Buddo

Although close, the extra point was definitely good. I saw enough good angles of it to be certain. Tbh, it wasn't until I saw the replays, that I was certain, so I wasn't surprised that people might have thought otherwise, but it was definitely good.

Hard fought win, on a difficult week. Coming out of all that 2-0 is a minor achievement in itself. You can see how much it took out of the players at the end. More tough sledding to come with injuries seeming to mount up. Good team win, and at the end of the day, a win is a win, no matter how you come by it, after plenty of adversity.

Bottom line, is that both games would have had to be moved, regardless if there was a dome or not. Simply too much snow to deal with, alongside all of the associated travel restrictions and other health and safety considerations. I'd also say that the extra money for a dome that can cope with the amount of extra snowfall lake effects bring, isn't really good value for money, if you still aren't going to be able to play, because it causes so much disruption everywhere else.

No, they didn’t. They went back home Sunday night and they will return Wednesday.

The assumption being made, is that Diggs was complaining, because he hadn't seen the ball at all up till then. It's probably true, but he's also one of the team captains on offense, so it could even have been related to the overall offense. It also looked like a very sensible and mature dialogue, between McDermott and Diggs, with neither being upset by anything the other said.

I think the biggest problem currently, is that we live and die by Allen. And he's feeling that. The defense isn't that bad, but we win on offense. Except when we don't, recently. There was one instance of a failed 'prevent' D that I saw from the Bills, but conversely, I saw more instances of that from Minny that failed. We are not alone. Allen needs to be given better help, mostly from the run game. Play calling needs to improve also. Too many first down runs called, that Minny had little trouble with. Allen also needs to wrap his head around his situational awareness better too. Any interception that occurs on any down other than 3rd or 4th, should be unacceptable, unless it's the result of the receivers hands. The first of Peterson's interceptions, I think was just a great play by him. He also only caught it at the 2nd attempt. One of the most baffling aspects of the game to me, was the fact that until Allen threw the awful interception at the end of OT, he had executed the FG drive to tie, perfectly, and had also pretty much marched straight back down the field with no problem, until the int.

Nice job D. I'm just surprised that got missed, the way things were going to rack and ruin, that would have been extra icing on the cake. The Davis missed call, was also poor, tbh, although at the time, it looked a great play. Bills did well to get another play off without much hanging around. I've been with Belichick on the ability to challenge just about any call, for years. Too many mistakes seem to be made on things that aren't able to be challenged, and while having the booth look at stuff 'automatically', does remove some elements of that, it's only at the end of halves or games, that that gets done. Coaches would still only have the same amount of flags, so there isn't going to be any difference in how often the game gets halted for challenges or timeouts.

I wore a pair of socks that had a green bit on them. I felt uneasy about it, but they were clean and to hand.

I get it from my iPhone, but not from an iPad or pc. Somewhere along the way, I think I requested the ‘full site’ as opposed to the mobile version on the phone.

Thought it was a bad call at the time. But wasn’t unduly surprised that it happened. Zebras generally get a lot fussier as games come to their conclusion - it’s a large part of why fans get so pissed at some of those calls, as they aren’t being consistent. Tbh, I’m more annoyed that the consequences end up being Allen getting injured on the next play, which almost certainly wouldn’t have happened, because the distance would have changed probably both the defence, and the offense called. It undoubtedly affected the last part of the game, and I am annoyed that was the case. It prevented, in effect, a whole bunch of possible ways the game could have ended up finishing. Could have been tied, even after an extra period. Jets might still have won in regulation. Bills may have won in regulation. Either team might have won in an extra period. It actually feels like we (fans) were cheated a bit from getting our money’s worth. Any time a player gets injured after a bad call, is not a good look for the game.

We should have been committing to stopping the Jest run game for the whole of the 2nd half, but we only did so at the rear end of their winning FG drive. Similarly with the Packers, we stuck to our base D way too much. Now, with Rodgers under center for the Pack, it's not entirely unreasonable, and the end result, certainly was its own justification. But please, against Wilson? Stack the box and make him beat you with his arm. Which he hadn't done all game.

As a general rule, I'm not too concerned if Josh throws a pick or two, as they are largely the result of good DB play, and forcing a ball into coverage. With his arm strength, it works both ways, there is the occasional pick, but more often, the football gets to where he wants it to be, and we make plays. The two picks today, were simply atrocious. Not only should the football not have been thrown there, but they were both dead easy picks - neither throw had anything on it. Probably the easiest picks you will see in an NFL game. Add that to the other one later on against the Pack, and there's something going on schematically, that needs to stop. I think there's an element of offensively trying to be the smartest guy in the room, and there's no need. The first early interception, if Josh had put some mustard on it, it would have been where only our guy could get it, irrespective of him seeing the defender, or not. It becomes either a TD, or incomplete, and we can go again. Less of the floating passes please, just fire it in there. Defensively, we need to figure out who is supposed to be doing what, when it comes to stopping the run. We also need to commit to doing it again, properly. It wasn't until it was too late (a bit of hindsight, but even so) that we put extra guys into the box, and had a bit more success in stopping the Jest run game. While our DBs collectively, weren't losing us the game, their inexperience did show with some of the swing type passes, that let the Jest convert on 3rd downs. Poyer (or Hyde) are going to read some of those, and probably make a stop or two, or at least get someone else lined up right to do so.

Not good. Far too much sloppy play, on all aspects, O, D and STs. While the Jest have a decent defense, there's no way they should have been allowed to run the football as well and often as they did. Adjustments came too late, with more guys in the box, so poor coaching was also an issue. Somewhere along the way, someone is believing in there own press (I'm looking at the whole team there), and it needs to stop right now. Roll on next week, when the ship can be righted.

I don't know what their relationship is, but in the context of getting guys from good organizations, I would have thought that Frazier and Brian Gaine, could be a solid combo. Gaine never really had a chance with all of the machinations at the Texans, with O'Brien etc. and if he and Frazier are on the same page, I think they could do good things somewhere.

The Jests aren't exactly showing out as the next greatest show on turf. They are definitely a 'run first' team atm. I'm not sure it's worth the risk of throwing Tre into it just yet. The thought has also crossed my mind, that leaving him another week, is, in part, because they need extra LBers with Milano out, and feel extra safety help might be needed with Poyer out as well. So, in essense, the Jest WRs aren't scaring Frazier and McDermott enough, to need Tre out there, but other areas might need boosting. If Milano and Poyer were both healthy, I think they might have included him and got his feet wet.

I tend to agree. There are too many things to do with competitive advantages/disadvantages, that could be messed up. Tbh, what they really need to look at, is to make rosters a bit bigger, and that would negate some of the calls for moving the transfer deadline. Currently, teams make trades late, mainly due to injury needs, rather than to actually improve their roster. Obviously that isn't the sole reason, but having more guys available because teams already know their season is done, is going to negate a lot of ideas about building a roster through FA and the draft. Tbh, I think it needs to be left, as a matter of principle, at a point where the vast majority of teams, still are mathmatically capable of reaching the playoffs. Currently, Week 8 seems to do that.

I'm not a fan of players perpetually calling for flags. there have been a couple of occasions where Josh has 'guilded the lily', to say the least. Having said that, I don't think I've seen him do that at all this season (playing up a shot), and in fairness, the amount of times he gets hit late, and around the head, that do not get flagged, I'm not so sure I should be calling him out on the odd dubious one he does get. There are enough instances where nothing gets given, that I don't have a problem with him getting after the zebras from time to time. I don't think anybody could blame him for going ballistic after the attempted trip, for example. As to how often Josh is sliding these days, it would appear that the rest of the offense is coming up with ideas for forfeits, as a means of encouraging him to do it more, which I find really amusing. Especially as they are doing it through the course of a serious game. 😉

I don't think Edmunds makes the amount of impact plays he could do, simply because he isn't tasked with making them. He's made a number of effective blitzes over the years, and if he does blitz, it's more often than not successful in at least disrupting the opponents scripted play. Frazier and McDermott like to use him to get in the QBs eyeline, making them think (some) passing avenues aren't open. I think they also want him as a sort of safety valve of the front seven, as others have pointed out, better than me, where he's the guy who has to stop things developing into big plays. Generally, the Bills D has performed better when he's been available. I wouldn't be at all surprised if the Bills look to re-sign him. In fact, I expect them to. My biggest concerns are with how much he might have to be paid to stay. I think his reputation around the NFL, is far greater than it is on this MB, and he's not going to come as cheaply as Milano, at all. We don't even remotely have a 'like for like' replacement on the roster, and if he does go, I think we will be having to change how the D plays - as we had to when he was injured the other year.

Not every move works out, but the relevant point is, that pretty much all of the stuff people around here think needs addressing, he actually tries to go and sort out. Not just the specific ones you mention above, in Diggs and Von Miller, but areas of perceived weakness, like the O-Line (at different times) etc. Now, we may have different perspectives on the actual players he goes and gets, but the point is, he goes and gets, for example, a Guard, or a WR, or (another) DB. Since 'cleaning house', rarely has a move he's made, not made sense, even if it hasn't always worked out.

Helps with depth, and knows the system. Is also trusted by McDermott. Not a big name or anything, but bearing in mind our injuries, about the most sensible option available under the circumstances. If we are playing guys who are inexperienced, having a veteran who knows the system, is more valuable from a continuity pov.

I like this pickup, as the guy adds more speed to the backfield. I feel like he’s going to be a replacement for Moss, with added value from return ability, and the simple fact he hits holes quickly. Looks like a solid upgrade imho, and at the end of the day, it’s all about improving the team - even if it doesn’t immediately look like by a whole bunch. When you are good in the first instance, small improvements can often end up making a significant difference.

Great write up Virgil, thanks. Tbh, I don't think whoever graded Milano poorly, understood what he was supposed to be doing. I did see one play where he might be considered to have whiffed, or perhaps be out of position, but I'm not convinced he was, bearing in mind all of the other stuff he was doing, or being asked to do. He has been terrific all year, and you are absolutely right about how quick he's getting around the field. As regards Shakir, I think he is earning more playing time, but he's doing it by getting all the small stuff right, particularly his blocking assignments on any given play. One of the first times we saw him this season, he totally whiffed on a block, that gave us problems, but it was a block that a week or two before, Davis had executed perfectly. I think it's a prime example of rookies having to earn their playing time, by doing everything right. Nobody thinks that Shakir can't run routes or catch the football, but the WR position isn't only about that, and to his credit, I think he's realized that quickly. Miller has a little bit of Bruce about him. Back in the day, if you thought the D needed to step up, lo and behold, Bruce did (something). Miller, I feel, is cut from some of that same cloth. The really good players, have that extra feel for the game, that tells them when they really have to go. Miller did that Sunday, but he also did it a lot for the Rams in their final few games last season. Allen has, for my money, clearly has the biggest arm in the NFL. Mahomes though, is no slouch either. Watching those two zip the football all over the field, it's hard to sometimes realize, just how good they both are. Until you go watch most of the other games, and see what looks to be every football thrown into headwinds. As much as I liked seeing McDermott revel in the win, in the after game speech, what I took from it was Allen's leadership, finishing off with something like 'enjoy the bye week, stay sensible, stay safe, and above all else, Team First!' - I want that message coming from my QB if I'm the HC, I don't want to be having to say it myself.

Now, I can't remember what the number is exactly, but I do know for a fact, that the British Army forbid soldiers from participating in sports, if the temperature gets above that number. I was out in Cyprus visiting a friend who worked on one of the UK bases there, and they stopped guys from completing games, because the temperature had got too high. My gut feeling was that that temperature was 35C, but I don't know for sure. What I do know, is that it was well below 120F, even though it was pretty darn hot. If an armed force has regulations in place about doing stuff in extreme heat, it tells me it's a risk to health, and that something should be done about changing that situation for the better.

Moss was inactive because they wanted cover for Knox, just in case. That's from McDermott, answering a question in his recent PC. Moss isn't on any sh1t list, it was just an offensive numbers game.

Schrager definitely didn't say it had to be two firsts for McCaffrey. He was clear that the Panthers aren't going to give up assets for less than premium picks. I think because of the way the contract is, then the Panthers are probably justified, in wanting that sort of level of compensation. I don't think they feel obliged to move anyone. They've actually got a decent roster, minus a QB and HC. Get a good HC, and they could very easily become an awful lot better than they currently are, quickly. They could also be in the running to get a highly rated QB in the next draft - even without acquiring additional picks. I don't see their long term future, being dependent on grabbing medium picks for good players.