Success

I think the fill-ins step up big tomorrow. BB is going to put everything toward stopping Diggs. I think Diggs will still be a significant factor, but I predict a thread praising McKenzie after the game, and another thread along the lines of "who is this Hodgins guy? He should start!" We're going to move the ball tomorrow, and Daboll will have a better plan for the red zone. The Bills are going to remind everyone why they were SB favorites this year.

Rodgers is one of my favorite non-Bills to watch. He should have another ring or 2, imo.

I'll trade getting Dawkins back for them getting Bourne back. Much more impactful for us. Really, if nothing changes until tomorrow (knocking on wood), it's about even. The players missing on both teams are somewhat significant, but it feels like neither team has an advantage in that respect. Now, it's time to go win it.

Dawkins is great news. I had hopes for Star - oh well on that one. Phillips has been playing great, at least.

Merry Christmas, all! My kids are older - I miss the "Santa" days, but it's still a pretty magical time...

He was back at practice this week, but limited. He'll definitely play - but it's a hammy, so who knows if he can handle the full load. If they didn't have Harris, they'd be in bad shape. They rely on the running game, and those are their best RB's.

Would it really be too much to ask every player to just live in a plastic bubble for a week? It's just a week. I swear, back in my day....

Excited about Hodgins. He has some skills. It's terrible losing good players for a game like this, but it gives other guys a chance to really prove themselves.

I like the nickname.

It does, but I think mainly because it's the Pats, and such a big game. We want everything to be perfect. All things considered, it's not that bad so far - provided there are no other cases until Sunday. Some other teams are getting hit much worse right now. At least w/ the WR unit, we still have our star player, and decent depth.

This is good news. Star would be a real bonus. Losing Davis & Beasley together is a tough one - but it's not like we're out of receivers. Diggs, Sanders, MacKenzie, Kumerow. Maybe they bring up Hodgins. It's going to be a long 48 hours or so, hoping for no more headlines. But if we go into Sunday like this, my expectation is still for a W.

I figured some of the unvaxxed stuff would hurt us a little bit this season. But did it have to be the Pats game?

Everyone has to have a great game. Players like McKenzie have to step up. We can't have dumb penalties. We need to win the turnover battle. You deal w/ reality. No sense getting all spilt milk about it. Beat the Patriots, and win the division.

I usually have disdain for hot takes. But this one is really cool.

I haven't seen one of these in awhile - forgive me if there was a recent one. How did you derive your board name? "Success" is from "Future Success" from the old BBMB. I joined after the Dallas MNF game. I consider that one of the true low points of the drought - the classic "same ol' Bills" pulling defeat from the jaws of victory. I was despondent, and wanted a name that gave some kind of positive affirmation. Truthfully, I don't really like it now - but stuck w/ it so that other refugees from that board would recognize who I was. There are some interesting ones on here, and I'm sure some good stories behind them. Share.

When I was growing up, my family would always do the Thanksgiving dinner again - exactly. Which was cool. Because at Thanksgiving, we knew it wouldn't be another year. I loved the repeat. These days, it's ribeye, taters, salad, bread, chocolate (in some form).

I like that idea (going undefeated). I have zero doubt that Beane will take care of the line in the offseason. It's far & away the top priority to make this team a contender. I think he'll get a RB - but you're right. It's not as much of a need as we think.

I mean, I'm not sure if anyone has been paying much attention to the coverage - but the Pats are the consensus pick. The Bills are such an afterthought now. The narrative is 100% 'last year was their shot,' and the mighty Belichick has completed a rebuild in record time and will win division titles and SB's as far as the eye can see. In short, we're right back to where I'm most comfortable. Everyone writing us off, 6 losses already, going into a game against a team that owned us for 2 decades, at their place. Where else would you rather be? I'd rather shock the world than attend a coronation.

He had too many penalties - but I thought he blocked really well. He's kind of a mauler when he gets going.

This only started coming up fairly recently in NFL history, and basically took off once Mahomes signed his contract: you have to win when your QB is on his rookie deal, or it's OVER. I can only smile. It's such a poor, lazy & meaningless hot take. We'll be in contention as long as Josh Allen is behind center.

Sorry - I'm lost on the players we have out. I didn't realize Star is out again...what's the scoop? Didn't he play last week?

Interesting story about the ex-Patriot. When I see those kinds of "we live in your head" sentiments from Patriots fans, I'm always like, of course! 20 years is an awfully long time. And if they're also Red Sox fans, they should be able to relate. They STILL chant "Yankees suck" at games. Like you said - at games where the Yankees aren't even involved, and even at games for other sports like hockey.

10-7 is just so iffy. It will feel too much like our "better" drought years - watching the last couple of weeks and doing all kinds of crazy scenarios of who needs to win & who needs to lose. It might come to that, but a win Sunday changes everything. Then, the biggest question is, "can they beat teams that they're supposed to beat, when they need to beat them?" I'd rather spend the next few weeks talking about that.

No Allen is a head-shaker. I'm not sure if this stuff bothers him or fuels him - but I hope it does.

Well, every other fan hates them too. I think we might possibly hate them more. But it's close - the vitriol about the Pats, at least online, is unlike anything I've seen for any other team. It's better to be hated than pitied. But they're hated way too much. I'm sure the Bills will get some hate if we start winning SB's, but I hope it's never that bad. I used to loathe the Fish. But I've pulled for them to beat the Pats too many times. It's dissipated almost completely.