Success

And you may be lucky again w/ Mac. Gotta say - it's envious, but I don't really envy it for the younger fans. Something to be said for paying a few dues and having hard luck before you break through. The older Pats fans assuredly get that, especially if they're fans of other Boston sports as well.

Wow - I just read a "Mac Jones" thread on one of the Pats boards. Has anyone done that? I get that every fan, deep down, is kind of a homer - but man, what an eye opener. It was like the "Da Bears" guys from SNL. Don't even play the games - just give the guy 6 rings already!

It would be kind of funny amidst all of the Jones hype if he wilted in cold/bad weather.

This really helps to balance out the loss of Tre (not that anything really could). These are BIG additions for us. We're not deep - at all - on O-line, and no one really replaces Star. Those are 2 areas where we just need guys to be healthy in order for the Bills to play like a contender.

I loved all 4 of these updates. I smiled at the 1st one, and smiled more w/ each successive update. I love the Jackson comment in particular. I lean homer, but I think he's going to be a really pleasant surprise.

I went through my mid-life crisis. The Bills were an alarmingly large part of it.

I'm guessing Stevenson. I thought he did really well (the muff was kind of a 1st game jitters thing, imo). He did some good tough running out there.

I don't care about the hype. I actually kind of like that the Pats are now being hyped to the moon, while the Bills are barely being mentioned. What I meant by "I'm glad I'm not a Pats fan" is that right now, I'd prefer to be a fan of a team that is still starting their journey. Not to generalize, but Pats fans have out-Yankeed Yankees fans in terms of being spoiled & having a sense of entitlement. Those aren't enviable qualities. Not all of course - but many.

Cripes...our "little one season of success." I'm so glad I'm not a Pats fan. Teams can actually win too much for their fanbase's good.

You're right. And the drought did instill that mentality, at least w/ me. I catch myself sometimes not enjoying wins or our new competitiveness as much these days. Belichick is like this weird dark cloud that just sort of looms over the game, especially when the Pats are getting this much hype.

I hope Star can play.

I spend too much time looking at Pats boards & listening to Bill Simmons' podcasts, but the bolded is definitely an understatement. Most of them think they have a Montana/Young situation, and are setting up for another long run w/ 6 more Lombardi's. It's already a given that he's clearly the best QB from that class.

He can also fix a sandwich in the pocket he has, while Allen is under duress immediately.

I haven't read through all of the responses, but I think Belichick makes it a wash. They're good enough where I'd call the teams even w/ the coaching advantage. And that's no criticism of McD. I think he's one of the best of that next tier of coaches. But Belichick's teams are more disciplined, and they rarely beat themselves. I can't say that about the Bills.

I haven't really seen that much improvement, so we'll have to disagree there. But he was playing well from the start. His game this past Sunday wasn't that different from earlier games. Since the Bills weren't playing, I was checking out one of the Pats boards during that game - at halftime, a pretty fair # of fans were dismayed w/ how Mac was playing. Over the course of the game, he threw what should have been 3 easy picks, including an easy pick 6 in the red zone that the defender just dropped (which would have changed the dynamics of that game). He rebounded in the 2nd half, but his biggest play was the 10-yarder to a wide open Bourne, that Bourne made a spectacular TD run out of. He's a good QB. As I keep saying, right now, he's playing like the scouts predicted: most pro-ready and ready to start on day 1, but lowest ceiling. I've seen comparisons to Garropolo, Dalton & Alex Smith, which I think are all fairly accurate to this point. He's a game manager.

It's a good question. The 1st thing I thought was, we need all 3 to really have the line we want. As far as most important, I'd have to go w/ Dawkins - some of his play has been a mystery to me. There were times against the Saints when he didn't seem to be trying (but I can't say I watch him closely during the game). We need him to be that franchise LT that he was signed to be.

I read it that way at 1st too, but I don't think that's how he meant it. He's saying after 2 years of that class, and what it was generally considered (not his own opinion). Classes like that - and like the current one - can't really be judged for at least 2-3 years, imo. Sometimes longer. QB's end up in a variety of situations, and so many are projects. Lance could end up the best from this class for all we know.

They might say the same about Mac's class in a few years. I think Jones is so hyped right now that it's much more likely he'll end up disappointing to an extent. But maybe not. Who knows.

Where did I say it isn't? Because he's playing this way as a rookie doesn't mean it's a natural trajectory to franchise QB, league MVP & HOF. This might be as good as he gets. Which is actually what scouts basically said about him - most pro ready, lowest ceiling.

Dallas was probably his best game. I'm not saying he hasn't been impressive. But he's been impressive for a rookie who is being perfectly coached & set up to succeed. As I've said, I think 4 of the 5 QB's selected first in that draft would likely be doing the same. The hype is over the top, but it might pan out. WAY too many pronouncements that this is the best QB from that draft. Allen's draft would have been ranked completely differently from how it is now in years 1 or 2. Jones has great protection & is never asked to carry the team, or be much more than efficient in a short passing game.

Belichick wins. I haven't seen Mac pull even one game out on his own yet.

I appreciate your belief in him, but he doesn't play against Dak or Brady. And man, was Brady off that game. I don't know if it was nerves or BB knowing him so well - but that game is probably a blowout 9x out of 10. The Pats scored 17 points - saying he went "toe to toe w/ Brady" kind of glosses over that. He really hasn't proven anything, except for efficiency & accuracy in an offense where he's not asked to do much, and that is designed specifically for what he does well. He has faced almost zero adversity in the NFL to this point. And he is protected as well as just about any other QB in the league. I can't believe the time he has in the pocket when I watch some of those games.

ESPN just talked about Mac & the Pats for a good 10 minutes. The only mention of Buffalo was that the "Bills Mafia is on notice." But the theme was 100% that the Bills had their year and the Pats are BACK.

Jones needs some adversity. I think they've been down a score once in the games that are in their win column. Put that team in a position where they HAVE to throw. Get them down 2 scores or more, on the road, in a nationally televised game - and let's see if the talent meets the hype.

That's a good perspective. Personally, I was hoping to blow them out twice a year for eternity, while they ended up picking between 8-11 in the draft every year.