Utah John

Fitz will be NE's starter next year, to complete his AFC East bingo card.

Williams was signed to a cheap, prove-it contract. He's proving it! He's due for a BIG pay increase, unfortunately for more than the Bills can likely afford.

As a fan of really good football, I hate the idea of Lawrence going to the Jets and having his career ruined, just like Sam Darnold has, so far. Lawrence has the talent to be a star but he won't get a chance if he goes to that loser of an organization. OTOH if the Jets DID get Lawrence, they'd cut or trade Darnold, who could then join a professional football franchise and we could see what he's got going. The worst thing is that he goes to New England and Belichick turns him into a great QB.

Good times for us when the Bills don't have enough room for players like JK. Welcome back John Brown (assuming that's what Kumerow's release means).

And we don't have John Brown back yet. It's going to get even better.

The last team I want the Bills to play is the NFC champion. I hate the fish AND the Pats. My Bills days go back far enough that I remember our competition with the Boston Patriots in 1963. Then we went a decade without beating the fish, and it seems like two decades where we hardly ever beat the Pats. The way I see it, it's been almost forever since two AFCE teams, neither of which was the Patriots, made the playoffs. I kind of like the idea of two out of four AFCE teams in the playoffs, and Belichick sitting at home stewing.

It's completely possible we could face the Dolphins in Orchard Park the last week of the regular season, and then again the first week of the playoffs. I don't know whether that would help us, but it's tough to beat the same good team twice in a row.

I think we all realized in 1995 that the team was slipping down. We had lost a lot of key players from the SB teams, and the new guys weren't working out as well. Key: a lot of the leaders on the team had left as FAs, or retired, and there wasn't as much cohesiveness or determination any more. I think 1995 was the end of the era. When we got back, in 1999, we had a great defense but the QB drama had started. It's been a long time since we finally got that fixed.

My daughter was born on the day the Bills clinched the AFCE in 1995. My wife is still upset that I went home to go watch the game. And why not? She was asleep after giving birth, and our daughter didn't care. Nothing so dramatic this time.

Boy it would be great to have Wyatt Teller back. I think trading him for peanuts was one of McBeane's mistakes (not that he's made that many, but no one is perfect).

No. Just no. The Bills are in good shape to get to the SB, and even win it, and taking a chance on pulling a muscle for a silly contest like that is just not worth it.

He had an odd career. He was a dominant player but his stats don't reflect that. He did move around a bit, away from his natural position of OLB, and that hurt his stats. I don't think he'll be selected.

The only AFC teams that worry me are the two we lost to. If we have to play the Titans, can we stop Henry? Maybe we can, now that Edmunds and Milano are both at full speed. If we have to play the Chiefs, can we stop all their guys at the same time? Well, sure, maybe, but it will be a struggle. If the seeding and then the elimination process work out so we have to play only one of those teams, we have a decent chance at the SB, and if we get there, we win. The Bills are better than any of the NFC teams.

Any scenario that involves the Chargers beating the Chiefs is a pipe dream. The Chargers are trying to get their coach fired.

Edmunds is a big, tall man and somehow the analysts figure that means he's physical. He actually is as physical as he needs to be to make the play. He acts like he's 1/11th of the team on the field -- which is why the D is really working now. The biggest thing about Edmunds is that his injured shoulder isn't bothering him. Surprise surprise, now that he's healthy the entire D is a lot better. What do you think, that's a coincidence? I don't.

I'd play him and put him on a low-number pitch count. See what the Denver DBs do to respond. Bringing in Smoke at this point of the year will have the same impact as when the Bills picked up James Lofton. Suddenly the 2-D chess match becomes 3-D but only we know it's not 2-D. Get up on Denver 21-0 in the first half, then sit Smoke for the rest of the game.

This clip ALWAYS makes me laugh. Thanks.

The Bills can't win a first round bye this week. They can only win one game this week. They need to keep the focus they've had almost every week, and win this game. The Bills and the Broncos are the only two original AFL franchises that never moved nor changed their name. I don't know why this never gets a mention from anyone.

With apologies to the Eagles and Hotel California, and updating the dates by 30 years: We haven't had this spirit here, since 1999. I now EXPECT the Bills to win. It's been a long time since I felt that way.

The strangest thing for me watching the Steelers game was that I was calm, even in the first quarter. The Bills and Steelers were clawing and scratching, and yet I had NO DOUBT that the Bills were going to fix things and win going away. And in the fourth quarter, when the Steelers made it a one-score game, I never lost the quiet feeling that we would still win. This is such a strange change from past 20 years, where it seemed the Bills themselves were always pretty sure they'd grab defeat from the jaws of victory. Now, when they're challenged, they just pull together and figure things out. I don't know if the Bills can beat the Chiefs but we have a good shot. We lost to the Chiefs when our D was really injured. Edmunds is playing well again, what a surprise that he really can play if his shoulder isn't injured (/s). Miami showed us the Chiefs can be slowed down, but Miami couldn't compete offensively. It is not impossible at all that the Bills make it to the SB. I did not thing that was possible with the schedule so daunting, but the Bills have come through. I think that after health care personnel get the virus vaccination, that Bills season ticket holders should be next in line. Fill the stadium and let the good times roll.

The Bills are winning by having very good to excellent players in most starting positions, and having injuries heal up at the right time. The generally have 8s (out of 10) at lots of spaces. The few that are better than 8 (Allen, Diggs, Beasley, White) are leaders and get paid like leaders. The 8s get paid very, very well but not as much as what some other team for whom an 8 is a big upgrade would be willing to pay. Jordan Phillips was an 8 last year and got the big contract from the Cardinals. I don't think he's played like an 8 this year. The Bills' secret sauce is all those 8s. Hyde, Poyer, Dawkins, Edmunds, Milano, Very good to excellent players in a lot of positions. This is a much better model than having one or two 9s or 10s, and a lot of 5s and 6s starting. The Bills have tried that many times and it doesn't work out. The Bills need to keep all their leaders, and as many of their 8s as possible, but it's hard because 8s want to get paid like 9s or even 10s, and there are teams willing help out. Williams is playing like an 8, and he'll probably follow Phillips somewhere else. We can't pay him like a 9 or 10. We should be able to pay him like a true 8, and if he wants to accept that and stick around, that would be just fine. I just doubt that will happen.

When Tiger Woods appeared on the PGA scene, he instantly changed the game of golf. He could drive farther than all the others except the muscle guys who had no other game. And Woods had all the other game elements as well. The other players looked at each other and realized they weren't in Kansas anymore, and they all figured out how to up their own games, or they quit. I'm seeing quarterback play in the NFL at a higher level than I can remember. Where once only Rogers could make certain throws, now there's Mahomes and Allen. and sometimes Wilson. Where once only Cam Newton could run well as a big man, now there's Allen. And suddenly there are half a dozen smaller QBs who can run like only Vick used to be able to do. There were some other players with these talents here and there through the years as well, whom I haven't mentioned, but not the flood of talent that we're seeing now. Players like Brady and the Manning boys, who could work from the pocket and win, are going to have a tough time competing with multi-dimensional players. I wonder whether this is a change in the talent mix that's available, or maybe the OCs and the game itself are now figuring out they need to accommodate what these guys have to offer. Greg Roman was a so-so OC in Buffalo. He got to Baltimore and became a genius. He also has Lamar Jackson, what a coincidence. Roman's genius was to let Jackson be Jackson, and not try to limit him with what Flacco could do.

The only seed that really matters is #1, and it would take a lot of upsets for the Bills to get that. It will be great if the Bills can host a playoff game, so my focus is on them winning the division. So, I'm rooting for KC to beat Miami.

I think a lot of this unbridled enthusiasm is due to considering only the most recent games each team played. The truth is that the Steelers, like the Patriots, always seem to have the Bills' number. Whether it's personnel matchups or bad luck, we struggle with Pittsburgh. I doubt the talking heads are aware of this pattern, or have taken it into account. I like the Bills' chances but am not overconfident.

For many years the Bills couldn't draft to save their lives. Pick after pick either sucked, got hurt, or FA'd away. A couple of years ago I checked how many of the Bills picks from rounds 1-3 from the previous few years were on the team, and out of about 15 players picked, only two or three were still on the team. Instead, the Bills had high-priced FAs, most of whom didn't work out. Beane is simply a better evaluator of talent, and is a much better manager in terms of planning how to build the team, than we had in two decades of darkness. Plus, the Flutie curse, which had held us back since the Music City Miracle he didn't get to play in, was officially lifted during the 49ers game when Flutie tweeted his support of the Bills. Now, finally, we can win some playoff games.