fergie's ire

Ah, can't remember what I was watching but they said Allen was injured and showed a different play. I think it was the Okereke roughing call? He falls backward but at an angle to that the impact hits his shoulder blade. That would NOT be an AC injury play, but what you describe is exactly the kind of play that causes that injury.

Strange. I've had an AC injury and the way he fell did not look like an AC injury at all. Typically with an AC injury you impact the top of the shoulder. The classic way to to it is if the arm is pinned (like when a tackler wraps a player up around the arm) while the top of the shoulder is impacted pushing it down and straining those ligaments. When they said he hurt his shoulder I was thinking AC, but when I watched the tape he falls on the back of his shoulder, basically on the shoulder blade. That would seem more like a bruise than an AC sprain.

Eagles suck and should clearly fire their coach and GM. The Niners should do the same. Clearly, they don't know what they are doing and will never wind a Super Bowl.

Because once he was off the field, the refs would have marked the ball ready for play and wound the game and play clocks. The Jags could have stood around and waited for the clock to run down. The Bills did not want that to happen so McD called a timeout.

I do find the reaction to Kincaid's usage to be odd. We keep hearing over and over again that Josh needs to stop playing hero ball. He needs to take the short safe passes. Well, if you send EVERYONE 40 yards down field there will be nobody there when Josh throws it short. Furthermore, those throws are only safe if there is someone there who will actually catch the ball. How many times did we see a "safe" pass bounce off McKenzie's chest? We needed someone with really sure hands who could catch the underneath stuff and allow the offense to methodically move the chains. That's why he was drafted and that is what he is done. He is playing his role perfectly. Might that role be expanded as he gains experience and defenses start keying on the short routes? Sure. But for now he is perfect for this offense.

Yes, that was one of the plays that I was thinking of that I had seen broken down. The two are just working so well together.

2. I agree and would add one other play...the play just before this one. The Bills had some good success early running the ball on first down. Then the Dolphins tightened up and these turned to two yard gains or no gains. I said to my wife, "I get it, you want to show that you're willing to run on first down, but you don't have to do it EVERY time" after they ran it on first for what seemed like the 50th time in a row. Right after I said it was the play action pass to Davis and he was WIDE open. It was a "bad" throw by Josh that I think was smart. You don't want to overthrow the pass and by making it a short safe pass it may prevent Davis from getting the touchdown but, at that point, even running the clock and kicking a field goal would have been devastating to Miami. Anyway, Miami was clearly loading up to stop the run and Dorsey burned them. It's amazing what that run threat can do. 7. Other than probably a stubborn few, we all agree that Bernard has been amazing. What I am also starting to notice is how well they play together in a way that I never saw with Edmunds. They just seem to be in absolute lock step and Bernard has made Milano better. Great write up as always and have a great time in London.

I agree for the most part except when you say great read by Cook. It's not that it was a bad read by Cook and he did do a great job, but I think the read was Josh's. I noticed on the replay that as Josh is rolling to the right and Cook is standing on the sideline, Josh waves with his left hand to Cook to signal him to go downfield. Just a great play.

Yes, he will grow but I already think he is extremely impactful. People kept reading about how awesome he looked, so they expect excitement. I think they expect him to take Davis's role and be running go routes and 90 yard touchdowns. That's not his role. Right after the draft he was compared to Beasley, that is the role they hope he can fill. He can be someone with sure hands who can get open and find seems in zones. He did that several times yesterday, particularly early on. Comparing yards to other receivers does not make sense. He is someone you can count on to convert a 3rd down or stay on schedule by catching 6 or 7 yard passes.

Ummmm, have you SEEN what happens if Oldmanfan doesn't show up on Sunday morning? Me neither, but I would NOT want to find out.

Agreed. And another "splash" play that doesn't get credited to him on the stat sheet is the Hyde interception. The interception was Hyde's but Tua overthrew the receiver and it went to Hyde because of Bernard's position. The guy has been amazing. What a steal to get this guy in the 3rd round, eh?

I thought it was funny that Aikman commented that it takes a team with great linebackers to stop the Dolphins and, like the 49ers, the Bills have great linebackers. All I kept hearing pre-season was that the Bills' biggest weakness is linebacker.

What's EJ Gaines doing these days?

Virgil, I seem to remember after the Jets game that you said something like it would take you a while to feel better about this team. So, I have to ask. Has it been a while?

I believe I remember someone posting that Josh had an 80% completion percentage against the Jets well into the game before he wigged out and started chucking the ball around. If that's true, then if Josh had been patient and continued doing what he was doing he would have had an 80%+ percentage in 3 out of his 4 games and won the other one by over 30 points. Yikes. But he's not accurate and will always be a sub-60% completion guy.

Do you think that's what they're telling Tyreek right now? He had an almost identical stat line 3 for 58. "No, no, Tyreek...it's okay, that's GOOD for a #2 receiver."

Benford came back in. Johnson looked to be a cramp.

At first I read this as "peeing chicken" and thought, "What kind of weird antics did YOU get up to last night?"

Do you remember how we looked vs how Miami looked going into the first time we played last year? Do you remember how Dallas looked going into the game last week? We know very little about how good any of these teams are yet. I'm not sure what to expect on Sunday....or any given Sunday, for that matter.

That's great that Oliver has so many pressures, but it's also interesting to see Jonathan Allen near the top of that list and think that he did not give the Bills a lot of trouble. Another sign of the great job this line is doing and that they are getting better (given how they struggled against Williams).

Since? I would include those Rivers years as well. They may have made the playoffs a couple of times, but almost always underperform. Every year it seems like I hear THIS year the Chargers are going to challenge...but then they don't. I seem to remember one year they had something like a 3 game division lead with 4 to play and lost it. Just the Chargers being Chargery.

Wasn't the same kind of storm taking aim at the Baltimore game last year? Someone has to stop scheduling these late sept/early oct mid atlantic games.

I'll bite your legs off!!

It's always a bit silly to judge the strength of schedule before the season because you just don't know how things are going to change. All the talk this year has been about how much tougher our schedule is this year than last. However, before the season last year all the talk was about how tough the schedule was, particularly the beginning of the season when we played powers like the Rams and Titans. That said, it's equally tough to judge how hard the schedule will be in season. Early in the year the Dolphins looked great but the Jets looked terrible. Then the Jets went on a bit of a run with great defensive play. So, it's also not only who you play but when you play them. The Bengals look terrible right now but they might be great, and desperate, when we play them.

I DO understand the concern based on Monday's performance. It seems eerily similar to problems Josh and the Bills have had throughout his career. It also seemed like things were working in the first half. They didn't score a ton, but against that kind of defense (and lame offense) it's a sound strategy to gain a few yards, play field position, and get touchdowns or field goals when a situation presents itself. Josh just appeared incapable of being patient with that plan. That said, I think it is particularly hard to play a good defense in the first game in this day and age. Practice time is reduced, and playing time in pre-season is greatly reduced. They just aren't used to seeing and reading defenses. If there is one player I think might eventually rival Brady as a reader of defenses/decision maker, it's Joe Brady. He always seems to make the right decision. He threw for what, 80 yards? The first few games of the regular season are the new pre-season so there is hope that Josh will be a better, or at least more consistent, reader of defenses this year.