BisonMan

Given Josh's game lately, it's really hard to pick which "amazing throw" is the best each week. The two throws to Diggs were both great and showed his growing ability to put touch on throws to clear defensive players. I was actually more amazed at the two throws to Gabe Davis along the sidelines. On both throws, Allen was rolling out under pressure and dropped or rifled the ball into a place where only his guy could get it. The 2nd throw to Davis really hit me. JA was rolling left and threw an absolute dart to Davis who was surrounded by 2 defenders for a perfect "toe-tap" sideline catch. Gabe "Mr. Perimeter" Davis is starting to remind me a bit of Chris Carter ("All he does is catch TDs").

My routine this year is grilling out Sahlen's hot dogs on the deck and watching the game with my son. It's been working so I'll stick with it!!

I don't actually know but I'm not getting into a room with a bunch of screaming Bills Mafia under the current conditions. My guess is that, if they are open, there is very limited seating.

A happy surprise to get to read this in the paper this morning. Tomorrow would have been a fun day to eat wings and beef on weck at Jimmy's Olde Town Tavern in Herndon.

With the Browns losing Stefanski for this week's game vs. Pittsburgh, I think that could mean real trouble because he isn't just the head coach, he's the play caller and the "Mayfield Whisperer". This got me thinking about a similar situation arising with the Bills. So... Between the HC, OC and DC, which coach do you think we could most and least afford to lose for a single game? What about forever? For a single game, I think we can least afford to lose Dabol. Without him, I don't think Dorsey could pick up the slack just based on experience. Frasier is the obvious pick for a single game because McD has already taken over play calling duties from him on occasion. I think McDermott is more important in the long-run, IMO. The culture he created might not outlast him if he departed and Allen is at the point where a new OC that understood the system would, over time, keep the offense at a high level. Again, long term, Frasier is the easier pick to lose...and I think we get extra draft picks if someone hires him away as a HC! Opinions?

The 30 second teaser for that 30 for 30 episode would encompass the entire content of the show. 🤪

I also think that the Titan or Ravens have the best chance to knock off the Chiefs and give us another home field game for the AFC Title! I also want the Bears to run the table in the NFC so our Super Bowl is a walk in the park...uh...perhaps I'm taking this too far.

Uh...I'm not sure you understand the protocol of online forums. You are supposed to defend your position until it become completely untenable and then devolve the thread into name calling. Under no circumstances should you ever admit any kind of error. Are you even an American? 🤪

Yup, here's how ESPN describes it (https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/30646089/nfl-playoffs-super-bowl-schedule-afc-nfc-bracket-seeds-tv-s-more) Divisional round: Jan. 16, 17 No. 1-seeded Chiefs and Packers will host the lowest remaining seeds in their respective conferences.

Given the seeding, I think we'd rather play Pittsburgh as opposed to the winner of the Titan/Ravens game. If the Browns win, they'll draw KC in round 2, automatically. I much prefer a Bills/Steelers rematch in Orchard Park over facing either of the running games from Tennessee or Baltimore. Am I figuring this right? Anyone disagree?

Good stuff! Thanks for the research. So, 3 in the last 10 years didn’t have a first round bye and none in 7 years. We don’t know which of these may have rested starters in week 17 but likely none of the Wild Card teams. Division winners may have been able to rest though.

Trying to make my point? 😁 so, that would be once in the last 10 years?

Either no starters at all, or just run regular game prep and have them play one series at most. My question on this is: “Which starter, if injured, makes it worth losing him in meaningless game just before the playoffs?” The Bills are very lucky at this point to only have one Day 1 starter out for the playoffs (Cody Ford). My hope is that Beas returns in time. Everybody else could use the rest/rehab. I'm trying to think of a recent Super Bowl champion that didn’t have a week off before their first playoff game. Anybody think the Chiefs will be “rusty” before their first playoff game?

I still like Knox. I'm not sure but I think his drops are down this year from last year (when I think he led the league!). He made two critical catches last night that had high difficulty ratings. The catch on 4th down with a DB crawling over his back was a great grab. The better catch was the sideline "Toe Drag Swag" catch on a Josh rollout. Great throw and great catch. Best of all, it gave me my video clip of the year after the Pats challenged that catch: If Knox can make BB do this once a year, I still want him on my team!!! 🤣

Fitz isn’t getting a ring as the starter of a team and only has 1 or 2 seasons left in his career. He loves Buffalo and getting a ring here would be the capstone on his career. The way Josh runs, Fitz might be needed and can help win us a Super Bowl.

The dude is the best backup QB in the league. He’s on the last year of his contract in Miami and a UFA next year. Bring this fan favorite back to win a ring next year...after we win the first one this season. 😉

BTW, I’m not recommending the Chiefs purposely lose games or rest all starters completely. I think they can treat these like preseason games (for example: have healthy starters only play the first half). They’ll have a full bye week as well. I’d happily have the Bills trade places with them!

KC doesn’t need to win another game to get the #1 seed in the AFC. They can treat the next 2 games like preseason matches before the first round bye. They can rest anyone they want for the next 3 weeks. That’s scary for everyone else. I really hope the Bills treat week 17 as a preseason game regardless of their seeding. They’ll want everyone healthy before trying to win 4 in a row in order to get Josh the T-shirt he wants! 😬

I hope the team is only concerned about winning the Super Bowl. This is a team that should fear absolutely no team in the league at this point. They should have the attitude of welcoming a rematch with the Chiefs because you have to knock the crown off the king to be the king. The Bills already have a home game in round 1. They don't care who they play. They plan to win and can beat any team in the playoffs. The team should rest whatever starters needed (maybe all of them!), if it means being healthier and better prepared to march through the playoffs. That week is nothing more than a glorified pre-season game to a confident team. The Bills need to win 4 games in a row once the season is over. That's the only metric anyone should be thinking about. Our boy blue has it right: “This hat’s fine and dandy. This hat and shirt’s fine and dandy. I want the one that says, f—ing Super Bowl Champion!” —Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen, in the locker room, to his teammates, after the Bills won their first AFC East championship in 25 years Saturday in Denver. P.S. That's the quote on the tee shirt they should be selling after the division win!

Married my wife in Spring of ‘96. Bills haven’t won the division since. I’m going to stop blaming her now! 🤪

We've heard it over and over again. Josh Allen's growth from year 2 to year 3 is unprecedented. Nonetheless, it's likely that teams will look to repeat the Bills' formula by picking a QB with the dreaded "potential" without seeming to understand the internal and environmental factors that allowed Allen to thrive. Internal Aside from his physical skills, Allen has two traits that have allowed him to have this massive improvement. First, Allen has a massive chip on his shoulders after being turned down by every college program when he came out of high school and got only one offer after his stint in JUCO. People think Tom Brady has a chip because he was drafted so late coming out of Michigan? Josh has been carrying this chip on his shoulder since high school. Second, Allen is a lot more studious a QB than people have given him credit for. His smarts have allowed him the ability learn more quickly than a lot of other players who never seem to "get it". Even this year, Allen has adjusted to changing defensive strategies to win games down the stretch. His drive has also allowed him to work more on his "craft" to become a better thrower of the ball. Environmental The Bills obviously have a very strong coaching staff and culture. That allows players the support they need to mature and learn. The team also has put in the pieces around him to allow him to succeed and grow with what his potential allows. He's often compared to Roethlisberger, but Pittsburgh surrounded Ben with a strong running game to protect his lack of skills early in his career. The Bills created an environment to stretch Allen's skills. I can see other teams with a weaker culture and less stable management reaching for QBs with "potential" in the coming years to find a Josh Allen but his background, internal drive and skillset are very hard to replicate. Add to that, the difficulty of creating the right team around him makes what the Bills have done, very unique in my memory. I don't really see a ceiling for Allen at this point. He could easily get even better with more experience. Other teams should be very wary of trying to replicate what has happened in Buffalo. I see a lot of mistakes being made in the coming years with teams chasing the next Josh Allen.

Re: Canada Americans’ knowledge of geography is generally pretty bad. When I tell people I’m from Buffalo, I’m frequently asked, “So, did you drive into NYC often when you were growing up?”. I had another person tell me that the Niagara River flowed from Lake Ontario to Lake Erie because that was “down” on the map! We’re lucky people know Canada is a separate country. Depending on how many bars you stop at along the way.

Great points. I didn't realize how few "pure" bison still existed although it makes sense given they were almost hunted to extinction. BTW, I never said "100% wild". Even cross-bred Bison are more Bison than cow. Similarly, you can get a wolf/dog cross breed but it's still dangerous as hell. "Manageable" and domesticated are very different things. The inability to domesticate bison over thousands of years is testament to the difficultly in getting to a bison that isn't dangerous. It's one of the key reasons that Native American culture fell behind Eurasian cultures technologically. Jared Diamond wrote the Pulitzer Prize winning book "Guns, Germs and Steel" about this topic and pointed to the bison's inability to be domesticated as a key factor in European dominance of North America. In any case, I'm sure they are joking because they know (at least Kim Pegula does), that having a bison paraded around the stadium would draw a lot of bison feces on the PR front. I can hear Bills' leadership saying, "Yes but they aren't completely wild...er...98% aren't pure...er...we're firing our PR department'

Note the first line in my response “I'm glad they are kidding...”. I was referring to both Pegula and Tre. It’s the people who take this seriously who I take issue with.

Agreed. It's looks like the Bills will be the 2nd or 3rd seed at this point, especially if they win tomorrow against Pittsburgh. That sets them up for a rematch with Pittsburgh in the divisional round presuming both win their 1st round games. The Bills wouldn't get to play the Chiefs until the AFC Championship game but there are a lot of "ifs" that predicate that. If they are playing well enough to get that far, I'd like their chances against KC even more.