folz

I constantly see posters say that Sean and Brandon have focused too much on the defensive side of the ball when it comes to drafting and free agency. This just is not true. But, of course, once something is believed, it is hard to get people to see differently. So, this idea just keeps getting bandied about. The only thing that could be said/griped about is maybe that the Bills have spent too many first round picks on defense. But that's it. You can't even say too many premium (or Day 1 and Day 2 picks), as you will see below. The first round is the only place where you can say the Bills have gone defensive heavy, but people say it like it has been a rule across all drafts, all rounds, and every year of free agency (as a whole). Since 2017, the Bills have drafted 44 players: 21 on defense, 22 on offense, and 2 STers. So, overall, the Bills have drafted 1 more offensive player than defensive players over the last six years. Below is a breakdown by round: Round 1: 5 on defense, 1 on offense (though we should note that another 1st round pick was used on Stefon Diggs, so technically 2 on offense) Round 2: 2 on defense, 4 on offense Round 3: 2 on defense, 4 on offense Round 4: 1 on defense, 1 on offense Round 5: 3 on defense, 5 on offense Round 6: 5 on defense, 4 on offense, 2 STs Round 7: 3 on defense, 3 on offense So, yes, 5 defensive players to 1/2 offensive players in round one. But rounds 1-3 combined, it's 9 defensive players to 9 offensive players. Rounds 1-5 combined, it's 13 defensive players to 15 offensive players. And how about free agency? [It was hard to get exact FA numbers as some sites include rookie free agents that made the team and some did not, some included the Bills resigning their own low-tier free agents and some did not. I tried to focus on free agents coming from other teams to the Bills in a particular off-season...but by no means are these numbers definitive.] But, to the best of my quick researching ability, since 2017, the Bills have brought in 33 defensive free agents, 47 offensive free agents, and 2 Special Teamers. [Special Teamers in my numbers are kicking specialists only, for players like Taiwan and Tyler M, they were listed as either offense or defense depending, despite really being STs] So, since Sean McDermott arrived, the Bills have brought in (approx) 54 defensive players total, 69 offensive players total, and 4 Special Teamers total. I'm guessing that this assumption of being defensive-heavy is coming from the disparity in the first round picks, and the Bills going heavy defensive line the last two years. But again, overall, the Bills have not over-focused on defense when you look at their full tenure, it has only been in regards to first round picks. And I'm sure it doesn't help the perception that those first round picks on defense (outside of Tre White), didn't come in as dominant players right away (Tremaine, Ed, Greg, Kaiir), if they had, I doubt anyone would be complaining that they are over-drafting defense. But, then again, when you are drafting in the bottom-half of round one, it is tough to get one of those guys that just comes in as a rookie and shines right away, so they have drafted a bit for potential (knowing that these players would need grooming time). You can totally question the Bills draft/FA strategy or the individual players they are bringing in (I want more offensive line help too), but this idea that they only focus on defense is as the thread title states, a myth. Go Bills!

Just saying, it's not a given, even with a top QB. Nine QBs threw for over 4,100 yards this year, and only 3 of their 9 teams had their WR #2 go over 1,000 yards. And those players' stats were: Tee Higgins: 1,029 yds and 7 TDs [on 109 Targets] Chris Godwin: 1,023 and 3 TDs [on 142 targets] Tyler Lockett: 1,033 and 9 TDs [on 117 Targets] Gabe Davis had 836 and 7 TDs [on 93 Targets] Diggs [154 targets] took more opportunities away from Davis than did the other three players' counterparts: Chase [134 targets], Evans [127 targets], Metcalf [141 targets]. If you pro-rated Gabe's stats to the number of targets that the other three players got, it would look like this: with Higgins # of targets: 980 yards and 8 TDs with Godwin's # of targets: 1,276 yards and 10.65 TDs with Lockett's # of targets: 1,052 yards and 8.775 TDs And again, 6 of the 9 teams didn't have two 1,000 yard receivers to begin with. It isn't the norm, even with the top passing QBs in the league. As far as TDs go, Six QBs threw at least 29 TDs. Here are their top two TD receivers' totals: Mahomes: Kelce (TE) 12 and McKinnon (RB) 9 - [His top 2 WRs only had 5 TDs combined] Allen: Diggs 11 and Davis 7 Burrow: Chase 9 and Higgins 7 Smith: Lockett 9 and Metcalf 6 Cousins: Jefferson 8 and Thielen 6 Goff: St. Brown 6 and Chark 3 So, expecting more than 7 TDs from your number two WR is also a lot to ask, even from a prolific passing team.

Sometimes I think you guys are a bit unrealistic. Only 22 receivers in the NFL had over 1,000 yards this season (there are 32 teams...so many teams didn't even have their #1 WR gain 1,000 yards, let alone their #2). Of those 22 receivers, only 3 had 10+ TDs (Adams, Brown, and Diggs). So, only 3 WRs in the entire NFL had 1,000+ yards and 10+ TDs this year. THREE. And you expect that from our #2 WR as if that is normal for a #2? Heck, it's not even normal for a #1. Only 5 NFL teams this year had two 1,000 yard receivers. Here are those teams top 2 WR numbers combined: MIAMI: 3,066 yards and 15 TDs (Hill and Waddle) PHILLY: 2,692 yards and 18 TDs (Brown and Smith) TAMPA: 2,147 yards and 9 TDs (Evans and Godwin) SEATTLE: 2,081 yards and 15 TDs (Metcalf and Lockett) CINCY: 2,075 yards and 16 TDs (Chase and Higgins) for comparison: BILLS: 2,276 yards and 18 TDs (Diggs and Davis) So, the combo of Diggs and Davis had the 3rd highest combined yards of any WR duo and they tied with Philly for the most TDs by any WR duo. Obviously, none of those teams had 20 TDs from their starting WR duo. So, 10 TDs a piece for your WR1 and WR2 just doesn't happen that often. Not to mention that three of those five teams listed above had more passing attempts than the Bills (more attempts = more yards) Team Pass Attempts Tampa 751 Cincy 610 Miami 584 [Buff 574] Seattle 573 Philly 536 (Philly was the true outlier this year with the fewest attempts of the top 6 WR passing teams, yet the 2nd most yards and tied for most TDs.) And then there is draft position as well when discussing those teams/players: Team Player Draft position Tampa Evans #7 Tampa Godwin #84 Cincy Chase #5 Cincy Higgins #33 Philly Brown #51 Philly Smith #10 Seattle Metcalf #64 Seattle Lockett #69 Miami Waddle #6 Miami Hill #165 Buff Diggs #146 Buff Davis #128 So, when you are looking at teams with two 1,000 yard receivers, you are comparing Davis (drafted #128) with much more highly drafted players. Eight of those top twelve players were drafted in the top 69 (basically all 1st and 2nd rounders). (Hill and Diggs were obviously the big lotto picks---but to expect Davis to be that in his third year, or ever, may be expecting too much). We all know Gabe needs to clean up his drops, but otherwise, you can't really knock his production (stat-wise) as a #2 WR. He was 30th overall in receiving yards for WRs (with only 32 teams, that would seem to put him as a low-end #1/high-end#2 for that stat). Only 12 WRs in the entire league scored more TDs than Gabe this year. And yet, 41 WRs had more targets than he did last season. Give him an offseason on the juggs machine and a healthy 2023 campaign and I think he'll be fine. I also hope that a new voice in the WR room will help. Of course, I'm not saying don't draft or bring in another WR. Gabe is only under contract one more year, so we need to bring up some young guys anyhow...and more competition is always good. Draft a young guy and if he or Khalil beat out Gabe next year for the starting or #2 spot, so be it. Or, Gabe bounces back, holds his spot and has a much better year next season. He's still young with room to grow and improve. Most people get better with more experience/time on the job.

This is a total cherry-picking of stats to try and prove a point by the BN writer. Whoever wrote this article chose the 93 target number because that was how many targets Gabe had...which means everyone else on that list actually had more targets than Gabe (anywhere from 1 to 91 targets more than Gabe). Of course he would be low on that list for receptions, yards, and first downs because he had fewer targets than everyone else. So, basically, all of those BN stats are absolutely meaningless except for two: (1) the catch percentage. Which we all know about. Yes, Gabe has to improve on the drops. But even with that, you have to take into account that many of Gabe's targets are low percentage (deep shots)...hard to compare that to say a player like Tyler Boyd who has mostly high percentage throws coming his way. Same with the first down stat. You can't compare first downs for say a slot receiver compared to a boom or bust deep guy; And (2) TDs: Well despite having fewer targets than the other 40 guys, he had more TDs than all but 28 (that's a good thing right?).

Guesstimating the jump in that video, it looked to be about 67". DK's vertical at the combine was 40.5". The video is obviously fake. The highest standing vertical jump (as opposed to a platform vertical jump) recorded in an organized testing environment is 47.1 inches. I highly doubt that DK just broke that by nearly two feet.

Sometimes it's just time for a change/fresh start for all involved. He has been here six years, how much more were the receivers going to learn from him at this point? No question, his players loved him...but it was also a very down year for the position. I'm not laying all of that at Chad's feet, there were so many other factors involved (injuries, new OC, etc.), but I have a feeling that McBeane just thought it was time for a new voice/different personality in that room (especially if his contract was indeed up). And this regime is known for letting guys find another job first when they are going to move on from someone, so they don't have to "fire" or not "resign" them. Obviously Chad is a good coach and was going to find another job, just had to wait for the dust of the season to settle a bit. Could be similar to the firing of Salgado (from the teaching aspect). We will probably be bringing in some young WRs (along with Shakir and Gabe) and maybe they want to bring in a guy that has a proven track record of coaching up young WRs. Or, like I said before, maybe it was just time for a new voice/perspective in that room. Sometimes someone coming in fresh can see things that the current person might not be able to see clearly, due to familiarity or relationships, etc. (the old idea of when you live in the monkey house, you get used to the smell and don't notice it anymore---maybe not the best analogy, but you get the point). Call me a Homer, but this seems like the most plausible scenario to me...as opposed to Chad seeing that the Bills are a sinking ship with MCBeane and he's getting while the getting is good because he's going to become OC in Jacksonville within a year and win a Super Bowl there way before the Bills ever win one, while at the same time saving on his taxes. 😁

Just wanted to make a point regarding the bold statement above. I wouldn't say Marv's time in KC was a big success, but it also wasn't a total failure, based on the circumstances. This is part of what I wrote in a thread about Marv a while back: "- Five years Head Coach of the Kansas City Chiefs. People knock his record here, but he took over a 2-12 team, the worst team in the league, that also just had their two best defensive players retire. Not counting the strike year, his record was 28-36. Not great, but there was improvement every year (from that 2 win season before he arrived) to 4 wins, then 7 wins, then 8 wins, and to a 9-7 record in 1981. And remember, this was pre-free agency. Rebuilds took a lot longer back in the day (and that's if you had a good GM and ownership). It wasn't like today where teams can go worst to first in one year with a good free agency class." Also, just to note, Marv went to 3 Grey Cups in the CFL, winning 2, and being named CFL Coach of the Year before coming to Buffalo as well.

Looks pretty even to me, rather than Allen being an afterthought: Here are some stats for these three QBs over the last two seasons: Player Record Total Yards Total TDs Burrow 22-10 9,461 76 Allen 24-9 10, 215 84 Mahomes 26-8 10, 828 84 As far as I can see it, there are only two categories where you can knock Allen below the other two. The first is completion % (Burrow=69.27; Mahomes=66.69; Allen=63.31), but let's not forget that for good or bad, Allen throws way more low percentage passes than the other two. If he took more of what the defense gave him rather than going for homerun balls, his % would probably be right there with the other two. But, what he lacks in completion percentage, he makes up for in the run game (as he is a far superior runner to the other two). And the second item is playoff wins. Over the last two years, Burrow has the best playoff record at 5-2; Mahomes is 3-1 (pre-Superbowl obviously); and Allen is 2-2. But, if 13 seconds doesn't happen, then Allen is at least 3-1 and Mahomes is 2-2, so not a big difference there (a coin flip, if you will). And if the Bills had advanced last year over KC, maybe they beat Cincy and everything is different. Anyhow, this is still a team game and circumstances and luck play a part in playoff runs as well. But, this is where I think the OP and other fans are getting the Allen is an afterthought idea, because he didn't advance as far as the other two in the playoffs the last two years. Hard to say it was his fault for not advancing last year, he played every bit as good, if not better than Mahomes and Burrow in the playoffs last year. And this year, just a lot of bad luck and crazy circumstances. Give it a few more years and I bet things will even out. But, if we want to talk playoffs, let's look at their game averages in the playoffs over the last two years: Allen (4 gms): 361 total yds, 3.25 TDs, and 0.75 INTs per game Mahomes (5 gms): 342 total yds; 3.2 TDs, and 0.6 INTs per game Burrow (7 gms): 275 total yds; 1.43 TDs, and 0.57 INTs per game Allen and Mahomes (stat-wise) have far outperformed Burrow in the playoffs...but again, it is a team game. A QB does not win it on his own. Can't we just accept that these three players are pretty much all on par at the top of the game. No need to put one down to raise another up. They're all great and it will be fun to watch them battle it out over the next decade or so.

As opposed to looking at team records (which a single assistant coach doesn't have much to do with), why not look at some stats that are more specific to the coach himself. I don't have the time to dig too deep, but here are a some notes on what he helped them do in Houston last year: In 2021, the year before they hired Danna, opposing quarterbacks compiled a 94.1 passer rating against the Texans' defense, the 12th-highest in the NFL. The Texans defense's 8.0 yards per pass attempt was tied with the Detroit Lions, Baltimore Ravens, and New York Jets for the highest allowed in the NFL. Overall, the Texans secondary was ranked worst in the NFL. In 2022, despite the team posting just a 3-13-1 record, Houston allowed the 10th-fewest passing yards per game (209.3), the sixth-lowest average QB rating (82.7), and ranked 14th in FO’s Pass DVOA (2.6%). Yards per pass attempt dropped from 8 yards in 2021 to 6.8 yards in 2022, and they were tied for 4th in INTs. And they did that with "2 rookies and 3 journeyman players" (per PFF at the start of the 2022 season). Their secondary went from worst in the league to somewhere in the 10-15 range without adding any big name FAs. They did add Derek Stingley (a number 3 overall draft pick at CB), but he was a rookie, only played 9 games (due to injury), and was considered a risky pick because he had only played 10 games over his last two years in college. Overall an up and down year for Stingley. Houston did also add Jalen Pitre (a 2nd round pick in 2022 at safety). Pitre had an amazing rookie year under the tutelage of Danna, with 147 tackles, 5 INTs, and 1 sack. And as the new safeties coach, I'm sure he at least weighed in on drafting Pitre. And we will probably be looking to draft some safeties over the next couple of years ourselves. Plus: Salgado had 6 years NFL experience, all with the Bills. 3 years as a defensive assistant, 2 years as Nickels coach, and 1 year (2022) as safeties coach. Danna has 15 years NFL experience with 5 teams. 2 years as a defensive assistant, 9 years as DB/secondary coach, 1 year as a Nickel coach, and 3 years coaching safeties. That's a lot more experience. And the idea of Salgado being a scapegoat is just silly. Did any fan or media pundit say, oh good we got rid of Salgado, yeah he was the problem. Most didn't even know who he was before he got fired. So, why would McDermot and Beane think this move would appease the blood of the masses (which is what a scapegoat is for), especially when he had the excuse of all of the injuries. No, this wasn't a PR move, it was a football move.

You must be joking, right? I have pretty much stayed away from the board since the Cincy loss because of all of the negativity (just peak in here and there), and yet I have still seen tons of posts calling out McDermott and many saying it is time to move on/fire him, or at least saying he should be on the hot seat, or analyzing the mistakes he's made, or what he did wrong. You, yourself, have been calling out McDermott pretty consistently. This just seems like a thinly-veiled "Fire McDermott" or "I don't like McDermott" rehash thread. And the "neither am I" in bold, red font makes me think of Shakespeare. "The lady doth protest too much, methinks"

Who knows what went on internally, but I wonder if one of the main issues actually was Jaquan Johnson. Obviously, Hyde and Poyer are practically coaches themselves back there, so things always seemed smooth. But when we had to turn to the young guys, Jaquan was obviously not ready. And though Damar was a tough SOB (especially for his size) when it came to hitting and tackling, maybe his coverage skills did not improve throughout the year. Maybe Salgado was good at getting his guys to implement the scheme/gameplan and things like that, but isn't great at teaching/developing players. And as someone said upthread, over the next few years with Poyer's age/contract, Hyde's age, and the salary cap, we may have a lot of young safeties that will need to be coached up. I don't think Salgado was some kind of scapegoat, my guess is some coaching deficiency may have been revealed throughout this season and they wanted an upgrade. Of course, I know nothing of Joe Danna at this point, but to look only at the teams he's coached for and their record to judge him is very short-sighted. Gotta dig deeper (a position coach is not responsible for overall team record). Who has he coached up, what is his reputation amongst other coaches and players, is he known as a good teacher, etc.? As I said, I don't know anything about him yet, but I am not going to pan the hire until we know/hear/see more.

Yes, 22-8 record over the last 30 games. But to the OP's point, on a broader scale: Since 2020 (last 3 seasons): Our record is 41-14 for a winning percentage of 74.55% Only two of those 14 losses were blowouts (2020 vs. Tenn 42-16; 2021 vs. Ind 41-15) Only 3 double-digit loses in 55 games (includes 2020 AFCCG loss to KC by 14). In the other 11 losses, the average point differential was 4.3 points (with three OT games) [So, in 3 seasons, there have only been 3 games that we didn't either win or have a chance to win late in the game.] Point differential over those 3 seasons: +519, or +9.44 points per game 3 playoff appearances, 4 playoff wins (thus far) The best of times is indeed NOW...enjoy the ride.

And they are 5th best in the league at total first downs allowed this season. Obviously, not all first downs are converted on third down...but just another stat to show that the defense has been better than some fans perceive. The Bills D is 1st overall in total yards against, 2nd overall in points allowed, tied for 3rd overall in yards per play allowed, tied for 3rd overall in turnovers created, 2nd overall in opponent red zone conversion %, 5th in total first downs allowed, 6th in 3rd down conversions allowed, tied for 9th in sacks (though 13 teams have more sacks than we do, 4 teams with the same # as we have)...maybe a more honest stat is pressure percentage, where the Bills rank 14th. The league scoring average for 2022 was 22 points per game. So, basically half the league scores 22 points or more per game. The Bills defense allowed 17.875 points per game. Only 5 offenses in the league averaged fewer than 18 points per game. Nine of our games were against teams that averaged at least 21.2 points per game this year, yet the Bills only allowed 5 teams to score more than 21 points and didn't allow anyone to score more than 26 (Minn had a defensive TD). The Bills defense held 12 of 16 teams below their own team's 2022 scoring average. So, the Bills defense is middle of the pack in QB pressures/sacks (the Miller, Hyde, White injuries play a big part in that of course), but by pretty much every other metric, the Bills are at least a top 5 defense (if not top 2 or 3). Of course it's frustrating when they give up a third and long play, but overall, they are still giving up fewer yards, first downs, and points than almost any other team in the league, so those plays have to be put in perspective. Eleven of the 2022 playoff defenses have a worse 3rd down conversions allowed percentage than the Bills (only Balt and the NY Giants were better). One thing I would look at though, if I were a defensive coach, are those boundary screens. We've given up a few 3rd and longs on those plays this year. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/2022/opp.htm https://www.teamrankings.com/nfl/stat/points-per-game

AFC playoff QBs ages (average age = 25) Mahomes 27 Allen 26 Burrow 26 Herbert 24 Lawrence 23 Jackson 26/Huntley 24 Tua 24/Thompson 25 NFC playoff QBs ages (average age = 30; although Brady skews this quite a bit) Brady 45 Hurts 24 Purdy 23 Prescott 29 Cousins 34 Jones 25 Smith 32

No, but Miami, New England, and Detroit are still alive in the playoff picture, and that was 3 out of 4 games (with a win vs. the Jets sandwiched in between). And earlier in the year they beat Baltimore, Pittsburgh, and Kansas City consecutively. (Bal and KC are in the playoffs and Steelers could still make it). No question, if we have to play both the Bengals and Chiefs, it will be a hard road...but this team is battle-tested and motivated...and I still believe they are the most well-rounded team in the AFC. Our secondary is depleted, no doubt, but there are many ways to win games. Josh Allen 1st and foremost, the run game and short yardage pass game (play keep away from the excellent passing teams), the defensive line being majorly disruptive, etc. I'm not automatically conceding anything to the Chiefs or Bengals. They won't be easy games, by any means, but we are still good enough to beat both of those teams.

I voted keep the bottle...but wagon127 has your answer. Don't open it for the first playoff game, save it for either an AFC Championship win (what it should have been opened for) or for a Super Bowl victory. But this time, leave it in the damn refrigerator until the game clock reads 0:00. At least we now finally know who to blame the 13 seconds fiasco on...Gugny, you darn jinx. 😁

Praying for Damar, along with all of BillsMafia and the nation. 🙏

That is a projection in your own head only. We have a top 5 defense, Stefon Diggs, a top kicker, an excellent punter, decent special teams...even if you think the rest of our team sucks (O-line, WRs, TEs, RBs, etc.), which they don't, to say they would be lucky to get a losing record (8-9) if you swapped a prime Alex Smith for Josh, seems a bit over the top to me. Obviously, they wouldn't be asking Smith to do what Josh does. The offense would be tailored to Smith and look much different. He would be more asked to manage the game. But there is nothing saying that he couldn't get us to 10 wins and a Wild Card playoff loss (like he did with KC the year before Mahomes took over). Hell, Tyrod Taylor got us to the playoffs with a much less-talented team than we have now. Plus, our defense has held 10 teams to 20 points or under, and have only allowed two teams to score more than 25. Are you telling me that Alex Smith (instead of Josh) on this team couldn't score 21 points? The current league average is 21.5 points per game. Do you really think this offense couldn't be at least average with a prime Alex Smith? To think this team falls to a 7-10 record or worse with a solid/competent (not great, but not terrible) QB...no, I'm not buying it. No question Josh pulls off miraculous plays that Smith never could, but just having a great QB doesn't automatically get you to 12, 13, 14 wins without a solid team around him. Look at the Packers this year. Josh is what makes this team elite, but they are still a good team with a lot of talented players regardless. I'm not saying there aren't positions that could or will need upgrading (O-line definitely), but this idea that it is all Josh and everyone else on the team sucks is just not rational thinking. Nor that the Bills have ignored offense to draft/bring in defensive talent. Since Beane got here, they have brought in the same number of offensive players as they have defensive players. And, at the end of last year, the offense was humming, with two almost perfect games. Yet, our defense was getting gashed by the run and couldn't get any pressure on opposing QBs. That was a very good reason to focus on improving the defensive line first and foremost in the off season. And it has made a difference (we are 4th vs. the run this year and 11th in sacks---a big improvement). You can't fix everything every off season. And all teams have holes or positions they would like to upgrade, that is not unique to the Bills. And teams are constructed differently. You can look at a team like Cincy and say, man, they have three great receivers. Why can't we have that many good receivers. But they may have sacrificed upgrading a different area on their team to get the receivers, so we would have an advantage against them in that part of the game. Sometimes you have to look at the bigger picture. And as a GM, you are making a lot of gambles too...not every one pays off, but if enough of them do, then you are right where the Bills are right now.

What about being happy about a win regardless of whether there were big pass plays or not. Does it really matter how they get the win? If Motor and Cook run for 200 yards again, and/or the defense plays lights out, and that means Josh only passes for 150 (with no bombs), but they win...then I'd still be very happy. Whereas I feel like you would come on here and say, yes, I'm happy about the win, but our team sucks, there's no way we're winning a Super Bowl like this, etc. Just get the W any way you can. That's the NFL. No one gets anything for style points.

"Our team would suck without Josh and Diggs." But you know what? The Chiefs would suck without Mahomes and Kelce, the Bengals would suck without Burrow and Chase, the Eagles would suck without Hurts and Brown (see yesterday's game), etc., etc. "Did you see the TB game yesterday? Brady's WRs are just running free all the time. every other Qb has it easier than Josh." Yet Josh has 8 more TD passes than Brady on the year, despite playing one game less. And sure, Brady currently has 581 passing yards more than Josh, but that is with one more game (Josh will probably close that gap to about 300 yards tonight) and on 180 attempts more than Josh. Why does he have so many more attempts? Because at 8-8, TB has been behind/losing a lot more than the Bills this year and had to throw a lot at the end of games (see yesterday's game). And you're using a QB in his first start ever (Stidham) on a 6-10 team to explain why the Bills suck? With no context. There was no film on this guy, his team probably rallied around him, did the Niners have injuries on their defense, etc.? Do you really think Stidham would be able to do that consistently when Carr couldn't with that team? Dude, you have been making this same post every week. And yes, you are definitely cherry picking. If you paid as much attention to other teams as you do the Bills, you would see drops, interceptions, bad throws by QBs, lots of 3 and outs and punts, etc. Josh has 13 INTs. There are 5 QBs with the same or more INTs. Mahomes and Burrow both have 12 INTs (only one less than Josh). I mean, what if the Bills were down 4 points to the 4-12 Broncos in the 4th quarter (Chiefs yesterday), what if the Bills were down 14 points in the 4th quarter to the 6-10 Panthers (TB yesterday), how about losing by 24 to the 7-8 Packers (Vikings yesterday), down by 3 points to the 6-10 Raiders in the last minutes of the game and then needing OT to beat them (SF yesterday), or losing by 10 to the 7-9 Saints (Eagles---if our QB didn't play)...you and this board would be totally imploding with any of those scenarios. Yet, since those are not your teams, you just look at final score and stats and highlights, and say look everyone else is better than we are. But if you were actually a fan of those teams, you would be going through the same roller-coaster ride that you are as a Bills fan. I swear, some of you would be complaining right up to the last second of a Super Bowl victory. And fine, then you get to celebrate, but you know what, you will have missed a hell of a lot of fun along the way. It is the journey, not the destination my friend. In the offseason we can discuss how to fix the O-line and WRs, etc., but there isn't anything to be done about it right now. This is the 2022 Buffalo Bills team, like it or not. Why not root for the guys and enjoy their victories, rather than whine and moan that every other team is better than we are and our players suck. Which isn't actually true. With a win tonight, we would be tied for the best record in the league and be first place in our conference. Josh is a huge reason why (we all know that), but by no means has he done it alone. I have no problem discussing what is wrong with certain areas of our team or what needs to be improved, etc. But the OP's posts very rarely have any content other than "I watch other games and everyone else is better than we are. Our players suck except for Josh." It is the same post every week. That is not discussion, that is complaining. And the complaints don't even ring true because, as he said himself, he is cherry picking.

We really don't know yet how these two teams match up. They haven't played each other since 9/22/19 (3 years and 3 months ago). At that point, Josh was just starting his second year, no Diggs, McDermott starting year 3. Joe Burrow and Ja'Marr Chase were still in college and it was only Zac Taylor's 3rd game as the Bengals head man. Two totally different teams now. Not sure how much common opponents matter, as every week in the NFL is different, and teams go through ups and downs (for many reasons). But, for what's it worth, here are the common opponents this year for the Bills and Bengals: Jets: Bills lost one (17-20), and won one (20-12). Bengals won (27-12) Dolphins: Bills lost one (19-21) and won one (32-29) Bengals won (27-15) Steelers: Bills won (35-3) Bengals won one (37-30), and lost one (20-23) Ravens: Bills won (23-20) Bengals lost (9-17) Titans: Bills won (41-7) Bengals won (20-16) Patriots: Bills won (24-10) Bengals won (27-24) Browns: Bills won (31-23) Bengals lost one (13-32) and won one (27-10) Chiefs: Bills won (24-20) Bengals won (27-24) Record vs. Common Opponents: Bengals 7-3 Bills 8-2. Points for/against vs. Common Opponents: Bengals 234 pts for, 203 pts against Bills 266 pts for, 165 pts against So, again, not sure how many conclusions you can draw from that: records are similar, points for differential is 3 points per game (in the Bills favor), and points against is about a 4-point differential per game (again in the Bills favor). To be fair, I'll give the QBs a push (with a slight favor to Josh) I think the Bengals definitely do have an advantage with their WRs against our secondary. I think a huge key to this game will be our defensive line getting pressure on Burrow to hurry throws and routes. I am not worried about the Bengals run game at all. And to be honest, I don't know much about their defense. But with Josh, Diggs and co., and the improved run game, the Bills should be able to score (as they have all year). The Bengals' defense is currently 21st in the league versus the pass (the Bills are 14th), and 7th against the run (the Bills are 4th). The Bengals' defense is 9th in the league in opponent's points per game (the Bills are 2nd). The Bengals defense is 29th is sacks (Bills are 11th). Everything I seem to look at, the Bills appear to have at least a slight edge, so I do expect them to win. But, I also expect a great, close, hard fought game. And I am very interested to finally see how these two teams match up against each other, not on paper, but on the field. It may come down to which team makes the fewest mistakes. Or, if they both play mistake free, then who has that one or two big plays over the other team. GO BILLS!

Of course, point differential doesn't mean anything in the long run. The OP isn't saying it is going to guarantee us a Super Bowl. But when so many fans keep saying that we can't beat teams like KC and Cincy the way we are playing, yet we have the best point differential in the league and currently have played the third most difficult schedule in the league (just a hair behind Miami and the Jets), well, it does make a good case that those fans may be overreacting. To be fair, Cincy has currently played the 5th toughest schedule and KC has played the 7th toughest schedule (so they haven't had a cake-walk either) and they sit 6th and 5th in point differential, respectively. But imo, it is fair for the OP to use the stat to make a case that we are just as good as KC and Cincy (or conversely, that KC and Cincy are just as bad as we are...as some posters would tell it). We all watch the Bills so closely that we see all of their warts, but too many fans seem to compare that over-scrutinizing of our team against highlight packages of other teams and seem to think that teams like KC and Cincy don't make similar mistakes (penalties, turnovers, close games vs. lower-ranked teams, etc.).

I hope so too... He could also see this as great practice, experience, exposure for a post-football broadcast career. Why not use this time to build for the future? But to have him back for the home stretch would be awesome!

Seriously, big props to that Pats fan! That couple should have been thrown out. She wasn't even sitting next to him, they were across the aisle. But she moved next to him to annoy him, and then got very aggressive and belligerent.

I lived in Boston during the '90s Super Bowl era and went to a number of games at the old Foxborough stadium. Never had a problem with Pats fans back then---but the Patriots didn't really have that many diehard fans at that time, their team was consistently bad, and they had very little shot of beating the Bills of that era. I have lived in NYC since and go to the Meadowlands pretty much every year for the Bills game. And though I don't love the atmosphere of MetLife stadium (can't hold a candle to Rich/Ralph/NewEra/HighMark), I have never had a problem with Jets fans, despite me always being decked out in Bills gear and cheering for my team. Of course, there is some good-natured ribbing and banter, but never any problems. A lot of Jets fans I know feel more kindred with the Bills than any type of bitter rivalry, I think mostly because of us both being bad for so long (prior to McBeane/Josh) and both being dominated by and hating the Patriots equally. Went to the Cleveland game in 2019. Had an extremely drunk girl in front of me first talking smack and then hitting on me, despite probably being 15-20 years my junior (I did say she was very drunk 😊). And apparently I have a tendency to call out our player's names during the game after good plays: "Yes, Stefon." "Nice tackle Matt." "C'mon Tyler!" etc. Everything seemed fine until the Bills took the lead in the 4th quarter, when the guy next to me said, "If you call out one more player's name, I'm gonna kill you." Then his friend leaned over and said, "How do you even know all of their names, anyhow?" My answer, "I'm a Bills fan!" Cleveland went on to win the game, so even though I didn't stop cheering for our guys, I did avoid being killed by the man next to me.