Success

I'm already doing those mental gymnastics - "If they can just get within 10 by the 4th, then maybe get a turnover, then have the ball at the end w/ a chance to win..." It's just so drought-ish.

Don't listen to any Bill Simmons' pods.

I'm glad that ticky penalty didn't turn into anything. Still time here. Let's get it together.

We have had so many ticky tacks against us on 3rd downs this year. It feels like a record.

Let's see if we can pull the big comeback. Great teams can do stuff like that. This season has been tough. 10 years ago, if you had told me I'd be complaining when in 1st place at Thanksgiving, I would have laughed. But this team is too good, and we've waited too long for this. I'm a bit on the edge.

So, if we lose today - are we tied w/ NE, or do they have the lead outright?

SO many mistakes this season, all season. Bad penalties, turnovers, missed tackles. What is up w/ this team? They should be better than last year.

Man, what an important game. Spilled milk, but I wish we weren't in this position. Every team has "what if" games at the end of a season, but I feel like the Bills have more than their quota. I think we beat Pitt if they weren't game 1, Jax was the ultimate weird mulligan, and even TN came down to a half yard. Not much margin for error, especially w/ this stretch coming up.

I'm also a Yankees fan. In 2003, I would never have gone on a Red Sox board with the kind of humble bragging I see from Pats fans here. Is it really a surprise that some Bills fans (like me) are just a wee bit sensitive to anything Patriots related, especially when the whole country is tuning into a narrative of "well, the Bills, Jets & Phins had a year - but BB is back now."? Please. 20 years is an eternity in sports. The Bills finally break through, and I have Pats fans here on this board telling me how great the Pats are again, how Mac is the 2nd coming & the rest.

The bolded is a mantra for Pats fans. Do you know how many games during the 2 decades of Brady the Bills "almost" won? Almost winning doesn't really count. People forget that before Cam's fumble, Davis uncharacteristically dropped an easy TD that would have put the Bills up 7. Why doesn't that play count? Why is it always "if Cam hadn't fumbled?" Your team lost twice to the Bills in 2020. They were swept. Period.

How do you think ol' Mac is gonna do when he has to play from down a few scores? The Pats have a good O-line & run game, and a great D. That's awesome while they're leading games.

That was a tough game. Every time I thought we were pulling away, they'd make it close again. The drought was underrated. Playoff games are stressful when your team is in them.

The hype is out of control - and it's only because he's a Patriot. Listening to the guys on the Thurs. night broadcast was a chore. Jones threw that pass to Bourne for the TD - Bourne had no one within 10 yards, and Jones had absolutely no pressure, and it was a short pass - and the way those guys talked you would have thought it was a 50-yarder that threaded the needle between 3 defenders, all while Jones had a blitz right in his face. People are already declaring him the best QB from the draft.

They keep making the Brady comparison - both the media and Pats fans. The main comparison is that he's a dink & dunk game manager at this stage of his career, which is what Brady was at a similar time. And these Pats remind a lot of fans of the 2001 Pats - more defensive oriented, with a QB who doesn't make mistakes and can put a few points on the board. But to go from there to thinking that it's a natural progression to best QB in the league, GOAT and HOF is kind of a stretch. This may be as good as Mac Jones ever gets (and that was the assessment coming out of college - most pro ready, but lowest ceiling).

Man, I hope so. If we don't at least split w/ them this year, it will be a trying situation for me. Could be good for gummy & beer sales, though.

Sometimes, w/ this offense, I think it wouldn't be such a bad thing to not have homefield advantage in the playoffs.

Looking at wikipedia, it might have been. It looks like he was their singer at the time - I really had no idea that I might have seen Dio in my life! I only got into stuff like that much later. At the time, I was a kid and REO was my favorite band - Rainbow was their opener, which seems strange now on a few levels. War Memorial in Rochester. I just remember going in and thinking "who is this Rainbow band?," and being pretty blown away by their set. REO was pretty great, too. That was more in their rockin' days, and I still think Gary Richrath is overlooked/underrated whenever people talk about guitarists.

I'll tell ya - and I've said this before - but 20 years has done a # on me. I'm working through a ton of Patriots issues these days, especially w/ all of the hype after a much-needed 1 year respite.

I just know that Blackmore was playing guitar. I had no idea who he was at the time, but was certainly impressed by him & their set. It was '78...Bonnet maybe?

Man, some seriously good 1st shows here - Queen, Simon & Garfunkel, Iron Maiden, AC/DC. I wish I could have seen Queen back then. I still look up clips on youtube - one of the best live bands ever. Mine was kind of meh. REO Speedwagon, with Rainbow. At the time, however, I was blown away.

I figured we'd be in better shape at this point of the season. The team hasn't left a lot of room for a margin of error. We all hope that Jags debacle won't come back to haunt them. Good & great teams are allowed a mulligan, but that was a biggie. We've basically lost all 3 "had a chance in the last couple of minutes" games we've had. Those are our 3 losses. The rest of the games were all fairly easy wins (Miami #2 was closer until the end). We're going to have more close games in the next 2 months, and it's gonna be crucial that we win those & balance out the "close game" record more.

Man, with the Pats winning, the heat is ON! I'll take it. I was kind of hoping we could have a few years of "owning" the division easily, but for old timers like me, it's fun to have big division rivalry games coming up, too. It's been awhile. If we're the best team, we should still get the division title. It's that simple. I think the Pats need to sweep us if they want to take it (as long as we take care of business against teams like the Colts).

Watching Mac yesterday, it's pretty clear what he can do, and what he can't do. I don't think he'll ever come close to taking over a game like Brady & the best do. And the athleticism/escapability will be a major liability with even a good O-line (the Pats right now have one of the best). He would likely have twice as many sacks taken as Allen if he started behind this Bills line. He's smart, and goes through his progressions - which is big for a young QB. He's a great QB for Belichick. Perfect for how he gameplans, and they can win a lot of games w/ that combo. Once BB moves on? Probably not nearly as much of a threat. It wouldn't shock me if we were more concerned about Wilson in the division at that point. Enough of the hype, though. There is nothing too special about him, except that he plays for the best coach.

I can't help but feel for guys like that. It's a bit like Norwood - those "so close" moments that don't pan out. I'm sure athletes are wired differently, but I'd be a mess w/ stuff like that.

They could have had the next Matt Ryan. Who happens to also be playing tonight.