cwater10

Here is what I can't wrap my head around. If all of the voices lamenting that this coaching staff is the albatross that kept us from the promised land, then why are those same voices so certain that the football red seas would have just parted for us and allowed this same coaching staff to guide us through the next two games unscathed to that promised land. We were not entitled to win the Super Bowl, even if we had won this game. There were two VERY tough games ahead. The takeaway from 13 seconds, from Jacksonville, is that nothing in the NFL is a given. Give your psyche a break and stop assuming that we were entitled to the Super Bowl had we won. We were far from that. "Two more rivers to cross" as Marv used to say. And those were not little puddles to jump. 41 years ago, I and many here felt the same crushing emotion when we felt that Joe Ferguson's ankle and a defensive blown coverage cost us our shot at what would have become a AFCCG home game against the wild card Raiders (who went on to win the Super Bowl against all odds). Nobody believed that Raiders team was capable of beating the all powerful Air Coryell Chargers. We did however like our chances of hosting them with our #1 defense. But The Raiders did beat those Chargers, and then they won the Super Bowl. It was only afterwards that I started to question the certainty that I felt that we would have beaten those wild card Raiders and rolled to a Super Bowl win against The Eagles who had upset might Dallas to get to Super Bowl XV. And then the Eagles, whom we all assumed that The Bills would easily handle in The Super Bowl, came in to Buffalo early the following season on a Thursday night and rolled The Bills. The Raiders were apparently the team of destiny, the team on a roll that I had assumed The Bills to be. Presumed wins are not real. We were not 13 seconds from winning THIS Super Bowl any more that we were a fractured ankle and a blown defensive assignment away from winning THAT Super Bowl. As Bill Parcells used to say, "you are who your record says you are". We lost in the divisional round. I hear all this chatter about how hard it is to get "back" to the Super Bowl. Really? You have to get there in order to get back. We have not been there yet for a reason an it's not all coaching. In mid season, it was obvious that this team was good, but flawed. The roster needs some tweaks. During the season, they patched some holes and got on a nice run behind a great QB. And say what you will about this coaching staff, but they do seem to have that intangible of getting their teams to peak and maximize their ability during the stretch run. I can't help but be optimistic about where that takes us in the near future.

Wide Right 13 Seconds 1980 Ron Smith Chargers (That crushed me. Truly believe that would be a Lombardi) MCM OK, that's four... But these are The Bills and I've been a fan for 50 years. Limiting to four felt like a nice kind thing to do for myself. Just for fun and to see who's paying attention, does the name Don Nottingham bring down any night terrors for anyone out there?

Here is video of his minutes at the podium after the game. Several times he did reference not taking the field as the same unit ever again, but I didn't necessarily take that as a personal declaration of departure as much as acknowledgement of the the reality of roster turnover every year in the NFL. I believe he has in his heart, Beasley, Sanders, Daboll etc... They are a very close group and he knows there will be turnover, perhaps including himself.

Damn... I'm in my 60's and feeling every year of it with this thread. How about a Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young reunion, a Bills win, and then you can all just send me off to the memory care center a happy man.

I so much agree with this. I think the league needs to address this with more consideration given to playoff teams. I saw this quote from Brady (still detest him, but credit where due) here in Florida last night and it just made me wince a little bit thinking of Daboll and Frazier: “I don’t do anything extra this week,” Brady said. “I just want to do football. That’s all I want to do, prepare and get ready. That’s how we should all approach it. This isn’t the time for the trips to the movie theaters. This is the time to lock in on football. This is all we have, three days left and then we’ve got to earn more. Look at it like that, everything, you can put off until the end of the year, and we hope the end of the year isn’t Sunday. But you have to earn it.” Brady is totally locked in, and preparing with singularity of purpose. I love our guys Frazier and Daboll and support their quest to advance their careers, but I can't shake the notion that these opportunities are, by definition, oppositional to "singularity of purpose". https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2022/01/20/tom-brady-we-should-all-approach-this-week-as-nothing-but-football/

Never thought I would find some Jim James love when I clicked on this thread, but yeah! Great video, great collection of artists. Go Bills!

Sadly true. And yet Dandy Don helped make the NFL the media behemoth that it is today.

All time classic football name: Fair Hooker WR Cleveland Browns in the early 70's. He wasn't half bad either. Don Meredith on Fair Hooker: "Interesting name, but I've never met one". (During first ever Monday Night Football game)

I've been on this journey since early in the OJ years. This was the most impressive single game offensive performance that I've witnessed. Holy freaking cow! The 51-3 game was amazing too. By halftime, we knew we were heading to our first Super Bowl. The no punt game was a cool thing, but it wasn't this. The comeback? Great too, but Buffalo sucked for an entire half, plus throwing a pick 6 to start the second half in order to set up the magic. Not one of those games were this. This was a long time coming. This was a massive, long awaited catharsis for an entire region of football fans. This game was different on so many levels. It was done in arctic weather. It was, beautifully, even poetically set against our greatest nemesis. And we just jammed the football, sideways... into every dark, crusty, surly, decaying and painfully raw from the cold body part that miserable old man on the other sideline tried to hide from the onslaught. And then just because we could, tore him a few new ones just to see the humiliation and horror in his eyes. (Yes, there is a dark spot in my soul that has gone untreated for 20 years). It's better this morning. The house just fell on the wicked witch and Josh Allen was that house. This beats chasing Shula into retirement in 95. Maybe Belichick follows Shula's example? But best of all it was just total mastery of offensive football. There was nothing flukey about it. No gift TD's, no pick 6 to inflate the score, and no denying the dominance. They could have done this as long as they wanted. It was a work of football art. Daboll, we will miss you. But there is enough foundation here, that things will remain very good.

Thurman has to give us an "On Like A Mofo"!

Gratitude check: That Jets team finished a game ahead of The Bills.

I just had a horrible flashback to the great "Dennis Miller Monday Night Football" experiment. Be careful what you ask for... Just saw this after posting a similar thought. The picture evaded my Dennis Miller search! Yikes! He was bad.

Yep. This is my exact list. Tempted to trade out 72 Dolphins for 2007 Pats, but 07 Pats were just better.

Aaron Rodgers was a massive disruption for his team long before any vaccine issues surfaced. He held that franchise hostage until training camp. The vaccine issue just continued the disruption. Yes, he's a great football player, but also a significant headache and distraction for his team. To me, that is fair game is considering his candidacy for MVP.

Dude is drinking tiger's blood again!

Happy 2022! Ready for engraving!

Such a great memory! I was at one of those delayed Christmas celebrations for family that had been traveling during Christmas. This was a family that I had just married into the previous year. They were not familiar (yet) with my Bills intensity. Whey Boyd scored, they thought I was having a breakdown and ready to call for emergency services. Good times!

This thread is meant to test our connection to reality. He's just not good enough. Time to move on.

Only 4 is an impossible ask. Best shot: -- John Lennon -- David Bowie -- Jerry Garcia (wan't to say to no Jerry, but c'mon... it's Jerry and he's damn near family for a reason!) -- Eddie Vedder Honorable Mention and excruciating omissions: Roger Daltry, Aretha, Freddie Mercury, and Peter Gabriel.

Not to forget this gem of a moment that ended Miami's reign: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKjw8slscUI

You ought to have a body cam for that walk. That video would be priceless.

What happened to "Make ME Great Again"?

What would the real Irv say? "Tea Town thug's terrible trips and tugs. Film at 11!

I cannot see any realistic path to Beasley being here next season. From a football perspective, Bease is aging FAST. Despite his grit and determination to play through pain, injuries will become the norm for him going forward. For him to play his A game, he will continue to take a pounding and his soon to be 33 year old body just isn't likely to hold up to that style. Look at the injuries he's taking on in just the last calendar year: leg fracture, rib fractures... Those are the signs of an aging athlete putting too much stress on his body and putting himself in harm's way too often. This won't magically get better as he continues to age. Beane gets paid to determine and reward what performance and contribution will be, not reward what it has been. When you consider the other factors of cap savings, depth at his position, and the divisiveness and occasional volume and distration of his public voice, I just don't see it working out here for Cole beyond this season.

This is fine. Just end them.