corta765

The Jets heading this season though are a draw for the league and networks. NY playing on MNF or even SNF with Bell added will pump their ratings. Even at the 4:00pm slot they hold viewing value as of now which I see the NFL and networks using at this point especially with the Giants not very good right now for the NYC market. I don't think the league would waste the Jets viewership power on a 1:00pm slot at this point.

I kinda think this year assuming the Bills open at home they will win regardless. There is a lot of positive momentum building and the Ralph will be a freaking thunderdome that day.

Yea there should be some noise in this time where we find out at least the opponents. I usually try to do the home Thursday pre season game. You can get super cheap tickets up close and its a nice evening.

I hear that. As I have gotten older the date has been more and more important to me for the same reason. I really want Cleveland to be TNF and I don't because if it is just a 1:00pm game my family and I plan on going to it. I basically build my fall weekends off when the games are.

That wonderful day is oh so close. Last year the schedule was released on Thursday April 19th same with the year before that. So very likely next Thursday should be the release of the NFL schedule. The NFL has done the release early in the week but it is always the 3rd week of April. Typically on the day of the release there will be leaks galore and I will do my best to post what I find. With this being the NFL's 100th season I think the entire schedule from primetime games to the normal layout will be different this year. Few notes for what we know thus far: -Packers v Bears opening game -Patriots host SNF after getting bumped off the original opener. The Bills are a candidate to play although a longshot. My guess is the Steelers open at NE on SNF. -The Bills should open at home this season after opening on the road last year. The NFL likes to balance that yearly and my guess is the Bills open at home vs Miami something they haven't done in week 1 since 1991 -With this being the NFL's 100th season expect the Bills to probably get some love given their role during that time. -Week 1 MNF typically has two games with the 7:15 game being an east coast game and the 10:00 pm game being west coast. There is a lot of conversation that the Jets will host MNF at 7:15 so maybe the NFL bucks the trend of balanced openers and Buffalo is on the big stage. -The Bills are at Cleveland this year and it has been heavily speculated that this could be a TNF given it has happened before and the storylines that exist. -The Bills are not going overseas to London this year and the furthest west they go is Dallas. Expect a large number of 1:00pm games if you like that kind of thing If you do see any schedule leaks post them so we can all over analyze even if they are not directly Bills related.

Yea but I believe he also was interested in Kyle Shanahan. The butterfly effect is always interesting. Rex's biggest issue was his unwillingness to be the coach and not control the D. I think had he kept and empowered Schwartz you would've seen a superb D that benefited from Rex's creativity while Schwartz would've handled the nuts and bolts that Rex did not like. Oh well fun times haha

I'd really like to see him get another shot. He made some crucial mistakes with building trust and contract wise. But he certainly did well in trades and had a good eye for talent. The 2016 draft was all Rex I never held that against Whaley the same as 2017 draft seems to have been McD so I wouldn't hold that against Beane although that class looks really good.

It can be classic just need some freshness to pop it a little. The Bills jerseys have a nice color scheme but more or less harken back to the 1970s look stripping wise. I would've just like to see something more like that.

They were boring and outdated. The colors needed an updated and they easily could've taken the current uniforms and jazzed them up without doing what they look to have well..done lol

True but remember Whaley never really had a say with the HC. McD and Beane were close before he was even hired which makes things smoother whereas Whaley had Marrone and Rex's big ego's to deal with. Additionally its hard to know what role Russ Brandon played in that power struggle. At the time people would've freaked if Dareus was not resigned that had to be done and Mario was at the height of his popularity because he was producing. My point just is after two seasons which were an identical 6-10 and 9-7, Whaley's 2015 offseason was viewed as a success big time by most Bills fans and media. He was credited for potentially building a good team. I don't disagree Beane is farrr more calculating with a stronger plan and communication skills, but the goal is to put out the best possible roster and heading into the opening of 2015 Whaley was credited for the amount of talent that team had amassed. Skill position wise the WR corp and RB corp in 15 is superior to what we currently have even though it has been upgraded.

Listen I am a big Beane fan and his early resume is quiet nice to this point including breaking the drought. But I do want to pump the breaks a little because I liked Whaley a ton too and lots of people heading into the 2015 offseason thought he was the dude after putting together a strong D and adding good FA's to offense with the McCoy trade being the highlight. That didn't turn out well which was a mix of bad coaching and too much bad contracts. But my point being is before I even start saying top 5 I think we need to see some more success and yes I am saying it a division crown. Now if you want to say Beane is one of the better/rising young minds I think that nationally is becoming a strong sentiment based off his work.

4-4: Bills Away games: Titans (W), Cowboys (L), Browns (L), Steelers (W), Giants (W), Jets (L), Phins (W), Pats (L) 7-1 Bills Home games: Broncos (W), Ravens (W), Eagles (L), Bengals (W), Skins (W), Jets (W), Phins (W), Pats (W) I will duck for cover after predicting 11-5

One of the best posts in here in a while. A big part of the shorter passes is taking what the defense gives you. Allen can make every throw and wants to attack seemingly always. But sometimes the better play for the offense is the 4 or 5 yard slant or short pass. Not as sexy but helps move the chains. It's part of the growth as a QB. Mahomes lit it up with tons of big plays, but a big part of his success was his ability to the simple things perfect which allowed the more complex plays to happen.

Your grasping at straws here man, easier just to say you'd rather stay in OP. I've been downtown a ton of the last decade never once had an issue nor has any of my friends or family. If there are 70,000 people downtown it is kind of hard to be not noticeable same reason in orchard park things get filmed and seen all the time now Last season my brother in law and I wanted to do the Pats night game but couldn't with my wife and I expecting a kid and his work schedule. SO we tailgated on his front lawn in the middle of Rochester for about 3 hours before the game. I moved a TV outside and streamed Bills moments, we had a tent a fire etc.. the neighbors loved it and people were honking as we drove by lol.

That is not going to stop many people and there are tons of surface lots

Contrary to popular belief but there are plenty of lots to tailgate in downtown and there is a large portion of the fanbase with kids, older people, etc.. who would like more options before the game then just tailgating ranging from fan experiences, restaurants, you name it

Right. Like he has 3 playoff appearances and helped take an 0-16 Lions team back to competitive most years which is a credit to him. But in 2013 and another time or two they could've won the division/made playoffs and instead choked when they were sitting in 1st place. I will defend him in the fact never once has Detroit IMO really spent on D the way the Jags did for years to build a true force. But yea he is that crappy middle ground of being not great but good enough.

To me he is the definition of an average franchise QB. Given the spectrum of where a franchise QB can land from good to bad he is that mid point. He certainly can put up numbers, his body is prototypical for what'd you want, and with a well round org you can probably win some playoff games. But overtime I less and less have viewed him as elite or someone I fear. You can build with him for a decade which you want but you will need a solid foundation around to truly have success. Detroit rarely has given him that and he hasn't shown that ability to carry a team completely solo. Kinda like Drew Bledsoe back in the day just a worst roster and coaching staff.

The NFL has a pretty perfect version of parity that other sports wish they could model. Trading cap in the NHL and NBA is plausible because the rosters are smaller so the impact is not as great. If you do that in the NFL it basically allows the best teams the same advantage as before while also allowing crappy owners like Mike Brown to cut costs even more for greater profit.

Only reason I don't think it is the Jets would be I think we play them on TNF later in season. But dear god how fun would a BUF-NYJ MNF week 1 matchup in either city be to start the season. Third week of April. Was April 19th last year

Actually in 2017 the Bills had 5 home games before Thanksgiving with four in first 8 weeks. Last year I agree was absolutely ridiculous with how the schedule was so away game heavy early on, but the same thing kinda happen in 2016 with the Bills having four home games from week 12 on only for 2017 to be more favorable. And in 2015 they actually had 5 home games in the first 8 games (9 weeks) plus the neutral ground London game. They years its good the Bills seem to get a very favorable lineup, but they years its bad it seems to be really bad. It would be nice to see a slight bit more of consistency with the schedule rather then drastic flips with how favorable it is or isnt.

Few things because I cover the schedule stuff regularly. The NFL is pretty honest about trying to keep teams home one year and away the next. Unless you win the SB multiple years like NE has they are pretty consistent about swapping home and away every year. With that in mind the Bills were on the road in 2018 to open and they should be home this year to the point Id wager money they are. The last time the Bills opened back to back away was 2011-2012 Chiefs and Jets. But the NFL hadn't adjusted the scheduling the same as they have now with night games and other quirks. The Bills majority of the time open the season with an AFC team at with AFC East opponents being scheduled about 50% of the time in the last decade. The only time since 2010 Buffalo opened with an NFC team was in 2014 when the Bills defeated Chicago in OT. The last time the Bills opened at home against an NFC team was 2008 against Seattle and with the Bills playing the NFC East this year you can pretty much kiss any chance of a week 1 NFC opponent goodbye given how the NFL and networks prioritize that division for bigger matchups. For the Bills actual home opener itself they have been very division heavy with 2010 MIA, 2013 NE, 2014 MIA, 2016 NYJ, and 2017 NYJ. So with all of that said we know Buffalo will not host New England and the NFC East most likely. That leaves Miami, NYJ, Baltimore, Cincy, and Denver. My guess is Baltimore may be a Bills nightgame later in the season and the NFL will want them for a bigger matchup week 1 the same with the Jets being a bigger matchup. That leaves MIA, Cincy, and Denver. Cincy typically plays a divisional matchup week 1 as does Denver. My guess is it is the Dolphins given the AFC East rivalry, the fact Buffalo has not hosted Miami week 1 since 1992 (or 93 it was around then), and because of the NFLs 100th season it being something they can market. I could see a small chance perhaps Buffalo gets a 4:00pm Denver matchup, but I would be stunned.

My rankings for Pats opener: 1. Cowboys- Americas team media blah blah its a gold mine move 2. Jets- With their moves and possible changing of the guard story line very easy sell 3. Steelers- They've had many battles recently and have played opening night before. But I could see CBS trying to keep it for a later in the year 4pm matchup 4. Chiefs/Browns- TV networks will protect these two pretty big for their 4pm spots 5. Bills- Outside chance given the Bills additions and in the media's eyes its probably a softball opener for the Pats, but with the teams above why would they honestly not try for one of those 6. Giants- Only way I see the Giants on is due to NY media market and somehow they get Kyler Murray who would re-add some star power with ODB gone. 7. Dolphins- This will be one of the few home games NE plays at 1:00pm

Well you commented lol

Doubtful more 100th anniversary. That said I think the NFL should consider changing the schedule where week 1 the years prior SB winner get a night game but not always opening night. Truthfully some years the SNF or MNF game has better matchups.