Logic

If only Norm and Gilbert were still around to participate.

The result of every sports matchup in history comes with an "if only x, y, and z happened, we would have won" asterisk. Guess what? X, y, and z DIDN'T happen, and the Bills lost. Football games offer an mind bogglingly infinite amount of variables that all contribute to the outcome. You can "yeah, but" until you're blue in the face, but the bottom line is that the Chiefs won the game. As Mel Brooks used to say..."Or you are, or you ain't".

I’ll go outside the box. One of the Bills with the most to prove is OJ Howard. His size and athleticism led many to believe he’d be a superstar NFL tight end. To date, that hasn’t happened. He hasn’t been a bust by any means, and has put up a few solid seasons. He just hasn’t lived up to his potential. Now that he’s out from under the thumb of Bruce “tight ends are for blocking!” Arians and has healed from his Achilles injury, it’s make or break time for him. Is he gonna be just a TE2 afterthought his whole career, or can he take his game up a notch and reach his sky high potential?

Pretty sure you just created it. So….I’ll take the under.

Yep. I take Beane at his word: Shakir will be the WR4 and the prime backup to all three starting WR spots this year. That means he’ll get snaps, he’ll learn the ropes, and it won’t surprise me if he gets some gadget plays, too. Barring injury, I don’t expect him to be the starting slot receiver until 2023. Even Gabe Davis, who was sensational as a rookie, is only just now becoming the starting WR2 in his third year. In any case, I do believe Shakir has a very bright future. I just do t think they’re going to rush it.

I wish that was true. The articles I linked quote numbers like HALF of republicans and 1/3 of Americans overall believing in replacement theory, so white supremacy — unfortunately — may have more of a presence than we think, even if it’s veiled in indirect language and concepts.

Here are a few articles about the foothold that replacement theory — itself a White supremacist ideology — has on many Americans, from a variety of sources. The shooter today was not the first mass shooter to be radicalized by white supremacy and replacement theory and he won’t be the last. https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/tucker-carlson-great-replacement-white-supremacy-1231248/amp/ https://www.marketwatch.com/amp/story/poll-finds-one-third-of-adults-say-they-think-an-effort-is-afoot-to-replace-native-born-americans-with-new-immigrants-for-electoral-purposes-01652314775 https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/05/09/nearly-half-republicans-agree-with-great-replacement-theory/ https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/amp/ncna1295212

It’s almost as if the ongoing normalization of white supremacy and replacement theory have awful consequences in the real world.

I agree almost completely with this, but have it 9-2 after the bye. 12-5, AFC East champs. Only question is whether it will be good enough for the #1 seed.

First seven weeks of the schedule are tough, but things get much easier after that. Need to come out of the Packers game 4-3 or better, and they should be fine. I predict 12-5, AFC East champs. Whether or not that’s enough for the #1 seed is the question.

I actually like Talkin Proud. When the Bills broke the drought in 2017, I walked around the house doing the stupid dance from that video and singing it for days. My wife, uh….was not a fan.

When it's all said and done, here's what I expect with our trio of young defensive ends: Greg Rousseau will have a long career as a good edge setter and run defender who can chip in 6-8 sacks per year, but will never be a dominant edge bending pass rusher. He'll be somewhere between Shaq Lawson and Calais Campbell. Boogie Basham will also be a 1st and 2nd down base defensive end. His biggest pass rush impact will come as an interior defender on 3rd downs. His versatility and run stopping ability will allow him to stick around the league for years, but he'll never be a big time, impact pass rusher. AJ Epenesa will be a career journeyman who never lives up the potential of his draft pedigree. I wish I had a more optimistic outlook. Rousseau and Basham will both be good players, I think, but just not the type of franchise pass rushers we're hoping for. Epenesa was miscast from the start. He should have been drafted by a 3-4 defense to play 5T. The Bills selecting a power rusher and then having him shed a bunch of weight to try to become a speed rusher was a foolish decision, and ruined whatever chance Epenesa had to be impactful.

Right, but as I mentioned, not every game has to be region/proximity based. That's ONE basis upon which they could create matchup. Another would be QB vs QB, or Super Bowl rematches, or new player acquisitions, or any number of things. For instance, if Broncos vs Seahawks wasn't on the schedule this year (I'm not sure if it is or isn't), that could be the extra game: Russel Wilson returns to Seattle as QB of the Broncos. If they want Brady vs Belichick again, they just schedule Pats vs Bucs. This idea gives the NFL the flexibility to ensure that such compelling matchups get to take place, even if the rotating NFL schedule system otherwise wouldn't allow it.

I definitely understand that, and I did think about the fairness concerns. Still, I feel like 17 games is a big enough slate of games that the argument of "our ONE hand-selected matchup was tougher than another team's and that's why we lost out on seeding" isn't compelling enough to avoid the idea altogether. Under the current system, the odds that our regularly rotating NFC opponent each year is more difficult/imposing than another AFC team's are just as good. Say we're facing the Cowboys and the Dolphins get to face the Giants. That's the same type of disparity in non-common opponent difficulty, with the only difference being that it was randomly generated. At least with the "hand selected games" idea, the games would be exciting instead of random, and they'd be different each year, so it would ultimately even out over time. At the end of the day, the excitement and fun and novelty that these games could generate outweighs whatever competitive imbalance their selection might create, in my opinion.

In his latest FMIA column, Peter King was asking for fan submissions of ideas to improve the NFL or make it more exciting in some way. I wrote to him about a scheduling idea that I think the league is missing out on: Now that the NFL has added a 17th game, they ought to make the extra game something special and buzzworthy, rather than just a regularly rotating non-conference opponent, as it is now. The slate of extra games should be hand selected by the league to draw interest and eyeballs, using specific themes and player matchups. Some games could feature "area rivalries", with, for example, the Jets vs Giants "battle for New York", the Bills vs Browns "Battle for Lake Erie", and Chargers vs Rams "Battle for SoFi". Another theme could be "Super Bowl Rematches", with games like the Patriots vs Giants or Cowboys vs Raiders. How about "Great Quarterback Battles", with Brady's Bucs vs Mahomes' Chiefs or Lamar's Ravens vs Kyler's Cards. Using this method, the league could create opportunities for great matchups we otherwise don't get to see often. If they want Josh Allen vs Aaron Rodgers but the Bills aren't slated to play the Packers until 2025, no problem! Maybe they want one more bite at the Brady vs Belichick apple, but the Bucs aren't scheduled to play the Patriots any time soon...no big deal! The NFL would have the power to create 16 monster matchups each season, however they see fit. Imagine, in the midst of schedule release mania, looking to see what "special feature" games were on the docket each year, the extra buzz and excitement those games could add to the season, and the frenzy of the TV networks battling for the best games. The NFL is really missing an opportunity here!

Count me as one who never knew this existed....

Should've taken Rosen.

Drink some Labatt’s. Works wonders.

Good call. Thank God.

No one is gonna flip away from the Bills game to watch the Vikings game other than Eagles and Vikings fans. Well, unless the Bills are blowing them out, of course. Only downside is that I have to listen to Aikman and Buck 🙄

Look, Wydermyer and Morris may be faster and more athletic than Tommy Sweeney, but have you SEEN his immeasurable chart?! I’m going Sweeney all the way.

I like Singletary. A big key to me is the return to zone blocking under Kromer. Moss thrives in such a scheme, whereas Singletary struggles. Motor has tended to thrive behind power man and pin and pull concepts. All I’m saying is that Moss is gonna come back healthy, motivated, and ready to roll behind a run scheme better suited to his talents. I think he’ll be much better than people think this year, will allow the Bills to let Motor walk in 2023, and will then become the thunder to Cook’s lightning for a season. Bills won’t have to address running back in a major way until 2024, when Moss leaves. I don’t think the Bills will be in the business of giving big second contracts to running backs.

Between his return to full health and the return to more zone running, Moss is gonna have a major bounce back year and challenge Singletary for snaps. Everyone already counting him out as a bust are wrong. I will die on this hill.

I think Rick Danko might have my favorite singing voice of all time. There’s just something about it, man…

What a stupid idea. Someone got paid to write that? Sheesh.