Last Guy on the Bench

Yes. Very deceptive. I went in and signed up, as $10 would be an amazing deal. But when I checked my account status, it shows that it auto-renews at the regular $79.99 price on August 1st. So I just wasted $10, as there is no need for the subscription before August 1st for me. I was going to buy it anyway at the regular price, as I do every year. But that was some skeevy marketing.

He rarely looks too happy. Unless Kaiir Elam has his notebook out.

It was just so strange. I still have a bad hangover from that game - I'm not as into the draft as I usually am, I'm following the news less avidly. I'll spring back, I'm sure. I love this effing team too much. But it was almost inexplicable. Not losing. Just the way they lost. I can see why Taiwan is baffled. I'm sure a lot of the players are. Humans are complicated. Human collectives are even more complicated. I do think there is something to the fact that the year finally caught up with them and against a team that was primed and energized and a bad matchup anyway. It happens in sports. It happens in life. I expect them to come out swinging again. McD has his weaknesses, but leaning into adversity and jumping back up off the canvas is not one of them. So I'm very keen to see how they respond and what their vibe is to start the year.

One of the silliest things I've ever seen. And it shows how easy it is to manufacture conspiracy theories. Point: NFL is selling tix for Atlanta and has to return the money if the game doesn't go ahead. Counterpoint: as many people have pointed out, they are selling tix for all possible playoff hosts and have to return the money for all of those that don't go ahead. Point: When Cheffers refs the Bills have a great record over the last few years. Counterpoint: When anyone refs the Bills have a great record over the last few years. Point: When Cheffers refs, home teams win 60% of the time. Counterpoint: Home teams win 55% of the time anyway, so he would be a small outlier. And normal distribution would typically include small outliers - it's not like every single ref would have exactly 55% as their home team winning percentage. Not to mention that even if Cheffers is slightly more influenced by the home crowd than others (debatable - he gives an anecdote about one game where the visiting team was penalized a lot after a bad call against the home team - fantastic "proof" - you can find any pattern of calls you like if you only need to offer one game as "evidence") then that's just part of the home field advantage the Bills earned by only losing 3 games, unlike the Bengals. I'd like to say this video is unusually dumb, except we see this kind of weak sauce conspiracy weaving out of cherry-picked, out-of-context facts all the time in politics, culture, internet "science," etc.

You could be right. That does sound like someone from the Bills side.

Not saying it wasn't some Bills official or other, though I tend to doubt it, given the culture there. But that quote really doesn't have the vibe of Bean or McDermott anyway. I would be completely shocked if it were one of them. Can't see them sounding off to a reporter in that tone. Way out of character.

Yes, this is most likely - that the broadcast team was talking to the refs, who in the absence of any direction (yet) from the league, just told them what the normal rule was for restarting after an extended injury timeout. It's very hard to believe the league office called and told them to start the game back up after a five minute warmup. I think it was just the refs and the coaches in discussion - the refs saying this is the usual procedure, the coaches responding by saying they needed to go discuss things with their teams, and the refs (and league at some point) agreeing. But the conspiracy theorists are out in force tonight.

Doesn't seem that the article is saying cold weather gets you sick by itself. It is proposing a mechanism explaining why you might be less able to fight off an early infection in cold weather. You would still have to have gotten infected by something else, e.g., the proximity explanations you note above. If the authors are right, then cold weather would both increase your exposure to others (your explanation) AND lower your initial immune response, both of which would contribute to higher sickness rates in Winter.

?? There are only three games based on the previous year's finish aren't there? 14 are predetermined and have nothing to do with your previous record. Each team plays 6 in their division, 4 from the conference division they are matched up with that year (rotating, predictable, same for everyone in your division), 4 from the non-conference division they are matched up with that year (same thing), and then the three finish-dependent games - the team who finished in equivalent position in the two conference divisions you are not playing, and then the equivalent team in one of the (rotating) non-conference divisions - which is the new 17th game.

No chance we sit guys with a loss. We would still have a shot at the one seed with a Bengals loss and a Chiefs loss either this week or next. Imagine sitting guys, losing to the Pats, and then that happens. McD would be run out of town.

I like him a lot as a guy, but I don't think he's ever had a good feel running the ball. He's fast and can find a crease now and then. But he just doesn't have that sense of flow and he gets tackled really easily. Many, many times over the years I've thought he had room to gain a lot more yardage than he ends up gaining on a given play. Can't really put my finger on it. But after five decades of watching good runners flow through traffic, you just get a sense when it's there to be had. And I think he's left a lot of yards on the field over the last few years.

Not a chance. It would be pure insanity.

Yes, your mean-spirited, third-grade name calling is definitely an important part of the "checks and balances" that will help Beane and McDermott make the right personnel decisions so we can finally win the Super Bowl. Thank you for your service. I wish you had made up an equally clever name for Norwood in 1990 so we could have won SB XXV as well.

Yikes! It's pretty amusing to watch, though, now that we know how the story turned out (i.e., we seem to have one of the greatest players in the history of the NFL on our hands).

From the Ringer: Buffalo can go light with three and even four receivers on the field at once. They can put multiple backs in the backfield or multiple tight ends on the line of scrimmage. They can line up under center or in the gun. They can dial up old-school, downhill-run plays, or call more modern option plays designed around the QB. Allen has become a surgeon on underneath stuff, but he’s still throwing rockets to the deep and intermediate parts of the field. And he’s as comfortable throwing to the middle of the field as he is outside the numbers. This offense can do anything at any time, and it does it all at a high level. This isn’t just the best offense in the NFL today. It’s one of the most comprehensive attacks this league has ever seen. 5 Takeaways from The Bills Win