eball

Doubleheader typically means one game immediately followed by another. What they’re doing this year is different but I think I understand it. ESPN is trying to dominate viewership over a 5-hour time slot while appeasing east coast fans who won’t stay up for a 10 p.m. start time. For fans of any of the four teams playing there’s no conflict; they will watch their team’s game. For the rest of the general NFL-watching public, they’ll watch the Bills-Oilers early, switch back and forth during the overlap, and then watch the Vikings-Eagles finish.

My biggest takeaway from last night is that I can’t believe Nate Hackett is a head coach. I do think Denver suffered from not playing anyone during preseason. They lost that game in the first half. Agree with @GunnerBill that the Broncos may be 4th in that division.

I’m confident that as Allen continues to mature he will become even better at not needing to run as much, but I don’t want him to not play to his potential for fear of me getting one less year of him as our QB.

You and I got into it about Josh back in the day, but the big difference between Josh and Tua is that even during a “bad” rookie season Josh made at least a couple of “wow” plays every game. Those who weren’t (yet) willing to jump on the bandwagon focused on the negative, while those of us who fell in love with the guy during training camp and preseason dreamed of what we hoped he would become. I don’t know what Tua fans latch onto these days. What elite trait does he possess? I asked my Bama friend that question and he got upset. He fell back upon the “most accurate QB I’ve ever seen” stuff and when I said “but what about throws longer than 10 yards?” he didn’t speak to me for a week. 😂

Yeah, I was gonna come in here to say that Cinci is in trouble. All of that OL retooling and Burrow was still under constant duress. They’ll win 9-10 games but that may not be enough. Brutal loss for them yesterday. Also agree that the Vikings have a “fresh” feel about them…have to get over seeing sourpuss Zimmer on the sideline and realize they have a coach who will make good use of those offensive weapons.

So stop looking in the mirror.

Oh, please, Seattle, pull off the upset.

So happy to hear Dorse's comments about "designed" Josh runs. I'm getting a wee bit tired of the moaning and groaning from fans and media alike that "this isn't sustainable" for Josh Allen. Josh rarely takes "big" hits from opponents...more often than not he's the one dishing them out. He never stands in the pocket and gets clobbered, which is far more likely to cause injury than when he is the aggressor with the football. If Josh gets hurt, so be it, but for crissakes can we stop acting like a serious injury is "inevitable?"

I mean, wow. Depending on your pool, either 4 of the top 5 or 5 of the top 6 most popular picks went down: Indy, Cinci, Tennessee, San Fran, and in some pools Carolina. The two pools I’m in lost 56 and 57% of their entries, respectively, and if Seattle somehow upsets Denver tonight that will go up. Thankfully I had three entries in each and only lost one (damn Colts). Crazy stuff.

Check back in two weeks.

This injury combined with the game result certainly works to the Bills’ (and other AFC contenders’) benefit. Cinci saddled with an early AFC loss (at home) and Pittsburgh losing their best player. Still, I do hate to see great players get hurt.

Happy for Dabes but the Giants still should have lost. Oilers’ FG kicker missed an easy one.

We are going to beat the damn Oilers by 20.

Happy to answer. First — JA is rarely “in the middle of a scrum.” He’s downfield. Second — when he is the aggressor I have very little fear of injury. If we’re ranking my “concern” I’m much more worried about a fumble than an injury. I’m not looking for Josh to have ten carries every game, but I think expecting fewer than five is folly.

If that’s your expectation prepare to be disappointed.

Against the spread: Giants, Pats***, Lions, Vikings, Jags

Looking forward to the Red Zone channel for sure. Will probably flip to Pats***/Fish and Browns/Panthers a bit. I like a bunch of upsets today…Vikings, Giants, Pats***, Jags (all against the spread).

Right, hence my comment that only four of those were called Thursday night.

And this is the crux of why Lamar not having an agent will crush both he and the Ravens. Lamar needs the Ravens and their dedication to designing the offense solely around him, and the Ravens need Lamar because otherwise they are starting over. An agent would talk some sense into Lamar. This is actually sad.

Meaning “in his dreams.”

But Fish fans said it was underthrown and Tua is criticized too much. I’m torn.

Old f**ker! Wait, that’s my age too. Damn. Have a great day.

I think we have to come to the conclusion that Josh will not continue running only when he can’t continue running. It’s part of what makes him so special. There were only FOUR designed JA runs on Thursday night. His other runs were scrambles. They don’t want to beat him up, but his ability to make plays on the run is also what makes him so damn dangerous, particularly in the red zone. I’ve stopped worrying about it. Injuries will happen, and there’s nothing I can do about it. I love watching JA play, and that includes his running.

It’s rare to have the kind of night the Bills’ DL had Thursday, and expecting the same or similar results each week will leave us disappointed. Frazier and McD are going to game plan differently for different teams as well. I imagine we’ll sit back against Tannehill but blitz Tua aggressively, for example. It’s going to be an evolution, but there’s no question the early results are incredibly encouraging. Love that Bruce said before the season started that he thinks it is collectively the best DL the Bills have ever had — or at least since he played.