Nextmanup

I have the KC game on the DVR, but I suspect I will not watch the game again. Believe it or not, I never watched any of the 4 Super Bowls a second time either. I will definitely be watching playoff football this weekend, and the SB---at least as long as the games are close. The moment one turns into a blowout, I'll be doing other things.

That's an interesting story that I've never heard, but I would love to know how the sliding roof mechanism was supposed to work! There is a HUGE amount of space between those 2 stadiums! One roof would cover one or the other stadium at any one point in time, but not both? Do I have that correct? It seems like that would have had enormous, unnecessary complexity. Seems like a goofy idea.

Great eye! That's because they took this photo from his Rams days, and photo shopped the new color and the logo!

As painful as this loss was, it does remind me of the Ronnie Harmon game in Cleveland, and the 1988 AFC Championship loss to the Bengals, among others. We were all ready back then for the team to explode up to the next level, but it needed to run its course....and not long after those disappointments, we went to 4 straight Super Bowls. So this year wasn't our year. You have to think the next 3 seasons, at a bare minimum, will be filled with opportunity for the Bills to do amazing things. And Josh's window will be open much longer than that.

I would think so; I was just quoting what Fina said. He literally said "I don't know if that's a Frazier thing or what." Fina has harped on this over the course of several podcasts, for what that's worth. He has also said that NO ONE on the DL has a "go-to" move they can bust out when they need to, with the exception of Ed Oliver. Again, based on what he's seeing watching the games. Fina is watching line play with a hell of a lot more acumen than I am, so I'll take his word for it. Of course, other experts might not see it the same way. I would love to have 3 or 4 ex-linemen have a 30 minute podcast on this topic!

I would disagree. There are all kinds of decisions that are arguably objectively right or wrong during a game. Not all, but a lot of them. How to kick the ball off is one of those things. And we got that wrong. How to defend is another, and we got that wrong too. McD gets a lot of those wrong...he always has. It's his weakness as a HC. He excels at other areas of head coaching, away from in-game tactics. You are assuming that the power in the organization flows from Beane to McDermott, but I have always firmly believed it goes the other way. It's not uncommon in the NFL for the HC to have more power than the GM, though that would be unheard of in the NHL, for example.

Apparently they wanted Dick Jauron but he was unavailable.

They were discussing this the other day on the radio. Apparently there is a rule that you can do that ONCE, but if you do it a second time it's a 15 yarder and the clock is reset to adjust for lost time! Never heard of that. We still could have done it once! Combine that with not screwing up the kick and there's your ball game. Game would have ended most likely on a failed Hail Mary pass.

You hit on a good point--will there be a flood of talent trying to flee Pittsburgh with Ben's retirement? There may be an opportunity there for us. And Pittsburgh might be willing to wheel and deal as they are clearly going into a revamp/rebuild mode. He'll be 33 next October. 6'5, 260 lbs. The bigger they are, the harder they fall. Guys like him and Gronk take a hell of a beating in this league. You wonder how much he has left in the tank.

The window on the sort of thing doesn't stay open forever. The timing is right for Daboll to go now. If he doesn't, it may not happen at all. He has been passed over quite a few times now going back to last year. I wonder what teams see in him when they do the interviewing. My impression is that Daboll would come off as not having the people skills or communication skills to be an effective HC, but I really don't know the guy or what his personality is like. I'm just going by what you see in brief interviews and the like.

He has a really big nose too. They could have gone with that.

For real? I just discovered this podcast a month or so ago when it was mentioned here and now I don't miss it. Fina is a sharp guy. I think OLmen in general are the smartest guys on a football field.

On the most recent podcast, talking about the Chiefs devastating loss, Fina made some really interesting comments. He hit on a reoccurring theme of his, which is that our DL-men do not have a "first move" and they do NOT know what move they are going to try prior to the snap. He points out that they sort of "wiggle" left/right/left/right at the snap of the ball, as if to make the OL guess at what they will do, and then they decide what to maybe try or not try. He points out that this is your DREAM as an offensive lineman, b/c the delay the DLmen are providing makes all the difference in the world. Further, Fina points out that as a DL man you should DEFINITELY have a move in your mind before the snap, and then you should execute it IMMEDIATELY at the snap---that's what makes the OLman's job difficult. He pointed out that Bruce Smith ALWAYS had a move in mind, and would do it---and that he didn't care if it got stopped several times because eventually it would work. Fina said he doesn't know if this is just a function of the guys themselves, or if FRAZIER is teaching this crap, or what...but that that it's terrible and needs to stop. I found those comments really interesting. If Fina were young and on our OL now, he'd immediately be the best guy on the field.

They aren't going anywhere. But I think the average fan places too much importance on the DL anyway. I'd rather have an army of DBs that can cover. It's a better way of shutting down a passing game.

Just wanted to say "Eberflus" is a great German name. It doesn't really mean anything, but literally broken down would be "boar river" or maybe "boar flow". Add it to Pat Freirmuth in Pittsburgh (pronounced Fry-ur-moot), and Ben Röthlisberger as maybe the 3 best German names in the NFL. Well, until Big Ben retired at least. 🇩🇪

Rodgers to Denver would be great for the Bills, at least in theory. You'd have Chargers/Broncos/Chiefs all taking wins off each other, making our path to the No. 1 seed that much easier. It also helps that we should have the upper hand in our own division for several years to come, and probably have 4 automatic wins a year with the Jets and Fish. The lesson of this season is that when the No. 1 seed is available, you MUST TAKE IT. That would have been us if Josh hadn't slipped in Nashville and we beat the Titans! What a huge difference to our playoff season! He's a solid QB who had an excellent rookie year, despite hitting the rookie wall with about 3 or 4 games to go. He's not going to give Allen trouble, but he's good enough to make NE a nuisance to us going forward. If McDermott were the interviewee, he would undoubtedly say, "Yes, I saw the game, and I think what we need to do is draft a defensive tackle in the first round."

Hate Mahomes, Belichick, or Tom Brady. All work well.

The Pro Bowl should not exist! It's stupid and a waste of time. If they want to nominate an imaginary "PRO BOWL GAME ROSTER" to honor the players, and just not have the game, that's fine.

I'm curious what you think #1 means, and why it has proven to be the best advice you ever got.

I would prioritize O line ahead of CB, and I would not limit the updating to just the interior of the line! I would then address DB next. I wouldn't mind tweaking the receiving corps too---Josh has the worst YAC in the league and that needs to be improved. Tweaking/playing with the DL would be further down the list.

Who knows. The NFC may well win this year. Still some excellent QBs in the NFC.

I'd be really surprised if we part ways with Frazier, assuming he doesn't get a coaching job elsewhere.

Jim Nantz weighs in on the OT situation: "There are a few occasions a year, maybe not even that, where you walk away and feel a hole in your heart. Because the effort was so big on one side and you can't believe it wasn't enough to win," NFL on CBS play-by-play man Jim Nantz told the Maggie and Perloff show on Wednesday. "I'm not trying to shortchange the Bengals, but if they had figured out a way to win at Arrowhead, done it, come home, I would've liked Buffalo [in the AFC Championship Game]. "And now you put them in the Super Bowl. You know SoFi Stadium would've been, basically, the biggest convention of the Bills Mafia in years. You guys would've owned the stadium... It was just a shame that Josh and the Bills didn't get a chance to match it. And I really believe now, after seeing how many people are talking about [overtime rules], there's going to be change. Doesn't do the Bills any good now, but I do think it needs to be modified."

He somehow got the label of "boy genius" a long time ago and the folks who run the NFL are dumb enough that the label will stick forever. Never mind the fact that he demonstrated for all to see in Buffalo that he was not only NOT a genius, but he was from some sort of Wunderkind. The kid was in way over his head. Maybe he's progressed since then.

Do those words start with an "F" and a "Y" ???