BADOLBILZ

It's worrying more about what you have to lose than what you have to gain. Perhaps some haven't thought about it this way.........but believe it or not I once had to explain what coaching "not to lose" was on TSW when the Bills first hired Dick Jauron. We should be excited about what a win Monday night means.........another win closer to a divisional title and still quite possibly the #1 seed and a kick in the nuts to a hated division rival. Hasn't helped that the national media has created this idea that the Bills are now "behind" New England in the division. The reality is that the Bills control their own destiny in the AFC East..........the Patriots do not........they need to sweep the Bills OR get help.

Jones has had a tremendous rookie year..........but he is maybe the most immobile QB in the NFL right now...........and his arm isn't impressive. There is a lot of Chad Pennington to his game but he has maybe the best OL in the league, an effective running game and a combination of good inside receiving targets and excellent coaching that is getting receivers open quickly for the throws he can make. It's up to teams to find a way to take away the throws he excels at.......force him to make the tougher ones to move the football...........and get more pressure on him. Fortunately taking away short and intermediate throws and then getting more pressure with that extra bit of time are things that can go hand-in-hand. They just run contrary to what most of the league is doing on defense.

I don't have a margin of victory in mind. That's irrelevant. I don't care if the Bills win by just 1 point after a phantom roughing the passer call that the whole country is crying about on Tuesday. In fact, it might be better for the re-match if the Pats lost and everyone felt they got jobbed. I'm just thinking about how satisfying it would be with the Bills alone in first place and with the second place team then needing outside help to win the division. They'd also be very much in the mix for the #1 seed as well. Oh and that 3rd straight W over Belichick. That would be sweet driving home from the game early Tuesday am with that being the case. Then it's on to Tampa.

Yeah regress is the wrong choice of words. Davis is still the same caliber of receiver but has been less productive and impactful on a game to game basis. Which I think is as attributable to him suffering another ankle injury early in the year as it is Sanders being active every week or even Knox emergence. If he were healthy earlier I suspect he'd have gotten a lot more snaps. Beasley on the other hand.........he's clearly been a lesser player than last season. Hopefully he can finish strong but his ypr is just pathetic this season.

Yeah the sleet was brutal in the upper deck that day. Blinding. So we went downstairs and the place was so empty late in the game that we actually walked across the stands with the teams as they moved up and down the field. Really started snowing very hard late in the game. Got out to the parking lot and there was like 10" of snow on the cars. We had a two wheel drive 12 passenger Ram van and got on 20A to go home and the roads were terrible. Some volunteer fire department had a detour set up about 10 miles outside of OP and idiotically sent us all down a road that had a deep ravine in it. We were just over the crest of a hill with a line of cars right behind us when I could see cars piled up at the bottom of the ravine. They couldn't get up the hill and had rolled back. Only way thru was to ride the ditch around them like a rail. I flew down no brakes and the piled up snow kept us upright and somehow we got lucky and popped out of the ditch at full speed after the pile-up and made it up the steep hill. What a cluster. When we reached Warsaw it hadn't snowed one bit all day and it was like an October ride home from there. It was surreal but that's lake effect.....and that's why we need a gotdamn dome!

It's about a lot more than just the Pats game...........for many on here this whole season has been a joyless Jauronian act of rooting not to lose as they try to fast forward back to the AFCCG or Super Bowl. I'm looking forward to winning the games, not worrying about losing them. You are thousands of miles from WNY and probably have to drive to a Bills bar to find other fans but I can tell you from being in the stadium that there is a palpable "what the hell is this.....we were promised wins" attitude with the fan base at games. Not that we don't DESERVE it after the drought........but it just doesn't work that way and a lot of fans don't seem to know that........maybe because prior to last season the team hadn't actually been a SB contender since the days when repeat SB champions were still a thing.

I actually don't find this to be true in a general sense. I am a fan of a number of teams that have won "world championships" and "national championships". Once you get the first one out of the way it's a lot easier to handle the ups and downs, IMO. Bills fans have a number of anxieties built up but for the majority of the fan base winning a SB will change all of that.

Just a reminder that winning is supposed to be fun........not just a relief. We all know the 2020 Bills were the first AFC East team to sweep NE in two decades. But also since 2001 NFL team has beaten Belichick 3 straight times in regular season play. This is how you earn respect.......stacking up wins against the most respected HC in the game. I'm not equating era's but Don Shula used to own the Bills too until the Bills beat him 6 straight times in the late 80's. That tore the unlikeable, underhanded Don Shula up........and you know it will pain Belichick to his core if he loses these upcoming games to the Bills. It will eat him up. We probably won't ever get the chance to see the Bills send Belichick out quite like they did Shula.........he's not tied to the Patriots like Shula was the Fins.......he'll jump ship to his beloved NY Giants and Mara family before he has to field a team that's half as gutless as those Dolphins were. So don't be a Dick(Jauron)......don't fan "not to lose". I blame Ralph and his drought for instilling that mentality but it's time to move on and expect success but also relish the W's.

Notre Dame has always been Urban's dream job.

What's not overstated is that the WR corps has lost a lot off of it's fastball this season. Certainly don't see people talking about them being "the best in the league" like we constantly heard on here last year, that's for damnsher. Sanders was supposed to be a big improvement over "2020 injured Brown"........that's not really been the case to this point...........mainly because he needs more time to set up his specialty, the intermediate routes......while Brown had more of a high-low combination because of his quickness. That's fine when the line has been giving Allen time, but with the pass blocking a mess Sanders has been almost entirely erased for the last month. But it's A LOT more than that..........Davis has regressed so far this season..........and Beasley is producing a pathetic, runnin' back-like 8.5 yards per reception.

Honest Urb just got his second bone'r of the calendar year. Also, Mike Tomlin is re-thinking if there IS actually a booster with a big enough check.

Dotson seems like a first rounder........nothing wrong with taking a WR1 type in round 1. There are usually quite a few very nice interior lineman available in free agency..........All Pro's even............teams draft them early but then often let them walk because they desperately need to spend UFA dollars at high $ positions.......or their team just falls apart and they figure they have bigger concerns than paying market rate for a very good guard. The ideal formula is to draft your QB/passrusher1/LT/CB1/WR1 with your #1's..........then extend them a little early so you get a bargain rate..........then if you come up short at lesser $ positions like interior OL you can buy high quality at that position in UFA.

Actually Sanders has basically produced about the same per game as John Brown did last year....50 yards a game.........but with a lower catch % (Brown 63.5% to Sanders 59%). Brown was hurt and we were down on his production. So it's all relative. Sanders had a very nice stretch in October but yikes..........he's been invisible for a month other than missing drive killing blocks. WR is a big need for next season.

Where the Bills miss him are on those WR screens. He had some big TD's on those in games against Baltimore, Seattle and NYJ. If I recall they tried to run a couple in the Tennessee game this season and ended up killing drives tryin'. They just don't have a good option for those on the roster. Diggs can do it but he draws so much attention that it makes it more difficult than doing it with Brown on the opposite side of the field. Maybe.........but they've been missing some of the things that he brought to the table all year and they didn't pick him up then.

Yes, there is. Shane Wright. And this is considered an extraordinarily deep draft(1st round at least).......teams have been hording picks for the last few seasons.

They leveled the recruiting field for lesser schools in Texas.........they shouldn't even be playing those schools every year. Florida has an issue with too many football schools too but what gives the big 3 Florida schools a chance to avoid Texas fate is that they aren't sharing league's with all the of the "new" Florida schools. Gotta' keep them at arms length and not share the $ with them to keep them in their place. Riley gives the conference the first superstar HC + big school combo since Pete Carroll. In fact, he's probably bigger now than Carroll was when he was hired.

This is the degree of difficulty order, IMO: Chiefs Pats Ravens Bengals Colts Pats gotta' be near the top because it's a divisional opponent they will have had to play twice already. Anything goes. Hoping the Bills can manage to get the #1 seed and that the WC round is a bloodbath. The wear and tear of the added game certainly took it's toll on the Bills in AFCCG. I agree that I am envisioning a re-match with Baltimore in the playoffs at some point though.

I think Texas problem has long been that there are too many schools in Texas competing for the same talent. Staying in conference with most of them has been "playing down to your competition" in recruiting. Moving to the SEC should improve them on the field in the long run. It has improved Texas A&M for the same reason........they had something to gain on the field by moving to the SEC. Now.....if you want to go to a place like Baylor or Texas Tech or TCU instead of Texas or Texas A&M you are voluntarily going to a lesser conference. In the past too many recruits were just choosing their local school or family alma mater and still getting the same league experience and exposure as if they went to Texas. Oklahoma has benefitted greatly from the in-fighting in recruiting in Texas and have been able to cash in while Texas basically carried the conference financially. It's definitely not a "gain" move or lateral move for them, IMO.

There is a lot of uncertainty and little on-field upside for Oklahoma moving into the SEC. No more cake-walks into playoff contention. Riley has a chance to go to USC and dominate recruiting in the west and basically turn them into another version of what Oklahoma has been.

When the Bills have problems defending the run it's about a lack of want-to and poor technique. You will never see a greater example of it than the Bills team in 2017 that got trampled in the worst 3 game stretch in team history.........but then later went into their wild card game against Jacksonville the most short handed they had been all season and gave an inspired performance stoning the Jags running backs for a 2.6 ypc average on 25 carries in limiting Jax to 10 points. Want-to and technique. These Bills have no excuse for being weak against the run...........they are 10 deep with DL players who are capable and healthy. And at this point of the season no DL is more well rested than the Bills. It's not a thin unit up front like the one that finished 2017. Hopefully they are past their "dog days" for this season and come into that Patriots game focused on being physical and disciplined.

Peters would have been great to have this season. He was just out there looking for a chance to play for someone this summer. I'm not a big sentimentality guy.......I root for the laundry mostly.......but would have been cool for him to finish his pro career where it started. But the way he's playing this year the Bears will probably offer him a 2 year deal with the intention for him to be their starter for that period. He's been their best lineman.

I've been out on Bourbon Street a number of times now without personal incident.........but once when I was there for business 5-6 years ago a guy that I know and don't care for got rolled leaving Bourbon Street and ended up being brought back to his hotel by police wearing only his underwear. You definitely want to stay in a decent sized group at least. The violence has been more by accident in my experience.......my wife bumped heads with another woman when they were intoxicated .......one of those "oh you dropped that let me help you" moments.........and that woman had an enormous black eye at the business function we were at the next day. Why companies/industries think they can have productive business gatherings in New Orleans I don't know.

I thought McD handled it as well as he could.........he said it.......then told reporters he wasn't going to expand on it. Don't want the refs pissed at you as a HC. What's important to remember is that officials have been tasked with keeping the faces of the franchises on the field............it's not so much about the letter of the law............if they are legitimately concerned that a QB might get knocked out of the game on their watch.........then they will be quicker with the flags. You can't fight the law in the NFL. You gotta' bend it to your advantage.

If Allen wants the roughing calls then he needs to swallow his pride and act like the hits are hurting him. When he gets hit.......stay down for a minute.......get up with a limp.......act like his availability is in question if he takes another hit like that. Then the hankees will follow. I'm not advocating that.........but that's the only way a beast of a QB like Allen who intentionally puts his body on the line to make big plays is going to get them. The rules are in place to protect the vulnerable...........if you don't act like one of them you won't get the calls.