Utah John

On TV I can't see what the Bills DBs are doing, but I think they're just playing two deep safeties and telling the CBs to try to stay even or ahead of the WRs.

That was really the question I was asking. Thanks.

No, but he's a friend of mine.

Thanks. So as of 2022, not that big an advantage for TNF, about what I'd expect for home field advantage across the board.

Answering your question would require me to dredge up memories of other throwback unis, and I have done my best to delete any such information. (Although something tells me the Steelers did have a worse ensemble.) I hope they use the old, mid-60s, AFL champions era unis with the standing buffalo for the last game at Rich Stadium. (If we're going to go back to old names for the stadium, let's go all the way.)

Generally home teams in the NFL have an advantage for multiple reasons, but I think this is magnified for Thursday Night Football. An extra travel day is important when everyone plans on Sunday, but the extra travel day on a short week is much more of the percentage of available prep days, for the visiting team. Does anyone know whether the NFL has statistics on home field advantage specifically for TNF, and whether that is significantly different than for Sunday afternoon, Sunday night or Monday night games? I don't recall every seeing this reported. It wouldn't be all that hard to go back and figure the stats myself but why re-invent the wheel if someone else has done it already.

Good show by everyone. You for observing and reporting the security vulnerability, and the Pentagon security forces for taking action.

Dawkins is watched almost as closely as Jerry Hughes used to be for the Bills. Not sure if this carried over to the Texans. Any time he did ANYTHING wrong, or even if he didn't, there'd be a flag. For some reason Dawkins gets the same treatment. So he lines up on the O line to take that away.

Dawkins is watched almost as closely as Jerry Hughes used to be for the Bills. Not sure if this carried over to the Texans. Any time he did ANYTHING wrong, or even if he didn't, there'd be a flag. For some reason Dawkins gets the same treatment. So he lines up on the O line to take that away.

During the Chiefs-Ravens game, there were multiple penalties called particularly on the Ravens for an illegal formation, with the OTs lined up too far back from the LOS. The Ravens finally gave in and had their OTs on the LOS itself, which puts them at a disadvantage. I wonder if the league saw this and informed the officials to back off. By the time Sunday's games were played, I saw most OTs back in their normal formation position, with the O line players in a shallow V back from the center. Did anyone else catch this?

High dollar money for a good player who (based on his performance with the Bills) wasn't really worth that much. But maybe the Vikes are using him better than the Biils did, or maybe he's become a stronger force in the middle of the line. There's no way the Bills would pay that much for two DTs, Oliver and Harrison.

I'm guessing that meant Epenesa. Who knows.

The Bills had 62 offensive plays. Kincaid was on the field for 52 and Knox for 36. By my math that means there were at least 26 plays where the Bills were in 12. 42% of the time. This was about what we expected, maybe even a little higher. I think Brady is still tinkering and will be for while, but it's encouraging he's trying out new stuff. OTOH this might mean none of the WRs except apparently Coleman were making a strong case to be on the field. All this might be moot. Brady and the rest of the coaches might have been trying not to show the Miami coaches all the tricks in their bag.

Agreed about the Dolphins O line. They had only one good player, Robert Hunt, and he left as a FA. I am not aware of how good the Cardinals' O line is, compared to Miami's. Should we expect a similar level of production from the front four? Miller sort of lucked into his sack, when Murray tripped, but Miller does get credit for having pushed the OT back to where Murray was. Groot looked great all game. Possible All-Pro.

Big picture, I think the Bills expected to defeat the Cardinals, and did not want to show Miami anything prior to the game Thursday night. All the short to medium throws will not get the job done over the course of the season, so I suspect the Bills have a lot of plays in their arsenal we haven't seen. And throwing to 10 receivers, 9 of whom caught passes, should make it hard for Miami to game plan against just a couple. Looking for Kincaid to have a breakout game on national TV on Thursday.

You can argue for or against the choice to kick the FG. It worked out, so it supports McDermott's understanding of how well his kicker AND his defense were playing. The kicker was solid all game, even into the wind, and the defense had had lapses all game, so a three point lead was not sufficient.

If Taron Johnson can't play, that means 6 defensive starters from last year's Bills team will be out or gone. And except for Rousseau, they were the six best players on the defense. So, woe is us, right? Well the Dolphins got stripped of a lot of good players too, particularly on defense. Except for Robert Hunt, a good guard, they protected their offense. Just like the Bills, who lost only Mitch Morse from the offense. Well, OK, all the WRs too, but I'm thinking the WR/TE committee will do just fine. And the only edge the Dolphins have is their two excellent WRs. At all other positions, the Bills have the clear edge. I still think winning or losing this game for the Bills will come down to whether Johnson can play. That playoff loss was the end of the Kelly era. He retired after that season.

The Cardinals converted 53% of their third down attempts. That's terrible by the Bills defense. I'll give the Bills some slack on that since Arizona does have a very good offense, but come on. Poor play by our LBs and DBs will kill this season. Is there any update on Cole Bishop's injury? If he's ready to play and knows the defense well enough, he has to be an upgrade over Hamlin.

Speaking of hot, I think part of the reason the Jags lost today was that ridiculously unfair stadium alignment that puts the visitors in direct sunshine on hot days. That was what beat the Bills a couple years ago. But fortunately the Thursday game is at night. Some mercy for the Bills from the schedule makers.

If Taron Johnson plays, I feel pretty confident. If he's out, I don't see any way the Bills can stop the Dolphins.

Herbert is a far better passer than Jackson. But, as you say, there's a lot more to being an effective QB than passing.

Unless that QB was being knocked sideways by Chris Jones. Which Jackson wasn't.

1. Great DT, Chris Jones, in his face all night. 2. Terrible O line protecting him. 3. Excellent DBs for the Chiefs. 4. The sun was in his eyes, his shoes were too tight, he had a cold, he had a scratch on his throwing hand pinkie -- any more excuses? The point about Jackson is that he doesn't do what the elite QBs do which is make plays when the game is on the line. Way before the final flurry of lousy Jackson passes, the Ravens wasted a lot of time moving downfield. And even getting as far down as they did was largely due to great catches by their new TE. With their poor-passing QB, and a terrible O line that leaves Derrick Henry helpless, the Ravens show themselves not a top AFC team. MVP?? What joke! MVP twice????? You've got to be kidding.

Would it be too much to ask for the equipment managers to misplace the all-reds? You know, someplace in deepest Arkansas? I don't think anyone likes the pj look.

Maybe that was meant to be sarcastic, but I've been saying that about 2025 since March this year. Call this a reset year or just hitting the pause button, either way, the main thing is for the Bills not to lose their winner's mentality, even if they don't win the division again or even have a losing record. The culture shift a few years ago, from perennial losers to kick-ass winners, was a small miracle, and I don't want to see the Bills slip out of that mode just because this is a somewhat down year. This year doesn't have to be a collapse, but it the injuries hit again we no longer have real NFL quality players as depth at all positions. If no significant injuries, I think 10-7 is achievable. A couple of injuries at DB or LB, and we'll be lucky to win 8.