Indy Dave

I had just started dating a girl, a non-sports fan who invited herself over to watch the game. I honestly didn't want her to come over because I wasn't ready to show her the crazy sports fan side of me yet, but she did. Watching me get so upset over a football game (I was 22 at the time) had to be uncomfortable for her. To her credit, she hung in there and after the pick 6 that made it 35-3, she offered up a gem only a person who knows nothing about football could say: "It's only the third quarter. They could still come back." My instinct was to tell her she was f'in' nuts but I bit my lip, took a deep breath and said, "If we win this game, I'll marry you." We celebrated our 23rd anniversary earlier this year. Side note: 20 years after THE GREATEST COMEBACK EVER, my wife and I were at the Colts-Chiefs playoff game when Indy came back from 28 down in the third quarter to win 45-44. Naturally, we talked about the Bills-Oilers game at halftime and throughout the second half.

Correct. I wasn't taking into consideration any tie-breakers. Just finishing with better records than Denver, Miami, Baltimore, etc.

For those of you holding out hope... Week 14: Bills beat Steelers, Pats beat Ravens, Titans beat Broncos Week 15: Bills beat Browns, Pats beat Broncos, Chiefs beat Titans Week 16: Bills beat Dolphins, Steelers beat Ravens, Chiefs beat Broncos Week 17: Bills beat Jets If all of those happen, and if the Dolphins don't beat the Cardinals, Patriots and Jets (in other words, just lose one of those three games), then we're in. Other than the Bills beating the Steelers, many of those outcomes are realistic. So I think the intent of the original post was, just figure out a way to win Sunday and you can see a path to the playoffs.

A Long December and there's reason to believe Maybe this year will be better than the last

May I ask what happened to BillInNYC that prevents him from writing these? Nervously awaiting a reply and definitely not trying to be insensitive. I just don't come around here like I used to so I am out of the loop.

Weird that you posted this. Sunday night I googled Burnt Offerings. Not sure why that popped in my head. Watched about a 2 1/2 minute trailer. Scared the crap out of me as a kid. The chauffeur gave me nightmares and I got major chills when he appeared in the trailer. Also liked The Exorcism of Emily Rose, as someone else in the thread mentioned. Same for the original Halloween and The Shining. Other somewhat recent movies I liked were The Strangers and The Conjuring. Recently watched Conjuring II. Didn't like it near as much.

Agree but that is a trend dating back to Week 1 of last year.

Fact I can't prove but is likely accurate: Opponents' yards per rush on second and 10: 8.7 yards per carry. Bills' yards per rush on second and 10: -3.7 yards per carry.

Good evening everyone. Just FYI, I received word that afternoon that former Bills personnel man Dwight Adams passed away today. Services scheduled for Wednesday.

After finally showing signs of slowing down, and then suffering an injury against the Jets that cuts his 2019 season short, the Patriots send Tom Brady to the Bills in exchange for Buffalo's first and third picks of the 2020 draft. Brady, along with veteran ex-Patriots Rob Ninkovich and Jerod Mayo, are key in the Bills' season-opening 31-0 win against New England. Buffalo starts 5-0 and are the darlings of the NFL. The Bills finish 6-10, Brady retires and the Pats' use the first-round pick acquired from Buffalo in the Brady trade to select Jacob Eason (son of former Pats QB Tony Eason), who has just led Georgia to the College Football Playoff national championship.

Less about the songs, but the titles are appropriate. Don't Dream, It's Over. A Long December I Hate Myself For Loving You

You can hate them and you can say they're cheaters (and you'd be justified in doing so), but New England will not lose more than two games this year, barring an injury to Brady. In fact, I think they go through the regular season unbeaten. And since they aren't losing at home in the playoffs to Denver or Cincinnati, I'll be rooting for the Packers to come out of the NFC because they're the team with the best chance of knocking off the Pats before 19-0 slaps us in the face.

No chance AW doesn't return as a starter once he is ready. Still the depth of this secondary is impressive, thanks in large part to unheralded, undrafted finds. The bigger question is does McKelvin's return in 4-5 weeks result in Darby not starting.

Seeing the way Karlos Williams and Ronald Darby have played reminded me of this gem. http://espn.go.com/blog/buffalo-bills/post/_/id/18643/bills-miss-the-mark-with-darby-williams-selections

I obviously live in Indy and told people that our team, man for man, was better than Indy last year. Told them the same thing this summer. The obvious exception is at the quarterback position, and the difference in talent at that position is significant (though clearly that was not the case yesterday). The Colts also have the benefit of playing in the AFC South, which of course isn't their fault. I root for the Colts when they aren't playing the Bills. Their fans have always been reasonable and realistic, and every co-worker and neighbor who I've spoken to since 4 p.m. yesterday took their whippin' without crying. And of course, they are all Bills fans this week.

My best friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who's going with the girl who told me don't be shocked if Matt Ryan is traded to the Bills.

It's not an embarrassing win. Uninspiring? Discouraging? Yep. The only embarrassment would have been if we lost.

Our punters are Schmidt, Gay? Sounds like a beer commercial starring Sandler and Farley from SNL in the 90s.

If you really want to shake things up... South Division: Tampa, Jacksonville, Tennessee, Atlanta, Carolina, New Orleans, Dallas, Houston East Division: New York Jets, New York Giants, New England, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, Pittsburgh, Miami West Division: Seattle, San Francisco, Oakland, San Diego, Arizona, Denver, Kansas City, St. Louis North Division: Minnesota, Green Bay, Chicago, Detroit, Indianapolis, Buffalo, Cleveland, Cincinnati Each team has one "partner" within their division, which they play home and home every year. You play your other six divisional opponents once each (three road, three home). That gives you eight of your games. Partners are: South: Tampa/Jacksonville, Atlanta/Carolina, Dallas/Houston, New Orleans/Tennessee East: Miami/Jets, Philadelphia/Giants, Baltimore/Washington, Pittsburgh/New England North: Green Bay/Chicago, Minnesota/Detroit, Buffalo/Cleveland, Cincinnati/Indianapolis West: San Francisco/Seattle, Oakland/San Diego, Kansas City/St. Louis, Denver/Arizona No more conferences. Every year, each division will be paired with another one, and they rotate each year. So in year one, for example, the North and the West can be on one side, and the East and the South can be on the other. Your schedule is filled out by playing four games (two home, two away) against teams from the division that's paired with yours. Then you play two games (one home, one away) against teams from the other two divisions. So the Bills schedule would look something like this: Cleveland (home and away) Home games in the division vs Indianapolis, Minnesota and Green Bay. Away games in the division vs. Chicago, Detroit and Cincinnati Home games against the division your partnered with: St. Louis, Seattle Away games against the division your partnered with: San Francisco, Kansas City Home games against teams from the other divisions: Tampa, Dallas Away games against teams from the other divisions: Houston, Jacksonville The winners of the North and West divisions would make the playoffs, with the team with the best record getting a bye in the first round of the playoffs. Teams that finish second and third in each division would also make the playoffs, plus there would be one wildcard winner who would play the division champion that didn't receive the bye. The second place finisher from one division would play the third place finisher from the other, setting up a playoff format on each side of the bracket like this: Top division winner gets a bye and plays the lowest remaining seed after week 1 of the playoffs. #2 division winner vs wildcard 2 North vs. 3 West 3 North vs. 2 West Same thing happens on the other side of the bracket (East and South divisions) so 14 teams make the playoffs. Unless you earn the bye, you have to win three games to make it to the Super Bowl. Finally, you lose the Roman numerals and you just call it Super Bowl 50...instead of Super Bowl L.

As I said the other day, my boss is Zack's dad and we have spent considerable time talking about the draft since the college season ended. While I don't think there's any question that Robinson and Matthews are the top 2 linemen in the draft, I think you can make an argument for Martin over Lewan. Lewan has the upside; Martin is steady and less likely to be a bust. Considering his versatility, durability and consistency, and I'm not so sure Martin isn't a better pick than Lewan. Zack had a great visit with the Bills...but he also had great visits with several other teams. Probably worth noting that the team that keeps coming up is St. Louis, so don't be surprised if he's taken by the Rams at 13. With other teams like Miami and Baltimore having a need for a tackle, and considering that another team that doesn't have a need but really likes him also picking in the mid-first round (Dallas), I wouldn't expect Buffalo to trade down and get him...unless it's only a few spots (and then what are you going to get in return for a team moving up only slightly). For what it's worth, I think there's a greater chance of Martin being in the league 10 years from now than someone like Ebron. But admittedly, there's a greater chance that Ebron could be a Pro Bowler. So it comes down to swinging for the fences or going for more of a sure thing.

More re: Zack Martin... Side note...Zack's dad is my boss. http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap2000000345483/article/mayock-zack-martin-could-go-in-top-10-of-2014-nfl-draft?campaign=Twitter_nfl_cb

Didn't Edelman do the exact same thing to Rodgers-Cromartie earlier in the game?

Surprisingly, no. There were a few boos at the half and more after the INT that opened the second half. More groans than boos after the TD that made it 38-10. I'm sure people had the thought process of watching one more Colts drive. I even said to my wife, mostly jokingly because I never leave a sporting event early, that we could get a table at St. Elmo's if we left then. But Indy scored quickly, got a turnover and scored again, and suddenly it was 38-24 with all kinds of time left. So the gift card to St. Elmo's remains in my wallet.

Good times indeed. The night before the game, I went out on a first date. It went quite well and the girl asked what I was doing Sunday. Told her I was watching the game. She asked if I wanted to watch it with her. I told her that wasn't a good idea because I was pretty into games and wasn't prepared to show that side of me to her so soon. She insisted. I relented. At the half, she just sat quietly, knowing that I was pretty upset. After the pick 6, I vented some frustration (i.e. acted like a complete idiot). She tried to be encouraging, saying, "It's only the third quarter. They'll come back and win." I thought to myself, "This girl warned me but she REALLY doesn't know a thing about sports." I just replied out of frustration, "I'll tell you what. If we win this game, I'll marry you." In April, we'll celebrate our 20th anniversary.

My wife and I went to the game. We've been in Indy for 12+ years and have adopted the Colts as a (distant) second favorite team. When Luck threw the pick to start the third quarter, I looked at my wife and said, "That's how the Bills' comeback started." She started laughing because it was after the Oilers' third-quarter pick 6 that she claimed Buffalo would come back and win. (Greatest prediction in sports history, made by someone who doesn't even like sports all that much. Go figure.) I really did have a gut feeling that the Colts were going to win. Can't explain it. Just know it was fun to be there to watch it, and brought back great memories of the Bills' comeback. I can't imagine what it would have been like to have been there in '93. I can't imagine what The Stadium Wall and the Bills-Oilers gameday thread would have been like that day. Maybe someone with a bunch of time on their hands should make one up.