Logic

To those who are discussing the, um...advanced age of our running back room: I totally agree, HOWEVER... I 100% expect the Bills to draft a brand new starting running back in next year's draft. Unless Shady's name is cleared AND he has a great season, I think he's gone next offseason. Too much money to pay a 31 year old running back. So if the Bills can just hang on for one more season with this group...between the full slate of draft picks and the money they'll have at their disposal in FA, I anticipate a bevy of offensive reinforcements at HB, WR, and OL.

I'm VERY excited to see all three quarterbacks in action. I'm excited to see Keith Ford run the football and hopeful that he can challenge for a roster spot. I'm excited to see Ray Ray McCloud, Austin Proehl, Robert Foster, and Malachi Dupre in action. I have faith that at least one of them can make the roster. I'm excited to see Wyatt Teller in action. I'm excited to see some semblance of what our offense will look like. I'm excited to see Star and Horrible Harry in action. I'm excited to see Trent Murphy and Shaq Lawson battle for the starting spot opposite Hughes. I'm VERY excited to see Tremaine Edmunds QBing the defense. I'm excited to see Corey Thompson from LSU at Will LB. I'm excited to see Taron Johnson, Levi Wallace, Philip Gaines, and Siran Neal in the secondary. FOOTBALL!!! ?

It's funny. When Prisco was praising Josh Allen and the Bills for picking him, everyone said he was a smart guy. Now that he's back to his usual "shitting all over the Bills" act, he's a clueless !@#$. So...which is it?

- This is Adam Gase's last year as head coach of the Miami Dolphins - Joe Flacco plays very well to start the season, but gets injured, giving way to Lamar Jackson. Jackson never looks back and remains the Ravens' starting QB going forward. - John Ross redeems himself and has a huge year for Cincy - James Connor plays a lot of meaningful naps for Pittsburgh and does well, convincing them that they needn't pay out the nose to retain Le'veon Bell - The Chiefs regress significantly. Mahomes starts the season on a tear, but once defenses get film on him and make adjustments, he has a subpar second half of the season - Case Keenum is awful for the Broncos. Their fans regret Denver passing on a top QB in the draft. - Andrew Luck wins Comeback Player of the Year, leading the Colts to 10 wins and a playoff berth - New offensive coordinator Matt Lafleur proves to be a huge addition for the Titans. Marcus Mariota has a career year. Corey Davis breaks out at WR - Mitchell Trubisky has a bad year. Talks of "bust?" and "THIS guy over Watson and Mahomes?!" begin - The LA Rams have a historically great season but fail to win a playoff game...again - The Norv Turner/Cam Newton marriage in Carolina does not go as planned, Panthers go into offseason with a big Cam Newton problem - The Redskins win 11 games and the NFC East - QB controversy rages in Philly after Wentz has a few so-so games, causing the Eagles to lose a couple close ones - The new "leading with the helmet" rule costs the Bills a pivotal game, causing me to throw my television set out the window

This. Thing is, that's just how it was last year. I expect our defense to be significantly better and our offense to be about the same or a bit worse in terms of production. So...anywhere from 6-10 to 10-6 depending on how often Lady Luck is wearing a Bills jersey throughout the year.

The Bills have more or less stunk at picking quality players in the 2nd round for the past decade plus. As such, I was elated that the Bills only had two give up two 2017 2nd round picks to move up for Allen in this year's draft. History shows the Bills wouldn't have done anything worthwhile with those picks anyway!

Everyone knows the Bills' story: For the past 20 years, they have so often changed head coaches and front offices that they have been caught in an endless loop of switching offensive and defensive systems, getting rid of quality players because they no longer fit the new systems, and then having to draft a bunch of guys who DO fit the new systems...just in time to see the whole staff and/or front office fired and the whole process start over again. Hopefully, HOPEFULLY...that cycle is over and the Bills have finally hit on the right front office/coaching combination. If so, then perhaps they can actually start drafting AND retaining good players, and can build on what they have year after year rather than always hitting the "reset" button. If this is the case, then I could care less about Ragland, Watkins, Darby, or whomever...As it is, the Bills made the playoffs with an inferior roster (yes, it was inferior because of the aforementioned reasons of jettisoning players who don't fit the new regime), which seems to be due to good coaching. Let's hope this quality play continues, so none of us has to spend time wondering about things like two-down linebackers who play for other teams any more.

Until further notice, Ragland just reminds me of Kelvin Sheppard. Yes, I realize Ragland was a 1st round pick and Sheppard a 3rd round pick, but... in terms of strengths and weaknesses, play style, speed (or lack of it)...Bills fans (including myself) were wild about that pick, but he turned out to be nothing more than a journeyman 2-down run stuffer who couldn't cover. That's okay. A quality 2-down run-stuffing inside linebacker is a good thing to have. His loss is nothing Bills fans should lose sleep over, however. Heck, even first year fifth round pick Matt Milano has had a statistically superior career to Ragland thus far in their careers. I liked Ragland when we drafted him, but I'm over it. Tremaine Edmunds FTW.

Now you've gone too far. Cornette is a legend and gives the best shoot interview around!

Right. Clearly the fact that the Bills lost the game completely invalidates the passion and eloquence of a player who gave a pre-game speech, and therefore my admiration for said player. What was I thinking? ?

So I'm sure by now most of you have seen the 2017 Bills season review on NFL Network. Toward the end, they played Kyle Williams' Jacksonville playoff pre-game locker room speech. It reminded me why he's my favorite Bills player of all time and sent chills up my spine. For those who haven't had a chance to see it, I'm not aware of any free video of it being available, but here it is in text format: "I want you to go back in time, men, and think about a time that you were thinking to yourself, “Man, I just want a chance, I just want a chance to GET to the NFL. I just want a chance to play. And if I could just get a chance to get in the playoffs, man"…Go back there in your mind, and remember the type of effort you promised yourself you would give! Remember the type of gut-straining effort you said “I will give that if I have the opportunity to do that”. Look at your men when you walk out the door. Because we don’t just strain for that name on the back, men. We got a banner that covers 53 in here, and tens of thousands outside. That’s who we represent. We represent passion, energy, and love! And that’s who we are! That’s who we’ve been. And that’s what’s gonna carry us through, men. We are different. We are a different kind of team, men. It’s time to show that today." Anyway...not just the speech, but the passion with which he delivers it...just awesome. When the day comes that #95 finally hangs up his cleats, it will be an enormous loss for the Buffalo locker room. Here's hoping he ends up on the Ring of Honor where he belongs.

That was all you really needed to say. Everything else you typed is just based on that one sentence.

Aaaaaaanndd..... The offseason officially reached its low point on Wednesday, July 18th, at 9.22pm EST.

Horrible Harry will be a nose tackle and Star's primary backup. Adolphus Washington will be a 3-technique and Kyle's primary backup. You need at least 4 defensive tackles on the roster. If anyone's pushing Washington off the roster, its Tenny Palepoi, and I don't seen that happening.

You're an idiot. (Hey, it works!)

There's that mantra of yours again. Kudos on pursuing your spiritual path!

CONGRATULATIONS, FRANCE!

The 6-3 Browns game has been thoroughly covered in this thread, so I'll go with another awful gameday experience: Patriots over Bills, 56-10. The game was flexed to Sunday night so that the national audience could see the undefeated Pats do their thing. Trent Edwards was hurt, so JP Losman got the start. I somehow believed that the Bills had a chance. Instead, Randy Moss caught FOUR first half touchdowns. That's not a misprint. The fun didn't end there. Belichick opted to go for it on 4th down, up 49-7. The Pats converted. Then the Bills faced a 4th down, and Jauron decided kicking the field goal would be best. And that's all I have to say about that.

Well, whatever works for you!

You are quite petty, one-note, and immature, my friend. Following one guy around a football message board to insult him because you have different political opinions? Great use of your time. I suggest you deal with whatever anger or lack of fulfillment you're suffering from in life. It's just getting sad now.

It's her job. She's an Instagram model.

I don't think you're over simplifying it at all. I think you're right on the money. "Once you have what you want, you will just want more" is a great way to describe addiction to materialism. Finding contentment in the present moment and with what you already have is one of the most important lessons a person can learn -- and make no mistake, far too few ever learn it! As for church and religion in general -- I'll leave it to Alan Watts: "The doctrine is like a finger pointing at the moon, and one must take care not to mistake the finger for the moon. Too many, I fear, suck the pointing finger of religion for comfort, instead of looking where it points".

Excellent and thorough response. Thank you for taking the time to write it! I especially like and agree with the bolded quote. Western man IS, in fact, slavishly devoted to a particular religion, though they don't recognize it as such. That "religion" is rational thought and accepted science. The western world worships it to the exclusion of all else. Unfortunately, the truth is that the brain is an excellent servant but a terrible master, and thinking otherwise is what has led to the marginalization of spirit. I always agreed with the notion that the East and the West suffer from opposite problems: The West has developed an over-reliance on rationalism, science, and materialism, at the expense of spiritual and emotional growth and lasting contentment. The East, meanwhile, has nurtured the spirit for thousands of years, but often at the expense of material comfort and security and rational and scientific development. The result is that in the west, we have conquered outer space but not inner space. We have great comfort and security and have made great scientific advances, yet the majority of the population wrestles constantly with fear, anxiety, depression, and discontent. Meanwhile, in places like India and Nepal, much of the population lives in extreme poverty and poor health. At the same time, though, some of the most spiritually adept, emotionally balanced, and contented people on earth reside there. I have seen it with my own eyes in the streets of Varanasi. Extreme poverty and poor health, but a deep sense of spiritual richness and contentment. A westerner walks the streets there and pities them. Meanwhile, they pity the westerner, who is physically healthy but spiritually devoid. My path involves one basic goal: to move my personal identification from the ego to the soul, and moreover, from the soul to the source energy that is manifest in all things. I have spent my entire adult life soaking up every philosophy, religion, and school of thought I can possibly get my hands on. Each has some degree of value, some degree of historical adulteration that has obscured the original message, and some degree of rubbish. I believe that each individual's path is unique and there is not one "correct" religion to which everyone "should" adhere. My own studies led me to the Vedic/Hindu school of thought, which emphasizes the aforementioned switching of personal identification from ego to soul to source energy ("god", if you wish to call it that). Eventually, it became evident to me that ALL mystical schools -- certainly those of eastern origin -- led back to one central idea: duality is illusion. Abolishing the idea of duality and accepting the illusory nature of our perceived reality is the pathway to awakening. As stated, my main practice is to achieve this restructuring of thought and identification. To achieve this, I have enacted methods primarily derived from Ashtanga Yoga and Vipasana meditation. Basically: quieting the mind and opening the heart. Cultivation of the spirit and service to others. As Lao Tzu said: "When you perceive that an action done to another is done to yourself, you have understood the Tao". As to the effectiveness of my practice, I can only state that I do indeed feel greater calm, clarity, and peace. Additionally, accepting the notion that all beings are made of the same "stuff" and are therefore one being and abolishing the notion of "man as an island unto himself" has helped me to feel compassion for all beings and to begin to overcome lasting anger toward others. This, in turn, has reduced the power that other people or events have over me. There is no "me" and no "them", only an "us". There is no overstating how profound a shift this is in consciousness, and how profoundly it alters the way in which one approaches life.

Howdy folks. Maybe I'm way off base in thinking that this will receive any views or replies, but it's the slow part of the offseason and I'm bored at work, so here goes. Does anybody here participate in any form of spiritual practice that they're open to discussing? Meditation? Yoga? Church every Sunday? Have you found said practice particularly helpful in calming you, changing your perception for the better, reducing anger or stress, etc? I'll happily share or detail my own practice if this gets any interest. If not, I won't. And if this sort of discussion weirds you out -- as it seems to for many people -- then by all means, click the "Back" button and keep scrolling. Just thought it might make for some interesting conversation.