Utah John

Hard to believe the Texans were the team that not only made it to the playoffs two years ago, but actually beat the Bills. He not only gets the $17M, he also showed the league that he can actually coach. This lemon could turn into lemonade for him. Plus, $17M in the bank if nothing else works out.

Frazier recognized that the weakest part of the Jets' offense was the O line, which has several substitutes playing. He worked out a way to attack that line and basically won the game right there. Good for him, but let's not imagine that our D line suddenly got better because they got a lot of sacks in one game. The Bills' D works as a complete 11-man unit, and getting a lot of sacks isn't necessary (although very nice when it happens). If any coach has the experience, wiliness, and personnel to match up with whatever Belichick devises, it's Frazier.

Agreed, but Phillips has the talent to turn out even better than Kyle. And that's a very high bar.

What players on the Raiders would scare you if you were a DC or OC getting ready to face them? I think, Waller, and that's it. They don't have a lot of talent, and their schedule next year is going to be fierce. So whoever the HC is, isn't going to do great. If Bisaccia gets the HC position full-time, he'll likely struggle, based on the previous paragraph. The Raiders job could be the only chance he'll ever get, and he'll be one and done. If he wants to be a HC and stay a HC for a while, he should go to another team. The Raiders aren't good enough for him.

I attended the University of Wyoming -- I got my master's degree there. It actually felt colder there on some occasions than it almost ever feels here, in Fairbanks friggin Alaska. The difference is that Laramie is almost always windy. In Fairbanks, when it's really cold it's always very still. I don't know what the coldest game the Wyoming Cowboys ever had, but if it was as cold as I experienced, I think the game should have been cancelled.

Maybe we could get the Dolphins to take our special teams coordinator instead.

Great uniform combo but I would LOVE to see the old standing Buffalo helmets.

As for Phillips not slacking off after getting paid, I have to think the Bills value his character highly -- he's been the team's NFL Man of the Year nominee two years in a row. In other words this is probably not a problem. Whoever said he's Kyle Williams v2, I'd say yes but Phillips probably has more basic talent. Kyle worked his butt off to get as good as he was. Phillips was starting from a higher level prior to his injury. There's no telling how good he can be if he stays healthy. It's going to be a good headache to have, but still a headache, for McBeane to figure out how to pay Oliver, Phillips, White, Edmunds, Poyer, Hyde, Johnson, and Jackson. And in a couple more years, the three recent defensive end draftees are going to get paid too.

Unless the Bills are playing, I never watch a game live. I record several games on Sundays and watch them during the week, WITHOUT COMMERCIALS. The timing works out that I can do a full session on my elliptical trainer and see a good game.

I can't make it to the game since Fairbanks Alaska is about a 5 day drive to Buffalo even if Canada is open. So here's some unsolicited advice to Bills buddies who will attend in person, from a place with REAL winter. Start with the warmest boots you can find. Cold feet will just make you miserable. The warmest day in Fairbanks lately is still quite a bit colder than Saturday night's game in Buffalo will be, but even in balmy Orchard Park this Saturday I would not plan to sit still for hours outside unless I had warm boots. A pair of sneakers or regular shoes will just not do. After that, layers is a good idea but it's not like you're going to find yourself too hot and want to remove a layer or two. Usually we use layers here when we're going to be working hard outside or the temperature will be changing, and those factors don't apply here. But layers will help trap body heat. The Costco here sells insulated pants and if you can find them it's worth the cost of getting them. This is one day when you'll be glad to have your covid mask on. It will keep the lower part of your face warm. Or get a hat with a full-face covering except for eyes and mouth. Reduce the amount of exposed skin. A parka if you have one is a good idea, adding a hood over your hat protects your neck and upper body. My heavy parka here would be too warm for the game (it's made for -40 or colder) but the heaviest one you can find in Buffalo might be a good idea. Finally, you probably have been outside on occasion in fairly cold conditions, but it's a good idea to do a test before Saturday where you bundle up, and then just go sit outside for half an hour or so. You'll find out quickly where improvements are needed. That last point seems on target. It's like the WRs were thinking more about their discomfort than they were about route adjustments based on coverage. The run defense in the first Pats game was vulnerable because the Bills tried to go with their usual personnel, and that turned out to be too light. In the second game they switched out a CB and replaced him with Neal or a LB, and that extra poundage helped a lot. Harris still had some good runs but he wasn't the lethal runner as he was in the first game.

As if it's that easy. The curse of Elway continues. He can't find a good QB to come in and lead the team. He did bring in a broken-down Peyton Manning who was able to succeed but only with Denver's powerful defense. Before then and since then it's been a string of failures.

Tua's biggest problem is that he isn't the guy who was drafted right after him, Justin Herbert. MT's biggest problem in Chicago was that they traded up for him and bypassed Deshaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes. Both have to deal with buyer's remorse on the part of their teams and fans. Both Tua and MT have the potential to be solid, effective, professional game manager type QBs. That's not what most teams want, but it's a lot more than a lot of teams have.

Fields is terrible. He lacks all the attributes that Josh Allen has, that Daboll used to make Allen effective. The only thing Fields does more or less as well as Josh, is run. Daboll won't want to pin his HC opportunity on that hot mess. I think that if no good opportunity to start somewhere materializes, MT would be happy/smart to stay in Buffalo for another year. But he really wants to be a starter somewhere and get himself one of those monster QB contracts. 2.5 million is very nice of course but 25 million per year is more of what he's thinking. And his clock is ticking, so he might jump at any chance to start. It could be a tough call.

Both Wentz and Trubisky were terrible in their last year at their previous team. Wentz got a lot less bad (not really better, to be clear) at Indy, and MT's past performance in Chicago will have other coaches thinking they could coach that guy up since in their own minds they're such great coaches.

Don't count out Ryan Fitzpatrick getting a call. He's still the WFT's property and could play there, but Washington will likely move to a rookie next year. If he doesn't play in DC, he'll be mildly attractive to a lot of teams desperate for solid play.

That connection and $4 will get you a cup of coffee in the NFL. It's a hard business, focused on the bottom line. Would Reich like to succeed with Wentz? Sure, but what Reich really wants is to succeed.

Why? Desperation. Does the name Kyle Orton ring a bell?

To get those really high numbers, a team has to win almost all its games, playing consistently, and also run up the score on weak opponents. The Bills did only the last part. This is the most aggravating season I can remember. All that talent, and then laying eggs every couple of weeks. All will be forgiven if they double their current four game win streak.

Maynard was a great player and was always associated with the Jets. As far as I know he was a first-class gentleman. I hope he didn't die of a broken heart, seeing them with yet another losing season and another year not making the playoffs.

Peanut butter ... great. Jelly ... great. PBJ ... magic. These two guys should be so thankful that the other one is right there too. Neither one distinguished himself before arriving here, and neither has the outstanding physical characteristics that some safeties have. But put them together and the combination is incredible. Maybe trading Wyatt Teller to the Browns, before he became Wyatt Teller, is karmic payback for stealing Poyer.

Shows what happens when a GM/HC/DC are all really good, are all on the same page, and are all in place together for several years. And how often does THAT happen? We are sooo lucky.

For some people, there is exactly one job in the world they're meant to have, and Belichick has been in that job for decades. What's he supposed to do if he retires, start a book club? He won't retire, ever, unless he has a health issue that forces him to step back. The biggest issue is that he's also the GM and he's not nearly as good at that job as he is as HC. A time might come when he's forced to step away from GM duties, but even that looks unlikely at this point since he has so much power in the organization and is so close to the Krafts. Do you remember the movie "Being There" with Peter Sellers? A guy starts speaking in obscure platitudes, and everyone considers him a genius. The thing is, Belichick really is a genius at coaching and also cheating, but the platitude approach is safe, boring, and never gets him into hot water, so he can concentrate on his two areas of excellence.

Here's hoping the Steelers accomplish the big upset and beat the Chiefs. That would give us a second home playoff game.

There's a reason so many players on that list aren't going to the playoffs. They cost too much. Those A+++ players all demand and get far more pay than the A-/A/A+ players the Bills are built to have. So those other teams have a lot of B-/C+ players who work for cheap. I love it that the Bills have a sensible pay scale, with NO holes among the starters and very few weak links among the subs either. So we don't see a lot of Bills in the Pro Bowl. Big deal. We have the 3 seed, and we've beaten the 2 seed and came within a whisker of beating the 1 seed. I like our chances. As for being snubbed by the Pro Bowl, I am fine with the idea that the Bills are pissed off. Let them show how upset they are by excelling in the playoffs.

The Colts, who are finished for the year, are sending seven players to the Pro Bowl, including three players on defense. None of this is a surprise. The Pro Bowl goes to the WRs with the most catches and yards, the QBs with the most TD passes/fewest INTs, the RBs with the most yards, the defensive linemen with the most sacks, the DBs with the most INTs, and the LBs with sacks and INTs. The Bills are built to win as a team, and except for Josh and Diggs, they don't have superstar players. They don't have anyone with the best stats in the league for their positions. So they're overlooked. It sucks but it is what it is. Can you pick ONE player from the Bills' defense who should go? This year the choice would probably be Poyer, but the falloff from Poyer to Hyde to Milano to Oliver to Phillips is pretty small. I say, fine, piss off these players and give them exactly one way to get eve with the world. Win playoff games.