Success

This is the progression. 1) We're a bad team, and no one notices us. 2) We're a good team, and no one notices us 3) We're a good team, and people are talking about us 4) We're a good team, and people think we'll win the Super Bowl 5) We're a good team, and everyone hates us

Just a head's up: if we win the Super Bowl, I may drink a bit.

I'm actually more excited about seeing where & how he improves. The trajectory is clear. I think he's only going to get better.

I've gotta believe every single poster here would be disappointed w/ anything less than a trip to the show. Everything has kind of built up to this year. The build-up feels almost identical to '90 in some ways. We've filled all the holes, and have great players in just about every unit on the field. Allen is being talked about as a potential MVP, and when any media conversation turns to the SB, you can bet Buffalo will be mentioned. Let's take in every single minute of this season. It will be one for the ages.

No one does the QB hype machine better than New England. Catching lightning in a bottle 2 decades ago has made pundits abandon reason when it comes to up & coming QB's in NE. Remember when Jimmy G was there? He's turned out okay, but he was going to be as good as Brady. They kept leaking things out of camp about how unstoppable he'd be. Then Stidham. Again - then it was Stidham. The hype on that guy was overboard - BB had done it again w/ another non-1st rounder. Then they got Cam, and he was going to be back in MVP form w/ BB as coach. Now it's Jones. I actually got scared a bit & watched all of his highlights, and a replay of the Pats/Giants preseason game. I mean, he was certainly fine - but I've seen WAY too many QB's look amazing in preseason. I remember thinking Van Pelt could seamless replace Kelly because of how good he had looked. You can't gauge anything off of preseason. 2nd & 3rd team defenses, giving QB's no exotic looks or complicated packages. Let's see Jones once he has to face a real pass rush and a defense he's never seen.

I appreciate the response & agree - but have to take issue with your characterization of Wright as a "reporter." Sadly, Bayless is the guy that people now aspire to be. Make millions by trolling.

I mean, that immediately delegitimizes a poll like that. It's like they base it on traditionally "good" teams. If Pats fans had to go through the kind of drought the Bills did, about 75% of them would have been on to the Sox or Celtics by now. There is no comparison.

Man, I hope you're right. They have one of the best O-lines in the league, a very solid defense, and probably one of the better running games. I think the Pats are going to be a tough out.

I used to be a fan. He's tough to listen to now. It's ironic w/ him & other Boston fans. They became pretty much everything that they couldn't stand about Yankees fans 20 years ago.

I check their boards - and some of their national pundits like Bill Simmons are way over the top about him. They had Brady SO long. They forgot what it's like to look at QB's in the preseason, and don't seem to understand that even Nate Peterman looked like an all pro against basic defenses and 2nd teams.

Patriots fan narrative is already that they have the best QB in the division. Didn't we already go through this w/ Jimmy G and Stidham? Every fanbase has homers (and I am proudly one), but I think New England delusion goes up that extra notch. I hope Jones has the most middlin' career of all time. Does enough good so they don't move on, but is so average that they never win anything meaningful.

Makes sense. Thank you. I truly hope we are not at 68% or close to that.

I'm curious where we are %-wise. We were supposedly around 80%, and some were saying that would drop further w/ the cuts (not sure why).

That's true. I'm all hot-takey today. I'll settle in.

I think the protocols are much more strict this year - especially w/ basically 2 classes of NFL player now, based on vaccination. I hope I'm very wrong on this. Losing 5 days for "close contact" just isn't good for our team or any team. I'm not saying Beasley is the only one who runs that risk, but it doesn't look like the Bills took that into consideration at all.

I was kind of hoping they'd go w/ Hodgins. I love Beasley - but really hope they don't regret this. With the NFL protocols, he could miss all kinds of time, just for walking by people.

I'm not sure if a Bills board is a good spot for a Pats fan to get into "BB is the best EVAH" and "Mac Jones is the next Brady!" kinds of debates. Don't they talk about that stuff on Pats boards?

I guess I'm more concerned that most about that. BB is still BB. He is a great coach. He'll have a great running game, an excellent defense, and probably the best O-line in the league to protect the rookie. Granted, a lot will come down to just that - a rookie QB. Which doesn't usually pan out. But BB will put him in a position to succeed, and won't ask too much of him. They'll be competitive. I don't know about playoffs, but if a few bounces go there way....

BB had a team that went 18-1 the previous year. It was a huge dropoff from that year.

I'm probably not the 1st to say this, but I really can't wait until Belichick retires. Not saying Jones or the offseason moves will work out for them - but every move was as smart as it could be. He's just a coach who doesn't stand for losing & will not tolerate it.

Being a sports fan is a funny business. None of my teams have won a championship in my lifetime (over 50 years). I'm a Knicks and Bills fan. I don't care about hockey. I do like the Yankees, but only became a baseball fan in the past few years, so they've been plucky underdogs in my time & not the evil empire. It's a world of pain, if you really care. I'm embarrassed sometimes by how much I care, but I do. I lose sleep after big losses. I get down. As a Bills fan, I'm not sure if I would have signed up for all of what we've gone through. 4 brutal losses in a row in the biggest game. An endless quest for a franchise QB, and more "pull defeat from the jaws of victory" losses than I'd ever care to count. From Pittsburgh's 2nd stringers w/ Bledsoe to Dallas MNF to McKelvin's drop and all the rest. Just gut-wrenching, with not many good moments to offset anything. And man, 20 years of having one team just own us as New England has. I genuinely need therapy about that. It's more than a fan should have to go through. Anyway, that's where I'm at. Just one before I die. One Lombardi can definitely make it all seem worthwhile, and will be a joyous occasion for all of us, I'm sure.

No one in this division has proven anything yet. BB's credentials are unimpeachable - but he also hasn't won anything without Brady yet. I don't see it as different from too many other divisions.

That's an extremely small sample size. And even if it was 1st string, they're still playing vanilla D. Not that Mac might not turn out to be good - but man, did we ever hear the same about Stidham. And even Cam when the Pats got him. Let's see how it goes when they crank up the lights and he faces a real pass rush, and has Agholor as his #1 target.

I mean, he was mostly playing against 2nd & 3rd string, no?

I'm freaked about about Mac. Anything less than the Patriots going through a 2-decade search for a Brady replacement is unacceptable to me. My worst fear is a Montana/Young situation. But, I was also freaked out about Garropolo and Stidham. So, there's that. There are definitely a ton of guys who looked amazing in the preseason against vanilla, 2nd string D's, then folded when it was a real game. Here's hoping Jones is one of those.