Knox on IR and I'm hoping they finally find their identity and then mix Knox back into that. They can still go 12-personnel here and there against certain teams, but that shouldn't be their base identity. 3. Other guys not named Diggs stepped up in the passing game: 3a. Dalton Kincaid is finally starting to break out! 3b. Shakir proved that he deserves the more reps that he got on Sunday. 3c. Gabe silenced his doubters for at least another week with an excellent game, a TD, a contested catch, etc. 4. Sam Martin was a weapon last night. 5. Harty had three beautiful punt returns (two called back on penalties that we never got a replay of on the TV broadcast) 6. Josh was more Josh-like: on top of his 324 passing yards and 2 passing TDs, he had 41 rushing yards and a rushing TD. Just the threat of Josh running affects the defense. 7. The defense only gave up two TDs. A short-field TD where Tampa started on the Bills 23-yard line (after the interception) and the last TD when the Bills were basically in prevent, and as mentioned above Tampa got a lot of luck/help on that drive. From 6:46 left to go in the 2nd quarter until 10:00 left in the 4th quarter (almost 2 full quarters) the Bucs had a total of 17 plays for 62 yards and 4 punts. Godwin had 5 recs for 54 yards and Evans had 3 recs for 39 yards. They held two really good WRs pretty much in check. And though Rachaad White did some damage as a receiver, the Tampa Bay backs were held to 45 yards rushing (yes, I know they are a bad rushing team, but still..) 8. Bass made all 4 of his kicks. I could go on with a few more I'm sure, but you get the picture. With my Homer glasses securely on, I don't see this game as another near-failure, but as a step in the right direction. We were in a 3-game slump, looking lethargic. Last night didn't bring us all the way back, but was a big step up from the previous three games in many ways. Let's hope the climb continues and they get back to where we know they can be at just the right time to get hot heading down the stretch and into the playoffs. I still believe they can make things happen this year! Go Bills!

Sorry to go somewhat off-topic here, but this is such a bad take that gets repeated by so many posters/Bills fans. Marv Levy was an excellent coach and well deserving of his HOF induction. You do realize that when he was hired by the Kansas City Chiefs in 1978, they were by far the worst team in the NFL. They were coming off of a 2-12 record, had very little talent, and just before the 1978 season started, their two best defensive players decided to retire. And despite that---and having nobody QBs such as Tony Woods, Steve Fuller, and Tom Clements---the team improved each year under Levy's watch. He took them from a 2-12 team to a 9-7 team in 4 years. Not outstanding, but you have to remember this was pre-free agency, so it took teams a lot longer to turn things around and a lot of that depended on how good the front office was and how committed to winning the owner was. The year after he left, they reverted back down to 6 wins. Not to mention that in 5 years in the CFL, he took the Montreal Allouttes to the Grey Cup 3 times, winning two Championships, being named coach of the year in 1974, and was later inducted into their HOF as well. He also won a Championship with the Coe College Men's basketball team and in two years as head football coach at the University of New Mexico, turned that program around and won Skyline Coach of the Year. In his 5 years at William & Mary, he won Southern Conference Coach of the year twice. And twice in the NFL (1988 and 1993) he won NFL Coach of the Year. So, NFL Coach of the year twice, CFL coach of the year, Skyline Coach of the year, two-time Southern Conference coach of the year. You don't get those accolades from multiple places if you aren't really good or by just getting lucky with talent. And, of course, the 4 Super Bowl appearances. Many NFL coaches never even make one Suer Bowl, and many very-talented teams never make a SB, let alone have the tenacity, character, and perseverance to make 4 in a row (despite the loses). How many football coaches have taken their teams to 7 Championship games? Even though he only won 2 of them, you have to be a damn good coach to take that many teams to the final game of the season. And to say he reverted to a .500 coach when Polian left is also a bit misleading. First of all his record after Polian left was 45-35 (56.25%). The team had three of five winning seasons and three playoff appearances. But, you are also not taking into account the aging of players, etc. For example, Jim Kelly was a shell of himself in the 1996 season and was retired for the 1997 season (Levy's last two years). He had an aging team that was just trying to hold on. Not to mention that no coach does well if his front office isn't giving him talented players. That is not on the coach if the talent of the roster has been depleted. And last point, you mention three coaches: Parcells, Johnson, and Gibbs (the coaches we lost the SBs to). And while Johnson does have a superior record against Marv (besides the two SBs, JJ was lucky to move into the AFC East as the Bills team was on the decline 1996 and 1997), it might surprise you that overall head-to-head, Marv held his own. Marv has an 8-5 record over Parcells for their careers and they have the same overall playoff record at 11-8 or .579 win %, Bill made 3 SBs in 19 years, Marv made 4 SBs in 17 years. If Norwood's kick went through, Parcells would be 1-2 in Super Bowls and Levy 1-3. Pretty similar careers (outside of Bill's two SB wins). Marv went 2-3 against Gibbs all-time (Joe made 4 Super Bowls in 16 years---same as Marv, but obviously Gibbs won 3 of them) Marv was only 2-5 vs. Jimmy Johnson (Yet Marv did have a better overall winning % than Johnson: .579 to .556, and three of Johnson's wins came against a fading Buffalo team as mentioned above). And not to mention that Marv is one of only two coaches to have a winning record against the winningest coach of all-time (Don Shula). Marv had a 17-6 record against Shula. And let's face it, almost every team that gets to a Super Bowl has "special" talent. These coaches aren't winning SBs with JAGs. Are you telling me that that Dallas team of 92-93 wasn't special talent? You can't have it two ways. We should have won because we had special talent kind of infers that the guys that did win didn't have special talent themselves. There is no way that Bills team of the 90s would have made 4 Super Bowls without Marv's leadership. They would have collapsed and self-imploded with all of those egos, they wouldn't have had the perseverance they did, etc. It is like talking about QBs, there are intangibles that don't show up on the stat sheet or in the win column. The way he brought those guys together and kept them going through all of the adversity, nay-saying, animosity towards the team (by the 3rd and 4th SB), etc. just can't be measured, but was integral in making that team who they were. Bills fans should give Marv the respect he deserves as an All-time great coach.

2023 Gabe is currently 27th in receiving yards for all WRs with 341 and he has 4 TDs (good for a 3rd place tie) And yet, he is only 53rd in targets. 52 wide receivers have been targeted more than Gabe (yet only 26 of those have more yards than him). Only 3 players have more TDs than Gabe (Tyreek, Stefon, and D.J. Moore) He has 21 receptions on 30 targets, good for a catch percentage of 70%. He has 2 drops (tied with 27 other receivers). Nine players have more than 2 drops. So, 35 other receivers have the same number or more drops than Gabe. The deeper, full picture still looks pretty damn good. Still low-end #1 stats, as opposed to #2 or #3 (as some suggest). I hear this over and over when it comes to Gabe, the "high volume passing offense" and "Josh" excuse. First of all, yes, any WR that has an elite QB is going to be better than he would be with an average QB...you can't hold that against the WR. But how true is this "high volume passing game" theory? Well, to this point in the 2023 season, 12 teams have thrown the ball more than the Bills and 6 teams have more passing yards than the Bills. So, we definitely are not far outpacing everyone in someway in pass attempts or passing yards. Of those 14 total teams with either more pass attempts, more passing yards, or both, how many of their #2 wide receivers have better stats than Gabe? None, really...I would say two ties (see below), but those three are better than all of the rest currently: Calvin Ridley 363 yards and 2 TDs (but on 44 targets) [I have Ridley as a #2 because Kirk has more targets/yards than he does] Gabe Davis 341 yards and 4 TDs (on 30 targets) Josh Reynolds 341 yards and 3 TDs (on 27 targets) And before you say the #2s on those 14 teams maybe aren't that good, here are some of the names of the number twos on higher passing teams that Gabe is still currently outperforming stat-wise (Tee Higgins, Jaylen Waddle, Devontae Smith, Michael Thomas, Tank Dell/Robert Woods, Josh Downs, Jahan Dotson/Curtis Samuel, Bourne/Smith-Shuster/Parker, Toney/Moore/Valdez-Scantling, D.J. Chark, Addison). And as far as QBs, they aren't all elite, but they aren't bottom of the barrel either. QBs for the 14 (current) higher-volume passing teams: Mahomes, Burrow, Stafford, Lawrence, Hurts, Tua, Goff, Cousins, Carr, Stroud, Howell, Richardson/Minschew, Young, Jones. So, can't say that I buy the "High-volume passing offense" excuse when the Bills aren't even in the top 10 for pass attempts and Gabe is only the 53rd most-targeted WR, yet he's 27th in yards, tied for 3rd in TDs, and is outperforming most other #2s on fewer targets.

Easy to say if you were lucky enough to never have to struggle with weight issues. Not every overweight person is a product of overeating and lack of exercise. Everyone's body is different. People who have been thin/fit their whole lives (without having to try) have no idea what it is like, so maybe you should be a little less judgmental.

Did anyone else notice on the play that the Giants' right tackle got injured, he got hurt because he was trying to trip the Bills defender. He was beat and tried to stretch out his leg to trip the defender and got hurt doing so. I think Daboll had his team coming in with a win at all cost mentality. Get under the skin of the Bills players, get grabby, trip, whatever. The Giants were already getting chippy (pushing and shoving, etc.) on the first couple drives of the game. Usually that stuff comes later in a game as tensions and plays build up. But they were that way from the first play. And the refs let a lot of stuff go early on. And then how about the play where three (could have been more) Giants players got personnel fouls for initiating aggressiveness after the whistle. Daboll knows from experience that the Bills haven't done well against teams that get over-aggressive/chippy. But I think we are a different team now. And I'm pretty proud of the guys for standing up for themselves, but not retaliating (keeping their composure). Plus, it seemed to backfire a bit, as a lot of Giants' players went down in the game (outside of Damien, the Giants came out a lot worse in the injury department). No question, seeing the last play in slo-mo, it was a foul. But the call that happened on the play before should have been an end-of-game scenario no call (as it has been for 95% of games across the history of the NFL). And the fact that NBC and Collinsworth spent the entire "after the game" segment showing that the last play should have been a foul seemed strange to me. Usually the NFL doesn't want announcers calling out the refs like that and had that been the Chiefs, the after segment would have been all about Mahomes' last laser throw through two defenders game-winning TD. Sure, if I was a Giants fan, I would be pissed off about the last play. But as Bills fans, we have been on the wrong side of things for the majority of our lives (the teams' history) and so many things/calls could have gone differently in that game alone...so, I just can't feel bad about it. P.S. If I were a Giants fan, I think I would be more upset at Daboll for the play call. I know they didn't have a lot of success in the run game yesterday, but how do you not just run Saquan from one yard out? Daboll overthought it and paid the price. The refs aren't going to throw two PI calls in a row in an end-of-game scenario. That is a play where you either fool the other team or you don't. Taron wasn't fooled and was on the play. Game over. And how about the end of first half sequence (blame Tyrod all you want...don't give your backup QB a check option if you don't want him to use it...or tell him as you call the play in do not check out of the pass---ultimately that is still on Daboll). And some Bills fans would rather have Daboll back and get rid of McD? If Sean made the gaffes that Daboll did in that game, this board would be roasting him non-stop.

It was a weird day in the NFL. I'm going to chalk it up to the solar eclipse. 😊 San Fran and Philly both upset by lesser squads. Scoring was down across the league: 19 of 26 teams scored fewer than 21 points. Only 3 teams scored more than 24 points. Most games were close (whether they were expected to be or not). Quarterback play across the league was consistently bad today. There were 29 total passing TDs vs. 31 total INTs thrown this week, collectively. Yes, the Bills only scored 14, but KC only had 19, the Bengals 17, the Eagles 14, the 49ers 17. Just a strange week...let's take our win, thank you very much, and move on. Plus, as others have said, Daboll knows this team better than anyone. We still run HIS offense (with some tweaks). He helped mold Josh...he knows all of his tendencies, etc. And Daboll ran his offense against McD's defense for how many years, so he has a lot of knowledge on that angle as well. And he doesn't just know Josh, he also worked with Stef, Gabe, Knox, Dion, Mitch...he knows a lot of our personnel very well (as does Schoen). That all has to be an advantage/balance the scales talent-wise a bit. I look at it as an ugly win that allowed our defense some time to reset. We squeaked out a game where Von was able to help ramp up some more, where our young LBers and corners got some important reps/experience, and the defense overall got to re-gel with so many new starters and role players needing to fill in. And overall, they played well...so hopefully we see an upward arrow there (after the dip of losing Milano, Tre, and DaQuan). Offense has hit a bit of a slump these last two games, but I'm not worried yet. Could just be London and Daboll/eclipse 😁, and execution (Josh missed a few throws today, we again had some drops, etc.). 🤷‍♂️ Now, if they lay another egg next week against the Pats, I might start to worry a bit, but we all know what this offense and Josh are capable of. I feel strongly that they'll get back on track. I was at least happy that their halftime adjustment was to come out and pound the ball...and they had some success doing that. But they do still seem to be trying to find their true 2023 identity. Hopefully that happens soon. Prayers for Damien! 🙏 Go Bills!

As I said in the post game thread, The Bills didn't lose because of the officiating, but the refs did make it an uphill battle for Buffalo all day. And sometimes it isn't even about the calls that were made, but about a dis-balance in how they are treating the two teams. The Jags were able to mug, hold, make contact early, but the Bills weren't allowed to do that. Reminded me of the Chiefs/Bills AFC Championship game in 2020. Also, offenses like to get in a flow and rhythm...if you throw a lot of flags it slows a good offense down and breaks their rhythm (beyond just putting them behind the sticks). And how many times did you see the ref standing behind Morse, holding up his hands, not letting Josh snap the ball. A bunch...including on the last couple of possessions as time is literally running off the clock while he is standing there...taking precious seconds off of Buffalo's chance to come back and giving the Jaguars plenty of time to make substitutions and get lined up properly. You could see how frustrated Josh was with that. Yet, the Jaguars ran a hurry-up offense early in the game and I didn't see the ref stand over the ball once, holding up the play. And not getting our timeout back despite a Jaguars player being injured? There are many ways that the refs can influence games without it being obvious or showing up in the final penalty tally. How about the fact that the Bills had to call out the Jaguars false starts to the refs. Four times the Bills did that (the refs called three of them). Yes, I know that players always point out false starts to the refs, but the refs seemed really slow in pulling out their flags on some of those until the Bills players started going crazy. Seemed like they wanted to not make the call, but the Bills players made it so obvious they had to call them. The five penalties against the Jags were those 3 false starts, an illegal down field pass, and the roughing the QB. Are you telling me that in the entire game the Jags never held anyone, got there early on a receiver, or committed any other in-play infractions other than the roughing the passer? One of the most egregious no-calls was on the play that Taron got injured. He is rushing the QB, and as he is in Trevor's face, a Jags player basically tackles him from behind and causing Taron's knee to hyper-extend on landing. That has to be a hold or a block in the back or something (I'd call it a personal foul)...and that was right in front of the ref. But no call. I don't think all of the calls that they did make were b.s. I didn't see a closer view of the hands to the face called on Oliver, but from the long angle, I did see the offensive lineman's head go back like there probably was hands to the face (unless he was acting), some personal fouls (the one on Poyer and the roughing the QB on the Jags) weren't surprising even if they were iffy---they've been calling that stuff close for a while (there is at least a consistency there). I won't go through every call (good call or bad call), but if you couldn't see a bias against one team, I give you the punt return at 9:43 in the 3rd quarter. It is still only a 4-point game (11 to 7). Four flags were thrown! They made two calls, accepting the personal foul on Tyler M. The first call they made was "Illegal block above the waist" against Sherfield. What the hell kind of call is that? I've never even heard that call before. The player was not engaged with anyone else and Trent pushed him in the front of his shoulder as they are running side-by-side. It wasn't in the back or a blindside. One ref threw a flag for that. And then 3 refs threw a flag on Tyler, when it was just a damn good block. He was totally in front of the other player and just laid him on his ass. That is a good block, not a foul. It was a bogus call and yet three refs made that same bogus call? Seriously, how often do you ever see 4 flags thrown on one play. It usually doesn't happen because the refs all have different assignments on what they are looking at/for. Sure seems like a flag was going to come out on that play one way or the other to give the Bills bad field position to start their drive (uphill battle). Look, I do not think the league season or individual games are scripted. That would be really, really hard to pull off and maintain. I also do not think that games are predetermined (they know who will win before it happens or absolutely make sure that one team wins---they still want to keep the image of an unbiased, competitive sport). But, I do think with some teams and games (particularly in the playoffs) they do have a preference on how they would like it to go for financial reasons (story lines, star players, marketing, business/partner deals, etc.) and they are not shy to have their refs give teams a leg up. They won't out and out rig the game, but just make it a little easier on one team and a little harder on the other. If a team is good enough, they can often still overcome this...but the Bills were a little too flat on Sunday (travel/time change/injuries) to get it done. But you can at least guess why the NFL would want a Jags win in this one (build up the Jags and the London games in the hopes of more expansion in Europe and beyond). I just wish the NFL would call all games, all players, and all teams consistently and let stars and storylines emerge organically, rather than trying to manufacture and control narratives. When it comes to the refs, you can only chalk up so much to mistakes, incompetency, the speed of the game before you start to realize that there is much more to the story than that.

The NFL loves to publicize that they are always working for more player safety. And yet they play Thursday night games (before guys have time to recover) and London games (where guys' bodies aren't ready to play because of the travel/time change/lack of sleep/change in standard preparation for a game), plus they increased the season to 17 games and are pushing for 18 games. The NFL actually caring about the players is a total farce and severe false advertising. I don't even care about losing the game (the NFL obviously wanted the Jags to win this game)...I do care about Matt Milano, Daquan Jones, Taron Johnson, etc.

The Jags being in London 10+ days and the Bills being there 2 days definitely influenced the outcome. The Bills were flat and the Jags were fresh. Bills win this game in Buffalo or Jax. The NFL obviously wants the Jags to win in London. The refs were terrible and definitely influenced the game as well (to the negative for Buffalo). They let the Jags defense and offense get away with a lot of penalties, but called us for everything, even things that weren't egregious. How is it not a penalty on the Jax player on the play that Taron Johnson got hurt? He basically tackled Taron from behind as Johnson is about to get to the QB. Etc., etc. Not blaming the refs for the loss, the Bills did not play well, but they certainly made everything an uphill battle for Buffalo all day. The loss doesn't bother me as much as the injuries. 🤞🙏 I thought that last TD drive by the Bills showed a lot of pride by the boys. It's meaningless points in a loss, but I think it will help them (confidence-wise, etc.) going into next week. Hate the loss, but I'm not coming down on anyone for this one. Chalk it up as a bad day and move on. The Bills will be fine. Kudos to the guys that stepped in on defense: Dodson, Williams, Jonathan, Settle, Dane, Elam, Vickers, Lewis, Neal. It wasn't all pretty, but they were making plays and helped to hold Jax to 11 points until late in the game when the defense was gassed due to time of possession. And for those dissing Elam, he had good coverage on the one TD pass, it was just a great throw and catch by Lawrence and Ridley. And Ridley is a damn good receiver. Plus Elam had 11 tackles (8 solo). Don't be so quick to trash him, even if he gave up a few plays. Ed Oliver had another good game with 9 tackles, a sack, 3 TFLs, and 2 QB hits. Bernard didn't have any splash plays, but did have 16 tackles. Just trying to take some positives from the game. Have yourself a game A.J. (too bad its in a loss): 4 tackles, 1 TFL, 3 passes defended, 2 QB hits, 2 sacks (one being a sack, strip, fumble recovery). He's having a great year. Sucks to lose, but with the travel, time change, and coming off the high of the Dolphins win, it isn't too surprising. Nothing to do but get home, rest up, and get ready to gash the Giants next week. Go Bills!

The Jaguars are a bit of a nemesis. In just their second year in the league (1996), they beat the Bills in an AFC Wild Card game, knocking Jim Kelly unconscious (out of the game) and basically ending his career and the run of that SB-era Bills team. They also knocked us out of the playoffs in the 2017/18 Wild Card round (the start of McD's tenure and the end of Tyrod Taylor's) with a horrendous 10-3 score/game. The last time we played them, we only scored 6 points. The last time we played them in London we lost. The overall record between the teams is 9-9. But they have won 3 of the last 5. Never take the Jags lightly. They have found ways to sneak out wins against superior Buffalo teams. Did that help? However, the Bills ARE still the more talented, versatile, and seasoned team. They should be able to take this one as long as they show up to play (don't have a hangover from either the Dolphins win or the travel/time change).

Yes, grades are grades...but as you said, they are passing the eye test. I don't think anyone can watch this line and not say they are significantly better than last year (wherever they actually rank in the league). And I'll add in Maxx Crosby as well. The Raiders D-line isn't special, but Crosby is elite. So, we faced the Jets and Commanders who have two of the best D-lines in the league, the Dolphins who also have a ton of talent on their D-line, and the Raiders who have an elite pass rusher. And the O-line has more than held their own. This could very well be true. I have seen a number of times over the years where people think an O-lineman has "lost it," but it just turned out that the player next to them was so bad that their side of the line would get blown up a lot or they would be trying to help/cover the bad player. Only for that player who "lost it" to "really up their game" "get back to form" the next year when they finally have another good player next to them. Great points. I might also add in that we have better slot and check-down options for Josh now. Cook/Murray/Harris > Singletary/Moss/rookie Cook; Harty/Sherfield/Kincaid > I. McKenzie Beane targeted our exact weaknesses from last year (interior O-line play, RB room, and the slot position), and it is paying off. And the icing on the cake is the development of Bernard at LB, upgrading the middle of our defense with speed and play-making ability.

I'm honestly not trying to pile on here, but I did go and watch two of the plays you linked earlier. And I saw them differently than you did. On the first play, the Brian Robinson run, Bernard fights through traffic to fill a hole, Robinson then has to cut the run back because Bernard is in that hole, Bernard turns to pursue, and despite being tackled from behind by a Commander's O-lineman (I would assume that could have been called a holding or a block in the back if the refs saw it), he still got a hand on the RBs thigh---though he was unable to make the tackle. I do not see this play as a good example of Bernard not being able to stack up in the middle. He fulfilled his assignment and then was fouled as he tried to make a play. I put this play more on Shaq and Milano, rather than Bernard coming from the other side. On the second play, TB filled his gap, stacking the Commanders O-lineman at the line of scrimmage (he didn't get pushed back). Plus, you can see his assignment is not contain...Flyod and Tre have contain. Floyd loses contain by going too far upfield, and Tre gets wiped out by the Washington TE. That is where this play failed. In the meantime, after holding his own against the lineman, Bernard sees the back taking it outside, so he spins to pursue (he didn't get turned around by the lineman, he is disengaging to pursue), and the lineman holds him (has Bernard's right arm hooked)...and despite being held, he was still there to help finish the tackle (despite a good gain by the RB). Again, this play didn't fail because of Bernard. Look, TB will make his mistakes (not that I think the above examples were mistakes), he's a second year guy with 4 starts. But, he is exceeding my expectations at this point (and I was already in the camp that we were fine at MLB before the season started). I do get your point about a smaller LBer holding up against bigger linemen, but as the Cover1 video showed, Bernard is very good at dissecting and avoiding/getting around blocks. It is tough for those lineman to get their mitts on TB, unless he is coming up to crash the line/fill a hole...and it seems he has held his own even in that department thus far, imo. And our D-Line is tough this year, which should help to keep both LBs clean. Obviously, there will be tougher challenges ahead (better running teams), but I haven't seen anything from TB to think that he won't be up for those challenges. And just to note, in 74 games as a Bill, Edmunds had 13.5 splash plays (a sack or turnover). That equates to one splash play every 6 games, or 3.4 splash plays per season. Bernard has had 5 splash plays in his first 3 games this year. Nice to see a playmaker in that spot again, regardless of his size.

Besides the pick six, AJ also had one sack, a tackle for loss, and 5 QB pressures. And one of those QB pressures led to the Micah Hyde INT.

All we heard from you "realists" all off season was that it was going to be a problem with McD calling the defense and that we were gonna be screwed on defense because we didn't have a middle linebacker, our O-line sucked, Spencer Brown is a problem, Davis sucks, etc., etc. Well, McD almost pitched a shutout against a 2-0 team in their house, Bernard has a monster game, the defense had 9 sacks and 5 turnovers, the offensive line didn't allow a sack against one of the best fronts in the league, Davis scored a touchdown (almost two), we won by 34 points, and for the second week in a row 9 different receivers had receptions, our backs ran for more than 167 yards, and we scored more than 37 points with a very balanced offense. So, what makes you think you are correct about your current, negative assessment? I think we "homers" are much more realistic than you complainers at this point. Plus its week three for goodness sake. We have two new RBs, a new TE, two new offensive linemen, and a few new receivers. This offense is still finding themselves, their identity, the roles that everyone will play, etc. To expect perfection from the offense in week 3 against a good defense is so short-sighted. Are there things they can improve on, of course, but to be calling for Dorsey's head at this point is silly, imo. And to complain about the number of receptions the #2 receiver is getting when Josh is spreading the ball around so well and the team is playing a lot of ball-/clock-control offense in games where we are leading and the defense is dominating, really makes me think you guys are complaining just to complain. The only play I had a problem with was the 4th down...should have just been a QB sneak. But I don't mind that they are trying other things (screens, hand off to Davis, etc.), even if they are unsuccessful because as I said, it is so early in the year that they are still trying to find their 2023 identity. They'll eventually start to home in on what is working and what isn't and adjust accordingly. You guys seem to expect perfection (which no team has)...and I'm also guessing that maybe Miami's 70 points has you scared. Not me. We aren't the Broncos. I feel bad that some of you guys can't enjoy the wins (a blowout no less). Football is supposed to be fun. Go Bills!

C'mon Bills fans...let's wash the taste of the Jets game and the end of last year out of our mouths. It's the HOME OPENER! All positive, winning vibes towards the team! LET'S GO BUFFALO!!!!!!!

LET'S GO BUFFALO!!! Another season, another mountain to climb... Enjoy the journey my friends! And let's kicks some butt tonight!

I always watched Sunday Ticket on my computer/web because I have non-sports fans in the house. And I have to say, Youtube Sunday Ticket on the computer/web stinks. No multi-view, no easy way to toggle between games, no banner listing games/scores/times so you know what is happening in other games (like Direct TV had), etc. Very disappointed in the change so far.

Went over to NFL.com to check in on the KC/DET game, and one of the home page headlines read: "Week 1 Picks: Jets a lock vs. Bills?!" All 5 NFL "experts" on that site picked the Jets to win. "Dan: Perhaps I'm a prisoner of the moment, trusting the Jets hype train to stay on the tracks when in reality I'm asleep at the wheel. But I do know the Bills couldn't score more than 20 points in either of their meetings with the Jets last season. I don't know if New York's defense will be as good as it was last season, but the offense is better -- and I can't say the same thing about Buffalo with nearly as much confidence." I'm not saying the Jets can't win the game, but it is amazing to me how so much of the media has completely written Buffalo off as a declining team. I can understand not being the darling pick to go to the Super Bowl (like last year), but there are many that don't even have us making the playoffs. I mean, I love that the Bills have been able to have an off-the-radar off-season (I think that was really good for them), but how can the media actually think they have fallen so far off the cliff? Can't wait for the lads to prove everyone wrong!

The key is the bolded above in Success' post. This is by far the deepest team that we have had in the McBeane era. Our depth was tested last year and we were lacking. That should not be the case this year. It's been a slow build over 5 years, but we are now a very deep team at almost every spot. And as far as overall talent, who have we really lost over the last 4 years that played any significant role: Beasley, Singletary, John Brown, McKenzie, Feliciano, Star, Levi, a waning Jerry Hughes, Edmunds, Addison, Moss, Daryl Williams, Vernon Butler Out of that group, the only above-average production we got in those 3 years was Beasley in 2020. Some of our additions since the end of 2021: Von Miller, Floyd, Poona, Shaq, Jordan Phillips, DaQuan, Settle, Rapp, Benford, Elam, Harty, Sherfield, Damien Harris, Murray, Cook, McGovern, Torrence, Edwards, Kincaid, Martin, Bernard, Shakir, Williams Not saying ALL of those guys are studs by any means and many are still a wait and see, but it's pretty obvious that overall it is superior talent in volume and quality to what we have lost. And in comparison to last year, if they just stay healthier and have less distractions, that is a huge plus for this season even before you equate in this year's additions. Heck, just Tre, Hyde, Josh, Gabe, Jordan P, Poyer, and Von being healthier/available is a big difference from last season (provided they can all stay that way, for the most part). And I feel that they addressed the two biggest offensive issues from last season: slot WR and interior O-Line. And the last addition, of course, is experience: players like Knox, Davis, Josh, Brown, Rousseau are all more experienced than they were 2, 3, 4 years ago. And our more recent guys: Benford, Elam, Shakir, Cook all now have at least a year under their belts. imo...this is definitely the best team in both overall talent and top to bottom depth since pre-drought.

I couldn't find anything recent about GM's or team's overall draft success rate/ranking (except one SI article that I couldn't access without a subscription). But in searching, I did find these tidbits (not sure how much they help to answer the original query, but I think they do show that drafting really well is a lot more difficult than most fans think). According to this article, only 30% of draft picks even ever make a final NFL 53-man roster. https://en.as.com/nfl/what-percentage-of-drafted-players-make-an-nfl-roster-n/#:~:text=These young men have won,it onto an NFL roster. Per the article linked below: "...based on a study of 1996-2016 draft picks.... 16.7% didn’t play for the team that drafted them 37% were considered useless. They either didn’t play much or didn’t make the team. 15.3% were considered poor. Had limited playing time and didn’t do well in the time they had. 10.5% were considered average. These are mediocre players that had starts or significant contributions over 2-3 years. 12.3% were considered good. These could be mediocre or average players that were multi-year starters. 6.9% were considered Great. This category is the first that includes undeniably good draft picks. In order to be considered great, they would’ve had to play for the team that drafted them into a second contract, and also performed well over those years. 1% were considered legendary. These are future Hall of Famers, multi-year All-Pros among the best in the league for most of their relatively long careers. So, only about 8% of draft picks are players that really make much of a difference beyond replacement value, and only about 30% see much playing time or make a significant contribution to the team. That means among the 260 or so drafted players each year, only about 2-3 will have Hall of Fame caliber careers, and only about 21 will be undisputedly good picks- and very good but not HoF caliber players." https://www.dailynorseman.com/2022/4/26/23042105/nfl-draft-pick-bust-rate-remains-very-high Just food for thought.