Mango

I generally agree. I’m not sure they need to make a final decision on what skipping this game means though. I don’t think the league has to commit to week 18, forfeit, win%, etc. The league does absolutely need to cancel playing it this week and call further decision “pending”

Their ability to play in 3 days is irrelevant. Their ability to put out a roster that does not infect their opponent should be the top concern. From the sounds of it, sounds like it is also McD’s. The Titans could derail the league by playing this week.

Enjoy the bye week guys. Hopefully we are on to KC and we worry about what happens with the Titans later.

Were the practices player only, or were there coaches involved? I don't think it changes anything for the better in terms of when the league drops the hammer, but it could definitely make it worse.

I actually think it should be listed as optional. If it does not have any major playoff implications or draft seeding, I do not think it should be played.

That is fine, and definitely the right move in managing the team. I was more speaking from a league/scheduling perspective. Are the Bills comfortable going into TEN given their last week or two and positive tests? If they are not, postpone the game to week 18 if you can make it work. If not it doesn't get played.

The Bills, and opponents in similar situations, should be intimately involved in how, when, or even if games are played.

Manage vs. enforce. We aren't saying anything different here. Semantics The league thought that they could just get by, turns out they couldn't, and neither could any other sports league so far. They didn't give themselves any wiggle room to reschedule more than a "perfect fit" situation like the Titans v. Steelers or week 18 for each team. We can't even get people to wear a mask to the grocery store. People stood outside of city halls all over the country with signs complaining about not getting haircuts. Parents refuse to leave pop warner football games because they won't put on a mask. GOV officials and campaign managers are refusing to wear masks when they are at debates and press conferences. College kids are throwing Covid parties. Why would we be surprised that guys like Gruden and Vrabel are skirting the rules? Being shocked this is happening at the moment is exactly how we got here.

Meh, the OP here isn't wrong and neither are you. The NFL thought they could skate by and give the teams the ability to manage it themselves. But as we have seen with Gruden and reports of the Titans bringing in an UDFA without waiting the 5 days, that is not happening. If we were going to operate without a bubble, and the league wanted to be "flexible" and "adaptive" they would have scheduled league wide bye weeks every month so that they could reschedule games in the (inevitable) event this current situation happened. Without a few league wide "dead periods" to either make up games or get things straightened out for certain teams, the league actually left themselves no room for flexibility. The league bet that this would be over or nearly over as the season started and progressed. That they would gradually get fans back into stadiums, and the playoffs/superbowl would go off as normal and generate a whole bunch of revenue for them. ...and now here we are.

I wish the league would come out ASAP about a decision on this game. I think we can all agree Sunday seems like chances are slim to none. The NFL needs to come out and say difinitively what is happening. So Goodell either says: -We will try and move the Titans game to Monday. We are moving the Buffalo/KC game to Sunday to allow everybody to prepare and schedule properly. or -We are cancelling the Titans/Bills game entirely for the time being and will attempt to make that game up at the end of the season. Buffalo vs. KC will go on as scheduled on Thursday. You gotta give these players some structure and answers to help keep the league grounded. This has to be a nightmare as a player. McD said it was difficult to focus on the Raiders game because of the Titans testing. Now we are actually playing the Titans, and we don't even know when or if they are playing as they keep testing positive. Then we don't know our game after that. It is wild. The league should hand out a Covid award at the end of the year to the team who managed it the best. If the Bills get through murderers row of covid teams without an incident, we are a shoe in. Raiders- They have basically been trying to get Covid, and it is a miracle they have not. They are the NFL version of college COVID parties Titans- Largest Covid hot spot at the moment. KC- Positive tests. Gilmore breathed on Mahomes last week. They also play the Raiders this week. Jets- ... Pats- Cam and Gilmore.

I totally agree. I have been waiting for this match up since Josh started to link together some games. Edit: I will add, I wish the league would make a decision on the Titans game today so that One Bills Drive can either keep prepping for the Titans or look forward to the Chiefs. I do not envy the players at the moment. Especially the Bills. They have a crazy Covid stretch coming up. Raiders, Titans, Chiefs, Jets are basically the red AIDS bin in your doctors office on their best days, and the Pats.

RIP Chiefs season.

I agree with your first point. It creates mayhem with the pandemic. I don't agree with your second point. Getting the Bills to play the Titans Sunday/Monday/Tuesday is just shoehorning a game for the sake of it. It is prioritizing a single game but risking the entire season. Why risk actually derailing the season. Right now there is a week 18 option to make this game up. If it works out great, if it doesn't then the Titans take the L. If I am the league, I wouldn't call this a forfeit up front. Just a delay with the option of forfeit in the future. What the league needs to do is shut down and get their shirts together for a week or two, and regroup with a shortened schedule and built in league wide bye weeks. Probably includes canceling all out of conference games moving forward.

Well, if the Titans keep this up, they won't be able to reschedule another game, so they will still be missing those game checks.

I would like to move Edmunds outside this week. At least to test it out. Let him play fast in coverage and put Dobson in the middle. He’s been really hesitant this year. We expected him to take a step forward from last year, which ended well, but it’s exacerbated with defensive play across the league taking a major dip.

Agreed. Sorry, didn't mean BB should be ahead of McD, but he deserves to be on the discussion list of candidates. Same with Cam at comeback player of the year. I don't get the Big Ben hype. He is riding a good defense, playing well (enough) but also looks absolutely gassed. I would be shocked if he comes back next year. Cheers!

It is OK. We have been watching the game every week with the same crew outside in our backyard on a 120" projector screen. Well....Somebodies (2 in the group are twins) family wants to do sort of a Sunday Sauce family dinner and wants us all as a group to join and watch the game at their moms house. Well, I have to make a decision this week, is my game watching set up the lucky part? Do I stay at home and go about my routine? Or is the group the lucky part, and I can bring the set up (or not) to the families house. I am not thrilled by this. We are in our mid-30's. I don't have to go to your moms house for dinner. And news flash, neither do you, who are also in your 30's. Grow up, and tell her to do it Saturday, and if she can't do it Saturday, tell her to move it to next Sunday when there is no Bills game. Screw it. I am staying home, fork their spaghetti dinner. GO BILLS!!!! Thanks for helping me work through this one guys.

Dude, don’t say the quiet part out loud. Loss to the titans confirmed now. Thanks man...

I know people hate to admit it, but Bill Belichick deserved to be on the coach of the year list. Dude lost how many starters this year, including Brady? Edwards-Helaire ahead of Herbert at the moment. He has been absolutely lights out. Cam over Big Ben as comeback player. People thought he was toast 5 weeks ago. Career over. Nothing left in the tank.

Meh, they are really hot, don’t get me wrong, but I have a sauce or two with pepper X. One is the last dab xxx redux. It’s actually one of my favorites. It’s definitely not a “Dip your French fry in” kinda sauce. But I throw 4-5 dabs in a bowl of chili and it’s really good. Or if I make salsa, I’ll throw some in. I have some ghost pepper sauces too. Some are really tasty. Others aren’t. The sauces you really have to look out for are the ones made with distillate regardless of pepper. Basically you can take say 50 peppers and condense them into a droplet. Da Bomb is a good example. I love hot sauce but I am not a hot freak where I am always chasing the dragon to see how much heat I can handle. Depending on the prize I could maybe toss down 10 ghost pepper wings. I can get through 5 of the suicide or whatever wings at Duff’s. But that’s tough, and maybe once every few years just to see if I can. 😂

I generally agree with you under most circumstances, but yes the league should approach this collectively. The Titans, in theory could have single handidly tanked the entire league last week. And with the way the Raiders are behaving they are lucky they have not yet. So yes, if Cam goes to a party, catches Covid, comes to practice, spreads it, then yes, it is the team and the league. Now we are talking about losing games, make up games, TV contracts etc. Once you start messing with TV contracts, you are in a world of hurt. That is when we start having a cap of $175M. So yes, Cam could, in theory, crash the cap to $175M all by him self. That said, I think the new release from the league two things. 1. They came dangerously close to shutting down this week, at least temporarily, and they are trying to get ahead of that happening down the line. And 2. They are very clearly telling the Raiders specifically to get their collective shirts together or they will start ripping games, draft picks, etc. from them. I think if the Raiders keep this up, teams should have the opportunity to opt out of playing them all together. I think the Bills should have had that option this weekend. If the team can't operate in a way that opposing teams feel comfortable not risking their own health, then that is on Vegas. They have had such a blatant disregard for safety and viability of the league in a pandemic from the top down, it is embarrassing to watch. Titans seem to be a bit tight lipped at the moment. For everybody's sake, I hope they stop testing positive. If they get back in house and test positive again later this week. It should not be a reschedule, it should be a forfeit.

And you both beat @YoloinOhio

I would consider moving Edmunds outside and Dodson to MLB here. Unsure it is necessary against TEN especially given their situation, but most definitely a healthy dose against KC. I have a feeling Edmunds will play a bit faster on the outside.

I would love to see Edmunds do nothing but play like his hair is on fire. Basically either only dropping into coverage or gunning it into the back field. The last two weeks, anything regarding misdirection has him frozen in place. Seems to be a 3 year pattern now. I am not calling the guy a bust, or terrible or anything. But he HAS to make a huge jump in that part of his game still or the staff needs to put him in a better position to succeed.

To your point on Edmunds. In addition to defense across the league being pretty bad, I think Edmunds is getting picked on a bit. I have not spent a ton of time with the all-22 this year, so maybe somebody smarter than me can confirm. But it looks like Edmunds is hesitant to diagnose, and gets some safety help incase he misses a step, which leaves the CB's playing a bit off to save the big play. That said, when Edmunds is quick and correct to read the play, he is a good fit. He is just too hesitant too often. I would not be opposed to trying to get another MLB in there next year and moving Edmunds outside where he can just play big and fast.