Success

"How's the weather?" is a pretty vanilla conversation starter in life. Here, all future happiness hinges on it.

Personally, I have re-set this game. It's not make or break. It's a setback if we lose, but we play them again in a few weeks. And we played better in their house last year than ours - much better. And all WE have to do is beat them once. Right now, they need to beat us twice, if they want to win the division. I also like our chances against the Bucs better than I like their chances against the Colts, who seem built to beat a team like the Pats. It's a big regular season game. But life, and the season, goes on if we don't prevail in this one.

BB deserves his rep. I agree that the offenses aren't as egregious as the hype - but he has always tried to buck the system, to defy the media, to thumb his nose at the rules. I respect his coaching, but his attitude has always rubbed me the wrong way. I mean, sorry coach - you have to give a few minutes to the media once in awhile, and follow a few basic rules. Doesn't seem like much in return for 10's of millions and eternal glory.

Yeah, alright. You make a good argument.

I tend to drink more. And it helps.

They actually run themselves well. But man, those fans. I spent time checking their boards this week. They're at that point of success where their own team winning is cool, but they take much more enjoyment from the misery of other fanbases. Probably a coping mechanism for the entire globe hating them, but it ain't pretty.

I hope the team isn't thinking like the fans are. This team has to embrace these kinds of conditions. THIS IS BUFFALO, NY. I hope the players are all going back to crazy pick-up games they played w/ their friends in terrible conditions, and getting stoked about whatever comes. It's football. You play in the wind, rain, snow, sleet, mud, whatever. It would be a bummer if they were like, "Oh, no! We need it to be clear and nice to win!" I doubt they are, though.

I go back & forth on that. The part of me that has PTSD about the Pats fears the worst - he HAS shown flashes of being excellent. But, if I'm objective, he hasn't shown anything yet. I kind of chuckle when people say he's already proven he's the best from that QB class. They ask him to do so little, while most of the other guys in that class have to practically carry their teams, who are poorly constructed and generally not well-coached. He screams game manager right now. He's not impressive at all in the red zone, and he really winds up when he has to throw any distance. I think there is zero chance he lives up to the hype - but w/ Belichick & McDaniels at the helm, I won't take him lightly. They just know how to use his strengths & avoid his weaknesses.

That makes total sense, and to take that last point one step further, I've seen a TON of Pats fans and pundits take the linear approach w/ Mac Jones. As in, "He's playing better than Brady was as a rookie. Therefore, his next step will be a Lombardi, followed by league MVP, followed by 5 more Lombardi's and the HOF." Mac was projected by scouts to be the most pro ready, but to have the lowest ceiling. So far, they were spot on w/ the 1st part. There is no reason to believe that he'll take even the next potential step and have some sort of linear progression. This might be as good as he gets. Or, he might actually get worse.

2 big "agrees" with you in a row, Generic! I love the Yankees, and it's better for my anxiety when they're good & the Red Sox aren't - but it's just more fun when both are good. Those are the games & seasons that you really remember (hopefully well, but not always). If I'm a Patriots fan, the one thing I probably lament is that it was so easy in the division for 20 years. I'm sure it was fun, but I'll take our division reign in the '90's where we had real battles w/ the other teams. And also on the split. That's what I'm hoping for. In some ways, I think it would be better than sweeping if we were to meet them in the playoffs - I can't see BB losing to ANY team 3x in a row in a season, or 5x in a row in general.

Man, do I agree w/ this. The Pats are being hyped for this 6-game winning streak & Mac's efficient play during that stretch. But if you look more closely, virtually none of the details are impressive. It's always tough to win 6 in a row, so I don't want to discount that - but the good teams they played were missing key players, and they beat the teams they should (and I'm not saying the Bills wins are better - but this team & Allen have proven themselves more at this point). The Jones hype is irrational. He's done fine so far for a rookie. But my goodness. Let's see him put a team on his back, lead a few multi-score comebacks, and have to deal w/ pressure at the end of a game. Imo, he's done almost nothing so far to indicate he'll be anything aside from a decent game manager. That likely gets exposed in the playoffs, when he & they are playing actual good & great teams every week.

I knew they'd still be competitive w/ BB, and will be as long as he's there. But the fear factor is gone without Brady. They're just a good, really well-coached team now. Brady was the magician. How many times did we have 4th quarter leads only to see him turn it on when he needed to? Threading needles, throwing 50-yard dimes in the last few minutes - always engineering the drive they HAD to have, at the time they had to have it. That wasn't Belichick. It was always the combo that made that team so formidable. I have no doubt that BB will put together some contending years w/ Mac Jones as long as he's there, but they're just another team now.

McD has given me moments of doubt - but that game & others have assured me that he's our guy for the long term. That defensive gameplan was one for the ages, imo. It was perfect.

It's kind of cool to have an entire country pulling for your team in a game. I suppose it's better to be hated, because that generally means you win a lot - but it's still cool to have the planet on our side.

I think the run game is going to be a surprise. We saw flashes against the Saints - Breida adds a dimension, and it opened up things for Singletary. Now, we have Brown back. It won't be as good as the Pats, but I don't think it will be night & day.

The bolded is actually the only truly annoying part for me. Steve Young said it last week, and I've heard it countless times on various message boards & twitter over the past few weeks - the Bills & other AFC East teams had their "1 year," and now the Pats are back in charge of the division. No. Even if the Pats are good or great - and like you said, with BB they'll always be competitive - the AFC East ain't gonna be the division it was for 20 years. The Bills are here to stay w/ Allen & McD. Miami is well run now, and I think even the Jets will turn it around w/ Saleh & Wilson. And we're still a better team than the Pats, and I'd bet pretty good money that Allen will always be at least 1 tier above Mac Jones, if Jones even pans out. If BB retired after this season - that team would probably hover around .500.

I know things like the Jags game happen to good teams - but I hope it provides a lesson for these Bills players in the years to come. I mean, that's a loss that is just looming so large right now; it's impact seems to grow as the season goes on. It's been discussed ad nauseum, but they bought the hype. That's something good young teams need to learn, imo. This is still the NFL, and you're not given anything.

It's ironic, but the closest parallel that I always think of to the bolded is how Boston felt about NYC for years, particularly w/ the Yankees, but just in general too. I think there are a few fan groups who could relate to the "Bills experience" of the past few decades. Pre-2004 Red Sox fans are one of the few. I always envy that they were able to break their curse and exorcise their Yankee demons in such dramatic fashion, w/ the "4 Days in October" series. That must have felt very cathartic. I feel like we need something similar, but it's probably a longshot. Sweeping them in the regular season & then taking the hat trick w/ a playoff blowout would be pretty close to that for me.

We thought about starting a drinking game w/ Romo for awhile. It's rare that he doesn't at least find time to praise Belichick or Brady in games he's covering (not Pats or Bucs games, mind you - any game).

This is all rational & logical. But I like feeling angry about stuff.

I like the Dane Jackson pick. I expect a lot of run, and from what I've seen, he is unusually good at identifying a running play early and closing on the runner - which we'll need a few times I'm sure (you never want to see a CB tackling a RB, but he can really limit damage when the backs break free from the 1st line).

The downside to the weather - for the Mac Jones hypers, bad weather is considered to be the one thing he hasn't proven himself in yet. If he somehow plays well and the Pats win....do not watch ESPN, or any sports media. Do not listen to any podcasts. Stay away from the internet. It would be best to just move to the wilderness for awhile, like those 70's "man on the mountain" movies.

Once in awhile I see Pats fans say how "entitled" or "arrogant" Bills fans felt about the division after 1 year, and how annoying all of the media hype for the Bills was. I spit out my coffee every time I see that. I mean, even when we're doing well, it's a Patriots world out there.

22 mph isn't as bad - and I like the "windy early."

The hype for Mac is actually hilarious. No matter what happens in his career - there is literally 0% probability that it matches the hype he's getting now. I did a lot of calculations on that, and it's true.