Logic

I agree, but I'm done looking in the rearview mirror. The 1-seed is not happening for Buffalo this year, BUT...all they have to do is lose one game or less moving forward, and have the Dolphins lose two (very possible with Cowboys and Ravens and even Jets on the horizon), and Bills can win the division. Yes, the bad losses this year were frustrating, but what's done is done. Everything still in front of the Bills. Just gotta take care of business now.

Add me to the pile of people who turned the game off after the second 4th quarter Titans fumble. I figured that down 27-13, there was no way a Will Levis QBed team was coming back to win. It wasn't until my brother-in-law started machine-gun texting me breathless all-caps messages that I realized what had happened and went back to watch the highlights. HOLY ***** *****! This changes EVERYTHING for the Bills. It is not at all unreasonable to think that the Dolphins will lose two of their remaining games and the Bills will lose zero or one of theirs, and either way, the week 18 game would be for the AFC East title. INSANE loss for the Dolphins. Wow.

I felt the yesterday's game was the first time Brady has faced real adversity as an offensive playcaller, and I can't say I was particularly impressed with the results. I like Brady so far. I feel he's a better play caller than Dorsey. He has better sequencing and more logical use of plays, he uses them to set up future plays, and he seems to have a better feel for game flow than Dorsey did. He also seems less like he's just randomly calling plays and more like his gameplans and playcalls have purpose. All of that having been said, the Chiefs defense adjusted in the second half to what the Bills were doing, and Brady mostly failed to counter-punch. Specifically, he got away from what was working with James Cook (yes, I understand this his pass blocking deficiencies will keep him off the field at times), abandoned the run, stuck with the WR screens too long, failed to get the WRs meaningfully involved (other than those screens), and had a bad end-of-game sequence on the Bills' final offensive drive. No play-caller is great 100% of the time. Sometimes, you get outcoached. Steve Spagnuolo is a veteran and very savvy DC, so it's forgivable that his very formidable Chiefs defense, playing in Arrowhead, got the better of Brady's offense in the second half. Going forward, I'll be interested to see how he rebounds after faltering a bit down the stretch in Kansas City. Can he get Diggs more consistently involved? Can he keep the run game and James Cook humming, and stick with them when they're working? Can he generally keep up the offensive production and avoid stagnation as opposing defenses have more of a "book" on what he likes to do as a playcaller? Early returns are good, and I'm cautiously optimistic. But I am not yet ready to crown Joe Brady or commit to him as offensive coordinator for next season. I need to see how the rest of the year plays out.

I still say that traits like jealousy, narcissism, and refusal to take accountability are all a reflection of one's character. I don't think "jealous narcissist who deflects blame" is strictly a "workplace description", I think it's a character description. I get your point, I'm just not on the same page. We can agree to disagree.

Among other things, Dunne's article painted Sean McDermott as jealous of his assistant coaches, a narcissist, a liar, and someone who refuses to take accountability. Those things together do constitute a bit of an attack on his character, in my opinion.

Yeah it's weird. I have no idea why networks cannibalize their own audience, just like with the Manningcast thing. I don't get it. A double-header? Sure. Or even staggering it by 90 minutes, so that if the first game stinks, you can switch at halftime. But starting them at the exact some time? Bizarre.

Forget to say in my post, and I'm sure it's a sentiment echoed by most of the posters here... The post-game behavior by Mahomes at midfield and the post-game comments by both he and Reid were super bush league. Made them both look like crybaby chumps. They're not even wrong that the refs in the NFL are a serious problem this year. But choosing THIS moment -- when the player actually DID commit a penalty, and an egregiously obvious one at that -- to kvetch about it was a bad look. The Chiefs are quite often the beneficiaries of over-officiousness. The ONE time it bites them in a big moment -- and again, that penalty arguably SHOULD have been called, and it WAS egregious -- they complain the way they did? And for Mahomes to show the lack of sportsmanship he did in the post-game handshake, when Josh is always so gracious even after crushing losses. Just a bad, pathetic look by him. And thankfully, the NFL media world at large mostly seems to agree. Have seen quite a few voices from all over the spectrum echoing the sentiment that Mahomes and Reid looked like babies for the way they behaved. Personally, I lost a lot of respect for Mahomes last night.

Hmmm... A lot to digest from that one, and with this thread at 54 pages, looks like I've already missed a lot of the digesting. - I liked the Bills' offensive gameplan in the first half - I did not like the Bills' offensive gameplan for most of the second half - The Chiefs had better second half adjustments than the Bills. This has been a trend this season. - Below average year for the Chiefs offense or not, it's still impressive to hold them to 17 points at Arrowhead without Milano, Daquan, Tre, Hyde (for a half), etc. - AJ Epenesa's loss was felt. He's turned into a good pass rusher, and once he left the game, our pass rush took a hit - That said, thank God for Leonard Floyd and Ed Oliver, who should both get game balls for yesterday's win - Josh Allen likes running into people. Let him do it. It gets him fired up and loosens him up. How great was that TD run?! - Josh Allen -- Super human. Unreal. That sideline fadeaway pass in the 4th quarter? My goodness. - I thought it was weird to go away from Cook after the opening drive of the second half the way they did. Should've stuck with the hot hand - That said, it is SO refreshing to see them actually use the pass-catching talents of Cook instead of only throwing it to him on checkdowns - The Wheel route adjustment up the sideline to Cook was all Allen. It was not drawn up that way - The wide receivers got shut down yesterday. Good thing we had Cook, Kincaid, and Knox - How insanely relieved did McDermott look when the Bills stopped the Chiefs on 4th and sealed the game? Woah. For all of the nuance we can pick through, at the end of the day, it was a Bills win when they direly needed it. The funny thing is that the game didn't really look all that different than recent Bills games this season. Stretches of great offense, stretches of stagnant offense, moments where the D made big plays, moments where they gave up big plays. Josh missing an open Gabe in the end zone at the end. The Bills taking the lead at the end and then the other team getting the ball and driving it down field and scoring. Groundhog's day. Deja Vu all over again. The only difference is, this time the OTHER team messed up, and the Bills were the beneficiaries. The Chiefs out-Bills'd the Bills. Imagine having that must-win game -- which the Bills dominated the majority of -- end in Chiefs victory on a miracle lateral play like that on the friggin day that Frank Wycheck passes away? It would've been absolutely crushing. It would've destroyed me. It would have played on an endless loop on NFL Network for a full week, back to back with the Music City Miracle. Thank GOODNESS Toney was Offside. Instead, the Bills rallied around their coach, stuck together, played for each other, and did enough to win. For all the nuance, all the detail, all the coulda shoulda wouldas, and despite the fact that it ultimately looked just like recent games this season...the bottom line is that the Bills won. In this league, that's all that really matters.

Did you also see the post-game presser he did, though? Said something like "you can question coaching decisions, or my decision as a player, but you can't question coach McDermott as a person. He's one of the better humans on this planet".

We tend to think of things in black and white. "Either this, or that, but not both". But in the case of this article and of coach McDermott, I think both things can simultaneously be true: I think Tyler Dunne probably DOES have a bit of an axe to grind against the Bills, he DOES seem to come out with one McDermott hit piece per year, the article IS a bit of a hatchet job, it DOES lack objectivity (like any quotes from people who actually LIKE McDermott to balance things out) and DOES present a one-sided view, and some of the quotes DO sound far-fetched and/or like sour grapes from other people with axes of their own to grind. AND I think coach McDermott probably DOES micro-manage, that he IS a bit of a hypocrite with regard to taking accountability for mistakes, that a lot of what Dunne says IS true and fair and accurate, that a lot of the quotes from the sources are valid and legitimate, and that no matter how you paint it, 25 people is a lot to be able to find to say bad things about a coach. On the one hand, I think some of Dunne's articles may be a bit heavy-handed and do have the smell of an agenda against McDermott. On the other hand, I think a lot of what Dunne says is correct and legitimate and real. Personally, I feel the same way after reading the article that I did before I read it: I think it's time to turn the page from Sean McDermott as head coach of the Buffalo Bills. I don't think he's as bad as his worst detractors say, nor as good as his staunchest defenders insist. There is nuance. There are layers. At the end of the day, I remain unmoved. I'm ready for a fresh start for the Buffalo Bills, and I'd be willing to bet a lot of the players are, too.

This is my biggest feat with McDermott. The Bills' two most important players and biggest team leaders, Allen and Diggs, are funny, loose, fun loving guys. They are anchored to a head coach who is serious, conservative, and -- as we're discussing -- tight. Anxious. Whereas the Bills should be a team that is visibly having fun and exhibiting swagger and braggadocio and taking on the personality of Allen and Diggs (their on-field leaders), they are instead a team that is visibly tight, cautious, and exhibiting carefulness and fear, and are taking on the personality of McDermott (their off-field leader). Unfortunately, if the rumors are true, there is "zero chance" of any coaching change this offseason, so the best I can do is hope that I'm wrong and that the Bills go on a run. Frustrating.

Yeah, you're right. My nostalgic recollection paints 2021 as more enjoyable than it actually was. As you say, catching fire in the playoffs colored things differently. So in that case, it's been THREE straight years of stressful, anxious Bills football. No wonder everyone's exhausted. Do you have a link for that Chuck Pagano quote, btw? It's a great one, and I hadn't heard it. If that's a real quote....yikes.

Put simply: The Buffalo Bills have been an emotionally exhausting team to follow ever since 13 seconds. 2020 and 2021 were FUN! In those seasons, we SAW how good this team could be. It felt like they were just getting started at what could be a potential dynasty or, at the very least, a championship winning football team. 2022 and 2023 were stressful. We saw the team make the easy things look difficult week after week. We saw them, for whatever reason, struggle to move the ball for long stretches, and struggle to live up to their sky high potential. There's this feeling that the Bills are smack dab in the middle of a window of championship contention, and every year they don't at least get to the AFC Championship game feels like a waste. It very much feels like a "Super Bowl or bust" team the past couple seasons. Maybe it's the weight of Bills history, maybe it's the way the roster and its contracts are structured, maybe its irritation at seeing all the fawning over Mahomes being a generational talent when we know we have one of our own...whatever it is, it has just been a frustrating couple of seasons of feeling like our team is falling short of expectations. There have probably only been a small handful of games this year that were actually FUN to watch because the team was playing as well as we know they can. In all the rest, I've been frustrated because they're playing below their potential. I don't know if the solution is solely Joe Brady or if, as I have espoused on here in recent weeks, McDermott needs to go, too. I certainly lean toward the latter. All I know is, whatever it takes: MAKE BUFFALO BILLS FOOTBALL FUN AGAIN!!!

Ty Johnson has looked strong, consistently running through arm tackles and picking up extra yards. He also seems to have some juice to him, and can catch the ball well. Combined with his special teams ability (which Fournette lacks), I don't see him being replaced by Fournette any time soon. The performance of Ty Johnson, in my mind, has made it so that unless there is an injury at running back, we won't be seeing Fournette suit up, and rightly so.

I expect the Chiefs to be fired up and play hard after the loss to Green Bay. I expect the Chiefs defense under Steve Spagnuolo -- despite reports of their demise -- to give the Bills offense everything it can handle. The Chiefs play the exact type of defense that seems to give Josh trouble at times. Despite everything I just said, I irrationally expect a Bills victory on Sunday.

Well, I have no idea what "Godwin'd" means, so we're even. Your mileage may vary.

I bolded the part where you said "in this country". There is nothing going on in this country that even comes CLOSE. 3.5 million is a lot of people. Kissinger was an all-timer when it comes to mass murder and genocide. He wasn't Hitler or Mao Zedong, but he's absolutely on the all time "caused an unfathomable amount of human deaths" list. And that's not me speaking ill of the dead, it's me simply stating a verifiable fact. Anyway...acknowledging the complex and infamous nature of such a man's legacy, and even stating that one lacks regret for the death of such a man (particularly at age 100), both seem like fair game to me. YMMV.

No it doesn't.

Whoever's going will be seeing a big Bills win in person. Lucky you!

I do not like to speak ill of the dead. I also do not shed a single tear when war criminals -- responsible for millions of human deaths and countless amounts of human suffering -- die, especially at age 100. So long, Henry. I hope that the fate which befalls you in the great hereafter is one perfectly befitting of a person who lived the life you lived.

To anyone who -- during or after their Thanksgiving meal -- wants to accomplish the dual feats of resuscitating your appetite so you can have seconds AND being better equipped to tolerate your annoying uncle who won't shut up about Josh's interceptions: May I suggest weed? Like a bunch of it. Get good and zooted. Pie never tasted so good and Uncle Marvin's face mole never looked so hilarious, I promise.

Listening to Alice's Restaurant and then the Band's Last Waltz, watching three football games, and eating a feast with the family. What could be better? Oh right, I know: the Bills not playing on Thanksgiving to ruin my dinner with a devastating injury or crushing loss! Hallelujah. I truly am thankful.

The Bills are away and the Eagles are wearing their colors. That's not an option.

Welp, that seals it. Bills by a billion.