SoMAn

Obviously, that was the rationale. It was a 50-50 decision. Could have gone either way. Not necessarily a bad one. If they’d gone for it and somehow come up short, the same complainers would be questioning why they didn’t punt to pin Mayfield and the Bucs deep in their own territory. The D had been having success against them, so the choice to punt seemed like a reasonable one.

Right. For those of us around long enough to remember, the Bills vs Patriots game had the rarely witnessed PI called on the Bills on a Hail Mary to give the Pats the ball at the 1 YD line with a chance to win. Which of course they took advantage of to win the game. It was a ticky-tacky call where the defender was positioning himself for the ball. I believe that was the same game in 1998 in which one of the patriots receivers was well short of the first down marker but the official was heard saying ‘just give it to them’. If ever there was a game that you’d question if games were rigged, that was it. But that was 25 years ago - the last time I can recall a PI penalty called on a Hail Mary where all players were bumping into each other as they’re targeting the same ball. Pass interference calls in that situation are basically unheard of. Unless one of the Bills were blatantly pulling a potential receiver out of the play, no flag was coming out.

Brown is extremely thorough and offers intelligent counterpoint to Tasker on their afternoon show. It’s clear he does the research and is excellent at analyzing the Bills on and off the field. Probably a good columnist/writer. But, as the radio voice he’s not what one expect at the NFL level. His presentation sounds overly affected. Is he really THAT exited when the Bills score? Somehow, that style worked uniquely for longtime Sabres voice Rick Jeanerette, but Brown sounds like an impressionable youngster doing a bedroom impersonation of the icon. Stick to the talk show format and writing.

To me it sounds way too scripted and lacking any spontaneity. I get the sense that he spends nights in his study composing silly puns around player names, hoping he’ll get credited with being the author of the next ‘top shelf cookie jar’ or ‘do you believe in miracles?’ classics. He just sounds disingenuous and his 3 octave range is like fingernails on a chalkboard. Glad I don’t depend on WGR for the games. The highlights are about all I can handle.

Chill TFO. This team isn’t 1-6 or 0-7. It was one bad defensive stand at the end of yesterday from being in the division lead. Yes, there’s plenty of room for improvement, but the knee jerk ‘fire____’ chant is idiotic. Every season has highs and lows. After a dismal opening day they’re 4-2. Be concerned but not time to panic yet.

Something I’ve noticed is that the offense appears to have more efficiency and better rhythm at a faster pace. I don’t know that ‘no-huddle’ is exactly right, but I believe Allen operates better in a fast-break offense.

I hear he’s big in Japan

Bills 35 Pats 13

Silver lining…. the fewer Bills scores and big plays limited the WGR rewind broadcast highlights where Chris Brown’s voice screeches like a woman with an unwelcome mouse in the kitchen.

The zebras couldn’t bother getting the flags out when they were digging fist-pump guy in the end zone.

After record noise levels against fish, round trip to London, selling seats to secondary markets, 12th man was off. Fire Bills Mafia!

He’s not a young journeyman coach - he’s a first ballot Hall of Famer. If Kraft wants him to step down, it’ll be after a private meeting in which Belichick announces his decision to retire. It can be argued that BB is an average coach without Brady, but regardless, he’s got 8 championship rings as coach and DC. HOF coach in NFL for 45 years isn’t getting fired.

I sense that Elam simply isn’t that sharp. The coaches have devised complex schemes that attempt to address most things the opposing offense throws at them. If a player has gone off the reservation and is freelancing, it throws the whole thing off, creating opportunities for being exposed. Maybe Elam has always been a ‘man’ CB because it works independently of the other 10 defenders and doesn’t take much more scheming than ‘stick to your man like glue’. In his pre-draft interview with Beane and McDermott he brought his playbook, emphasizing how diligently he is with study. Sounded like B.S. to me. That should have been a clue. He may study his arse off, but that doesn’t mean it’s being comprehended. His days are numbered. 1st round bust.

Even before seeing 63-year-old father’ I figured you for someone too young to have clearer perspective. If the Bills losing games or not winning a Super Bowl is the epicenter of your existence and puts your mental health at risk, you’ve truly had a privileged life. Someday you’ll experience a life event involving a person or people you love that will truly shake your world and humble you quickly. At that stage of maturation you may be able to put NFL entertainment in the proper order or importance in your daily life. Yes, it’s just a game. That’s all. Sadly, I believe you’ll have to learn this lesson the hard way.

It’s a game. That’s all.

I think the bills were between a rock and a hard place in last year‘s draft. They desperately needed a cornerback and unfortunately there was a run on CBs just before the bills pick. Normally, I think they would’ve just gone with the proverbially ‘best player available’, but circumstances dictated that they had to fill the vital defensive position. Wallace was gone and they couldn’t be sure when Tre would be returning or how effective he’d be. Kaiir was a reach. I suspect Bean and McDermott both felt that way at the time but didn’t have a lot of options. I don’t recall the exact circumstances, but I don’t know what free agents may have been available, or if they even had cap room for any candidates. Probably negative on both counts since they let Wallace walk. After viewing McDermott’s post game presser following the Jaguars game, his replies and body language to the Elam questions made it clear that the usually diplomatic McD not a Kaiir Elam fan. Sadly, Elam is going to go down in Bills’ history as a first round bust, and unless some other team has a rash of corner back injuries, he’s not likely to fetch much of anything in the trade market.

This has been a fine weekend for humour. Yesterday, while reading early morning news from her cell phone, my wife alerted me that llamas had fired rockets into Israel. I said, ‘where are your reading glasses? I believe you meant to say Hamas’. oh. Right. If she told me alapacas were invading the Gaza Strip I probably wouldn’t have questioned her announcement.

You had me at English ex-wife 😘

Until now, this day has been sort of lousy. This may be my favorite all-time post. I mean that sincerely. I don’t necessarily agree with everything, but the passion and tone is Diggsian. Thank you.

The Bills have been getting out schemed and out played. That’s all. It’s going to up to Josh, Dorsey, and the offense to put up some points. With the mounting injuries on D, that’s their path to a W.

Yeah, she can get unnecessarily wordy at times. I suspect she’s the kind of person you have to say ‘goodbye’ to five times before you can get off the phone.

I’m slightly pissed off as I got the thing for $9.99 back in May, with the promise (I thought) if it being for the year. instead, it was just to enjoy all the past games and all the upcoming preseason games. and that was some shady kind of marketing because it was promoted as showing all the preseason games LIVE. Well sure, if it’s being broadcast in the local area. They made it sound like I’d be able to watch the bills games live through NFL+ premium. Maybe on mobile device. I forget. But definitely not on TV NFL app. As it turned out, the $9.99 service was only good until the regular season started. Oh. More deceptive marketing. I was OK with that and was going to sign in for the $79.99 promotion. Instead, I was auto/billed the regular subscription price of $99. So, I’ve already paid $110 and the Johnny Come Lately's will get it for $50 for a year. That blows. Apparently marketing today is all about being Houdini with the English language to make buyers believe they’re getting something they actually aren’t.

I can’t imagine her ever getting a national on-camera gig. Her voice is just a tad regional. Fortunately, her thick Chicago accent is practically indistinguishable from one you might hear in parts of WNY, so she’s ok for Bills fans. And, she’s a bit too Plain Jane for Sideline reports and Good Morning Football shows where they prefer a little more glamour from their female talent. I do think she’s as knowledgeable or more than some of the talking heads who’ve never played the sport. She does her homework. My biggest beef with her is the same one I have with Chris Brown- they can’t stop themselves from interrupting when Tasker’s talking. Tasker was telling an amusing anecdote yesterday that involved a practical joke from training camp involving Reed, Smerlas, and Ritcher, and he was twice on the verge of saying ‘even today..’ (anticipating something about Smerlas, the prank’s victim), but thanks to her interruption, we were left hanging on that line.

Man, you are taking some ***** for asking? WTF? Yes, when there’s a 47 yarder, I do immediately relate it to the Norwood attempt in SB XXV. But I’m a numbers guy (have been referred to as Rainman). I don’t necessarily think ‘wide right’, I just look at it for perspective, comparing field goal attempt in 1990 to 2023. A 47 yard field goal is practically considered a ‘gimmie’ by today’s top kickers. Back then it was maybe 50/50.

Looking forward to seeing the level of Bills Mafia representation at the game. Judging by the initial experiences y’all are reporting, it appears it will truly be a home game atmosphere.