finn

I noticed Elam, Lewis, Phillips, Spector, and Milano missing tackles. Elam looked athletic but wrong-footed, Lewis looked tiny, Phillips fat and sluggish, Spector over his head, and Milano... well, at least he recovered the fumble. But Rousseau and Oliver played great, especially Oliver, and Benford was his usual excellent self. Bernard seemed to have a decent game. Was it him who almost intercepted that last TD pass?

You get a lot of "Yeah, but where are his rings?" and "Lamar has better stats," but you sense the reality is starting to sink in, and along with it the prevailing narrative, that Allen may be not just the MVP but the best football player of all time, as you say. It sounds silly, but that slide he took--the one where his momentum brought him up standing?--captures the level he's at. Everything seems easy for him now, and he's enjoying the ride. Even when his receivers aren't open, there's pressure, and he can't run, he just throws it away. No need to force it. It's easy to indulge in hyperbole, but we may be seeing something historic unfolding. I mean, the guy is only 28.

Had. They returned like eight players from injury this week.

Cam Lewis here we come. I'm guessing Bishop and Elam won't see the field. Prove me wrong, McD.

He's usually described as weighing 237 pounds, but that's his weight when he reported to training camp as a rookie. He looks more like 245, I'd say. Still 6'5", though, I reckon.

Well, given that my comments are informed only by a google search, I'm willing to believe you're more likely to be right, if you've watched both of them play. It's easy to project high hopes on an unknown.

Well, he lost to Matthew Stafford. Allen is so good, he can almost do it by himself, but the rest of the team has to avoid melting down. A very low bar the defense and special teams couldn't get over last week. Put it this way: Allen will win the game if the rest of the team (and coaches) doesn't sabotage him. That's what he's been doing all year. He's the only star, let alone superstar, on the team. Hell, he could probably take any number of average teams to the Super Bowl. I remarked earlier that I think his teammates and all the coaches should get together without him and resolve to do it for Josh. The defense didn't have his back last week. They should be ashamed of themselves after his performance.

Right. In the preseason, Trubinksy looked awful. If we have to go back years to find games he played competently, that's not a good sign. A quick google search of sports reporting on him shows that he's a slow processor, leading to bad decisions and sacks. His big arm is offset by poor mechanics and pocket presence. The book on White is the opposite: He thinks fast, sees the field well, and gets the ball out quickly. On the other hand, he doesn't have much of an arm, so don't ask him to throw downfield or in tight windows. I don't know, it sure sounds like I'd rather have White take over if Allen goes down. I don't want a flustered, mistake-prone replacement, no matter how strong his arm is. Give me a guy who'll hand it off, check it down, make the easy throws, and not turn the ball over or get sacked. Maybe this is why he was promoted to the active squad. Seems more plausible than the Bills feeling generous.

I did say I'd settle for scraps...😒

Someone cheer me up. I'm convinced the Bills will be blown out tomorrow. A vulnerable defense missing practices and starters on the road against a rested, beautifully balanced offense? A testy, beleaguered head coach against a head coach on top of the world? Give me reason to believe, guys. I'll settle for scraps.

Such a celebrated WR class: Watkins, OBJ, Mike Evans, Marqise Lee, Jarvaris Landry, Davante Adams, Brandin Cooks, Kelvin Benjamin, Jordan Matthews... Only Evans and Adams panned out over the long term. Goes to show you. Something.

The thing is, I don't recall Trubinsky being successful, like, ever. White I remember as tough as hell at least.

I hear that. Trading up for Jordan Addison or Bryan Thomas (or both) might have put us over the top, even at the expense of not drafting Bishop and/or Bernard. Allen with an elite line, WR corps, tight ends, and running backs? Who needs a defense?

Am I the only one more confident in White than Trubinsky as the primary backup?

Is it lack of talent or poor coaching? I don't really pay attention to other teams, so it's hard to be objective about the Bills. Or was the Rams game an anomaly?

Please please please be right. I want to enjoy my afternoon and evening. And week.

Before you read on, keep in mind the big picture: The Bills will beat NE (twice) and the Jets and still may go all the way, depending on a number of factors. Let's regroup Wednesday or Thursday, after we've digested this debacle of a game on national TV. Because I'm afraid that is what it will be. At home with extra days' rest, key players returning, and just feeling the mojo, the Lions will put on a clinic, scoring at will, mixing up lightning scoring strikes with long, demoralizing drives that eat third and fourth downs like candy. Two 100-yard runners, no pass rush, the secondary exposed... the works. On the other side, with an assigned spy on him all game and a rusty Kincaid and Coleman dropping balls, Allen will look mortal (he's due), throwing at least one pick as he tries to carry the Bills single-handedly. Special teams, with that shining paragon of a coach, Matthew Smiley, will lay an egg, too, just to put a bow on the afternoon. The predictable narrative will follow: America's Team wins, Buffalo exposed, Allen comes down to earth, MVP in question, yada yada. It will be a nightmare. But after a few days, we'll realize the new reality is actually not bad: the second seed (third at the worst), and a healthy team going into the playoffs on a three-game winning streak. If they go all the way, everyone will look back at this game and see it for what it was: a bump in the road to glory. Detroit 53-17.

You might check your emotions before you post; they're degrading your persuasiveness and clouding your thinking. I acknowledged that McDermott is doing a good job on offensive fourth downs. And, yes, I do think that, for the Rams, 4th and 7 just after making a big mistake is a very different situation than 4th and 5 just after making a big play. An intuitive coach would have recognized that and declined the penalty. That call might not have changed anything, but it would have shown me something that I just haven't seen from McDermott.

Taron with the big interception against the Ravens in 2021 comes to mind. Hyde's incredible 2022 interception of Mac Jones in the end zone. That was the Wildcard round.

Fair. I do appreciate McDermott's aggressiveness on fourth down, which ranks among the highest among coaches. But I'm still looking for those calls on his part where, afterwards, I think, "Damn, he nailed it and helped the team." I think those would be as salient as the ones he screws up. The only two examples I can think of were the last two fake punts he called, which I thought were great calls, even though one of them (relying inexplicably on the glacial Hamlin) failed. Be honest: Wouldn't you have been impressed and astonished in equal measures if McDermott had declined that Rams penalty in the fourth quarter, likely leading the Rams to try a field goal instead of going for it (and ultimately scoring a TD)? It would have been counter-intuitive, fast-thinking, and correct. Does that sound like the Bills head coach?

If this is the case, maybe it's opportune that Bishop may be replacing Hamlin, who plays really far back. A faster, more athletic free safety playing more aggressively in tandem with Rapp (if he plays), Bernard and Milano against the middle-field routes Goff prefers might slow the Lions down. Could be vulnerable deep, but if that's really a Goff weakness, it might be where they roll the dice. I'm most worried about their play action after a few successful run gains. Frankly, the only way I see the Bills stopping the Lions' offense is via tipped passes, forced fumbles, and calculated gambles that lead to interceptions. Taron is pretty much their only big-play guy, so I'm hoping he makes the difference. They might need to stop them just a few times to allow Allen to do his thing and pull this thing off. Of course, that still leaves special teams and McDermott's game management....

Saddled with a coach who chokes in the clutch. As I've said elsewhere, I don't hold McDermott's weaknesses against him, but I do think he needs to recognize and address them. He brought in an expert to help him decide when to challenge plays. That was admirable. Now he needs to bring in an expert to help him in other high-pressure situations. Allen can't do it alone. He needs the other in-game units--defense, special teams, and coaching/game management--to at least not be liabilities. In the Rams game, all three of these units let him down. All three. And he still almost pulled off a victory. In my view, the team and coaches need to meet apart from Allen and talk things over. They need to recognize what they have, how rare it is, and how important it is to not blow it.

I wish I had a name like Belinda. I would have gone far.

Ball control, anyone?

Oh, please no DJ Reader. He destroyed the Bills when he played for Cincinnati. He and Melvin Ingram have been the bane of the Bills for years, it seems.