Buftex

Bills special teams stalwart Mark Pike passes away (buffalobills.com) https://www.buffalobills.com/news/bills-special-teams-stalwart-mark-pike-passes-away?fbclid=IwAR1hEM42lhrgkRgfIhqRV12s0XgVASaPAqajizhfQA3QTVg6bCeeUXx64_I

As disappointed as I am with this team right now, Josh Allen is the very least of my concerns. Kid is fantastic.

I am discovering, as I am getting older, though I have seen every minute (pretty much) of every Bills regular season or playoff game since 1986, the "drought years" are all kind of a blur for me... so many players I kind of forgot about. I have been going through a fairly massive stack of autograph photos from all the years, and when I hit the "ugly uniform" era of 2002, up til about 2017 I have a hard time remembering so many of these guys... Josh Stamer, Derek Schouman... outside of a handful of star players, there just isn't a lot of great memories (for me) of those years, even though I enjoyed them while they were happening. Funny thing is, I can remember most of the guys from the 80's and 90's without having cajole my (terrible) memory too much.

Poor Ko. He will only be remembered for that... I don't think he ever made a play on the field.

Damn, you are good!

So, you guys were so helpful with the first one, I submit another Bills player photo...anyone identify him?

It is easy to question it now, because it didn't work, but the thinking behind it (I think) was that we would score early and often, and that the Pats couldn't come from behind. It might have been a solid strategy, if we had actually been able to score.

Did anyone happen to see the episode of the Colts Hard Knocks, from the week that they prepped, and destroyed the Bills? It got me thinking that other teams don't really respect the Bills as much as we might have thought. Not sure if McDermott saw it, or heard about it. But, in the aftermath of their big win, Colts players were making comments (not unlike Jags players a few weeks earlier) about how the Bills "didn't want it", or "don't seem to care". They mention how they wanted revenge for their playoff loss last year, but the Bills just didn't seem to amped up for the game....it was an easy win. Sorry, can't remember the exact quotes...but they are discussing McKenzies fumbled punt, and one of the Colts players said something like "we knew they were sloppy with the ball, so we expected it...but I was surprised he coughed it up like that". A few days after this aired, we came to find out that McKenzie was benched (or as he said on twitter, "out for the rest of the season")...maybe it wasn't the result of the show, but it sounded like the Colts players and coaches expected the Bills to be undisciplined...it was a poor reflection on the Bills coaching, I thought at the time.

I didn't hear it personally, but apparently McDermott, in his post-game pc, said that "McKenzie and Stevenson couldn't be trusted". It got a twittwer response from McKenzie: "Damn" I think we saw "sugar high Sean" on display last night.

For better or worse, I don't think we will be seeing a lot more of McKenzie down the stretch. He may not even be in the lineup. There has to be something going on behind the scenes between he and McDermott. If he starts benching everyone who turns the ball over, there won't be a lot of guys left to play.

I've been saying this all season. It almost seems like Daboll is just getting lazy... depending solely on Allen way too much. Last season, in most games, the passing game had more wrinkles, and gave defenses more to look at. I'm not one of those who wants people fired after every loss, but I am growing more and more frustrated with the offensive play-calling. I realize, our O-line is not very versatile, but they just can't rely on Allen dropping back, holding the ball forever and making an incredible pass. There has to be more. On Monday night, knowing that our running game is almost non-existent, I thought there would be a concerted effort made to get the ball out quick on short passes to Beasley, Diggs and Sanders...they have been able to do it before, and move the ball effectively. Whether it is Daboll or McDermott, they not only got outcoached by Belchick, but they outcoached themselves on Monday night.

Good work! I think you are correct. One of those guys who I completely forgot about!

So, going through twenty years of junk, came across a stack of Bills autograph photos that I obtained over the years. There are about 40 of them, and of course, I didn't write the players names on the back...I think I have successfully ID'd them all...but this one. Anyone know who this is? I am guessing it was from 2003-2007. So many players you forget about....

I was at the Houston game back in October when I was up there. It was miserable weather, but we had a blast. Is it me, or has every game at home this year been wet and windy?

Agreed, he has improved each year. I am still not sure about his call in the Tennessee game, but if we had made it, I wouldn't be complaining. It was interesting to see Harbaugh make a similar decision yesterday, with similar results.

Personally, I think people underrate Anchor Bar, and overrate Duff's. Neither is my favorite (Gabriel's Gate, Kelly's Korner, McParland's, Bob & John's or La Hacienda for me), but Anchor is actually really good, when they are on. They aren't always on though. I honestly don't like Duff's, at all. I didn't grow up on them, and only had them when I would come home after not living in WNY for years. I was really disappointed...their reputation far exceeds their quality for me.

I had some at Gabriel's when I was home back in October...they were obscenely delicious.

Loved McGuire Weird, I feel exactly the opposite. I don't like or dislike him...like most of them. he is just kind of there.

Yes, when they lose a game in the fashion that they did this past Sunday, I just need to get away from everyone ASAP...I need to suffer in silence for a little bit first! Hadn't had to do that in a while...not since, maybe Rex Ryan fiasco. I know they lost some pretty ugly games early on in McDermotts time, but my expectations were never real high early on. Sunday was the first real "WTF!!" loss for me, under McDermott. Even when they lost to the Jags a few weeks ago, it sucked, but I really thought it was a case where the O-line was in disarray, and got man-handled. Everyone was criticizing Allen, saying he was returning to his "hero-ball" ways after that loss, but to be honest, I thought he played pretty well in that game...the O-line was so bad that day, they needed a hero! And the defense was stellar...there were positives in that game. This Colts loss, however, was just a tad demoralizing...like they needed to make a better showing than that against a good team. It was embarrassing...to me, the first truly embarrassing loss of McD's tenure. I can look the other way, provided they show up on Thursday.

I purchased one of the "mystery boxes" for an 8 x 10.... pretty happy with it! It will make a great Christmas gift for my nephew... not bad for $30. This picture doesn't do the signature justice... Are there two signatures, or just Basham? I would never want them to switch to blue helmets, but that does look really nice.

Though I am not really a big fan of these alternate helmets, that is pretty nice. Is that Boogie Bashams auto? Is there somebody else on the front?

Jordan Poyer, Micah Hyde... I won't waste a lot of time arguing the point.. the argument that starts out "take away all the good players he brought in, than what has he done?" isn't really worth it. I get it...the Bills disappointed all of us... the season ain't over... there have been times in recent years where elite teams like the Bucs, Chiefs and your beloved Pats have had lulls at parts of the season. They may not be the Super Bowl champs that so many crowned them as, but lets not pretend that one really ***** performance destroys all the progress they have made. Unless you are truly convinced that they really are a fraud, I hold out hope that the monumental disaster that we saw yesterday, that affected literally every facet of the team, was an aberration of sorts. Maybe I am nuts....but I will be watching every game they play this season....whether it is seven more, or 8- 11, I am still thinking they have a good shot at winning them. The wheels aren't completely off...

It is me whenever I leave the bar, after a bad loss...can't wait to get out of there!

And what about the 20 years before this season, when the Patriots were praised for taking exactly the same approach as Beane has, in filling their roster? There are 7 games left in this season...