WickedGame

I had similar symptoms with my first concussion. Took a hard knock on the head, and just assumed I got my bell rung and that I’d shake it off after a bit of cursing. The thought of a concussion didn’t cross my mind. I didn’t get real concerned until about an hour later when I was riding in the car to dinner with my family. I got a little nauseous, and when my wife saw the look and my face and asked if I was okay, I couldn’t even spit out a sentence. Then when we got to the restaurant, I could read the menu and recognize the words, but I couldn’t process them. Can’t really find a better way to describe it. I would see the words “burger and fries,” and I knew I recognized the words, but I couldn’t put it together what those things were. I tried just pointing at a menu item, but the minute the waitress asked me a question, all I could do was mumble. All of this was happening in front of my 7-year-old son...pretty scary when you’re a kid to see that happening to your old man. My wife immediately took me to the hospital and they recognized a concussion almost right away.

I don’t want to derail the conversation from what we should be talking about — football (although, I’m not the one who took it off topic). However, I’d like to say that comments like yours are not constructive. I didn’t “get my panties in a bunch.” I just asked what the relevance was. Pure and simple, your comment is meant to be nothing more than an insult. You didn’t like my question...that’s fine. But the whole “people get their panties in a bunch” crowd...I just think you’re probably better than being that kind of person. Your comments on football, on the other hand, are on point. I’d rather have a hearty football discussion with you any day (and I agree with your OL observation, btw) than get into a Bills fan vs. Bills fan brawl. Let’s talk about which line-up gives us the best chance to win, and not worry what race a player is (or what race we think he looks like).

Does it matter? Why bring it up?

Possibly the worst analysis I’ve ever seen on this site. You don’t judge the value of these players by adding up their combined PFF scores and comparing the totals against each other, or comparing our highest score from last year against our highest from this year, etc. I’m not even talking about the foolishness of a PFF metric as a measuring stick here... At the very least, if you’re going to rely on this particular data set for your analysis, at least do an apples-to-apples comparison: * Is Mitch Morse (69.5) better than Russell Bodine (61.6) and Ryan Groy (46.7) at Center? Yes, substantially. Is Ty Nsekhe (67.8) better than Jordan Mills (56) at Right Tackle? Yes, substantially. Is everyone we brought in a stud? No. Did we bring in a few players whose scores are lower than guys who walked away? Yes. But did we vastly improve two positions on the line? Yes. And as far as the rest of the OL additions, I’m not concerned that they’re not (according to PFF metrics) a clear-cut improvement. These are depth players anyway, and given how bad our starters sucked last year, I’m at peace with upgrades at C and RT and shuffling the deck chairs at the backup positions. Heck, maybe you get lucky and one of those new deck chairs is a big upgrade over last years P.O.S. starter. But to say we’re not better at this point? Sheesh. EDIT: Let’s not overlook two other important facts: We dumped an OL coach who was accomplishing nothing, and we brought in players who may fit our OL scheme better than their prior teams’ schemes. I personally think we draft Risner in round 2, but that’s just a guess.

I met a Broncos fan at the bar a few weeks ago and when she told me the team had no plan at quarterback I suggested this exact scenario. It makes a ton of sense. I don’t think the Broncos think of Flacco as their answer at QB. Instead, I think this tells us they don’t like the options at QB in the 2019 draft and they’re getting Flacco as a bridge to the 2020 draft. They’ll draft their rookie QB next year and he can learn under Flacco for a year. This is actually bad news for anyone hoping Buffalo would trade down. If Denver is truly out of the QB market this year, there’s less incentive for teams like Washington to trade with Buffalo to jump ahead of the Broncos.

I actually just looked at Astro’s reports on scouting visits from last year. I was hoping it would show us something by looking in the reaview mirror. I was surprised that I didn’t see a lot of players the Bills drafted or signed as UDFAs on the list. Josh Allen was on the list, obviously, because we looked at all the QBs. Cam Phillips was in for a predraft visit. But beyond that, I didn’t see many familiar names on Astro’s list from last year. Not knocking Astro’s reporting...I think it’s fantastic. I just think the scouting and visits aren’t a good crystal ball for who we might pick. I wonder if those visits end up being more useful after the fact for scouting players other teams drafted.

It means Derek Anderson will not make a position switch to safety.

I think the correct answer is “Who the h&ll cares?” I just don’t understand people who’s sense of satisfaction is derived from seeing the evil awful media proven wrong and knocked down a peg. #sad #toolittletobegratefulfor

Hey, that’s FOUR L’s. Know what else has four L’s? Oh, wait... Too soon? ?

Being proud of where I'm from and pointing out the short-sidedness in how others label us aren't mutually exclusive. In fact, you might say they kinda go together.

Allow me to preface this post with a tip of the hat to all hard-working Western New Yorkers (and Upstate New Yorkers, in general) from all walks of life. I'm proud to have grown up in Upstate NY (born in N.T., grew up in Syracuse), and I'm equally proud (yes, equally) of my blue collar father, stay-at-home mother, and my own "white collar"(ish) career. However, I've grown weary of the lazy stereotyping of Buffalo as a "blue collar town." Yes, WNY and CNY have a history built on hard-working, industrial labor. Manufacturing and farming were once the powerful engines that fueled the growth of our communities. But while those industries and jobs still exist, and still play important roles in our economies and our culture, they're no longer the defining industries of our region. Consider these facts: According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the largest employer by industry is healthcare and social services (18.6% of jobs); manufacturing accounts for just 7.4% of jobs. In fact, even if you add the jobs from construction (3.6% of jobs) and transportation/warehousing (4.2% of jobs), the combined jobs from those industries still don't equal the jobs impact of healthcare (Side note: I'm not implying healthcare employees aren't hardworking...simply that the prototype of a lunch-pail-carrying, boots-wearing, calloused-hands worker isn't an accurate representation of most Buffalonians). Looking again at industries, some of the largest employers are educational services (9.5% of jobs) and professional/scientific/technology services (7% of jobs). By occupation, the highest number of people in the Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Niagara Falls region are in office/administrative support roles (16.3 of each 100 jobs); sales jobs are next (10.5% of jobs), followed by food service roles (9.8%) and education/training/library roles (7.5%). Manufacturing production jobs are the 6th most common occupation (6.4%); Farming/agriculture jobs are 21st on the list. I share this just to point out the absurdity of the "Josh Allen is a blue collar guy...a farm boy...he's a perfect fit for Buffalo" arguments. They have little basis in fact...just clinging to outdated preconceptions of what Buffalo once was. If a city's narrowly defined "culture" and its "fit" for a player had any significance, we'd have to let go of half the roster.

Logically, if he weighs the same as a duck...

Doesn't qualify. He's still a Bill, not a former Bill. Alas.

If you could add any former Bills player in his prime to our roster for the wild card game in Jacksonville, who would you add?

Andy Dalton.

Is this the guy that wears his wedding ring when he plays? Or the guy that went to a Division III co-ed college? I can't keep 'em straight.

Wasn't trying to say that's how you measure the success of a trade. Simply pointing out an interesting correlation. But thanks for waking up every day ready to piss in someone else's Cheerios.

Had an interesting thought this morning: Buffalo and it's player trade partners made a strong showing this year: KC - Reggie Ragland - IN LA Rams - Sammy Watkins, EJ Gaines - IN Philly - Ronald Darby, Jordan Matthews - IN Carolina - Kelvin Benjamin - IN Jacksonville - Marvell Dareus - IN LA Chargers - Cardale Jones - MISSED Buffalo - IN That's a pretty good success rate.

If I'm Beane, I offer the Browns our two firsts plus Tyrod for the #1 spot. The Browns will still have a top 5 pick, so they can grab a potential franchise quarterback. They'll also have two additional first rounders from our trade, so they can stock the cupboard. And they'll have a steady if unspectacular veteran QB to be a one-year bridge. And they can quit worrying about which college QB will opt out to avoid going to Cleveland, since they'll all declare knowing they could end up in far better destinations. Buffalo gets its choice of QBs to be the franchise guy. And we still have two 2nd rounders and a 3rd rounder to fill some of the gaps not filled by free agency (my prediction is Star Lotulelei joins the team to upgrade the middle of our DL).

Allegations aren't the reason for this. That's a classic "After this, therefore because of this" logical fallacy. Owning an NFL franchise isn't a great investment at this point in time. Attendance and viewership are down -- for many reasons -- and that's costing owners money. Throw in the CTE issues hanging over the league and the game won't be what we remember it to be for long. Rules changes will diminish the game. Players will start retiring early or quit entering the league. The product on the field will suffer. Richardson is smart to sell the time while he can maximize his profits.

I actually agree. If Dorothy hadn't gone down that yellow brick road, our country wouldn't have been a disaster. Obviously.

It means nothing. Six weeks ago we had one of the best point differentials in the league. It means we played one one of the most high-powered offenses in the league in the Saints (and didn't come close to matching their output). It means we didn't get to play the Browns twice like some teams. It means we played the anemic Colts in the snow and the game was closer than it should have been. It means our defense whiffed sometimes, our offense whiffed others, both whiffed simultaneously a few times, and we've never had them both on fire simultaneously. Yeah, it'd be great if we had a stellar O and a stellar D. What team wouldn't? Most teams don't get that wish, which means you have to make strategic choices (limited draft resources + salary cap = you can't have it all). In the end, crushing opponents with a juggernaut isn't what's necessary to win. All that matters is the W. The choices you make about where to invest in your team -- O or D -- need to add up to just enough to outscore your opponents more often than not. Strength of victory almost never matters.

That's my point: I think the OP's assumption that we'd be bundling picks 20 and 22 is flawed. We may get to bundle 16 and 17. Small difference, but it adds up to points. Or bundle 16 and a player at a highly valued position...

Assuming our pics are #20 and #22 means the Chiefs will have made the playoffs. I'm not sure their pick will be as low as it appeared it would be a few weeks ago. I could easily see the Chiefs having the #17 or #18 pick. We might even have back-to-back picks, or pretty close to it.

Thinking of changing my name to "Save Your Peter, Man." That way I, too, could serve as a warning against impending doom.