BRH

I'm not sure what mechanism Goodell had for inventing the new AFC playoff structure, except "best interests of the league," which empowers the Commissioner to do a lot of things. Tua not playing on Sunday seems to me to be very much in the league's best interest, given the possible consequences. But you're probably right that the league is very much hoping that the Dolphins and the doctors who examine him will "do the right thing" so they don't have to step in.

I feel like we had this conversation 20 years ago with Greggo and his damn 46 defense.

The league is not interested in anything that would elevate the chances of another Hamlin-type incident so soon after what just happened... ESPECIALLY if it can't be explained away as a freak 1-in-a-million accident. They all saw what happened to him on that Thursday night in Cincinnati. If Tua goes out there Sunday and has another fencing episode, or worse.... this might be hyperbole, but the NFL just might be over for the year. At best they're going to face all kinds of lawsuits and be dragged through a terrible PR wringer. Tua's not playing Sunday. And that's not his fault. That's McNerd's fault, and he should be fired for it.

Four. Twice here and twice in Miami. 2-0 here. 1-1 there (with the one win being the AFCCG). 44-34 Bills (1990 season, Buffalo) 29-10 Bills (1993 season, Miami) 37-22 Bills (1995 season, Buffalo) 24-17 Dolphins (1998 season, Miami) I expect an offensive output similar to that of the previous games in Buffalo.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/cowboys/2013/08/29/roger-staubach-concussion-nfl/2730207/ https://www.si.com/nfl/cowboys/news/exclusive-dallas-cowboys-legend-roger-staubach-details-familys-mental-health-challenges Pretty amazing. Like I said, everyone's different, but this has to be a rare case.

The other day I was reading an old SI article about Roger Staubach's retirement. He suffered five (5) concussions in his final season. Five. And he didn't miss a single game. Over his career dating back to high school, he estimated he'd had at least 20 concussions. I'm surprised he's able to feed himself these days. Obviously everyone is different, but wow. Things have changed, of course, and that's good.

If Tua plays it'll remind me of the game in 1990 when Steve Grogan played against us with a neck injury that some were saying was bad enough for him to retire (which he ultimately did, after playing just one more game). I remember Bruce got to him once and basically gently lifted him up and set him on the ground. He didn't want to be responsible for a career-ending injury or worse. Kid gloves or not, we won that game going away.

Lots of "tape that ***** up, it's the playoffs" posts from keyboard warriors. He was becoming a bigger part of their short passing game of late (eight catches vs. NE last week). Hard to see the Bills respecting that if he plays. This is gold. The reason he's taking longer is that he didn't even GO into protocol for his first concussion. They called it a "back injury" and ran his ass right back out there. Now he - and they - are paying the price.

I mean, I would have preferred the Steelers but you know people would be coming in here saying "but TJ Watt didn't play and it was Pickett's first start; they're so much more dangerous now and our OL sucks blah blah blah."

Holy christ the posters on this thread. I guarantee you it wouldn't have mattered who our opponent was... you all would have wanted somebody else. Sorry the Little Sisters of the Poor didn't make the playoffs.

Another way to look at it is the Chiefs lost three games to teams with a combined record of 29-19-1 (.604). Add the Bengals/Bills game (one win and one loss), and it goes to .588. The Bills lost three games to teams with a combined record of 29-22. (.569). Chiefs' three losses were by a combined 10 points; Bills' three were by a combined 8 points. That's negligible. Both teams had two losses to playoff teams. The Chiefs clearly had the worst loss (Indy), but also played better playoff teams (Buffalo and Cincinnati as opposed to Minnesota and Miami). For all the talk about their cake schedule (and it was pretty easy down the stretch), the Chiefs have six wins over five playoff teams; the Bills have three wins over three playoff teams. Chiefs beat the 49ers, Chargers twice, Jaguars, Bucs, and Seahawks, Bills beat the Chiefs, Ravens, and Dolphins. Admittedly, things could have shaken out differently had yesterday's games gone differently, but this is a pretty stark separation. Again... win any one of those three close games, and we're not talking about this. Also... I will take the neutral-site championship game over a coin flip for HFA any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

The one where his arm was hit and he was tackled at the knees with no flag? Interesting hill you've picked.

I know! And since the league decides standings and playoff seeding based on first half performances, we’re ***** ed!

What was the score of that game and who won?

Ending the Patriots’ and Dolphins’ seasons in such a public manner in back to back weeks would be <chef’s kiss> and a great start to this run.

It’s my son’s 20th birthday. On his 19th we annihilated the Pats and didn’t punt. Hoping for same energy.

I don’t think I’ll ever have less sympathy for an organization’s demise. I would say that about their fanbase too if I thought this was going to hurt them. But like Yankee fans who constantly say “27,” they’ll wrap themselves in the comforting yet threadbare cloak of “six rings” for generations. That’s if they even stay Pats fans.

I think the officials were caught up in the emotion of the game, honestly. It wasn’t a normal 1 pm Sunday game, that’s for sure. The facemask in 1Q and especially the hit below the knees on the INT were infuriating. I’m fairly confident the league will point those out - the Bills certainly will - and next week we may see it affect how the game is called. At least I hope so.

There was a play where Mac slid and got hit by two Bills. No flag. Mac got up and said something to the ref as he walked past. He knows his reputation isn’t doing him any favors.

Refs knew better than to call that. Could you imagine? It would have had to be blatant.

I thought Milano got there a shade early. But as I said above, long way to go before they even out.

After one 50/50 call where we got the benefit, I turned to my son and said “only 499 more to go and then we’ll be even.”

Really good teams win by double digits even when they don’t play their best. The Bills are a really good team.

I think at least one was a punt return. This stat is for KORs only. I would imagine Devin Hester is also on the combined multiple P/KOR list, and that the list is very short.

He thought it was Brady for a second.