Logic

To the people complaining about the Peacock thing, all I can say is... It's 2023. If you want to watch the game, it's incredibly easy to do so. For one thing, free trials exist, and it's only $5.99 for one month of it anyway. You're telling me that watching a Bills game or an NFL playoff game isn't worth the cost of one beer to you? But even if you have exhausted your free trial or DON'T want to pay to watch, it is still incredibly easy to watch any NFL game you want. The internet is undefeated.

I may be simple in my thinking on this matter: A man returned from cardiac arrest on the field to play pro football again the following season. He wins CBPOTY. I don't care that Joe Flacco is playing good football after a several year layoff. I don't care that Tua is "silencing the haters" after suffering a few concussions during a 13-start season for a playoff team. A man came back from the dead. He wins. End of story.

CeeDee already has 20 fantasy points for me in my championship matchup. To make it even sweeter, I'm going against a Cowboys fan. Go, Lamb, go!

Their offense vs our defense doesn't scare me. Their defense vs our offense....that will be a tougher challenge than many anticipate. The Bills only ever seem to have two types of games: blowouts where they win by three+ scores, or nail biters that make you want to vomit until the final whistle. I'd love one of the former, but I'm bracing for one of the latter.

Back in my day, we didn't have so many dang teams named after cats. Bengals, Jaguars, Panthers, Lions... Four is too many. The NFL has become a crazy cat lady.

Regarding Milano... One can't help but wonder if a player who relies on his speed and who plays at a position that relies on lateral movement, having hurried back from injury and playing on a freshly healed leg and after a 14 week layoff, would really be more effective than Tyrel Dodson at this point anyway.

Daquan Jones return all but assured. Poona Ford is shaking his head in disbelief...

If there was to be one thing that concerns me against the Pats, it's this: The Bills have been mostly living off the run game lately. Their WRs have not been getting good separation, and they generally haven't been lighting it up through the air. The Pats, meanwhile, have a very good run defense, as you pointed out. If the Bills are unable to run the ball, and the pass game starts out slow -- as it is wont to do at times this year -- then this could be a closer and more anxiety-inducing game then it needs to be. I still think the Bills ultimately find a way to take care of business at home, but I don't think it's going to be a 37-13 snoozefest or anything. I have the sneaking suspicion the game may be closer than Bills fans would prefer. Here's hoping I'm wrong.

A player who suffered an injury while having a good season for the Bills, then worked his ass off to come back early on in the following season, only to discover that -- to absolutely no one's surprise -- it's taking him a while to regain form given his age and the injury he suffered... Should we cut THAT guy some slack? Yes. If his lack of success this season was due to lack of effort? If he was loafing it, or milking his injury, or had a bad attitude, or wasn't generally working as hard as he can to make in impact? Then sure, let him have it. But the way Bills fans rip into this guy as it stands now? WHY?! for what? because he hasn't been effective this year? He's 34 and about a year removed from a torn ACL. What did people really expect? Sports fans can be cruel and fickle and can have an incredibly short memory. That seems to be the case here. Now, all of that speaks only to the vitriol aimed at his ON-FIELD performance. If people want to aim some anger and upset his way for the OFF-FIELD stuff? Then sure. Can't fault them one bit.

It's crazy who we end up starting on fantasy rosters by Championship weekend sometimes. It takes luck and skill and foresight to have a good fantasy season. But it feels like surviving and advancing in the fantasy playoffs is much more about luck and player health, given how late it is in the season. Then, sometimes NFL teams also do weird things like bench healthy players or make strange lineup choices if they either have seeding locked up or are eliminated from the playoffs and want to evaluate younger players. All in all, it can be very frustrating to fight and scrap your way to the finals only to have to start a Gardner Minshew and hope for the best. That said, I hope it goes well for you! Personally, I have never won my home league before. Been consistently in the playoffs and once to the finals, but have not yet won a 'ship. Hoping this is the year! If it was me, I'd start Gibbs and Kamara. But I consistently make the incorrect choice and then stew over it for weeks, so...take that with a grain of salt. That is indeed an unenviable decision making process. If it was me: Hurts, Kyren, ASB, Aubrey But that's just my two cents. Tough decisions all around.

Which part, the injury or the trade? Elam and Beane have each spoken directly about the injury. As for the alleged trade offers for Elam...I'll try to find a link, but of course Beane didn't/wouldn't publicly confirm any kind of trade talks, so it will have to remain in the "unverified rumor" category regardless.

I think there's a decent chance that it'll be on Saturday instead, as the outcome of several Sunday games could impact the importance of it. They don't want to make the decision to flex the game to Sunday night and then have the outcomes of those games render the Bills-Phins game less meaningful. So, perhaps....LIVE, FROM MIAMI, IT'S SATURDAY NIGHT!!!!

If the reports are true that Beane turned down a 3rd round pick for Elam, then that fact combined with what we now know was a lingering injury that made it tough to move laterally give me at least a little bit of renewed hope for Elam to be a productive player. I maintain that he played well at times during the last few games and the playoffs last season. He may not have been a world beater, but he certainly didn't look like a complete bust, either. Here's hoping he can get some snaps, gain some confidence, and turn into at least serviceable depth for the Bills.

Played Swift, but there wound up being a negligible difference between their production. Your quote "I think they will come out about the same in the end" proved prophetic. I'm back in the same Swift vs Montgomery dilemma this week. Championship weekend. Swift has a matchup that looks good on paper vs Arizona. Montgomery has been incredibly consistent in getting between 11-16 points the past several weeks running. I'll likely overthink it right up until game time 😅

Yes.

As I mentioned in another thread, I was locked into a date with my wife last night and missed the whole game. I NEVER miss games, and I'm very curious to know how last night's game played out. I have already watched the highlights that are available on YouTube. What I'm looking and hoping for is a description of how the game played out. Did Joe Brady call a good game? Did the offensive line protect well? Did the run game generally look productive? Did Fournette make any impact? How did Josh play overall? Did McDermott call a good game on defense? How did Poona Ford look? Who were the defensive MVPs, if any at all? Any recap anyone is willing to provide -- the more detail, the better -- I would greatly appreciate. Thank you in advance.

IF they make it into the playoffs, I like their chances of advancing at least to the AFCCG, if not the Super Bowl. I feel that the Bills, as they are currently constituted and at the level at which they are currently playing, can beat any team in the AFC. The Dolphins don't scare me. The Chiefs don't scare me. The Ravens don't scare me. The Bengals have been our biggest roadblocks lately, but they're Burrow-less and have a banged up Ja'Marr Chase. Put simply, in my eyes, GETTING to the second season is where the challenge lies. I have faith in the Bills beating LA and NE, but Miami on the road will be no small challenge. Yes, I realize I just said they don't scare me. They don't. But beating them in a win-and-in game in their home stadium is still not going to be easy. As others have said before, the most painful part of the Bills under-achieving for the first half of this season and putting themselves in this position is that this appears to be the easiest path to a Super Bowl (playoffs wise) that they will have yet had. An offensively under-manned Chiefs team, a Mark Andrews-less Ravens team, the Dolphins...if the Bills could have secured the one-seed this year, which they realistically could have done by simply beating the Broncos and, say, the Jets in week one, it'd be on like Donkey Kong. Instead they have to fight for their playoff lives the next three weeks. Ah well. The past is the past. Onward and upward.

Thank you both for the input. Thankfully, I put Nacua in my flex slot at the last minute. Would've been furious with myself if I didn't after last night's game. The Swift vs Montgomery conundrum remains. I'd normally lean Montgomery, but Gibbs has been eating into his red zone usage big time in recent weeks, and the VIkings have a brick wall of a run defense. Hmmm...

If there's another thread for this, I apologize. Anyone else in their fantasy playoffs or championship this week and agonizing over a start/sit decision? If so, what is it? For me it's a 12 team full PPR league. I went 13-1 and had a first round bye. This week, my first dilemma is who to start at RB2 between David Montgomery or D'Andre Swift. My next dilemma is who to start at my flex spot between Puka Nacua, Devonta Smith, and whichever RB (Montgomery of Swift) I don't start at RB2. Nacua has the highest projected points, but we all know that can be meaningless. I'm tempted to chase the high ceilings of Swift and Nacua in each spot, respectively, but crippled with indecision. Any fantasy gurus wanna provide your two cents?

Been thinking maybe I could conceal a small ear-piece and listen to the game secretly during dinner. She'll just think I'm leaping up and cheering because I really liked the appetizer.

Fancy Italian restaurant food. About a week ago, my wife asked if I minded if she made a reservation at a restaurant for a fancy, romantic date on Saturday night. Completely forgetting that the Bills played on Saturday night instead of Sunday, I said yes.

The first sentence in my post was "Cook absolutely deserved it, BUT..." Cook played very well and deserved the award. I opened with that. On the other hand, he averaged 4.2 yards rushing BEFORE first contact, and that speaks to a dominant performance of the offensive line, and the most dominant man on that unit was Dion Dawkins. My sentiment that offensive linemen should win these awards sometimes is unchanged.

Those players are all amazing, no doubt. The problem is that the Bills will be Eleventy Billion dollars in the hole next year. Even with clever maneuvering by Brandon Beane, I believe that the money we already pay Josh Allen will prevent us from signing Josh Allen.

Cook absolutely deserved it, BUT... It would be cool if offensive linemen won these awards sometimes. If you go back and watch Cook's biggest runs on Sunday, he often had gaping holes to run through. Congrats to Jimbo Cook, by all means, but Dion Dawkins is the real offensive player of the week for my money.

Mine: Deonte Harty was a hugely underrated signing. He has flown under the radar throughout his career. He will take the top off the defense, be a key deep threat for Josh, and will add speed and explosiveness to our offense. His contract was a bargain compared to what he'll provide for the team. ......Whoops.