Utah John

Bledsoe, paging Mister Bledsoe -- Oh, Mac Jones, you'll do.

Really good breakdown of how the Bills beat the Steeler coverages. But also he makes a point of saying Allen has a problem sometimes, throwing to his right. There were two missed TDs to the right against the Steelers, on what should be easy throws for him. Going back to the Miami game, the Bills win if Allen hits McKenzie, who's wide open, to the right, on the last play. Maybe this is a technique problem, maybe it's that Allen is reading coverages from left to right and when he sees the open receiver to the right, he's rushing. I don't know what the problem is, but there's something there that the Bills could improve on.

Seventeen years ago, Broncos coach Mike Shanahan traded running back Clinton Portis to Washington in exchange for cornerback Champ Bailey and a second-round draft pick. Portis for Bailey by itself would have been a win for Denver, but the extra draft pick makes it clear that Shanahan easily won the trade. Washington needed a RB but geez louise that was a bad trade. Even more now than 17 years ago, RBs are less important than top CBs. Bailey was one of the best CBs in the league, and he became a mainstay on an excellent Broncos defense. Portis did OK for the Skins but his legs gave out like happens with most RBs. That trade was a loser for the Skins to begin with, and the impact only got worse with time. So the point is, why trade Tre White to some other lucky team for a short-term patch somewhere. And where would that patch player play? Would you really trade a locker room leader and All-Pro player for a guard?

Yes. And that would be without our best safety!

The two DPI call you mentioned were good calls. The Chiefs DBs tackled Adams both times. As to the two main points, that the referees last night were terrible, and that Carr is overrated -- I completely agree with both.

Hackett's first name when he was the Bills' OC was "Can't". I think his first name is now "Still Can't"

Hamlin is a good player who's been watching two great players ahead of him for a while. He gets his chance and puts it all out on the field. The question is, is he starter quality? Both Hyde and Poyer have a limited shelf life left.

Just don't say it three times fast. No bad spirits allowed.

Be brave, my Bills. Head to Mordor on the Missouri. Find the evil ring and smash it, and win the Ring you've wanted all your lives.

Yes, my mistake.

Missing first round, all-pro CB, Tre White. Missing first round, pro-bowl LB, Tre Edmunds. Missing first round, coming into stardom DT, Ed Oliver. (Sorry, my mistake, which I'm happy to acknowledge) Missing all-pro S, Jordan Poyer. Missing all-pro S, Micah Hyde Missing starting TE, Dawson Knox. Might as well be missing record-setting WR, Gabe Davis. O line not playing well for run blocking. Missing WR Kumerow, WR McKenzie. Just finished four games against top teams, now holding a 3-1 record, and heading to Mordor on the Missouri next week, then Green Bay. Playing a lightly regarded team with a rookie QB, in Buffalo. Pittsburgh has last year's backup QB on its roster, guiding their D planning. This has trap game all over it.

They should pay Edmunds and let walk or trade Poyer. I think Poyer's great but the age/durability factor is working against him.

The NFL has for years wanted to expand to 40 teams. A few more in North America (despite CFL challenges) and in Europe, and they're there. The talent level is there, for the most part. A lot of nearly-there players just don't quite make a roster but would still be good eough if they did. Stinkers like the Thursday night game are still very rare, and that particular one was down to Russell Wilson playing terribly, plus a lot of injuries, not to a lack of talent. What will likely happen though is that there will be fewer really good, deep, talented teams across the board.

I've watched the first half. Boy has the game ever changed since then. The game was played in the rain, in the mud, and there was no speed to be seen. I noticed the Jets WR, Bruce Harper, was from Kutztown University -- a few years ahead of Andre Reed. Harper was a very good kick returner.

As much as some Bills fans dis Edmunds, the professionals in the NFL love him. The role of the MLB in today's game is to eat space, NOT to make a lot of splash plays or to thump RBs. If the play comes to him, he makes it, but he's the sponge that shrinks the field letting all the other defenders have the advantage over the offensive players. Edmunds has always had the size and speed, but now he's also had the experience that helps him avoid bad gap choices (which was a problem early in his career). Edmunds is a little banged up and there's a chance he won't play Sunday. Fortunately this is against the Steelers and not against a high powered offense, so the Bills should win anyway, but if he doesn't play we'll all get a chance to see how the Bills D looks running on regular unleaded instead of super premium. There's a good chance that the Bills simply can't match the offers that Edmunds will get from other teams. But if they can figure a way to make that work, they should do whatever it takes to keep him around.

The only comparable play I can remember is Hyde's interception of Mac and cheese in the playoff game last year. In both cases, a strong throw by the QB, or a throw to the outside shoulder of the receiver, would have prevented the great Bills plays -- at least the interceptions, and possibly not even a pass breakup. Something to consider about the Ravens kicking the FG and going up by 3. When the Bills get the ball back, they're in four down territory all the way down the field. As it was, if the Bills didn't convert a third down somewhere along the way, they'd have had to punt or try a FG of their own, putting the ball and the initiative back on the side of the Ravens. Of course if the Ravens had scored a TD, the Bills would have been in four down play all the way, too, but that would have been to tie and not win.

In that Tennessee game, the defenses were really gassed. Winning in OT was going to come down to the coin flip. I never blamed McD for that call.

Good Lord, I had forgotten how the other half lives. Lousy offense vs lousy offense.

In 1980 I was a grad student at the University of Wyoming, and UW grad Conrad Dobler was there for a public event of some kind. He had signed with the Bills, who needed him because they'd traded Joe DeLamielleure to the Browns, which was a trade Joe D requested to get away from the Bills HC at the time, Chuck Knox. I talked to Dobler, told him I was a Bills fan, and asked if he knew what the reason for Joe D wanting to be traded was. He was very nice, saying that sometimes people just rub each other the wrong way. He didn't act at all like his reputation would have indicated. (You young'uns on the board should look up what Dobler was accused of by other players.) As far as I know, Dobler is the only Wyoming player to be a Bill. Oh, wait ....

Mark Twain was touring Europe and attended a Richard Wagner opera. Afterwards he was asked how he liked Wagner's music and he said it's a lot better than it sounds. Same concept about Trubisky.

If he keeps this up the NFL will have to let defenses play with 12 men on the field.

When all the injured players come back, there's gonna be some excellent talent on the bench or not even dressing. Who plays, who sits, and who watches? This is an NFL first-world problem, at least for the coaches and players. For us, it's just happy days.

I think the team not mentioned that should have been, is the Chargers. I think half the preseason predictions were that the Chargers would prevail in a very tough AFCW. Well, no and no.

The key to the season going in was the first seven games, six of which are against very strong opponents. The thinking was getting through those games at 4-3 or even 3-4 would be OK since the Bills figure to go 8-2 or better over the final 10. We play the Steelers and Packers at home over the next three weeks. The Steelers don't have a QB and all the Packers have is a QB. Barely beating the Pats at home, against a 3rd string QB? Seriously? Figuring those two as wins, that makes 5-1 with the KC game still up in the air. I'm getting to the point. If White can play effectively against KC and not put his recovery at risk AT ALL, then play him against KC. If not, take the 5-2 record and move on, waiting until it's really safe for White to return. Week 8 doesn't matter nearly as much as Week 18. And in the meantime, it looks like we have three other CBs we can depend on, with two rookies gaining experience. The rich get richer, and for once that's us. As for Oliver, he's just coming into his prime as a player, and he and Jordan Phillips are the best two DTs on the team. Getting them back is going to make an already great defense simply lethal.

I hope you're right that the Bills will bring their A game on Sunday. Not only do they have two not-dominant games to atone for, they have last year's debacle in mind as well. The Bills need to beat the Steelers and the Packers (in Orchard Park) which is very doable, then even if they lose to KC they finish the killer part of their schedule at 5-2, and they're on track to cruise to the AFCE and first or second seed in the playoffs.