thurst44

Because a player he signed is listed as "questionable" at a time when that likely means "probable" in the second game of a season? If he catches 5 passes for 100 yards and a touchdown tomorrow, would that suddenly make him the most underrated GM in Bills history? Not saying you're right or wrong, but this seems like a bit of a stretch to criticize a GM for a player being on an injury report.

Maybe because teams have bad games and the Jets also lost and it's in Buffalo and the Bills defense which was a question going in actually did look good. Look, it was an ugly game, but people here are acting like: (1) it was a 52-0 loss at home against the Browns and not a road game with a less-than-TD difference and (2) football is a game where what you do one week is exactly what you're gonna do every other week. The 49ers beat the Rams 28-0, should the 49ers be making Super Bowl plans while the Rams pack it in?

So sick of this logic. Yes, there's no "moral victories" but there are things you can build on, and anyone who can't see that it's more hopeful for the weeks ahead when the defense gave up 13 pts and got 4 sacks then when a team was run all over and blown out and got no pressure on the quarterback just wants to B word and moan. It was one game. On Thursday, the defense could be awful, but I have a bit more hope for it to be good now. Similarly on Thursday, TT could make adjustments, Sammy plays through the pain, Felton gets better blocks, and the worries about the offense are lessened.

To drive in the point of how much NFL pundits "know", here's a leading Philly fan site touting ESPN Insider's Adam Schefter's pick of Eagles over Ravens in the Super Bowl last year (ah, i remember that game well): http://www.bleedinggreennation.com/2015/9/9/9288595/espns-adam-schefter-eagles-super-bowl-50-win-ravens-peter-king The NFL.com prognosticator pen were battling over whether the Cowboys or Eagles would be the dominant team in the tough NFC East: http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000520809/article/2015-nfc-playoff-predictions-cowboys-or-eagles-in-the-east You can click on the AFC tab, and you can see the Bills were even getting some love. Everyone loved the Dolphins, and nobody thought the Jets would be anything but lousy. And no one picked either the Broncos or Panthers to make the Super Bowl (i'm finding about half of online predictions had the Panthers winning their division) I agree that the pundits don't tend to know the Bills, and there's a reason why the metric-based sites have them ranked higher than purely human pickers. The Bills, Lions, Browns, and maybe the Jags, Titans, and Raiders will usually be mostly ignored except in the rare times when they are a chic pick (as the Bills were last year, and the Jags and Raiders are this year) and any pundit will be biased by their perception of the team as losers for all of recent memory. Hell, we help them by doing it ourselves. One game-by-game pick here mentioned our "annual split" with the Jets and Dolphins -- never mind that we are 10-2 against those teams in the last three years and absolutely routed the Fins twice last year.

My honest, if skewing positive, prediction: @Baltimore - W (1-0) - Could go either way, but suspect Baltimore is quietly on a downturn and last year was not an aberration, plus Bills, Ryan, and Roman have a knack for season openers lately. NYJ - W (2-0) - Pumped up Bills demolish the Jets in primetime to become first team with two wins. Ariz - W (3-0) - Bills shock with a win against one of the best teams in the country, the media is abuzz, facing a Brady-less Pats it looks like this could finally be the year that we… @NE - L (3-1) - But it’s not, b/c that’s what the Bills do LA - L (3-2) - We expect the rebound at home against a mediocre Rams team and return of Dareus, but like last year’s Giants game, the team comes out inexplicably flat and certain unnamed folks here delight in a chorus of “I told you so” and “8-8” and “Same Ol Bills” @SF - W (4-2) - Thankfully, we get the biggest trainwreck in football the next week. @Mia - W (5-2) - Our recent domination of the Fins remains intact even with Mario’s 6-sack game. And we’re back at the weirdly cursed 5 up, 2 down, and facing THEM. NE - W (6-2) - But this time we get that 6th win before the season has faded away. It's an evasive win against our nemesis as we get a satisfying win over a shaky Brady. @Sea - L (6-3) - Back to earth, but it’s a heartbreaker, not a blowout, that we have to relive over the bye. I’m gonna go with Bush goal-line fumble in late 4th. BYE @Cin - W (7-3) - Cincy is a team due a collapse, and while the Bills have a poor record off the bye, this will be a statement win. Jax - W (8-3) - Revenge for last year’s London follies, and it will be against a 8-2 Jax team. @Oak - L (8-4) - Back-to-back against the chic pick teams, but third west coast trip is exhausting and the Raiders defense stymies the Bills Pit - L (8-5) - Tough team, woe is us, we’re gonna blow it, etc. Cle - W (9-5) - Billsbrowns Day can be tricky, but Bills will be on a mission at home against a clearly inferior, rebuilding team. Mia - W (10-5) - Bills will own the AFC East this year @NYJ - W (11-5) - Bills knock Beardy and the Jets out of the playoffs in the final game two years in a row, but this time it’s also a win and in for the Bills.

You are entitled to your opinion, but that also doesn't mean they are "right." I really don't get people who don't see the talent on this team to the point they couldn't possibly be better than 8-8. Top running game, promising QB, superstar WR in training, one of the best cornerback duos, and there's still Hughes and the return of the Williamses, and Preston Brown looks like he's getting the leadership role -- the first team defense looked dominant so far. I went with 11-5. Honestly, if I were a journalist, I might have agreed with the non-Sully BNers and gone with 8-8 (it does appear a rough schedule, three west coast trips is borderline absurd), but with a ridiculous range from 13-3 to 4-12 b/c realistically that's how these things work (did anyone predict the 7-8-1 Panthers would go 15-1? I feel it's a bit telling that organizations like 538 and Football Outsiders, who are more partial to metrics and have the Bills 12th & 10th respectively with decent chances to make the playoffs, are more friendly to the Bills chances.

For all intents and purposes, 538 actually has the Bills tied w/ Jets for 2nd as they are only ahead in ELO rating, but have better win-loss prediction (really, they both are 8-8, Bills 8.1-7.9. Jets 7.9-8.1), and higher percentages to make playoffs or win division. They're 12th overall.

Wow, my opinion of Troy Aikman just went waaaay up.

Perspectives are funny: most years, Dolphins make additions that many pundits (and here) ooh and aah at and at which I just shrug (Kenny Stills anyone?) I see a one-year-older Mario paired with a DT who's more flakey than Dareus, and what if Mario actually was trying last year, but just doesn't have it anymore. The loss of Olivier Vernon kinda offsets all but a Mario back at his peak. Cameron Wake is 35 and frequently injured. Who knows what the hell Kiko is. Their secondary is made for Watkins to pick apart. Jarvis Landry is insanely overrated, Arian Foster could be a great pick-up, but he's been up-and-down and Miami is hard on every RB, Tannehill is inconsistent and so far hasn't shown much more than Chad Henne. That offensive line is about as boom-or-bust as they could come, Pouncey's great, and if Bushrod and Albert summon up the past and Tunsil and James have a future, they could admittedly be a Cowboys-level line. Like the Bills, they are a team with a lot of talent, but they would need even more to go right than the Bills would to have a great season, which checks out considering the Bills beat them rather easily in both games last year.

102 yard kick return by Reggie Bush

I heard his comments a little differently. He said he doesn't fit the "NFL standard" but he has the "chance to play" (i.e. there is not "nothing to develop"); however, with veterans ahead of him, he never had a chance to make the team. That sounds like the definition of a PS player. That being said, I'd be more surprised if he winds up on the Bills PS than if he doesn't.

They've been in the backfield multiple times already...admittedly on run plays

It was my summer before high school, and the only one where I went to camp. We were on day two of a five day hike to the Delaware Water Gap, and while I love hiking now, at that point I was barely 5 feet tall and well over 150 lbs, so on the first day I was struggling (to the point of wanting to go home. However, the next day I settled into it and while one group went way ahead and the other lagged behind, I enjoyed my solitude listening on my Walkman to what my memory recalls as the FAN, but since the station didn't adopt that format until the next year, it must have just some sort of sports radio out of NYC. They were announcing upcoming guest Nuu Faaola when they broke in with the news of Kelly's contract and I did my pudgy 13-year-old version of a touchdown dance in the middle of a New Jersey forest. This was my first day with any sort of outside signal in weeks, so I had no idea it was even close, and it made me long even more for the end of camp when I could finally elate in this potential new era with the fellow Bills fans in my family (they are from Buffalo, but I was born and grew up in NYC).

Well, first off, even questioning the fact that the Browns are more messed up shows how Bills-myopic you're being here. One of their only star players is coming back from having tested positive about 3x what Dareus did (and they are standing by him - as they should), they recently cut ties with a first round QB who is non-stop partying and will be lucky to make it to 2017, they lost most of their offensive line, and their closest thing to star players are the aforementioned WR who's barely played the last 3 years, a top-flight tackle, and a 30-year-old tight end with one great year. Then there's the Cowboys whose suspensions beat us in both quantity and quality (how many of the people calling for Hardy are also criticizing the bills for being a mess - the guy assaulted a woman on a bed of guns, fercryingoutloud) and are banking on an aging QB and injury-prone WR to pull them out of it. Did you see the 49ers mess last year? And now they're bringing in Chip Kelly. That'll calm the waters. They are favored in exactly zero games last time I checked. And then there's that team Kelly left in Philly, where their right tackle's ten-game suspension is just the start of their troubles. I'm sure if you look close enough at the Ravens, Texans, Titans, Jags, etc., you'll find issues you're not thinking of... We're freaking out about two players smoking weed. It was stupid b/c they know the rules and with the penalties and other things, and Rex being Rex, I'm not going to say there's not at least some mess. However, they're also signing their players, and just signed a QB to one of the most smartly architected deals I've ever seen, had the best running game last year and even without K. Williams that should stay the same, Watkins is likely to show why he's one of the best receivers in the league, defense may have lost some elements, but the Williamses should be back, they have a case for the best CB tandem in the league, Hughes is no slouch, and Preston Brown could still build on the promise of his rookie year. The last week has been deflating and is concerning, but this "biggest s&*(show in league" "0-6" (when playing the 49ers even), "there goes the season" mentality is overblown and silly.

You really can't possibly see any scenario where the Bills beat that unstoppable juggernaut: the San Francisco 49ers - a team that Vegas has favored in zero games this year - a team whose coach makes Rexy look like Bill Belichick? And in a game that isn't even relevant to the main reasons everyone's freaking out today as Dareus will be back by then. The Jets at home is very winnable (we've beat them five games in a row); trust me, I'm in NYC and people don't have much more hope for that team than we do (and they were 10-6). The Rams anywhere are very beatable. The Ravens aren't exactly worldbeaters, even if they are healthier than last year, and the Pats have, believe it or not, pretty well mirrored what we are going through, with injuries and a 4-game suspension to their best player. The Cardinals ... well, any given Sunday is about all I've got there. Look, it's been a bad few days, but if you take a breath and a step back, you'll realize the team hasn't been savaged quite to the degree it seems. We tend to put ourselves in a bubble, where we only see our own train riding on one rail, not noticing other fans freaking out about their own trainwrecks. If we go by recent history, it's more likely we're talking about a 3-3 team (and considering our tendencies, one that somehow beat the Cardinals then lost an absolutely atrocious game to the 49ers).

It didn't start out that way; it was launched as a home for upscale arts, a fact which inspired one of the best (at least, one of my favorite) Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt lines: [With all this drama] I feel like I'm on Bravo. They still show operas, right? Ok, it's better in context.

Agreed. It's not without its moments of overwhelming cliche, but The Rock and Rob Corddry have a fun chemistry, and the guys cast as the players, including Washington, are compelling enough (although i would not want Jarrett on my team either - he seems a Percy Harvin/DeSean Jackson type at the end of his career).

Ricky Jarrett is clearly going through some sort of mid-life crisis and is not going to be satisfied with anything. He asked about New Orleans: "where is the love?" so I wouldn't take it personally. I suspect some writer on the show likes the Bills (but i have yet to see last night's episode).

Look, I'm not an active EJ defender at this point, and not sure that I trust him overall, but why does he get zero credit for gaining composure after his complete mental/skills breakdown, and getting it together and coming back from a 28-3 deficit to win the game (if it weren't for one of the worst phantom PI calls I've ever witnessed).

So, we'll go 11-5 and possibly have a playoff run (i have no doubt flutie would have beat tennessee - they were very beatable that day if our qb hadn't spent the first half getting sacked)?

If I had voted in this before, it would have been Ragland, so in his absence, I'll go with Striker and Zach Brown (or Brandon Spikes) will have the most positive impact by making up for his loss {shrug}.

Refreshing. I'm still excited too. I'm also sad that we will not see Reggie Ragland. I wanted him with the first pick and he will be great. However, there's still a lot of reasons to be excited - Tyrod's second year, running game particularly if Shady stays healthy Watkins could explode, love the speed guys if they can stay healthy, the secondary particularly if A. Williams stays healthy, K. Williams was still at the top of his game when he went down, Hughes may be poised for a breakout season, Preston Brown may return to form and build on 2014 rookie season, and haven't even mentioned Marcell Dareus. Ok, I surely jinxed all these players now. I'll go!

Again, pretty much the same bunch were doing just that in 2014, so I don't really see why they can't stop RBs & TEs to the level of "lost cause."

How were Spikes and Brown exposed in 2014? I went game by game, and no tight end topped 100 yards, and only two running backs got more than 30 yds through the air (Forte destroyed them in the opener and Foster got 55 - i may have missed someone who got between 30-50). Overall the pass defense was 3rd in yardage and 1st in TDs allowed. I also think Manny Lawson had a lot to do with those numbers as he had a rep for being able to cover the tight end. Although, I will cop to the fact it's embarrassing Jim Dray got 44 yards against them .

Wow, this is a low, even for Sully. Just stupidly tweeted back at him that i wish he covered a different team, which is probably exactly what he wanted anyway.