Success

I'd like to nominate you to be our new OC.

Just reading "in the hunt" has some PTSD implications for me. I did 20 years of "in the hunt." I need the Bills to win a title before we go back to that.

Done? I can't really relate to that. Maybe in a year when the Eagles or Chiefs looked like dominant teams. But man, every single team is seriously flawed this year. No matter what happens in the next month+, if we get in the tourney - I'll still have hope that for once, we're the team that gets hot.

Feels like we've lost a lot of speed w/ Samuel, Hardman out, and Moore cut. Not that we utilized any of their speed, anyway, but our WR corps seems to have gotten quite a bit slower.

The Samuel signing really wasn't a bad one at the time. He was a proven receiver. I remember KC fans saw getting Hollywood Brown as sort of a consolation prize - most of the fans I saw online wanted Samuel. It's a real bummer w/ him. I don't think we've ever seen him fully healthy for us.

The Steelers still aren't a very good team. We may not be either, but if the teams are basically equal, Allen gives the Bills a pretty big advantage. Our injuries really aren't that bad. We have good depth on the O-line, and Bernard hasn't really been good all season. If Kincaid & Palmer actually play, we'll be in pretty good shape.

In a way, I'm kind of encouraged that they didn't put Brown on IR. Maybe his injury isn't as serious as some have speculated? Losing guys like Brown & Oliver is huge and impactful, but if both are back by the playoffs, we just have to figure out a way to get there. And we do have depth, especially on the O-line. All teams are dealing w/ injuries this time of year. The Steelers are missing some key players also.

The injuries have been rough - but outside of Hoecht, we still can have an expectation of most of the guys coming back either in the next month or by the playoffs. Just get there. This is a year when no one is that good, and we can definitely make a run - even as a WC.

Have they given more official updates on Brown & Bernard? There was talk that they might be put on IR, but I'd have to think they would have done that by now. Would be nice to see both back in December at some point....

There are issues w/ our schemes on both sides of the ball. We complain endlessly about a lack of talent in this unit or that unit, or overall. And we don't have a lot of "pro bowl" caliber talent. But I will generally believe that we could be much better on both offense & defense if we had real coordinators who had a track record of success. We're not getting the most out of the talent we have.

Personally, I'd be shocked if it was the Chiefs again. What we're seeing is not an illusion - it's a weak & flawed Chiefs team this year. They're just not at that level anymore. Neither are we - which is frustrating given that they've been our biggest nemesis, and this is the year I think we would normally be able to finally get past them in the playoffs. But it might not even come to that. It might be Pats/Colts in the AFCCG, which would really give me such a feeling of deja vu, and of futility. Like, okay universe - you win.

"Delusional positivity" describes me so well. I mean, I remember talking myself into Tuel, Thad Lewis and Orton. I'm certainly capable of talking myself into Cooks saving our WR corps.

That's a hard watch - because they're so right. It makes it even more infuriating that we were so negligent of the WR position not just in the offseason, but at the deadline. I so hope that the Waddle story isn't true - the idea that we would give up a 1st rounder in '27 but not '26 is mystifying, if so.

I feel like he's back for the playoffs. It seems like every player that gets a long term injury these days is coming back sooner than expected - medical advances are outpacing conventional wisdom on recovery times.

A couple of things are true here: it's worth a swing, and we deserve to be clowned for it.