Utah John

At the end of the playoff game against the Chiefs, the Bills got wrapped up in a manhood contest, basically telling the Chiefs we're going to run a push tush and see if you can stop it. The opportunity to pop a quick pass for a first down or even to hit an open receiver deep was right there. The fact that the Bills DID earn a first down on that play, and certainly had one on the play before (the Kincaid reception), and got jobbed by the refs, doesn't take away from the fact that they didn't do what Mahomes/Reid does, hit em where they ain't.

Mike White played so poorly in the preseason that he cost the Bills any chance to get anything for him in trade.

An organization with no class. Keep in mind though that Cookie Gilchrist refused to come to Buffalo after his playing days, even to have his name put on the Wall, because the Bills wouldn't cover his costs. Boomer should decline the invite and explain to his TV audience why he's not there.

Phillips has played at about the level you'd expect for a player drafted where he was. Oliver hasn't. That's the point.

I hope you're right.

Phillips was developing nicely and then got hurt. He was recovering and looking pretty good, and I had hopes he'd stick around, but the Bills apparently decided not to invest in him when his rookie contract ran out. Probably that was a mistake, in hindsight, but you can't fault the thinking. The Bills thought they could replace him with someone just as good but without the injury history...and that turned out to be a huge miscalculation. Phillips was the best DT we've had since then. Oliver has been a huge disappointment considering his high draft status and his minimal production. Jones played well until he got hurt. The parade of JAGs in that position has been the Achilles heel for the entire team.

Hyde and Poyer were excellent athletes, but I think what really set them apart as a unit was they were so damn smart. They worked together perfectly, and QBs simply couldn't fool them.

There's a lot of non-football stuff going on. Some of it is legitimate team building, like the word game where people were acting out elephant features. But guys standing around on the sideline chatting about anything other than the game in progress, is not showing that their heads are where they need to be. The Bills have rolled through the regular season almost every year and seem to think the road to the playoffs is paved with Lay-Z-Boys and pizza. Thanks guys but that's OUR department. I am very concerned we're looking at an 11-6 record with the Pats stealing the AFCE because they want it more.

Diggs alone, or Allen alone a few years ago, neither all that great. Peanut butter and chocolate, same thing. There's nothing like Reese's. But after a while you realize chocolate is great all by itself.

That was sort of my point. Not the extremely unlikely event that all the starters are out, but asking how well the 11 work together when one or two subs are in. Great players make coaches look smart. The Bills lucked into (or were smart enough to acquire) Hyde and Poyer, two players disregarded by the league, but who became absolute stars. The Bills took a gamble which really paid off by trading up to draft Josh Allen. Matt Milano was a low draft pick -- really lucky there. Same with Benford. Take away these great choices and McDermott wouldn't look as smart as he has been.

The Bills are looking for spare change under the couch cushions just to get close to the salary cap. It would take a monster contract reworking to pay Simmons what he's going to get. I hate to say this, having become a Utah football fan while living in Salt Lake City. But Zach Moss, Dalton Kincaid, and now Bishop, all looked good coming out and all three have just not played up to expectations.

I think the O line is very deep so they'll stash SVPG on IR. Next year looks tougher as McGovern will be difficult to retain since he's playing so well. SVPG should be 100% by next summer and with a year to practice (one healed) we can hope he'll take McGovern's place. McBeane are playing 4D chess now. As always Beane is not thinking solely about this year but how to maintain a strong roster for years to come.

The only thing that would have been gained is another available training camp roster spot. The Bills have released some players who were doing OK, because they had needs for other positions and were up against the 90 man limit. But I agree, they know what they're doing, and they might have wanted to keep him available in case of injury to other OLmen.

What it showed is that if all the Bills starters get the flu, the subs are not going to be very good. Which if you think about it is why they're subs. What really matters is, how does the team look if all but one or two are starters and one or two are backups -- does the entire system continue to work well? (Excepting the D line which rotates players frequently.)

We were in Chicago on vacation a couple of weeks ago, and we took a small tour bus around the eastern part of the city. The driver pointed out the original stadium and then the expensive addition on the top of it, the part that looks like a UFO landed on it. So Chicago spent all that money on upgrading their current stadium and now they're going to spend billions on a brand new stadium. The old one is near Lake Michigan which is also where the museums etc are, and Wrigley Field is also on the eastern side of the city but farther north. Maybe the new location was chosen to try to spread the wealth or maybe it was to reduce traffic congestion on game days.