mjd1001

Luck is already going into his 7th year in the league, it just doesn't seem like that long. Clock is ticking on his 'greatness' so to speak. He is a very good QB, pro-bowl level, but now with injuries racking up, and the team around him doesn't look like it has a chance to be good for a least a few years...I think the days of wondering when he will take over as the next great QB Superstar (Brady, Rodgers, Manning) are coming to an end. For the Colts sake you just want him to be healthy and be almost as good as a Matt Ryan or a Drew Brees.

I think culture is something that can have a SLIGHTLY bigger impact on a team than 'momentum' can have during the course of a game. I think 'momentum' is 90% bogus. The 10% of the time it means something is when the players on the field believe in it AND let it impact their play. Culture has a slightly larger impact on the big picture. I'm not a huge believer in it, but I'd rather have a good culture than a bad one. Talent, injuries, luck and coaching all are WAY ahead of culture when it comes to final results.

Sorry if this was posted already, but I didn't see it https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/madden-nfl-18-review-simulation-dak-wins-mvp-without-zeke-patriots-dont-win-afc-east/ CBS sports sims the entire year using madden, Bills finished ahead of the Pats and won the division. Some highlights: In much less surprising news than during last year's sim, the Atlanta Falcons went 13-3 to secure the best record in the league. The second best record belonged to ....... (wait for it) .... the Buffalo Bills! The Bills, Titans, Ravens, Patriots, Chargers and Raiders made the AFC playoffs -- in that order. On the NFC side of things, the Falcons secured the No. 1 seed, while the Seahawks were No. 2. The Eagles, Saints, Packers and Cowboys followed in order. Confused about, you know, the Bills beating the Patriots, I did some statistical investigation. LeSean McCoy was No. 7 in the MVP voting (although Blake Bortleswas No. 8, so red flags are flying everywhere). The Bills-Patriots thing is just impossible to understand. If I told you the Bills won 11 games and the Patriots didn't win the division, you would assume both Tom Brady and Jimmy Garoppolo were kidnapped by a crazed Rex Ryan and held hostage for months somewhere in Bristol. Nope. Brady threw for 5,355 passing yards and 34 touchdowns while completing 75 percent of his passes. Even wilder? Tyrod Taylorhad 2,069 yards, 16 touchdowns and five interceptions. Nate Peterman had 2,051 yards, 15 touchdowns and seven interceptions.

There is no guarantee Matthews plays 16 games, but odds seem better he will than Watkins. So does this make the Bills better this year? Matthews for 16 games...or a healthy Watkins for 4, an injured Watkins for 4, and no Watkins for 4. No guarantee that happens...but odds seem to favor that outcome rather than a healthy Watkins for 16. In this case, are the Bills a better team with Matthews?

My big questions, how much did they shop Sammy around? Is this the best they could do?

I agree. I would have thought most teams would have done this already.

While I like watching college football, I tend to think its not the best system. Too much money in it now to change, but in my ideal world, I'd like to a minor league or D-league where the players get paid and can get drafted out of that system.

I'll agree also. Of course I want the Bills to stay in Buffalo...but not at such a high cost for what they bring. For me, it just 60 direct hours of entertainment per year...and if the Bills weren't in Buffalo I'd replace that with something else. Once again, I want the Bills here, but it has to be one of the BETTER deals for taxpayers of everything that has come down in the past 20 years for me to be behind it.

My guess is that Beane will put together the roster, but McDermott will look it over before any roster changes are finalized. Or as others have said, if the Bills need a LB, McDermott tells Beane what he would like in a LB...then Beane goes out and finds 2 or 3, with his recomendation for which one to choose. Most of the time McDermott may go with Beanes choice, but McDermott does have the ability to make the final decision if he doesn't agree. The 'leg work' of gathering the names is up to Beane though.

There is no reason why the Bills HAVE to draft a QB in the first round this year. If they think that anyone available for them to pick in the first round will only be slightly better than Tyrod Taylor (or even equal to him) then it doesn't make any sense to draft him. If the Bills think that someone is there for them AND they truly think that person is going to be a lot better than Tyrod (a top 10 at least, maybe a top 5 or 6 qb in the league very soon), then I think the would have no problem drafting one. But if that isn't the case, the shouldn't draft one.

I pretty much dislike any team that is A.) Considered the favorite. I almost always root for the underdog. B.) as obnoxious fans. MOST teams have annoying fans....but when I am subjected to them personally, It kinda turns me to root against that team. C.) Any team that has a lot of national-bandwagon fans. D.) A team that has been successful for a long period of time without any (or many) losing seasons mixed in. If there is ever a team that has all 3 of those...that will get me to the level of hate. Right now, the Pats are on the top of the list....so is Alabama Football...Red Sox are up there too.

I go back and forth on this one. Greatest of all time for his team? I have to say yes. Greatest in all aspects of the game? No. Basically, if you were to Plug Tom Brady into each and every NFL team to 'try him out' in different situations, and then do the same with Peyton Manning...I think Manning would be more successful overall across the board. Brady has won more though.

A few years ago on a 46 hdtv, I never noticed this, but now when watching the games on a bigger TV, Fox's 720p broadcast looks a lot worse than CBS at 1080 resolution. Hoping fox and ABC/Espn will upgrade to 1080 (or uhd) cameras soon.

I think the blame for most of this goes right on Pegula(s). Whether Rex is a good coach or not..whether he wants to pass the ball or run...has a winning season or not....it might not have mattered much. You NEED your coach and GM to be on the same page (or at least in the same chapter. By not allowing Whaley to make the coaching hire, Pegula is the one that made the decision to get to this point. If they really REALLY wanted Rex and wanted him as the 'figurehead' of the team, they they should have asked him to look over a list of GM candidates that he thinks he can work with and share his philosophy. If they REALLY wanted Whaley as the GM, they should have let HIM pick his own coach. I'm not a huge fan of Sullivan and his style of confrontational writing, but I am agreeing with him more and more with the Pegulas...they just seem like they sometimes operate as amateurs. Yes, they are new at the game, but they haven't brought in experienced people with either team to guide them, and then look the situations that just look bad for the teams (Lafontaine, "Lidny's not going anywhere", promoting Rolston, Ted Nolan, bypassing whaley in hiring of Rex, how Marrone left......some of this may not be their fault, but a lot of it could have been avoided.)

If he is gone, I'd put the odds at: 5% another head coaching job this year. 10% he takes an assistant coach job of some kind. 25% he takes a year off. 60% he ends up broadcasting.

agreed 100% If you are going to go for a big-name guy from NFL past (Cowher, Gruden, etc.) I'd just as soon have you keep Ryan.

If you are being serious, I mostly agree with you. I have reached the point where Taylor probably has to go, I'm good with that, But I'm fine with the other 3 staying.

I agree with you. Unless a coach leads this team to an AWFUL record (like 5 or 6 more losses than expected), I want to see ANY coach get 3 years.

Raiders 34 Bills 19

For the the bar is I am entertained. As I said before, I want the team to win badly, but I'd much, MUCH rather they do so in an entertaining fashion than to do so in a 'bog-through-the-mud' fashion. Many people already made posts about them being glad they won the game in other threads...now that it settled in, they are going to CONTINUE the conversation with observations about what needs to be improved....both to make the team better and to make the product more entertaining. I want entertainment. I'll take the win, but I don't see ANYTHING wrong with constructive criticism of the team when they put on a performance where they barely get by. That is the whole point of message forums for many people...not to just be glorified cheerleaders behind a keyboard.

I don't know about that....I watch a game to be entertained, not just for wins and losses. And its not just entertainment....what we see today is part of the evaluation of what we think our team will be going forward. It is very narrow minded to complain about others 'complaining' about a win...that is not what it is at all. What people are doing is making observations and comments about how enjoyable the game was to watch...and about how what they think things will be like in future games based on what we saw today. Would you propose that after a win, ONLY positive comments about the game can be discussed, nothing else? Or should there be 2 different forums..one for discussing wins and losses, and one for discussing the aesthetics of the game and our opinions on how particular players played?

I think the problem with Harbaugh is you do NOT get longevity. From all we hear from media, players, and even people he has worked with, and what we have actually seen, he seems to wear out is welcome pretty quickly. Even if you think that isn't exactly true, the fact is he does change jobs pretty often. I think he is not the guy you look for if you want one of those 6+ year coaches.

Yet many of the people who go to games won't have it any other way. When you bring up a new stadium, reduced tailgating...higher ticket prices....a lot of people are angry about that. Many people go to the games not just to watch the game, but that is their place to party. There are just a lot of regular fans who WANT to have one or two (or 5) drinks, want a place where they can act a little crazy. If you change that, there will be a lot of unhappy fans. I'm not sure if there is a solution...unless you are willing to go all out to eliminate that type of fan from the stadium. I don't go to many (any) games anymore, but in the past when I did...I did see some really crazy behavior.

Season being on the line next week? The sad part is...it is probably true. With a loss...they would be 4-4...and having such a bad AFC record...they would probably lose most tiebreakers. So 10-6 would probably not do it. At 4-4...they would need to go 7-1 to get to 11-5....not looking good. A win though....and everyone is back on board the playoff bandwagon (with good reason). Might be the most important game the Bills have played in quite some years.

The frustrating thing to me is...I would LOVE to see this Rex Ryan coached Defense (this years version) play a few games in a row with a full D roster (Williams, Dareus, and at least a little contribution by a somewhat healthy Lawson) Dareus is so frustrating now (and its not just this year)...I am close to the point of NOT wanting him here anymore..no matter how good he is WHEN he plays....the frustration he brings as a player to me as a Bills fan isn't worth it.