Koufax

I was there today and close to the field on the Bills side. Watched warmups and sideline stuff. Josh is hurt. Throwing shoulder. You could see it during pregame warmups. During warmups before drives. How he grabbed his shoulder after missing on the first play of the game. How he missed his throws early and often. Great guts and execution to get us the win, but throwing a little less for a few weeks and having an extra day now he can get a little better, have a run first game against NE and be himself by Miami. Diggs was also hurt on the first play, his neck, but also had a little limp jogging on and off the field. Two gamers who did enough for us to win and head home for a Merry Christmas.

Let's go 1-0 on Sunday. That's the same mentality that has lower seeds ride their way to the Super Bowl year in year out. It is very hard to win five games at once. Beat the Chiefs.

I happen to like him as a personality, and his level headed intensity and commitment to and success at playing good football. What I like most is a .624 winning percentage and four straight playoff appearances, and five in six years. I do not like having a HC with coordinator duties on either side of the ball. We all know Bellichick is involved heavily in the defense, sometimes without a true DC and it works, but I don't love McD in that role.

Trying to get the ball 40 yards in 20 seconds with one time out involves at least one long developing play downfield against a deep safety prevent defense, so Josh's overall completion / interception numbers are irrelevant. I think you can design a play that puts things in your favor, but getting the ball far enough down field that if it is picked you don't give up points, but it isn't necessarily simple. Strip sack and returnable INT both have a small percentage, and advancing the ball 40 yards in 20 seconds has a small percentage. So whichever path you take the likelihood the score changes is very very small. "how we have fared in overtime the last 6 seasons" is one of the worst small irrelevant sample takes to make a future decision. I'm all for the new age thing of going for 2 to win rather than 1 for overtime, when your chances of 2 are over 50/50 and your chances of winning in overtime are 50/50. But I do not have any reason to think our overtime chances are less than 50/50, so the question should be does not taking a knee give you a larger chance of scoring points than conceding points. Again, that is a debatable point, but with one time out the risk level of advancing the ball far enough and quickly enough doesn't seem like a smart bet. Most likely irrelevant, but I think the chances of conceding points are probably slightly higher than the chances of scoring (maybe 3% something goes bad, 2% something goes great, and 95% nothing happens)

No thanks. Both in the specific suggestion and the overreaction of replacing a very good HC. I am all for the continuity of our front office and coaching staff. I would like a dedicated DC if a good one is available, but losing Milano, Tre, Jones, Von, and having Josh get a slump and Dorsey justifiably being replaced, I think we should make a push for the playoffs after the bye anyway, but think changing coaching staffs would disrupt our current winning window. This season has been a disappointment, but sometimes it doesn't go your way. We are in the midst of the second best performance window in Bills history, with a team and a coach that over a multiyear period play great football and win), and the best teams do not fire winning coaches to get better.

Risk of conceding points is greater than chances of scoring points would be the rationale, and I lean slightly towards agreement. If you are down at the wire (KC 13 seconds) the risk of conceding points is irrelevant.

Not correct. ESPN has the playoff machine up if you want to play around, but our chances of being in the playoffs, or more relevantly enter our final game with the Dolphins still alive don't involve anything crazy. But we aren't "barring" anything. We are preparing over our bye week to flush a disappointing road loss to one of the top teams in football, and prepare to try to beat the Chiefs. If we were to lose to the Chiefs then win three and go into the final week of the season at 9-7 trying for 10-7, there are tons of likely paths that have that being good enough. Denver has gotten hot, but the Steelers have been a flawed team, the Browns have their franchise QB out for the year, the Colts have their franchise QB out for the year, and the Bengals have their franchise QB out for the year, and the Steelers have been unable to do much on offense. What changed today is that realistically we are now rooting for all four division leaders (currently 8-3) to stay hot and knock off teams in the middle of the pack. Everybody catch their breath, enjoy the bye week, and get ready to upset the Chiefs. And should we look up after week 18 without making it, it will be super disappointing, but after the Chiefs (8) and Bills (4) NO team in the NFL has been to the playoffs the last four years. Missing out one year doesn't doom a team into a need to fire coaches and rebuild, and often leads to a quick return when the talent is there.

Very disappointing outcome, but proud of this team. The defense played an incredible first half, but continues to struggle to play a full 60 without Milano, White, Jones, (and Von). Our Poyer/Hyde combination is good. We had a run where they were elite and they are not. The offense is so frustrating when they run for a yard between the tackles on first down. But putting up 34, having a huge TD drive when it counted. The one turnover was frustrating as an outcome, but was Allen targeting Diggs on an intermediate pass which is something I never disagree with. Allen taking off and running was awesome and so much better than the Bledsoe 2.0 they had been coaching for a while. I thought this was a well coached game. I am someone who doesn't at all want coaching turnover except for the already realized Dorsey. Bad breaks on the officiating, and having an opponent hit a 59 yarder in the rain, make it even tougher. This team is clearly a disappointment to this point, and losing to NYJ, NE are much more crushing than losing in OT on the road to the Eagles. We are very much alive for the playoffs and playing like we deserve to be there. We have a big (but not must-win) game coming off the bye, and that one will be fun. Don't jump off the bandwagon yet, as crushing as this one was. Go Bills

I think you are wrong here, and disagree with trying to establish the run early. Complete as many short passes early to set up the run later. Jets D-Line is legit.

I actually like all three playcalls. Just need better execution. Bass with the bailout.

Watching these plays gets me more mad at Dorsey. I want Josh completing passes 7-15 yards downfield whenever possible and scrambling when those aren't open for 5-15. That is our bread and butter and when we are best. Lower probability high reward deep balls can fit in as teams cheat to protect the under 15, but right now whether scheme, execution, or arm injury, those are ending up leading to punts and INTs and sacks more than chunk gains. The run game also opens up off of that and doesn't need to be established on the first drives like we seem to insist on doing. I use the expression Bledsoe 2.0 for our "don't scramble, just wait and show us the big arm" and it isn't what made Josh great, and it isn't what makes our offense consistent. I'm also going to say it again and keep repeating it. One on one contact with a DB on the sideline is not where QBs get hurt. QBs get hurt sitting too long in the pocket.

McD cannot fire the head coach, also can't fire the defensive coordinator (who is doing a pretty good job anyway). Dorsey has been doing a bad job. We know others have as well including Josh, but we can't change those places as easily. We have a great QB, a healthy OLine that should be great. An elite WR1 an excellent TE1, good skill players. We have seen what we can be when doing things right, just ask the Dolphins. And we are on a long cold stretch. I think the problems with Dorsey go back a while, but this year we first asked Josh to be Bledsoe 2.0. While the reality is more QB injuries happen in the pocket. The problems got bigger when Josh hurt his shoulder a little, and when Knox went out. But the problems start with Dorsey if he is the playcaller, and his inability to find the right plays for this offense to execute and build drives. When we are passing the ball 7-15 yards downfield, amazing things happen. If you can hit 1 or 2 out of 3 of those you get a first down and keep things going. Josh being able to recognize pressure and get it out quick when those are the play designs is much easier then when we have something else going on. And Josh to be able to recognize coverage and run for 7-15 yards happens faster and clearer and earlier in the rush than our deeper concepts. We are not and should not be a establish the run early team. Our best running with Cook usually hits in the second half as the defense tires and when we have established the pass. This is all an oversimplification, but when you have a passer who has been as accurate as Josh, and who can run like Josh, you take advantage of his accuracy for possession passing and his mobility for early escapes that make sense in the medium passing game timing, but don't when we are waiting for a deep ball to happen. And I know that Gabe gets mostly left out of this (deep decoy or occasional deep strike when the safeties get shallower), but starting with Diggs we have amazing medium route options. Dorsey failed to make an adjustment in this direction, and while I think his firing is a week too late (and likely hurt our chances significantly for the playoffs, as if the spark happens with the long week and a weaker team and we get to 6-4...), but I think it is the correct tactical choice, in addition to the reactionary "do something" like when an MLB team fires the hitting coach.

This move is clearly one of the best we can make, and should have been made eight days ago with the long week to get ready for a beatable Broncos team, and is much harder with a short week against Jets followed by a really tough road game. Either way, Dorsey was not guiding this offense to its potential. Enough leeway already and a change had to be made. I don't view this as reactionary only, but also substantive as he had been really failing to accomplish what he needed to and maximizing production.

Not sure how we replace Dorsey midseason to get better, but I blame Dorsey so much. Our first drive was what we need to be doing, and then we went to establish the run and high risk deeper passing. Good news is we have Broncos and Jets at home the next two weeks and a path to 7-4, before the season comes together with the Eagles, Chiefs, Cowboys stretch. Right now we control our own fate for the division, despite having the harder schedule. Six games before our matchup in Miami, and if we match the Dolphins in that time we make that game mean the division.

Run run pass! Stay in the pocket! This is great Bledsoe stuff we have here! Allen has to be way faster and had a clean run between LT and LG. And to those who are happy he isn't hurdling people, his injury risk is much higher in a collapsing pocket than it is going +60lb collsion along the sideline.

Only thing better than runs up the middle for no yards is deep high risk passing! Because that controlled completion stuff was working!

Thank goodness we have Dorsey! That throwing the ball 5-10 yards accurately was going to lead to too many touchdowns. Let's run for nothing and then throw deep a bunch! Stupid playcalling. Establish the run later, right now complete the ball on short passes.

What version of a change is best is debatable, but you are exact right here. At some point there was a concerted effort to make him Bledsoe 2.0 at worst, and at best creative outside the pocket but not beyond the line of scrimmage. I think this does two things that hurt the Bills: 1) Prevents him from gaining big yards in key moments, instead of forcing something or taking a sack (feel free to slide or step out of bounds like Mahomes, hurdles and hits not necessary). 2) Recently has defenses sitting back in coverage a little more without the threat of a run. No surprise that Belichick and Daboll know him really well and adjusted for this change, taking away the success when he does throw it after escaping the pocket. I don't like designed runs that put him in harms way and we have moved away from, but the get outside the pocket, and tuck it and run if you don't have something is a huge part of his amazingness. And now on the flip side, you hear a lot of "avoid hits, avoiding risks" as a reason not to run. I completely disagree with the logic here. While I hope he never has a major injury, I'm much more concerned about the types of things that knocked Brady out for a year than him making contact with a defensive back on his own terms. Not quite as simple as this, but I wish we would: 1) Start the games passing only...do not establish the rush. Try to complete as many 5-15 yard passes as possible (he has been hugely successful at these). 2) When those aren't available and something obvious isn't available deeper, get out of the pocket quickly looking for someone to open up and if not to run for whatever is available. 3) Later in the game as we have established the pass and completions, we know what the defense is doing, we get a lighter box, then start to run the ball with Cook. Josh's accuracy and completion percentage have been awesome. Diggs is incredible in the 10-15 get open catch the laser. Kinkaid is has been awesome at getting open intermediate and catching the ball. Our other receivers are pretty solid too. Or Dorsey can keep doing what he is doing and see if he keeps his job...

October misstep by a team that squashed the Fish 48-20. October missteps can cost you home playoff games, but it is one of the best months to deal with some adversity and get past it. If you doubt this offense can do that, you haven't been paying attention (I said can, not will...they have to make it happen). Our defensive injuries (if/when we really get Von back, losing Tre, Milano, etc...) remain a big question mark when stopping Mahomes and stopping the Dolphins are key stepping stones to anything we would consider a successful season. Short week and manageable opponent at home, then mini-bye to right the ship. Find a way to get to 5-3 against the Bucs...

If you wanted Miller for his October impact you will obviously be disappointed. Be patient and let him return from a huge injury. I am happy to be patient and see what he can do for our stretch drive starting Thanksgiving and especially into the playoffs.

Okay, I'm not blaming the Ineligible Man Downfield, because we should focus on Dorsey, and not stopping Mac Jones despite the irrelevant action of the the center on the penalty play. I wouldn't even worry too much if they didn't throw a flag since it would feel like begging and it didn't influence the play. But they did throw a flag, so why did they call it off? Center is across the 26 prior to release, ball was snapped inside the 25. Any rules guys know if there is some technicality that I'm not aware of? Is it because the ball was caught behind the line of scrimmage? Or was this a mistake by the official to call off the flag that was thrown? They never went to any rules official discussion on the telecast as the Pats were in hurry up, but it woudl have been nice had this been enforced.

I definitely don't like firing him, but I really would like a little soul searching and him doing better.

Let's forget about the ineligible downfield and a lot of other things. This game is about two things: 1) Dorsey trying to make Josh be Bledsoe 2.0 and calling too many runs up the middle. Short passing game was there all game long and we have to stop trying to rush up the middle is smart or Josh having 17 rushing yard is a plus. Taking more shots in the pocket than any hurdling a DB risk would be. 2) Defense letting Mac Jones down the field to win it. He made a couple really good plays that you have to live with, including on the Epenesa pressure, but or vaunted secondary couldn't come up with a big play anywhere in that sequence. Would have been such a good ugly win had they somehow pulled it out, but this team needs to change what it is doing, not repeat and hope it works better.

1) Josh moving in the pocket has to be a threat and a danger. 2) Josh has to be willing to run if there is space and no open receiver. We don’t want him hurdling linebackers but can’t be afraid of sidelines and a DB. 3) We need as many completions as possible. Can’t take seven yards if it isn’t open but we need to keep getting yards and continuity with our skill players and not relying on the O Line beating a D Line. We have gotten into Bledsoe 2.0 mode, and we have a lot of weapons to make it work, but that isn’t our best football and the slow starts and inconsistent results are obvious.