TheBillsWillRiseAgain

At this point I'm now just appreciating the great experience our young Olinemen are getting in these games. Richardson and Henderson may never turn into great players, but if we can somehow squeak through this season successfully with them starting at G and T, we'll be going into next season with two REALLY young guys that have gotten significant time and valuable experience in the NFL already. Henderson showed flashes of talent early in the season. I have faith that he can turn into a really solid RT after a full year of NFL experience. And if he does, that position is solidified for years.

Don't forget that big run from Ivory to the Pat's 12 yard line for a 1st down that was called back right after that. It turned what probably would have been a TD into yet another FG.

If it gets you to stop posting in this thread, you're quite welcome.

What in the world makes you think I would or should care about what happens in other divisions when I'm most concerned about the Bills being competitive in their own division? Teams like Denver led my Peyton Manning probably get favorable calls too. I'll worry about that when the Bills are facing them in the AFC championship game.

Exactly. I don't care if Brady & Bellichick are going to go down as the GOAT. Stop with the bull **** non-calls and phantom calls benefiting the Patriots.

Doesn't matter. People will forget they stopped winning Superbowls after Spygate just like they'll forget how many games the later Patriots owed to questionable officiating. Brady, Bellichick, and Kraft. That's all they'll remember. Hell most casual football fans have no idea about Spygate RIGHT NOW.

You're delusional if you think NFL history will agree with you. 30 years from now the 2000-2015(16/17?) Patriots will be talked about as one of the greatest football dynasties of all time.

I don't understand why people can't separate these two things: A) The Patriots have consistently gotten an unfair share of favorable calls that have helped them win close games for years. B) The reason the Patriots have dominated the Bills is because they've been consistently gifted with ref bias. Someone can say A without saying B. I'm not sure why that's hard to understand.

Nice straw man argument. I obviously didn't say that, but it's a much easier position for you to argue against.

You're not really comparing the NFL as an entertainment powerhouse 20 years ago to the entertainment powerhouse it is today are you? Or the Bills being really good for 4 years to the Patriots dynasty that's 15 years running? Because that'd be like trying to compare apples to really stupid oranges.

Because I don't have a switch in the back of my head that turns that kind of stuff on and off at will. Do you? Nobody here took your "facts" seriously because you're intentionally missing the point of what you were arguing against. If you want to pretend like you can't see the difference between 5 yard penalties on 1st and 2nd downs and PI calls resulting in automatic firsts on critical 3rd down plays, what exactly do you want anyone to say to you?

Whatever the reason, it's just too hard for me to ignore anymore. I'm not trying to claim some big conspiracy, it's just obvious the refs are savings the Patriots' butts in plenty of close games. There's no way anyone can sit here and tell me a team like the Bills gets bailed out by questionable calls against opponents NEARLY as often as the Patriots seem to. And there's no way anyone can sit here and tell me that the Patriots get as many questionable unfavorable calls as a team like the Bills do. Maybe it's because they're officiating over a player and coach they know will go down in history as the best pair the sport has ever seen. I'm sure refs and judges were unconsciously bias when scoring Muhammad Ali's boxing matches later on in his career. That doesn't make it fair. The Patriots have been one of the best teams in the league for 15 years. They've had their time and should be left to sink or swim based on the players and play they have now, not what they've done in the past.

Reasons? Plenty. Robert Kraft is one of the most important/prolific owners in the NFL. The referees are officiating in live games that they know include a guy who will likely go down as the best Quarterback of the history of the sport. The Patriots have been a contender for over a decade and a half, everyone expects them to win. Everyone likes to see that Brady magic where they pull it out in the end for a W like they've done 946620943.2 times before.

I guess you guys are right. It's obviously a total coincidence that the Patriots always get the right calls at the right times to alter close games in their favor. It makes total sense that they've been among the top 3 beneficiaries in the entire leagie of the two most important and game-altering penalties every season for the past 3 seasons in a row. Nevermind the ridiculous non-calls and phantom calls we've observed ourselves over the years in Bills and Pats games. It must be a total coincidence that the Patriots never have a critical questionable call go against them, yet the Bills seem to get at least a couple every single time the two play. It must be Bills fan bias even though national broadcast announcers call the penalties terrible calls on the Bills. Never on the Pats though. Nevermind that ESPN.com listed more than a half dozen questionable calls after the Bills game, and sure enough, every single one was a penalty on the Bills: I mean how consistently do these coincidences have to occur before they're no longer coincidences? Can anyone here think of TWO games in the past 15 years the Patriots lost and were the victim of questionable calls at critical times during that game? Can anyone here think of a SINGLE penalty call against the Patriots over the past few years that came at a really critical time where the announcers said "Wow that was a bad call?" I'm sure you can think of several against the Bills. I'm not saying referees don't make mistakes. I'm saying they don't make them against the Patriots.

They must not care about the Texans long snapper then. They allowed the Colts to line up over center on a FG attempt and then called a penalty on them afterward just last week.

That's because they don't do that. And certainly not on the last play of a 2 point game where that play will either result in a win or a loss.

So it's ok for them to interfere to stop a player from committing a penalty? That's like saying "The ref grabbed him and pulled him back before he went offsides so that's ok."

You already know we're not talking about total yards and you already know why we're not talking about total yards.

I'm not making it out to be a situation of anything other than it is. In a league of constant questionable calls and judgement decisions by the referees, the Patriots consistently seem to come out on top year after year.

If you'd like to show how that correlates to the Patriots getting the most favorable calls in the whole league, be my guest. Simply suggesting that's why isn't enough to warrant consideration though. The AFC South was a worse division than the AFC East last season. Were the Colts top 3 in those penalties as well?

No.

I obviously disagree with you that the play in question wasn't a penalty. That not being obvious is odd.

Did I not just post FACTS from the past 3 seasons that show the Patriots have been top 3 beneficiaries each year on two of the most important and game altering penalties in the game?

It's ridiculous to try to say that unfair calls in the Patriots favor automatically means people are whining that the Bills lost because of the refs. If you can't separate the two that's you're problem, not mine. It's obviously not just against the Bills. It's against anyone the Patriots play. Whatever the reason, the refs seem to want the Patriots to win. I can think of COUNTLESS games over the past few years they barely won that included questionable calls helping them out. Why is that? Please explain this: -The Patriots are "the most penalized team in the league" so far this year but more than half of their penalties are 5-yarders. -So far this season, they've had more defensive pass interference penalties called against their opponents than any team in the league. -So far this season, they've had the second most offensive pass interference penalties called against their opponents of any team in the league. -Last season, they had the second most defensive pass interference penalties called against their opponents of any team in the league. -Last season, they had the third most offensive pass interference penalties called against their opponents of any team in the league. -In 2012, they had the second most defensive pass interference penalties called on opponents out of any team in the entire league.

Did I say that?