Logic

The Wire is boring. I find it hard to believe that you never owned a Kodak camera, Xeroxed anything, or enjoyed any movie with John Lithgow or Philip Seymour Hoffman in it.

Unpopular opinions? Blue Cheese and Cottage cheese are gross. One is moldy. The other is curdled milk. Both are disgusting, and it's weird that people like them.

Maybe it's due to a weird planetary alignment or something, but I agree with you on this point as well. I understand Beane's thought process behind signing both Lotulelei and Murphy. Unfortunately, neither player wound up being worth the money. I don't think Lotulelei -- when he was healthy -- was as bad as his worst detractors claim (though I really don't want to spend my Sunday re-litigating this thoroughly worn out topic). I do think he played a useful role on the Bills defense. I also cannot say with a straight face that he was worth the contract that was paid to him. He wasn't. Just so that there's balance in the world, let me see if I can find a point on which we'll disagree: Beane has done more good in free agency than bad in his tenure as GM.

One of the rare things I’m sure we can agree on: the Levy GM stint was an unmitigated disaster, during which a downright astonishing amount of horrific personnel moves were made. Embarrassingly bad.

You’re correct. It was the first year of the Jauron regime, and to be still alive for the playoffs in week 16 seemed like a miracle. The Bills arguably controlled much of that game, and it sure felt like they should’ve won. I can still so clearly see the Royal non-TD in my mind’s eye, because I was in that end zone and within 20 rows of the field. He had so much room and he just…..didn’t pay attention and had a foot out of bounds. I have no doubt that’s the play that cost them that game. It’s weird the random games and plays that stick in our minds.

Week 16, 2006 against the Titans. The two plays that stick out in my brain: 1) Vince Young ran for a long (40 yards?) touchdown. 2) Robert Royal caught a touchdown pass in the end zone we were sitting in, but despite having plenty of room at the back of the end zone, he had one foot out of bounds and the touchdown didn’t count. Despite the Bills being in an exciting game throughout, they lost by one score. Just another Bills-y drought era loss in an endless, frustrating string of them, that ruined our long drive home.

I like Singletary, but I hope they don’t extend him. He’s not special or dynamic enough that you couldn’t replace his talents with another mid round pick. They also just invested a 2nd round pick in a running back. In general, unless a running back is special, I don’t think it’s good business to give them a second contract. Even then, it often doesn’t work out — see McCaffrey and Elliot. I hope they spend that money elsewhere. Knox, Oliver, Edmunds, and Poyer are all coming up, so the Bills will need every last penny.

That’s a reasonable expectation. Beane’s recent comments about Moss have me believing that he still believes in him, and thus won’t be so quick to trade away a recent third round pick. I think there’s a chance Moss is rostered but inactive on most game days unless injury strikes. Singletary is likely gone in 2023, at which point they may be hoping Moss can take over the timeshare with Cook for a season, allowing them to kick the “drafting another RB” can down the road to 2024.

The Athletic ran a Bills fan survey last year. One of the questions asked “who will lead the Bills backfield in carries?”. The majority of fans voted Zack Moss. One injury plagued letdown of a season — in which, according to Beane, Moss could not cut off his left foot at all — and Bills fans have completely given up on him. Funny, I remember just prior to last season, when most Bills fans had pretty much given up on Singletary, too. I’ve said it before and I’ll keep saying it: Moss is going to have a bounceback season. He’s fully healthy, in great shape, and Aaron Kromer is going to improve the run blocking of our offensive line and shift it to more zone running, which suits Moss’ skill set. I’m not saying he’s gonna be an All-Pro, but he’s gonna play productive snaps for this offense. Ford is a bust. I’m done with him. I’m not expecting much from Epenesa either, and I largely blame the coaching staff’s stupid plan to turn a power rusher into a speed rusher. They should have never asked him to do that. If they didn’t like what he was in college, they shouldn’t have drafted him.

This is such a weird topic, but… Josh Allen Ryan Fitzpatrick Will Ferrell That seems like the most fun, funny, ridiculous dinner I can imagine.

I’ve seen just this offseason a non-Bills player refer to the player relationships on his previous team as being “fake”, and another non-Bills player bemoaning the fact that the players never hang out outside of the facility and don’t have strong friendships/relationships. I think the culture in Buffalo is 100% real, and that it is NOT typical. As just one example, look at Jordan Phillips and Shaq Lawson preferring to play here for relative peanuts over the lucrative paydays they had elsewhere. For whatever shortcomings coach McDermott may have, probably the BEST thing he did here was purposefully start building a culture — and insisting on bringing in only players that fit that culture. The culture is real and the players know it and feel it. That’s my opinion.

I think the competition at slot WR is shaping up to be the most interesting of camp. I don’t expect Shakir to overtake the vets this season, but McKenzie vs Crowder vs Austin should be a good battle. Each guy offers something a little bit different.

It’s quite humorous that you — with your techniques of outright dismissal, arrogance, know-it-all-ism, putting words in other people’s mouths, and frequent moving of the goal posts — would ever pretend to be the authority on adult conversation. With regard to earning respect on this board, I think my reputation points (especially relative to my overall post count) compared to yours — and in 15 or so less years of membership — speaks volumes. As for earning YOUR respect? Couldn’t care less. You’ve made it abundantly clear that you’ll always be rude and dismissive to me and attack me personally no matter what.

I illustrated my disagreement with the notion that the team didn’t invest in the offense. I did not claim that the levels of investment in offense and defense were commensurate in terms of dollars and cents. The way you dismiss the offensive signings/re-signings make it sound as if they didn’t address that side of the ball at all. I disagree. I think moves like re-signing the #1 WR (in an offseason that saw many teams unwilling to do so), spending a 2nd round pick on a running back, and upgrading at guard and TE2 represented at least some degree of reasonable investment on offense. Note, again, that I’m not claiming they spent the same on offense on defense, but simply that I disagree with this notion that they didn’t lift a finger to help the offense. By the way, it’s not as if investing heavily on defense is something that only silly, old school Sean McDermott wants to do. We just saw the Chiefs part ways with Tyreek Hill to free up cap space to spread around the rest of the team, then use 7 of their 10 draft picks on defense. We just saw the Chargers spend big on Khalil Mack and JC Jackson. We saw the Raiders shell out big bucks for Chandler Jones. It’s not just the Bills. Defense is important. And before you say “but the Bills already fielded the number 1 defense last year”, well, they were also 2nd in the league offensively in pts/game two years running. They were also the best offense in the playoffs last season at 41.5 pts/game. You’ll point to the stretch of offensive ineffectiveness in the third quarter of the Chiefs game, but I’ll point again to the defense giving up 42 points. Round and round we go. There’s more than one way to skin a cat.

Yawn. You claimed that I said that they invested as much on offense as they did on defense. I didn’t. My disagreeing with the notion that they didn’t invest in the offense is not the same as my saying that they invested as much on offense as they did on defense. But sure, go ahead and change the phrasing of what you’re accusing me of having said so that you can keep your “never been wrong even once” streak going. Par for the course. Your constant personal attacks against my character — not my posts, mind you, but me as a person — your constant tagging me in posts, and your generally dismissive, arrogant, know-it-all demeanor are so tiresome. If you want to talk like an adult about football, great. Otherwise, please kindly keep my name out of your mouth.

Ideally I’d like one pepperoni pie (cup n char isn’t even a thing in the west coast) and one specialty pie, but perhaps it might be tough to get the best versions of those two things from the same place. The point about the sauce is helpful. I tend to like a little more savory/herbaceous red sauce. A little bit of sweetness is okay, but I don’t want a sugar pie. Maybe, for that reason, Bocce’s is the way to go. But then, it seems they don’t have much in the specialty pie realm. Decisions, decisions.

Good post, and I agree on all counts. The one thing I'll say on Austin is this: When the pads aren't on and contact isn't really being made, I EXPECT guys like Tavon Austin and Isaiah McKenzie to be undefendable. Their quickness and suddenness is really hard for even the best cornerbacks to defend if they're not allowed to really put their hands on them, and based on how gentle modern OTAs are forced to be, make no mistake -- the cornerbacks' hands are tied. The real test for Tavon Austin -- and for McKenzie, while we're at it -- is how they do in camp when the contact gets ratcheted up and our corners are allowed to press them. If Austin is still getting open and making catches all over the field come training camp and preseason, I'll concede that maybe he really deserves a spot on this roster. Lord knows the Bills could seemingly do worse at WR6 than Tavon Austin.

Thanks to all who have replied so far. i pull up the menus and websites for these places and start reading, but I get too hungry, and I go poking around my kitchen, and nothing I have on hand here at the house can compare to the mouth watering, gut busting delicacies I'm seeing and reading about. September can't come soon enough. The Bills game is obviously the main attraction, but I'm not gonna lie....the food is a very close second place.

Planning to come up for the Titans game and spend a couple days in Buffalo beforehand. Grew up in Rochester, though I have lived on the west coast for about 17 years now. Have never spent a ton of time in Buffalo, usually only in Orchard Park for Bills games. So, I know this question elicits strong opinions, but I'm just curious as to everyone's favorite spots for: Wings: Pizza: Subs/Deli: For wings, I always seem to hear the same contenders: Bar Bill, Elmo's, 9-11, Gabriels's Gate. For Pizza, I always seem to hear Bocce's, Imperial, La Nova, Macy's. Problem is, I'll only be in Buffalo for a day or two. Can't eat 'em all. What are your favorites? Any help would be much appreciated!

Please feel free to point out where I said that the Bills made similar investments in improving their offensive personnel as they did their defensive personnel. You can't, because I didn't say it. You don't get to accuse ME of mis-remembering or selectively remembering history and your opinions, as you have in the past, only to turn around and make up things that I never said just to further your agenda.

What a shocker. The Pessimism Twins are on the same page on this topic and BADOL is telling me I’m wrong. The more things change… As for spending to improve the defense (even though, despite what you say, they DID also make moves to improve the offense)…Gosh, what a blunder! I must have hallucinated the fact that the Bills offense put up 47 and 36 points in the playoffs this season, but the defense gave up 38 and 42 points to the Chiefs to get eliminated from the playoffs in consecutive years. I’m convinced that you two will complain about the Bills’ decision making regardless. If they had invested big on offense like you wanted but not fixed the D-line, and the Bills went out and failed to produce pressure or stop the run this season, and Mahomes had all day to sit in the pocket and dissect them and send them packing again, it’s easy to guess who the very first two people on this forum to complain would be. Lastly, BADOL, have you EVER been wrong? Like…even once? You must be on like a 40 or 50 year streak at this point. Very impressive.

Other than... re-signing Isaiah McKenzie (who plays a useful role in the offense year after year) re-signing Ryan Bates (starter) signing Jamison Crowder (presumed new starting slot receiver) signing OJ Howard (presumed TE2) signing Roger Saffold (presumed new starting left guard) signing Tavon Austin signing Duke Johnson drafting James Cook (high capital on a pass catching back for Josh) drafting Khalil Shakir (long term slot receiver and WR depth) ...You nailed it. Totally sacrificed offensive investment.

All things being equal, I’m glad the Phins wound up with McDaniel/Tua instead of Peyton/Brady.

I went to pick up my new plates the other day, but the DMV gave me the wrong ones:

Quintin Morris seems more promising to me than Wydermyer.