hondo in seattle

My Sunday Ticket feed malfunctioned right before the play. So I quickly went to NFL.com to see what was going on - and started yelling in celebration! My wife and daughter kept asking what happened. But I wouldn't answer because, well, we're snake-bitten Bills fans and a lot can go wrong in a half of a minute. I didn't want to say anything that could jinx these next few moments. I was as quiet as a Trappist monk until the clock ran down to zero seconds. Then I jumped up and yelled some more.

There are a lot of playoff virgins on this team. Excited for them all.

That's exactly what impresses me. We got rid of some of our biggest stars (Sammy, Darby, MD), signed some no-names, and got into the playoffs. I'm not sure what kind of roster Beane will build over the years. But today's roster is weak. Yet we're in the playoffs. McD must be doing something right.

John, I see no sign that anyone's going to change their opinion of Tyrod no matter what happens. So can we all just cut and paste our Tyrod opinions from the hundred other Tyrod threads?

They seem to hate their DC but at least they threw a few well-wishes our way.

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On the one hand, I predicted a 9-7 record at the beginning of the season. I could gloat a bit. On the other hand, I publicly gave up on the playoffs after the first Pats defeat. Shame on me & pass the salt.

The offensive and defensive rankings say the Jags are a much better team. But they won only 1 more game than us - against an easier lineup of opponents. This could be a close, exciting game.

I'm not sure this invalidates my point but it is interesting we keep finishing with positive differentials despite changes in scheme and personnel.

I acknowledge your point. It's a valid one. Rico didn't build an offense around TT's skill set and Tyrod's rarely had a good group of receivers running routes for him. On the other hand, Tyrod sometimes holds the ball too long, sometimes misses wide open guys, and sometimes just doesn't see wide open guys. He has his own shortcomings that go beyond Rico and the receiving corps. My position is that Tyrod remain the QB until we find someone better. And we should actively be looking (in the draft, especially) for someone better. The Pats drafted Brady when they still had Bledsoe. The Chargers drafted Rivers when they still had Brees. The 49ers acquired Young when they still had Montana. However much you may think of Tyrod, I still think you look for someone better. But Tyrod remains our pivot man until that guy is found. While we could do better than Tyrod, we could do far worse as Bills history shows.

While I don't like to be Grinch-like and am, in fact, super enthused right now, I feel like I should mention something that concerns me. Someone (PFF?) once did an analysis that determined that turnover differential is a stat that doesn't typically sustain from year to year. Teams that are statistically good (or bad) on offense or defense are likely to be good (or bad) the following year. Turnover differential, on the other hand, seems to go up and down almost randomly from season to season. If we want to continue earning playoff berths, we're going to have to become proficient at something less fickle than turnovers.

The stats don't paint a pretty picture. And stats say we'll lose next week. Both the Jags O and D put up good numbers this year. The Bills, on the other hand, ranked in the bottom half of the league in both offense and defense. We're lucky to even be invited to the dance. Then again, here are some other interesting stats. The Bills finished with 9 wins, the Jaguars with 10. In terms of the most important stat of all, there's not much to tell the two teams apart. Furthermore, the only team we lost to over the last 6 weeks was the Pats - the best team in the league. The Jags lost their last two games. The stats say the Jags have the better roster on both sides of the ball. Other data suggests the Bills have the edge in heart and teamwork. This game could be close. (Btw, does anyone know how did the Bills do in Toxic Differential?)

I'm supposed to be working from home today. But I find myself watching these videos over and over. My wife can't understand my need to watch some videos more than once, or why my cheeks get moist when I watch Kyle hug his kids.

I live far, far from Buffalo so I couldn't celebrate the playoff berth with friends & family. Instead I searched the web to luxuriate in this generational event. One of my favorite articles was this - the most popular article in USA Today's sports section this morning: 9 Videos of Bills Fans Completely Losing It... http://ftw.usatoday.com/2018/01/buffalo-bills-nfl-playoffs-fans-celebrate-cincinnati-bengals-toucdown-tyler-boyd-videos

The only thing I knew about Vlad when he came here was from the negative reports from posters here. I tried to balance that against the good opinion the coaching staff must have had of him if they brought him over - and I still ended up with low expectations. He's been better than those expectations. I haven't been stressed to see him on the field this past month or so.

I yelled like a wild man while my family looked on in happy bemusement. Then I simply refused to talk. There were seconds left on the clock and I didn't want to jinx anything. We're Bills fans, after all.

It's funny. The Bills O is not good. The Bills D is not good. In fact, the overall roster isn't very good. And yet here we are!

Kyle Williams - of all people - scores the winning TD in the game that launches the Bills to their first playoff appearance in his 12 years!!!

That was my first thought, too. But since "The Drought" didn't like it, how about MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

I incorrectly guessed that our friend from Green Bay started this thread. Thanks 26CB.

It's going to be an interesting afternoon. Every game that matters in the AFC wildcard race is on at the same time. I've been completely indifferent to the Bengals for 50 years. Today I'm a huge fan!

You start with an unfounded opinion (Kyle has little impact on the locker room) and then build speculation upon that. I remain unconvinced.

Whatever you think of IK, I don't think you can really know Rex's motivation for signing him.

Exactly what I thought. His audience was his players. I doubt if he cares what anyone else thinks about what he said. I doubt if he actually cares much about the change in start time. He's just doing the us-against-the-world thing. Let's come together as a team because if we don't care about each other, no one else will.

Peerless Price only had 31 receptions for 393 yards his rookie year. A few years later, he tallied 94 receptions for 1252 yards. Some receivers need time to adjust to the NFL and take their skills to the next level. There's little doubt that Taylor has trouble getting the ball to his WRs. There's equally little doubt that Zay has been unimpressive. Both are at fault. But I'm not ready to give up on Zay just yet.