Logic

This has to be the very top of the top end possible outcomes of this situation for Hamlin. Like...this has to be within the 5% "absolute best case scenario in our wildest dreams" range, right? One week to the day since we weren't sure if he'd make it through the night. He is WALKING, he is talking, he is neurologically "clear as a bell", and he is headed home. Absolutely incredible.

For all of this talk of moving various corners to safety now that Hamlin is on IR... Even IF the coaching staff was going to do that, does anyone actually think that such a transition would go quickly/smoothly enough for the coaching staff to actually insert said converted corner into the starting lineup in the playoffs?! I think there's about a 0% chance of that happening. If Dean Marlowe, a previously productive, smart, veteran safety who already knows the position and the system, can't crack the starting lineup at safety, does anyone really think a player who's been doing it for a couple weeks could/would? If we want to have this discussion in the offseason, I'm all for it. But as for the rest of this season/playoffs, I'd be shocked to see anyone other than Cam Lewis, Jaquan Johnson, or Dean Marlowe manning Hamlin's vacated safety spot. And as much as Bills fans may dislike it, Lewis is very likely to get first crack at it.

Here's an unpopular take: I thought that Cam Lewis -- who will likely be taking over at free safety from here on out -- actually played well in the Minnesota game, EXCEPT for on the famous non-swat-down of the Jefferson catch. Obviously, that's the play that gets remembered, and rightly so. But OTHER than that play, I thought he acquitted himself pretty well. Even on that play, yes, he obviously should have swatted it down instead of going for the pick, but he was in position and was a freak Justin Jefferson play away from having the game-sealing interception. Anyway, I think we're about to see a bunch more of him, so we'll see if I'm right or I'm a crazy person. If he DOESN'T perform well, I'd have to think the leash won't be very long, since playoff time is coming and Dean Marlowe is a smart vet that knows the system.

In addition to what Buffalo_Stampede said....I just can't imagine any Bills players WANTING to sit for this Patriots game. I would bet anything that they want to go out there and run through a brick wall in honor of Damar. Now if the Bills have a big lead in the second half? Then sure, rest starters. But until victory is certain, I expect the team to go all out.

Clowney's career has been so strange. Came into the league being touted as a generational prospect. The excitement over him was largely due to one or two viral highlights from college that stick in everyone's mind. In nine seasons in the NFL, he has had three 9+ sack seasons, one 6 sack season, and five seasons of 4.5 or less sacks, including three years with 2 or less sacks. He has never once had double digit sacks in a season. His career average is 4.7 sacks per season. Decent player, but definitely still living off his college reputation.

Yeah, I actually DO kind of wonder if Crowder was thinking of and meant to say Josh ROSEN, not Josh ALLEN. Because the term affluenza -- to the degree that it has any meaning at all -- certainly WOULD apply to Rosen.

I could not -- absolutely could NOT -- care any less about what Channing Crowder has to say about literally any topic on earth. That said, this term does not apply to Josh Allen. Not in the slightest. Crowder doesn't know what the hell he's talking about. And I'm willing to bet all the money I have (all 14 dollars) that Crowder has never met Josh Allen. 100% Talking out of his ass.

I was just going by the wording of Rapaport's Tweet: This is amazing: For the first time, #Bills S Damar Hamlin is addressing the team via Facetime. The breathing tube is out, and he’s spent the morning speaking to various teammates on Facetime. Now, he’s delivering a message to the entire group, I’m told. — Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 6, 2023 To me, that sounded like he was talking to guys individually first. Perhaps Ian just worded it strangely.

So Damar Facetimed individually with various teammates? The thought of what it must have felt like to get a Facetime call and look at their phone and see that it's Damar on the other end. I can't even imagine. Chills, goosebumps, lump in the throat. What a miracle. What a blessing. What an incredible turn of events. God is good. And if you're not a "God person", then we can just say: modern medical science is incredible!

Yeah. I think the term “presumptive working diagnosis” indicates that they suspect they know what the cause of the cardiac arrest was, but have not yet arrived at an official, final diagnosis. I believe the quotes I posted were from NFLPA medical people, not Hamlin’s doctors. I’m not sure how their language in describing their working theories and diagnosis probabilities would differ.

I didn't see this posted yet, but if it has been, please forgive me. Pertinent part in bold. From the NFLPA press conference about Damar Hamlin today: “A lot of people have been speculating about what would have caused this [to a] young, healthy, great condition young man,” Hines said. “What we have seen through the video and what we know, Thom and I discussed this and probably said this in unison, commotio cordis, the blow that hits you in the chest and hits you in a very unique time and what’s when there’s an upstroke of the heart and go back to what an EKG looks like and the second peak, it had to hit you in the right place. So, it’s a very rare incidence that doesn’t happen very often at all, but we know about it. The emergency action plans preparing the teams ahead of time, that’s all part of hoping for the best and preparing for the worst, and that’s what happened. They were ready.” Mayer stressed that Hamlin’s commotio cordis diagnosis is a first for the NFL. “It is unusual and quite unique,” Mayer said. “The good news is if that continues to be the presumptive working diagnosis, that is so exceedingly rare that someone who had would not be at risk for the future, and if if indeed that turns out to be the bottom line diagnosis, then there’s been 24,000 men who have played this game in the National Football League, and this has never happened before, so it would be a 1 in 24,000 incidences.”

Three things: 1.) I couldn't be prouder to root for Josh Allen and Sean McDermott. Both of them are genuine, loving, caring men of high moral character. Seeing coach get choked up talking about Damar hearing from his mom about the outpouring of love for him since Monday night...how could you not be extremely proud to have him as head coach of the Bills? And Josh taking the time after the press conference had ended to specifically shout out Tee Higgins and say he didn't do anything wrong. Awesome. 2.) When the reporter asked "do you think the players are ready to play a football game on Sunday", and Sean McDermott was about to start speaking, but Josh cut him off and authoritatively said "I do". That moment right there gave me chills. 2.) The "You Can Call Me Al" ringtone busting out mid press conference was awesome, and brought much needed smiles and laughter and a release of tension to the room. So proud of those man after that press conference, and so proud that they're the leaders of my favorite football team.

*****. After reading this, I decided to pop over to Chiefs Planet for a minute. As always, I'm so sorry I did. Do you think they KNOW how awful they are? Like...do the cretins there have any awareness of what an awful, toxic, disgusting cesspool that place is? Woof.

Incredible news! "neurologically intact" certainly sounds promising. Fingers crossed and prayers up for a continued and full recovery.

Something like this would be great. Even if they handed out blue square placards/handouts with #3, or #3 in a heart, something like that. SOMETHING to show a unified front of love and support for Damar Hamlin.

I think that the only way the Bills Mafia community will know how to support this team and to show their love for the players is to yell and shout and cheer as loud as they possibly can for three hours at Highmark Stadium on Sunday afternoon. I'm not sure what the demeanor of the players will be, but I expect loud, wild, rabid support from the fans.

Fair enough. I suppose I should have extended the first sentence to say "Human beings can only take so much trauma, so much grief...before it begins to affect their mental/emotional wellbeing to the extent that their focus and/or work performance can begin to suffer." Your third line is probably quite right, though. The players will likely be depending on the passion and enthusiasm of fans to help get them through the coming weeks. Fortunately, I'm guessing the fans at Highmark Stadium this weekend are going to be incredibly loud.

And as we all know, Cincinnati always plays in the second half of games just as well as they play in the first half, with no recent examples to the contrary.

Thanks for the response. I'll just say that "counseling a friend to shut down" or "lock[ing] yourself in a room and mop[ing] around" are not the same as "encouraging people to take the proper time and measures to process their grief". Take me, for instance. I mentioned that I'm having trouble getting "up" for the game. That doesn't mean that if I choose not to watch the game, I'm going to sit in the darkness and mope. I'll likely take a walk around the neighborhood, read a book, have lunch with my wife, play some guitar. "Taking some time or changing my routine in order process difficult feelings" is not the same as "shutting down" or "moping".

The best (not necessarily healthiest) way FOR YOU to move forward from a tragic event is to "get on with it". The fact that you think that there's only one correct and healthy way to move forward from trauma belies a certain arrogance and small mindedness. As to the "more dad, less mom" comment...not sure where to even begin with that one. Essentially, you're saying that the "masculine" thing to do is to just move on. Processing of trauma be damned, life goes on, and the manly thing to do is just move forward. Likewise, to work through grief at its own pace or in any other kind of way is a "girly" way to deal with things. In response I would simply say: 1.) There is no universal, one-size-fits-all way to deal with trauma and grief 2.) YOUR way is not better or more healthy than anyone else's way 3.) There is nothing inherently masculine, "manly", or universally correct about choosing to just put one's head down and push forward rather than processing trauma in other ways. The notion of stoicism being the only way to deal with grief is antiquated and, frankly, toxic. Trauma: A deeply distressing or disturbing experience. Traumatized: Subject to lasting shock as a result of an emotionally disturbing experience or physical injury. I would suggest that this event certainly qualifies as the former, and in the cases of some players, as the latter as well.

I'm not really sure what makes you the arbiter of who is and isn't facing trauma right now. I noticed you mentioned that the ones suffering "real" trauma are Hamlin's family, but not his teammates. I'm not sure if you saw the faces of Stefon Diggs, of Tre'Davious White, of Josh Allen on Monday night. But trauma was written all over them.

Speaking just for myself, I'll say this: I don't really care about this Sunday's game. I'm finding it really difficult to resume caring about football at this moment. I know that's not everyone's experience, and I know that in times of hardship, it's helpful for many to turn to sports and entertainment as a sort of escape. That's obviously fine and normal. I also know that we all invest a lot of time and energy and emotion into following the Bills, and it's hard for many to just "flip the switch". I don't begrudge anyone whatsoever for wanting to get on with the season and get back to cheering on our favorite team. Hell, I want to do that myself. Or at least I should say, I want to WANT to do that. But in reality, I just can't get there mentally right now. I can't put on my "fan hat" just yet and root for Tremaine Edmunds or Jordan Poyer to go out and lay a crushing hit on a Patriots player. I can't, in all good conscience, get excited about the idea of these 20-something kids swallowing their trauma, strapping on a helmet, and going back into the arena to play gladiator, 6 days after watching their brother's heart stop on the field. Maybe my feelings will change if and when news comes out that Damar Hamlin is going to be okay. But right now, in this moment, it's hard to get back to wanting to watch this. That's just how I feel. I'm not judging anyone else for feeling differently. This is just where I'm at. It sucks, and it hurts, and it's disappointing, but this is where I'm at. Respectfully, I'm not so sure there's a "one size fits all" approach to what's best in times of processing trauma. For instance, I find it helpful to focus on my job in times of hardship, as a distraction and a way of getting my mind off of things and staying busy. The key difference between me and NFL players, though, is that my job is not the very thing that caused the trauma that I'm trying to distract myself from to begin with. In this case, "focusing on their job" means focusing on things like tackling or running through their opponent. It means, ultimately, focusing on partaking in the sport whose random, chance moments of violent impact resulted just two days ago in their teammate's heart stopping in front of their eyes. There are no easy answers here, and everyone process trauma differently.

I'm a bit late to this thread, but I just wanted to say that I'm in total agreement. Human beings can only take so much trauma, so much grief. I won't list out all the things that this community and this team have been through this season. Everybody knows. Given how much focus, commitment, fortitude, and effort is needed to win three straight playoff games and a Super Bowl, and given how draining and exhausting the past seven months have been, I would not fault any of the players one bit if they just don't have it in them. How could they? All of this doesn't even bring into account the rotten injury luck this team has had this year. Yes, every team goes through injuries. But losing guys the caliber of Micah Hyde (our defensive leader and basically a coach on the field) and Von Miller (our best defensive player and the piece we were all told was missing in our Super Bowl chasing efforts), and having our QB play half the year with an injured throwing elbow....it's a lot to overcome. As others have said, it sure hasn't felt like "our year", and it continues not to. I have nothing but compassion, empathy, and love for the players and coaches and the community of Buffalo. I will stand with them no matter what, will cheer the players when they take the field, and will hope for the best. But "expectations"? I don't have them any more. If the Bills DO somehow, some way happen to win it all, it will be the greatest story in football history, given the adversity they've overcome. Personally, though, I've begun to make peace with the reality of the situation.

Exactly what I would have expected. Bengals fans are classy and reasonable, and the people from Chiefs Planet are horrible, wretched, despicable cretins. That place is the absolute armpit cesspool of the internet. I'm told that real Chiefs fans, in person, are actually very kind, knowledgeable, hospitable people. You CERTAINLY wouldn't know it by reading Chiefs Planet. Horrible, awful place. The funny thing about those Chiefs fans being turds about it is that they're the team most likely to benefit if the Bills and Bengals game is declared a no-contest. In that scenario, the league likely determines seeding by overall win percentage, and assuming the Chiefs beat the Raiders, they'd get the 1 seed. They would, in some sense, be GIFTED a first round bye, without the Bills ever having done anything to actually lose the 1st seed. Despite that good fortune for their team (relatively speaking...you know what I mean)...they're still being turds. Totally tracks.

In this difficult moment of uncertainty and chaos, I'm reminded of something coach McDermott says often. "All we can do is focus on what we can control". All the Bills players and coaches can control right now is getting their minds and hearts right, praying for their brother, and then taking each practice and each game one day at a time, when the time comes to do so. Doing their best to go 1-0 each week from here on out, regardless of who is on the schedule or where the game is played, just as they have always done. Any additional worry about seeding, opportunities taken away, feeling cheated, whatever...it does them no good. It is beyond their control I believe that it is okay for us, as fans, to feel upset about this potentially lost opportunity at playoff seeding, so long as we keep that upset in the proper perspective, i.e. it is infinitely less important than the health of Damar Hamlin. Having acknowledged that fact...yeah, it's okay to say that the universe has dealt some really harsh blows to the Buffalo community and to the Bills this year. As QB1's favorite song goes: "That's life".