Utah John

FWIW, on that first pass to Diggs, Diggs was well past the DB, but had to wait for the pass to arrive, and he got tackled. If Josh had led him down the field, it's a TD, and Josh never throws that first brutal int.

He was part of the house-clearing done between seasons, to help the Bills not get trampled by strong running attacks. He, Star, and a couple of others were not kept around because they just couldn't get the job done. He's a great guy and I applauded his commitment to get back to playing after his injury. But despite being a great guy he's not a great player.

Irsay might be tanking, but there at least half a dozen teams with worse records than the Colts. Some of them are already so incompetent that they might not win another game, snatching the coveted first overall pick out of the Colts' hands.

Yes, actually. Norm Van Brocklin was an excellent QB who retired in 1960 and immediately became the HC of the expansion Minnesota Vikings. He lasted six years, compiling a record of 29-51-4.

Levy already had extensive experience as a coach and as a HC in the CFL. But at least Saturday has a long participation in football. That makes him a less crazy choice than Herschel Walker or Mehmet Oz or Kari Lake running for the Senate.

1. Ted Lasso is a fictional character 2. Ted Lasso's character WAS a previous coach of college (American) football, so he at least is familiar with the duties of being a HC.

Back in the day, there were jugglers on the Ed Sullivan show (yeah I'm old) who would get plates spinning on the top of sticks -- the sticks were maybe five feet long, standing vertically on the stage, and the plates were regular dinner plates. The plate and stick would stand upright if the plate was kept spinning. The juggler would get six or eight or ten plates spinning all at once, and of course the trick was to keep them all going fast enough not to fall over. Beane is juggling plates. Some of his plates will break earlier than expected, and others will stop spinning for the Bills and move somewhere else for more money. Beane is trying to get new plates ready to spin before too many old ones stop. But it's really hard. He needs to get nearly all his personnel decisions right, to keep enough cash on hand and plenty of draft picks in the bank, guessing which players will need to be replaced and when, and not pissing off the guys who he thinks he's going to have to replace (Poyer and Hyde, I'm afraid, are on that list, and so might be White also if he can't get all the way back from his injured knee.) No team keeps the plates spinning forever. Carolina had a big strong mobile QB with a rocket arm, also, and they had a whole cupboard full of plates fall to the ground at the same time. Beane lived through that and doesn't want to go there again, and except for Von Miller he hasn't changed his process. Get A or A- guys all across the board, not A+ guys except for Allen and Diggs because A+ guys cost too much. Get them believing in each other. Get great coaches. Win a lot and be attractive to FAs who want to get a ring. When a key player is injured or leaves, the team concept absorbs that hit like a sponge and rebounds nearly back into shape. Keeping THAT going is a much better plan than having five or six A+ players and a bunch of B- and C guys, who create weaknesses. And then when one of those A+ guys goes down or goes away, the hole can't be addressed by the team working together, because the other players on the roster aren't nearly as good. Josh's contract is going to cost a lot more in the near future, and it's going to be very hard to retain a dozen or more A players at the same time. Beane is a master juggler but at some point too many plates will stop spinning at the same time. So yes, definitely, there is a window, and we're either in the middle of it or maybe slightly already getting closer to the edge. Last year was the year to win it all, and then this year and maybe next year to become a historically great dynasty. Damned 13 seconds.

Edmunds or Milano, depending on whether they each play after being banged up. I think our D line will terrorize Wilson, and he'll be unable to avoid mistakes in the middle of the field. The LBs will feast.

The ONLY poke in the eye thing I've ever heard Josh say was a couple of years ago when he told the New York City sportswriters covering the two New Jersey teams, that there's only one football team in New York. And it's not either of those two. (BTW with the election coming up, this won't happen, but I'd love it if New York governor Hochul offered a bet on the game to the New Jersey governor. Maybe some time in the future, when she's on her last year in office.) I have NEVER heard Josh say anything negative about any other person, whether a player or someone else. I think it boils down to the fact that he's a genuinely nice guy.

Red helmets, white jerseys, blue pants. America's true team in red white and blue.

WTF, WFT?

It sure seemed like that. But I think the brain trust just wanted to beat a weak Packers team without showing too much to the Jets before next week's game. They ran up a big lead, then held off the Packers and won the game. They won the game, by a comfortable margin, and some people are worried because they didn't thrash the Packers like they did to the Steelers. What the Bills are doing is stacking Ws, not blowouts.

Thanks. I've tried to delete all memories of those years.

Wasn't Chan Gailey the OC while Spiller was here?

I read a preseason game by game prediction, I think in the Buffalo News, that predicted they'd lose to Miami. But it also predicted a loss to the Rams. The thing is of course that no one knows before the season which teams will suddenly get a lot better and which will get worse. Injuries, bad breaks, and bad play can afflict any team, and any team can catch a series of good breaks (ref: Jets).

Really the only good part of the Jets is their D line. But THAT is very good. If the Bills can block them up, they'll win easily. Are the Bills not God's favorites? Their run of lousy weather games brings to mind the "Protestant winds" that helped England defeat the Spanish Armada. Could it be God resents destruction of folding tables and abhors ketchup abuse? Or maybe this is just how God is toughening them up to win it all.

Frazier landed in a great situation here but he won't get that lucky twice. So he can remain as one of the all-time best DCs in NFL history. Or, if he gets picked as a HC somewhere, he can struggle for a few years, get fired, and retire.

6. The Packers could let defensive coordinator Joe Barry navigate the team bus to the Bills’ stadium through game-day traffic, causing the team to miss the kickoff because he failed to make adjustments along the way. Funny line. And it indicates the Bills' second half dominance will continue.

Enjoy today and this year and the next couple. The Bills are in the same situation as Carolina was several years ago, and they were riding high and enjoying life. Now they're fire-seling their only good player and looking into the dark tunnel of constant rebuilding. Let's hope McBeane are able to keep the good times rolling. Probably by holding on to draft picks and cash, to avoid breaking up our beautiful defense. SF needed CMC to get over the top. We didn't.

There is no point to disrupting the cohesion of the team. Bringing in an expensive rental like OBJ, or even a low-cost rental like CMC (both of whom are very good) would do more harm from disrupting the tightness of the team. Any spare cash the Bills have now should be conserved to pay for keeping Edmunds, and also Poyer if possible. The only reason to bring in someone new would be multiple injuries at the same position.

The only thing Allen got from the Wyoming coaches was an opportunity, which is still a lot. But they did not teach him how to be a good passer or a good QB.

I remember Toomay going NUTS over that call.

The Bills are set at WR and taking on a prima dona WR would push out one of the young guys, or Kumerow after he heals. The Packers could definitely use him much more than the Bills need him. Pass.

Jones just can't stand it that someone in the NFL has more power and influence than he does. Maybe he wants Goodell's job.

Lots of mutual respect, even love, between the two rivals. THIS is how it should be. And the play of the game was very clean, tough but clean (one tripping incident aside) which is also how things should be.