IndyMark

^^^ This. 100%, I feel McDermott has indicated in the past that most rookies "hit a wall" during the season, and likely they learned from that and afforded him a chance to take a breather and reset. I do think it is that simple.

So, not only did I crush wings the night before, but realizing it was a prime time game, away, and involving the f#$%@-ing patriots*, I had to dig deep. Go the extra mile to ensure a Bills win. You know, the game is bigger than me, I had to be comfortable, being uncomfortable. Basically, in addition to having wings the nite before to which the Bills are undefeated, I had wings also during the game. Not that anyone is counting, but I am, and this means I have literally and thoroughly crushed wings 6 times over the last 12 days - all in support of our Bills. To be sure this is sustainable, I am increasing my statin intake to a small handful of pills each day; just for the protective effect. Go Bills. Side note: I actually thought I would start to be less enthused or even feel a bit sick thinking about eating wings after this stretch, but I have varied the place I get them from and altered the sauces slightly, so I still have high interest in eating wings. To be clear, no way I am going another week without wings, in fact, I may get them for dinner tonight. No need to thank me. I like doing my part.

Smart TO, use this as teaching time --- smart move by McD.

I am in; what do you got? I will go with Tequila.

I am going to go with Hines, again and hope this time it comes to fruition. Admittedly, with him not having the opportunity for full practices given all the quirkiness of the last few weeks for the Bills I was a bit too forward thinking that he could be installed in the offense quickly. In sum, I think he returns a punt to the house and creates some plays out of the backfield for Josh in a way that significantly contributes; keep drives alive and picks up crucial first downs. Likely catching more than running the ball.

Please, both the points are absolutely subjective and just because you watch a replay or two does not mean you have infinite wisdom on this. Again, yes, Ed played better.....played, finally, like the high pick he was. I think most people, not named you, feel this has been a long time coming and he is overdue for play like this. And yes, lining up against back ups or back ups to back ups matters. The reverse is being made clear that our DE were not pressuring because Groot, Von, Epenesa are out.....ignoring the reverse, on that point, about Ed's play is sort of goofy. You know as well as everyone, Ed has been invisible when going against top-tier guards, in fact he has been put on his back and displaced easily when going against maulers of the IOL. See the Tennessee game last year on Henry's big TD run, they ran. right. at. and. over. Ed. Right there on tape. All I am saying is that Ed needs to play like that consistently, through a game and for multiple games. Finally, he did not win the game for us. Did he play up to his expectations? Yes. Did he single handedly win the game? Absolutley not. He contributed to the win. His body of work is lacking. He will get his due, when he earns it over time. It really is not that hard to understand.

Points #2 & #4 above are 100% subjective. Regarding the safety, we won by 3 and did nothing with the ensuing possession. I would respectfully reject your position on that. I admitted previously I have a bias given how utterly disappointing, underwhelming, and non-existent Oliver has been since his arrival. I admitted that. Yet, it is one game and he played against back-ups and back-ups to the back-ups, he should dominate. Yet, I appreciate the respectful counter, to what I am thinking.

A terrific throw absolutely and if you watch the highlights of the full play, no doubt we all agree it was an incredible catch....Diggs got jarred at the moment of the catch and we have all see those types of hits cause a no catch. Yet, Diggs being Diggs and Allen being Allen allowed that play to happen and count. Good stuff for sure.

Marino is a decent listen, I appreciate it when he acknowledges when he is wrong - which is rare in these days and ages. He is certainly deliberate and intentional with trying to provide content to Bills fans in a manner that is efficient to listen to and there is something to that. I listen regularly because it is a concise podcast, daily, during game weeks that is easy to listen to. But some of his takes are a little goofy as all of ours are. This stated, it is not like he possesses any keen insight that is so unique, novel, and transformational that a decently informed fan is blown away....his highest level of play was HS (IIRC) and in that way, he is like us. But I do not view him as a guiding light and somewhere to turn when I am not sure what to think. I find myself agreeing and disagreeing with his takes with some consistency.

While I have been pretty disappointed in Oliver overall, particularly given his draft position (and fully understand he had nothing to do with that), he has played much better lately. Yet considering how underwhelming he has been for the last couple of years maybe we wait until he strings together a couple of these performances before we annoint him anything? If he can play like this for 4 or 5 games of the next 6 - sure I will completely pivot on him. Until this seems like a severe overreaction to Ed's performance yesterday. The reverse of the "Allen is terrible" crowd, I suppose. Also, if we are being honest Ed played well against the back-ups to the back-ups of the Lions IOL. That should get acknowledged at some point. The irony of some posters here who state "He is a beast this is his best game thus far" do not fully understand if he were a beast, he would have 13-14 games a year like this, not a handful or less. Simply stated you are not a "beast" if you perform in a single game so well, compared to your body of work, that it stands out. A "beast" is someone who dominates game to game to game to game. No one with any football acumen can state that Ed has dominated for years now. I get the excitement, I do as I am pleasantly surprised by Ed...but in the eyes of McD and others he has not earned any particular accolades as compared to some of our true stars, like Allen and Diggs. DaQuan had just an impactful game as Ed yesterday, where are those clamoring for that? Also, why diminish the Bills players themselves who shouted out "Settle" as McD was trying to get the 3rd game ball to give out (that eventually went to TBass)? Clearly we do not see what the Bills see. Finally, TBass absolutely deserved acknowledgement. He is the leading scorer on the Bills over the last 2 games, if I recall correctly.

Meh, I do not see it this way (turning on Josh). I see passionate fans having expectations not being met....either by an inch or a mile. Now are/were the expectations incorrect? Yes. The media way overplayed Josh this offseason (MVP, superbowl winner, next coming of Joe Montana, etc), and Bills fans being the believing and trusting type went with it. And those who went with these national "experts" are also to blame as one really needs to calibrate expectations against reality, not this goofy narrative weeks before game one is even played. Also, many fans post stuff in the heat of the moment when either the Bills are in fact losing or looking like they are about to grab a loss from the jaws of victory. The internet has been around for years, why in the world would anyone make a summative conclusion about a fan base during high emotion times? That seems equally odd; to me at least. To each their own I guess. Josh has played brilliantly at times this year and he has played like Wyoming Josh at times and everywhere in between.....plus it is clear that he has looked uber confident and then absolutely shell-shocked. As such, people comment. You do not have to be a good soldier 100% of the time, in a forum like this. It is perfectly ok to bounce around based on how your team plays. Or I am missing the point of a discussion forum? To some degree, it is shocking to me that someone is disturbed and shocked that Bills fans have emotions and post as such. Moreover, how can we "trust" the process when all offseason it was questioned about our process for "13 seconds"? Let's appreciate this forum for what it is and each of us do "us" and not worry about others? Go Bills!

Even though I was staring at some form of poultry the next day, on Wed night I once again crushed chicken wings. Most around me went with the typical pre-Thxgiving feast of pizza, chinese, or mexican. Me? Nope took one for the team and went with chicken wings to ensure a Bills win. In that way, I also gritted it out with wings twice in 5 days. Here is me doing my part. Thanks for asking!

Nope. <sorry quoted wrong post> thought I was quoting the "2 seconds left, was I only one thinking game not over> .....Though our discussion was squib kick versus allowing for a hail mary. I was in the minority for the squib kick, yet can see both sides.

What was our D doing that last play, the TD? I saw that run coming, wonder why our team our coaches cannot? Scary.

Yes!!! The White on Blue is back! They have been collecting dust far too long. And lest we forget, the "13 seconds" game was white on white so not sure any uni combo is jinxed anymore. As they say, if they are all jinxed then none of them are jinxed, as the Bills have notable losses in all uni combinations.

I had wings the night before; as if I recall correctly the Bills are undefeated in games where I just absolutely crush about 20 wings the night before a game, however to ensure the win, instead of DVR-ing the game (did this for the Minn game = loss), I went to the game. Yep, made the trek and am so glad I did. You. Are. Welcome.

Correct, yet what is being overlooked is the associated time zone change by flying back. They actually gained an hour by flying back. So they have an extra hour of prep / rest time that the Lions do not enjoy. Smart call by Bills.

I set my DVR to tape it and watch later. Which I rarely do......I typically prioritize watching Bills games in real time; this time I was like "Eh, no biggie"...this one is on me, friends.

I am utterly shocked at the amount of people (Bills Fans?) that have stated after the Bills stopped the Vikings 4th down at the one, they started celebrating. Really? Regardless of the historic meltdowns (wide right, throw back, 13 seconds.....) we got the ball at our 2 foot line - how does that go unnoticed? I told my wife, when I saw the Bills celebrating on the bench like the game was won, that it was way too early....nobody should feel good about the circumstance. Sure be excited about a stop, but when you get to the sideline, focus on the game......same for fans, no way you should conclude the game was over. When I saw the Bills line up in the QB sneak I was hoping they would quickly reset into a shot-gun to throw off the Defense and then throw a quick slant....but nope, we ran a play that everyone in the world new we were running and just like the Tenn game last year, we mucked up a qb sneak. How many times do we try that until we learn this is not our strength? Totally flummoxed at the "celebration" and ensuing play call. Totally. Flummoxed.

Honestly, you should have adhered to the 24 hr rule, before making this claim. I think it is personally fine for someone to blow of steam when we witnessed what we did. I think if you surveil the comments now, a lot have de-escalated their vitriol and mean comments. It is human nature. Again, starting later today if those comments keep coming up, sure you have a point.....but honestly, you are too quick on this. The Bills follow the 24 hour rule, maybe we ought to consider that too?

Maybe I am scrambling here but kick-off returns seemed notably positive; an upgrade of sorts. He seemed lively and smart in his decisions. This could bode well for us as we strive to develop a 60+ minute mindset on game days.

What is seared in my mind from yesterday's game is the commentator Daryl Johnston(?) pointing out how the Vikings CB ---whom is making his NFL debut nonetheless---- provides textbook coverage, with his head turned toward the passer because he was sideways to Dawson in the endzone and breaks up the possible TD. All the whilst reminding us that our DB's consistently keep the back of their helmet facing QB's, maintaining poor body position, thusly drawing the flags we do. This is coaching 101.

Thanks for the reply, yet we are not referring to the same thing....my version of the "chosen team" was the media darling, superbowl favorites, unicorn-MVP worthy QB and the hype therein that we all saw starting in July ending about 3 weeks ago. Your version of the "chosen team" references a bad call today, to which we have been on the receiving end numerous times over the years; which is fine but not in alignment with the content of my post. Again, I appreciate the reply nonetheless.

I felt this way about the Bills once. Once. Trust me, as you watch this team over the years, the inclination to "be grateful no matter what" mentality will dissipate and you will be able to view the Bills in a clearer lens. Of course this is just a game, and life is way bigger than if the Bills win a game or not. I am a loyal fan and want the best for the team and all of us, of course, but that does not mean critical feedback or thoughts that include the players or coaches are not helpful or useful in keeping perspective. The Bills were outcoached and outplayed today. It warrants criticism and a message board is that place. What makes losses like this and last weeks perplexing is the fact that we are now in a place of questioning whether this team is a group of pretenders or contenders....and according to the media all off-season and early season, we were the "chosen team". Now we are a 3rd place team in a division within an entire conference. The reality exists that we miss the playoffs altogether. Wrapping one's head around this new reality takes a bit of getting used to. Sure we will be rooting for the Bills next week, that is not the point. The point is this team is considerably overrated at the moment and getting in over their heads by the week. McD has done a great job in getting the Bills in a different place but his skills are now a major rate limiting factor in the team being able to take the next step.

While the sky is absolutely not falling, we are kidding ourselves if we feel this team will advance in the playoffs; our worry should should be making the playoffs. Yes, right now the numbers may suggest we are in, but they way we are playing we really are not "in" if you are looking. This was a disappointing loss on a few levels, it is not all on Josh as the coaches need to be held to account....and that is the trouble, this is a mix of bad play by players and horrific preparation from coaches. I am becoming less committed to McD, he is showing some severe weaknesses and limitations is his ability to lead this group in a consistently and meaningful manner.