folz

I forgot that they were taken back-to-back. Thought I would look up their stats out of curiosity. Of course, Montgomery has been Chicago's feature back since mid-way thru his rookie year, whereas Singletary has never truly been a feature back (due to splitting time with other backs and our passing game of course---but then the Bills have been a better overall offense than Chicago over that period as well). And it appears that over that span (4 years), Montgomery has missed 6 games and Devin 4 games (so they have both been pretty sturdy/available). Montgomery: 886 carries, 3,502 rush yds, 4.0 Avg, 26 TDs, 149 recs, 8.1 Avg, 1,206 receiving yds, 4 TDs Singletary: 653 carries, 3,016 rush yds, 4.6 Avg, 15 TDs, 142 recs, 6.7 Avg, 949 receiving yds, 4 TDs Montgomery has more TDs (30 to 19), but obviously with more opportunities (as the Bills had Josh, Gore, and Moss running a lot of the goal-line carries). Devin has a better rushing average, while Montgomery has a better receiving average. If you prorated Devin's rushing average to the same number of carries as Montgomery has had, then Motor would have 4,088 rushing yards. Not trying to say one is better than the other...was just curious since they were drafted back-to-back. But, personally, kind of glad we have Devin.

NFL fans are funny. There were lots of people who thought Tua, Herbert, and Fields should have gotten a pro bowl nod. OK. But then there were actually multiple replies saying that Mac Jones got robbed not getting voted to the Pro Bowl. And I even saw one saying Zac Wilson should be in. Am I mistaken, or did both of those QBs get benched this season. How could you really think that guys getting benched by their own teams deserve the Pro Bowl over players like Mahomes, Allen, Burrow, Herbert. Even saw one calling for Brock Purdy...the guy has played what 3 games? Either people were trying to be funny, or NFL fans really have distorted views of their own teams/players.

What would this board be like if the Bills: Lost to 5-8 Jax in OT (Dallas) Needed OT to beat the 1-11-1 Houston Texans (Chiefs) Lost by 10 to the 5-8 Browns (Balt) Only beat the 3-10 Bears by 5 points (Philly) Needed OT to beat the 4-8-1 Colts by 3 (Minn) Now how is it again that we can't beat the other top teams in the league? That is 5 of the other 7 teams with the best records in the league (and Cinci is currently down by 3 to the 6-7 Bucs). Perspective is always a good thing.

I'm not sure why fans don't see that it was the right move. We watched Belichick win games against us like that for 20 years (managing the clock at the end of a game). We have also seen the Bills do this successfully a few times now over the last few years. It is textbook and absolutely the best way to assure a victory. And not sure if anyone has mentioned it in other threads today, but Devin had a great game last night. Stat-wise it doesn't look like that much (70 yds from scrimmage, no TDs), but he was laying the lumber to the Dolphins at the end of his runs and in the blocking game (setting a tone)---he knocked a Miami pass rusher to his ass on one play---and then the unselfish play to help seal the game. Motor was ballin' last night.

Great Win!!! For anyone complaining about anything...this type of game is exactly why we all love football guys and gals. It was like a classic, old Kelly/Marino duel. Saturday night, at home, playoff-like atmosphere, amazing plays by Allen, the snow coming down in the 4th quarter, the comeback, last second FG to win the game, Bass and Steph belly sliding on the snowy field. Just enjoy it everyone! At this time of year, especially against division rivals, any win is a good win. And the Dolphins are a legit team. No question we have to clean up the mistakes...penalties, tackling, turnovers, the roughing the kicker. I mean, we gift-wrapped the Dolphins 10 points in the third quarter on miscues. Would have been a different game without those mistakes. But no complaining for me tonight. Great game! Great team win! And not only is Santa real (bringing us some Christmas snow in the 4th quarter), but so is Superman...and his name is Josh Allen. Go Bills!!!!!

"Where would you rather be than right here, right now." "When it's too tough for them, it's just right for us!" SQUISH THE FISH! LET'S GO BUFFALO!!!!!!!!!

Because "When it's too tough for them, it's just right for us!"

Let's finally put the OBJ thing to bed. He's not playing this year, he's getting older, two ACLs in the same knee, does NOT have Bills DNA. If we have to wait for next year anyhow, then I would rather have an early draft pick WR and/or a younger FA. And people seem to have short memories. At the end of last year, our offense was absolutely humming, and our defense (though ranked first) was vulnerable to being run up the middle, we lacked in the pass rush department, fans had been saying for two years that we needed to upgrade Levi's position, and Tre was now out with an ACL. It made total sense to draft corners and upgrade the defensive line via free agency as our #1 priority. And though the secondary has been a bit of a mess this year with the injuries (and rookies), I don't think that anyone can say that the defensive line improvements haven't made a significant difference. This idea that Beane and McDermott only care about improving the defense and ignore the offense just isn't true (in a post a while back I showed that they have brought in the same number of offensive and defensive players since they've been here, both in the draft and free agency). You can't solve every single problem every off season. You go for your biggest needs. Not every plan worked, but I understand why they made the choices that they did. I know a lot of people were calling for a wide receiver in the off season (and at this moment they have plenty of info to back up their stance). But, after hearing a lot of the interviews since Cole's return, etc. I'm wondering if losing Cole hasn't been our biggest issue on offense, not that Gabe isn't a good #2, Knox sucks, McKenzie sucks, etc. I'm not a huge X's and O's guy either, so this is just my opinion based on what has been said. The offense was spectacular at the end of last year and the only major piece we lost was Cole. So, they bring in Crowder (another excellent slot player) to take the role, with McKenzie mixed in. McKenzie is good against man coverage because of his speed. I think that Gabe's best skills are against man coverage as well, because of his size and speed. Once Crowder went down, teams could go to zone coverage almost exclusively against us, because our only true zone beater was Diggs. And then you just double Diggs. Now you can say that Crowder wouldn't have been the answer because he didn't have a great start to the season, but he has been one of the better slots in the league for a while and I believe he would have adapted to our system and Josh's arm with more reps/time and been very good for us. Unfortunately that didn't happen. Also, I don't think people realize how much (at least early in the season) that Gabe was also getting double coverage. Teams weren't worried about the slot. Defenses were trying to take away our big chunk plays. To beat that, you need to methodically move the chains using the slot and your RBs/TEs. I think defenses know that is not Josh's strength, and secondly, they weren't worried as much about those players tearing them up. This is exactly what happened during our offensive slump last year, but Josh was able to overcome it by learning to play Brady-like. But he had Cole last year (Welker, Edelman)...and it worked. Apparently McKenzie just isn't good at finding that opening in the zone, and maybe Josh doesn't trust him to get open or hang on to the ball, etc. So, it isn't working this year. (That doesn't mean McKenzie sucks, it's just not his skill set to beat zone in the slot. But if they are playing man, he can be a weapon. He was meant to be used when his strengths gave the Bills an advantage, not be playing there full time). Another way they tried to address the teams playing zone coverage was by signing McKissic...we all know what happened there. So, they draft Cook. And while he has flashed, and I believe he will be a good player for us going forward, he is still a rookie who is learning. His game is still lacking in the knowledge/blocking areas, so he has to be used sparingly. Maybe they can eventually work Hines into that role they were envisioning and with Cole's/Crowder's return, finally have the offense that they envisioned at the start of the year. And to the OP, I don't think Gabe's production has/had anything to do with Sanders or a vet presence in front of him, etc. Sanders barely played the second half of last year (because of the injury and Gabe playing well), and he wasn't more productive than Gabe. In fact everyone was saying Gabe should be the starter. If we can start pulling teams out of zone, I guarantee our wide receivers are all going to look better. Or if not, then Josh can get back to picking them apart with short throws over the middle of the field. I'm hoping that Cole still has enough and/or the return of Crowder will solve a lot of these issues. As it is, we are still the second best offense in the league right now...fixing the slot may just push us over the top again. It may not be that our players all of a sudden suck, just that they have not been able to be used to their strengths because there was a missing element to our offense. Of course, they have to clean up the drops too for it to work, but I think they will. Gabe never had drop issues before, I think he'll pull out of it. And McKenzie now won't be asked to make the types of plays he has been missing. It may be an overly-optimistic view to some, but maybe, just maybe, over the next few weeks our offense finally finds it's stride again. Having said all of that, I do agree that addressing the offensive line and drafting a young WR this offseason will be major priorities.

You're right. I just went thru the highlight video and some photos from the game and it appears that Miami did not use AC benches, just cooling fans.

People keep saying that according to the rules the home team needs to provide the away team with whatever they are using (AC benches, Heating benches, etc.). But, the Bills brought their own AC benches to Miami (Miami did not provide them). And I am pretty sure that, at the time, it was reported that the Bills had to bring their own benches because Miami wasn't going to provide them. So, that would have to mean that either the Fish decided not to use AC benches on their own sideline for that game (which I doubt...but don't remember off hand if they did use them or not), that they offered them but the Bills wanted to bring their own (which is not how the story was reported), or the reporters at the time misreported this issue (weren't clear on the rules or why the Bills brought their own benches). Even though the Fish were in the shade, I can't imagine they weren't using cooling benches for their players in that heat (no matter how used to it they were). That would seem to be endangering players for a competitive advantage. But then they did throw Tua back in the game with a concussion, so maybe they don't care that much about their own player's safety. Anyone have any insight on this or remember things differently?

If they were to flex the Pats game to Saturday night, then the Bills will have played 9 primetime games this year (I'm including Thanksgiving even though it was a 12:30 pm start and Saturday games, even though the Bears game will be 1:00 pm start). And the KC game was a nationally televised game with a 4:25 pm start time...which almost made it feel like primetime because of the hype for that game between those two teams. The Bills will have played only 7 of 17 games in the Sunday 1:00 pm time slot...and only 3 of those Sunday at 1:00 pm games at home. They will have played 8 games not on Sunday (Thur, Mon, or Sat). And of course, only 7 home games vs. 10 on the road (with the schedule and the Cleveland game moving to Detroit due to snowmaggedon). Who could have ever imagined a schedule like that during the drought years? This is what you want...to be a top team in the spotlight. But 7 home games and 10 away games, 8 non-Sunday games (9 primetime games) really messes with the team's normal schedule, etc. And a lot of the teams on the schedule have been better than expected at the start of this year. It may be a fun schedule for us fans, etc., but I'm sure it hasn't been an easy one for the team.

Welcome back Cole!!! I couldn't be happier to have a lot of the guys who were keys in helping turn this franchise around, back for our run this year. Fam is Fam! Now, if only Micah could get back for the playoffs. 🤞 It's time for everyone to leave the past in the past and move forward towards our main goal. I just hope the media can do the same and not ask Cole a bunch of cringy questions about last year. Let's Go Buffalo!!!!

I think you may just be watching highlights only. Sure if you watch other complete games, you will see some amazing catches across the league, but you know what else you will see if you watch complete games from other teams? Bad throws by QBs, drops by WRs, sacks allowed by the offensive lines, etc. It isn't just the Bills. You also have to take into account opponents, weather, circumstances (like snow storms, travel, amount of practice time, etc.). Of course a receiver in good weather against a mediocre team will look a hell of a lot better than a receiver in a bad weather game against a top 5 defense. It feels like a lot of people have lost some perspective and just expect that the Bills should score 40 every week regardless of opponent, conditions, circumstances. You would think this team is on a 4-game losing streak, not a 4-game winning streak with the way posters are reacting today. I agree that the drops were frustrating yesterday, but the idea that the only quality players on offense are Allen and Diggs (as I have seen a number of posters say) and everyone else needs to go, is ridiculous. These are pretty much the same guys that had a near perfect playoff run last year (sans Beasley). As long as we keep winning, then some patience seems warranted to me.

As Romo pointed out during the game, on one play that Cook was in, Josh had to direct him where to go, and then he proceeded to whiff on his block, allowing Diggs to get blown up on a screen pass. Also, I don't think he is great in pass pro yet either. A lot of guys can look good toting the ball, but if they can't block well in pass protection, on screen plays, etc. and don't always know their assignments, then their playing time will be limited. I'm not saying Cook is bad or won't get better at those things, but if the coaches have an option that they feel more confident in, they are going to go that way. And then if you only put the player in to run the ball (because you don't trust him on everything else), then you are tipping your hand to the defense. Hopefully Cook will improve his overall game and see more touches in the future.

I'm not saying our offense is playing great right now, but people complaining this much about the offense after a horrible weather game against a top-5 defense seems a bit of an overreaction. As I said in the gameday thread, only 2 teams in the Jets last 10 games scored more than the 20 points the Bills did against them yesterday: New England in week 8 (22 points) and Minnesota last week (27 pts). The Jets defense is for real folks. They entered yesterday's game 3rd in yards against, 4th in sacks, 5th in pts per game, and 2nd in QBR against. And the week before was the Pats. The Pats are currently 2nd in yards against and 3rd in pts against, and 5th in sacks. It does actually matter who you are playing against. We just played two top 5 defenses in a row and won by a combined 44-22. In that weather, against that Jets defense, with the miscues that Josh had in the losses, and being pretty confident that our defense could control the Jets offense, we played conservatively. Let's face it, with that weather, the team that won the turnover battle was probably going to win the game...and that held true. There was no need to try and get overly aggressive or overly creative in that type of game. No question, the receivers need to hang on to the ball better, Josh needs to take more check downs and clean up some of his throws, would love to see the run game become more of a factor, etc. But, maybe they realized that if we just play mistake-free football (i.e., no turnovers), we should be able to beat most teams and get that first seed. Then ramp up the aggressiveness against the better teams in the playoffs, etc. It may not be pretty, but it is working. We are on a four-game win streak. Who cares what our stats are or if Josh wins the MVP, etc. This is all about positioning ourselves best for the playoffs. Maybe against Miami and Cinci we will see a more aggressive offense, since I'm sure we won't be able to totally shut them down...but the hand-wringing for a 10-3 team, on a 4-game win streak, sitting in first place for the division and conference seems a bit odd to me.

I think everyone is living in the past with the Jets...feeling like we should dominate them because they have always sucked. Coming into this game, the Jets defense was 3rd in the league in yards/game surrendered, 4th in sacks, and 5th in points allowed per game. They were also 2nd in the league in QBR against. Not many QBs have had a good game vs. the Jets this year. And Saleh is a damn good defensive coach. Look what he did in San Fran. In their last 10 games, only 2 teams have scored more than the 20 points the Bills did against the Jets today: New England in week 8 (22 pts) and Minnesota last week (27 pts). And though it wasn't a killers row of QBs, you certainly can't say the Jets were just playing JAGs. That stretch included Tua, Rodgers, Wilson, Allen (twice), Cousins, Fields, Pickett, and Jones (twice). We all know we don't have one of the top offensive lines in the league, but to say they are one of the worst in the league (in bold, no less) after an 8-point victory over a top-5 defense seems a bit of an over-reaction.

What I really liked about today's game was that we were the more physical team. The Jets kept the game in range, but physically, we beat them up pretty good. And not just Mike White. How about Dion's block on the TD run? Jets receivers were taking big shots all day. Lots of gang tackling, etc. And I've seen a lot of posters calling out Dane Jackson (he sucks, he needs to sit, another bad game by Jackson). He didn't give up a TD, I never saw a receiver he was covering running free, and he had two really good plays late in the 4th quarter to help seal the win. What are you posters seeing that I am not? I'm not saying he is spectacular, but did I miss some really bad plays by him today? He came up big down the stretch.

And there is a difference between a player making a catch when a ball isn't perfect (which Bills players do), and a player making a catch when a defender has one or two arms in the receiver's chest as the ball arrives. Of course, we would like to see our WRs make more contested catches, but again, there is a difference between say a jump ball (where a guy can out jump the defender) and a pass on the numbers when the defender is right there, with a hand in his body, trying to rip the ball out. Sometimes I think people watch too many highlights of the best receivers in the league (Chase, Jefferson, etc.) and expect every player to be able to routinely make plays like that. They can't. That's why those guys are unicorns/the best in the league. I do agree there were too many drops today (the Jets receivers helped their QB out more than ours helped Josh today), but I just think Bills fans go crazy on our players for drops, but seem to not pay attention to the same things happening in every other game, across the league every week. Like only our guys drop balls. And then start blaming them for any target that doesn't get caught, whether it was a bad throw or a great defensive play, etc.

Divisional games are always tough! The weather was atrocious at the start of the game. Neither offense could do anything until that rain/sleet turned to snow just before halftime. Don't know how folks aren't taking that into account. The Jets have become a very good team. They have a lot of talent. They have a top defense. It was a GOOD win folks! Yes, there were too many drops, I would have liked Dorsey to use the run game more (but Jets are solid up front, so maybe they weren't feeling confident in it), and outside of the shot play to Dawson, I wasn't thrilled with the play calling on the last two drives, but I'm not going to feel bad about this one. They did what they needed to do. And once the Bills answered the Jets TD early in the 2nd half, the game was never really in doubt after that (except through our nervous, waiting for the 2nd shoe to drop, Bills-fans mentality). Still own 1st place in the division and conference. Team is getting healthier. Stop worrying so much everyone. It's the NFL. No one has blowout wins consistently. We are right where we need to be. Let's Go Buffalo!

They aren't really drops when a defender makes a great play and rips the ball out. Like on that last shot play to Knox, that was on Josh. The ball was short. If he led Dawson to the sideline, rather than throwing it short...allowing the defender to get back in the play, that is probably a TD (or at least a very long play). Great call by Dorsey there, Josh just didn't give his receiver the best chance to complete the play. I would lower your counts to one drop by Dawson and 2 by McKenzie...gotta give the Jets defense some credit.

No fan base like Bills Mafia! And big shout out to all of the staff and administration of the Bills organization too. As fans, we are so focused on players, coaches, front office that we don't often think about all of the people behind the scenes that keep the ship afloat in a million different ways. Cheers to you folks. 🍻 I also love that the Pegulas put together a top-notch media department. These videos are always great!

I feel bad for Von and wishing him the best for a speedy recovery! I also hope he sticks around the team the rest of the year (when able) to continue coaching up the young guys, like Micah has been doing. But, I don't think this takes us out of the race by any means. Next man up! Daquan and Jordan have been playing well all year, and Ed is becoming a monster. A big reason our pass rush was bad last year is that we were getting no interior pressure, so QBs could just step up in the pocket (away from the curling DEs). If these three can continue playing big, there is no reason our DEs can't get the job done. Maybe this will be a rallying cry for them. People think we can't get it done without Von. Shaq, Boogie, and AJ didn't play much early in the year. So, maybe this really motivates them, to finally have their shot to prove themselves. Maybe Groot really takes it on himself to fill the gap and finds another level. We don't know yet how this will all play out...I'm not saying losing Von doesn't hurt or that they won't need to adjust (if Von indeed was taking a lot of double teams), but it's not like the DE cupboard is bare behind Von. We have two #1 and two #2 draft picks there. They obviously have talent, even if they haven't lived up to their draft status yet...time for them to step up and prove their worth. I'm not expecting them to play like All-Pros...just get the job done boys. We'll be fine. Let's Go Buffalo!

Thanks for the correction FrenchConnection. Edited my post to reflect that.

I think this is a little bit of the grass is always greener. We suffer from a bit of Bills myopia. We focus on and scrutinize our own team so much that we don't always have a balanced perspective on the rest of the league. Let me throw a few things out there. First, over the last 5 years, 10 teams have qualified as a #1 seed (AFC/NFC). Do you know how many of them won a Super Bowl? One. Yes, only 1 number one seed of the last 10 won the big game. No question the first seed is great to have, can't beat home field advantage, but it is no guarantee of a Lombardi. Also, you act as if other top teams don't go through ups and downs during a season, like the Bills do. Let's look at the last 4 years (the last 8 #1 seeds). These are the teams with the best records that year and yet all but one (KC in 2020) had a "Bills/McDermott-like" slump. Tenn: 2021 #1 AFC seed: lost 2 of 4 to start the year, then lost 3 of 4 games between weeks 11-15. GB: 2021 NFC #1 seed: lost 2 out of 3 games in a stretch between weeks 9 and 11. KC: 2020 AFC #1 seed: No slump or stretch of bad games. GB: 2020 NFC #1 seed: lost 3 of 6 in a stretch from weeks 6-11. Balt: 2019 AFC #1 seed: lost 2 games in a row (weeks 3-4) 49ers: 2019 NFC #1 seed: lost 3 of 6 games between weeks 10-15. KC: 2018 AFC #1 seed: lost 3 of 5 games between weeks 11-16. NO: 2018 NFC #1 seed: lost 2 of their last 5 games. And If KC is currently the standard, well in the last 5 years, only once did they avoid the type of slump that you are describing for McDermott/the Bills. Four out of five years they suffered a similar or actually worse slump: 2021: lost 4 out of 6 games between weeks 2 and 7 (including a 27-3 drubbing by the Titans and an 18 point loss to the Bills). 2020: No slump...but didn't win the SB. 2019: lost 4 of 6 games between weeks 5 and 10. 2018: lost 3 of 5 games between weeks 11-16. 2017: lost 6 games in a 7-game stretch---though that was with Alex Smith at QB, not Mahomes I think you may be putting too much into this slump thing for the Bills. Every team has ups and downs based on many different factors throughout the year (injuries, travel, adjustments, defenses catching up to offenses, etc., etc.). And it's just hard to maintain the same passion, confidence, execution for 17 weeks straight, especially when you are a top team and everyone is gunning for you every week. The NFL season is long.

I think the OP just likes to see how many negative reactions he can get with each post/topic. Let's ignore everything the Bills players did this year in the name of commitment and culture, like our All-Pro safety (who is upset about his contract) hiring a car to drive him to an away game because he couldn't fly; or players digging themselves out of 7 feet of snow, or walking half a mile in 7 feet of snow to get to the facility to fly out for a game; guys rehabbing every Monday despite it being a victory Monday (day off); rallying around their teammate Dawson Knox (when his brother died), etc., etc. But, no, let's ignore all of that and then use one thing another team does as proof that the Bills suck/aren't committed enough. It's either troll work or insanity. As others have said, for what the Bills have recently been through, the extra days of rest and being with family is more important than one extra film session or whatever on a 10-day week. Who cares if some Bills players flew out of Buffalo to have a mini vacay or visit family. That is exactly what Sean wanted giving them this time off, for them to rest their minds and bodies for the stretch run. But as Sean always says...just be smart about it. Cincy is indeed a major contender this year that will be in the hunt. And it's a nice story for Cincy fans to believe in the commitment of their team, but it says/means nothing about the other 31 teams in the league. And one extra film session or lift on a Monday in week 14 isn't going to automatically win them a Super Bowl. Geez.