eball

Definitely one of the top 4 games of the week, and easily the premiere game at 1pm. BAL/KC, GB/NO, SEA/DAL, and this one. My dream scenario is the Bills win and Vegas upsets the Pats***, setting up a nice little 3-0 showdown next week.

I think Kroft, now that he is healthy, will be a pleasant surprise to a lot of Bills fans on Sunday. I’m not suggesting he should supplant Knox but he is a very capable TE in this league.

With respect to your first sentence, I think it’s fair to say that there are certain “triggers” it is hard to overlook — I.e., the negative or “skeptical” posters who repeat themselves without providing much (if any) insight. There are a few “the team is perfect” posters but not many. I think most want to defend their team but are not unreasonable. There’s nothing to disagree with about your second sentence.

It’s just a meaningless statement. How many underdogs defeat teams with winning records? You present it as if McD has “failed” and that’s what I think is disingenuous. If McD was losing games he should win, we’d have a problem.

I agree the lines will be tight.

So if we go by practice this week the logical projection would be that Milano plays and Edmunds doesn’t. Milano wasn’t in a red jersey at all and practiced fully on Friday; without a setback he’s a go. Edmunds didn’t get any contact but otherwise practiced, which tells me they didn’t want him banging that shoulder at all. Hard to imagine they play him when he’s had no contact. Our 2-LB sets will be Dodson and Milano and I can live with that for a week or two. Dodson was flying around last Sunday and will only be that much more comfortable this week.

Bring it on. I’m tired of the “tough schedule” talk. The Bills will be favored in nearly all of their games. Time to get the job done.

And more importantly, we saw rational explanation for why he wasn’t a polished product coming out of college.

So far the best thing to happen in an NFL stadium related to piped-in crowd noise was last week when whoever was calling the shots in Philly actually booed the Eagles coming off the field. That was fantastic.

Beane hit the jackpot with Daryl Williams this offseason. That guy is going to be getting another contract. Disclaimer: I have no idea what I’m saying when I discuss OL play.

Quick question: in how many of those games were the Bills favored? I’d suggest, without looking it up, that the answer is perhaps one or two, and most of the time the spread wasn’t close (i.e., greater than a 3-pt dog). When you’re a prohibitive underdog it’s because the team doesn’t have the talent or experience yet. Your repeated blurting out of this “record against winning teams” is not evidence of anything. Let’s see what happens when the Bills are favored (or pick’em) against winning teams, which will happen a lot this season, starting tomorrow.

Yes. This is the best thing to come out of the show, in my opinion. Peyton picking up on little things that take a good QB to the next level. It is clear that no matter who the analyst is, though, they are all “wowed” by some of Josh’s throws. There were a couple where Peyton was almost speechless. It’s a really good 20-minute watch. Edit: and I’m just going to add...if you don’t like Peyton Manning’s humor and charisma, combined with his knowledge, I don’t know what to say. The guy is absolutely awesome and would be amazing in the booth if he ever decides to go in that direction.

Your memory is off. The 2018 Jags were 3-7 when the also 3-7 Bills faced them. Sammy wasn’t on the Bills in 2017 when they beat KC. I think McD’s signature win was in Atlanta in 2017. That’s what injected real belief into this franchise.

For those of you who have ESPN+ this is a must watch. Peyton is great. Hopefully Josh watched this and got some tips. But it is awesome.

You have no idea what he has done off the football field.

What sort of run -- a 5K? That's nice -- is it for any particular charity?

This essentially means all three are playing. Great news.

Yeah, that goal line stand was disappointing. And then, after scoring to take a 24-20 lead, stopping Miami and getting the ball back so we could put the game away was disappointing as well. Against the Jets the defense was top notch. Against Miami they gave up short passes and played without two starting LBs. Go back and watch the replay -- Fitz was putting the ball in some tight windows. They've given up 30 points aside from two garbage time TDs when holding a double-digit lead. Some of you are pretty unrealistic with your expectations.

This is the paragraph I take issue with: For quarterbacks, the stats that tend to be stable over time include passing efficiency from a clean pocket, passing efficiency with no play-action, completion percentage over expected and the share of throws that are off target or negatively graded. Each of these aspects of a QB’s performance is indicative of their true skill and is less affected by circumstances and luck. Stats that aren’t predictive of future performance — and that tend to be highly affected by circumstances and luck — include passing under pressure, passing outside the pocket and passing efficiency with play-action. In what world does a QB get to operate without pressure or stay purely in the pocket? And play-action is specifically designed to make a QB more successful. The author says that because Josh is performing well in these "non-predictive" areas we shouldn't count on his improvement to continue? That makes no sense to me.

Since you posted it here, I know the name now. So thanks.

Motor is going to EAT this week!

This is a very good test for the Bills’ D which is hopefully getting at least one of Milano/Edmunds back. Also, we see if Daboll can continue his excellent game planning and keep the offense on pace. How will Josh come out in his first game following a breakout passing performance? The Bills certainly don’t overlook teams, and I think the Rams’ win against Philly exposed a bad Eagles’ squad rather than pronouncing LA as a heavyweight. The talent level across the board favors Buffalo and even without fans, it’s their home environment. Prediction: the offense keeps humming and the D bounces back in a big way. Bills 34 Ewes 13

Gene, I suggest a healthy dose of perspective here. Injury reports have been and always will be a form of gamesmanship in professional sports. The margins are so slim in the NFL; it’s true that any advantage gained could make the difference between winning and losing. As fans we want to know every detail but we have no basis for demanding it. Also, the NFL has in recent years been much more strict on insisting that teams put players on the injury report when they don’t participate fully in practice. The way McD and the Bills handle the injury report has absolutely nothing to do with “arrogance.”

So does this mean his name is removed from the 2020 Whipping Boy list? I’m trying to keep up with everything.

Oh, he sounds like an incredibly good dude. I’m talking about the mental sharpness...