Utah John

MNF was really big when the only alternative was the games on Sunday afternoon, usually the AFL/AFC on NBC and NFL/NFC on CBS. MNF was a chance to see another game, in a party mode, and see some highlights which we could only read about otherwise. And when the Bills were shown on the highlights, there would be cheering. Now MNF comes at the end of a gauntlet of games -- TNF, college on Saturday, three games on Sunday afternoon, and SNF. I have a few other things to do with my time, and that's too much football to watch. Granted, I record all games and watch them later, except for the Bills which I usually watch in real time. Still, there are other things in life. (Sorry if I offend.)

So what are we supposed to do with Foles? Pay him gobs more than we pay our starting QB? OK, it's a quibble.

BB is a cold, steely-eyed manager. He loves Brady as much as he's loved any other player -- ZERO except for what that walking meat could do for him. He's cut countless players who either were done or were almost done, who had contributed to his team's and his own success. Sayonara, Brady, good luck and don't face the Pats in the playoffs because we know how to stop you.

I don't blame him for wanting to travel with the team. For one thing, out of sight, out of mind. For another, McBeane are very strong on team belonging.

Yes, get him signed for 5 years at a fair price for a pretty good LT. That doesn't hurt the Bills too much if they decide to upgrade eventually. Dawkins will always have trade value if it comes to that, and a solid, non-exorbitant contract would increase his trade value.

The Cowboys got a lot better immediately after getting Cooper. So I'm saying one of the other NFCE teams should grab him. He's a good WR, maybe not top 7, but worth it to some other team for the added benefit of hurting the Cowboys.

I feel bad for Rosen, who never has had a chance. He was ruined in AZ and then didn't get a real shot in Miami, and both teams were suck-o. With a better team around him his career could have been completely different. However, I'm very happy we got the right guy.

The call that really cost us the game was the officials inventing a new rule about procedures during kickoffs. On the KO for the second half, the Houston receiver fumbled the ball, and the Bills scored, and the ref correctly called it a touchdown. That would have made it 20-0. Instead they did what kids do in the back yard, making up rules as they go. The Ford block was a terrible call. It was not blind side at all. Ford was at about 10 o'clock to the guy, in front and to the side. There's nothing blind about that. And Ford didn't go attack the guy, the guy basically ran into Ford. The other terrible call was on the Allen run in OT where Knox missed a block, and the Houston defender speared Allen in the helmet. No call at all. The correct call would have put the Bills in middle range FG range, possibly ending the game right there. So the Bills get a BS penalty against them, and a BS non-call against them, and a BS rule change in the middle of a playoff game.

If the Bills keep drafting and FA'ing so well the next year or two (1) We're winning the AFC East in 2020 and a SB in 2021, and (2) We'll be in absolute salary cap hell in 2023, with way too many great players and a great QB all wanting paychecks consistent with their talent. I would take that problem in a heartbeat, if (1) comes true.

Phillips had a breakout year this season, which just happened to be in his contract year. We're seen these situations before, where a guy plays exceptionally well in his contract year and then reverts to mediocrity. If he gets the big, multi-year contract he wants from the Bills, we'll be overpaying him for years. Tagging means possibly overpaying for one year, but keeping his rights while we see if he can keep playing at that high level.

The Bills are building a team that can win consistently for years to come, not throwing everything in for a single year that might or might not work out, only to watch the team dissolve.

Drafting Walt Patulski #1 overall. Trading Haven Moses to Denver.

The real story there is that Anderson didn't want to play for the Bills. He missed those kicks on purpose, forcing the Bills to cut him. If there's a boneheaded part on the Bills, it wasn't talking to Anderson before they drafted him, to see what his intentions were.

Letting Ron McDole go to the Redskins. Hiring John Rauch. Drafting Al Cowlings so OJ would have a buddy in town. You young-uns should realize this got started a loooong time ago.

When Ralph fired Wade Phillips and tried not to pay him, that sullied the Bills' reputation for years, or decades. The NFL is the Never-Forget League. The Pegulas are a much classier combo than Ralph (and they don't employ Lippman, hurray!) and the success of McBeane has transformed the Bill's reputation. The Jets are going to struggle to get competent coaches for years to come. Serves them right, too. It's probably not Gase behind this move. It would be the GM or the owner, since Gase has been around the NFL long enough to know how bad a move this is.

The Jets released their second round pick before the season started. As far as I can remember, the Bills never screwed the pooch anywhere close to that bad,

Taxes in the UK might be very high, but on the bright side if a player gets hurt he doesn't have to worry about health insurance. Of course he might need to wait to see a doctor. The arguments Khan is using to justify moving two games a year to London, are eerily like the ones the Bills used to justify playing games in Toronto. What a disaster that was for the Bills, no longer playing in front of rabid home fans in order to play in a silent tomb where no one really cared who won. You don't need to read tea leaves to see the Jags franchise is doomed in Jacksonville. Thank God for the Pegulas.

It's hard to see the AFCE getting a wild card team, since all the teams in the division play pretty much the same brutal schedule, with a lot of travel and some tough opponents. I think the Bills should be favored to win the division. The main threat is injuries. The Bills were very lucky this past year regarding injuries. Last year the 49ers won four games, and this year they had a 10-point fourth quarter lead in the SB. My point is, Miami. I don't think the Jets are a threat as long as Gase is their coach, but I'm seeing Miami in our rear view mirror, closing the gap. They beat NE in NE in the last regular season game for both team, in a game NE desperately wanted to win. Miami traded a lot of good players, mostly for draft picks, and figured out over the course of the year how to win again. Over the next couple of years, they're going to be getting a lot better, quickly.

Thomas was MVP in 1991, and deserved it. James was never close to deserving that award in any year. I have a similar complaint about Gore getting in. It's not the Hall of Consistently Very Good. What a tough choice, figuring who was better, Troy Polamalu or Ed Reed. Just a pair of great great safeties who happened to play at about the same time. I think Reed was better at playing within the system, while Troy was a cruise missile.

I thought from the title that this link was a Hollywood story about a writer having his work stolen, and maybe someone substituting their screen plays for his. That seems to happen more often than the Bills running a screen play.

This was a good, solid interview. Flutie never really felt wanted or appreciated in Buffalo, particularly in 1999 when he got the Bills to the playoffs and had to watch Rob Johnson play against the Titans. In this interview, he said NOT ONE bad thing about Buffalo or the Bills. So what if he plugged the cereal. He was not a great QB but he was a lot of fun to watch.

What does it mean that the stadium should be competitive with others? New Era Field is the only NFL stadium in WNY. There's no competition at all.

There are at least two other former Bills on the Chiefs' squad, Shady McCoy and Reggie Ragland. I haven't heard either of them say a single negative thing about the Bills or Buffalo. McCoy was in a tough spot and things worked out great for him. He was clearly on the way down last year. No team wanted to trade for him due to the high contract cost he had. Cutting him was probably done with his best interest in mind. The Bills didn't expect to be a contender this past year, and letting McCoy pick his new team let him go to a contender, a plan that's worked out brilliantly for him. The Bills handled that situation with class and respect, and I think McCoy appreciated it. It's turned out that McCoy's decline has continued, and this is clearly going to be his last year before he retires. He's not the kind of guy who wants to be a backup, and he's too professional to want to play when he can't play well. Ragland was traded so early in his career and so long ago, and he's turned out to be so unremarkable, that no one seems to care what he thinks about Buffalo.

Rivers has moved his family to far western Florida, near the Alabama state line. (This is a beautiful area, by the way.) The closest NFL franchise to that location is New Orleans. Just saying.

If he's living in extreme NW Florida, the closest NFL franchise to his home would be New Orleans. It would be ironic if we had the Rivers-Brees contest all over again, but I really don't think NO will do anything with Brees until Brees says he's done. Rivers is a tough sell. He thinks he's still a starting QB and will want to get paid like one, and will not be content to be a backup somewhere. I think he'll end up just sitting until some team that figures it's ready to win right now loses its starting QB to injury, and needs to find the right short-term replacement.