Long Suffering Fan

Yep. Licking them Brad Marchand style.

Firebaugh Fireballer Finishes Funny Fishes Freeing Foolish Fears

Dude, what is not to love about this guy? There are sport stars that you like because they are good and play for your team. Then there are those that you like for that reason, but also would love to just hang out with. When the Bills were on the rise during the Kelly era, we got negative stories about bickering. With the Bills on the rise in the Allen era, during a time when the media has become much more negative, we get stories about how cool these guys are. Not complaining, just happy and feeling fortunate. I'm actually beginning to believe that these guys are really cool dudes who happen to be great at football. Seriously, I half expect to get a story about how someone on the team risked their lives to save a basket full of puppies and then cracked a self-deprecating joke when asked about it.

Wait...that does seem like a big Belicheat sized loophole. - The reason why you want a player on your 53, even if injured, is so that you can place them on IR and they still will be able to come back from IR during the season. Players put on IR before the cut down to 53 can't come back and are "lost for the year". - This leads to the private deals with someone like Andre Roberts who gets cut but, because he is a vested veteran doesn't go on waivers. Then, the Bills put someone else on the 53, place that player on IR (now that player can come back because he was placed on IR after making the 53), and resign Andre. - It sounds like this COVID exemption list could be turned into a streamlined version of the above loophole. They go on the covid list, you get your 53, now it is safe to IR the players that are hurt and the others come off the COVID list. I am NOT saying we SHOULD do that. I'm saying that I get what the OP is asking.

Two things on why we should not trade Trubisky. 1. If he does well and signs a big contract elsewhere, we get a compensatory pick. That can be as high as the end of the third round. This is based upon the size of the contract. Considering the money that QBs get, the compensatory pick should be high. We will also be up against the cap and won't be signing many players from other teams to offset that. Of course, if someone comes with a first round pick, I would consider it, but that is not going to happen. 2. Don't go down the road of, "we can't win the SB with Trubisky anyway." That is not what he is about. His presence on the team is about home field advantage. If he has to fill in for Allen for a three game stretch, he could be the difference in home field in the playoffs if he picks up a few wins.

I think it is ridiculous that he is not higher....and I don't think that is homer bias. - Not only did he set the sack record. - He did it while playing in a 3-4. - And while playing in a defense that often rushed three and rarely rushed more than 4 (I don't count it as a blitz unless the rush includes more than 4). Blitzing lessens double teams, collapses the pocket, and increases sack numbers for everyone because of clean up sacks. - And was dominant against the run. Sack numbers are supposedly the gold standard for DEs in this league, yet many with high sacks are not complete players. Leading in sack numbers while defending the run, in a non-pass rush friendly offense, maintaining containment, sniffing out screens....How is he not in the top 2-3 defensive players?

Argh! I missed it! I was planning on being Yolo's 60,000th reaction and he is already at 60,003. 😀

Peyton Manning had the same philosophy and it makes a lot of sense. If your play selection allows you to get a first down in one or two downs, it gives you a margin for error. You can have a drop (I'm looking at you Dawson), or a blown pass block (Ford....), and it doesn't kill the drive. The pre-McBeane Bills - their play selection was predicated on needing all three downs. That meant that one mistake often led to a punt. What is a good offensive third down percentage? 40%? 50%? It doesn't take a genius to see that planning on going to third down all the time, when you need 4-5 first downs to score on a normal drive, is going to lead to a lot of stalled drives. The Bills offensive philosophy right now doesn't count on them being perfect and I like that. Actually, I love that.

This is actually a VERY good sign for the team (and not surprising). I am someone who loves designer games, however they are only really enjoyable with the right people. There are games that I love, but would never play with certain family members. The fact that parts of the team play together regularly means that they really do get along and like each other. Catan is merely an okay game. Absolutely ground breaking for its day. It opened the way for even better games - Everdell, Wingspan, Isle of Cats, Lost Ruins of Arnak, Terraforming Mars, Clank, Caverna, Bunny Kingdom, 7 Wonders....I could go on. And, no, I am not making up those game names. 😀

You've got to love that highlight. We watch plays from Motor last year and you see him hesitate and you see him look slow. Then you watch this side by side and it is almost jarring. It is a flash that gives you hope, but this is one play in preseason against a defense that was fielding lots of guys that wouldn't have made the team and blew a gap assignment in a big way. This is his third year so maybe he has learned how to read blocks better and has learned his blitz protections. IF that is true and IF he has multiple more flashes like this in preseason again, then I think we would all be super excited about him. Right now I am more excited about Breida. He seems like a younger version of Wade who also grew up with all those important football fundamentals his whole life and has already made an NFL team.

Come on. It is an off season thread. Haven't we already established that you have to go into these things with the lowest expectations possible?

They haven't updated Retro Bowl to the 17 game season yet.

And a 16-0 season each time....just like Retro Bowl.

Jauronimo is dead on here. I'll add that Maybin had no base and seemed to have not enough power down low. What he did with his frame for the draft was a bit deceiving. Another reason Rousseau could never be Maybin is that Maybin was drafted 11th (?).....and because we passed over Orakpo to get him. Even if Rousseau is a bust, and I do not think he will be, those two reasons mean he could never be as big a bust as Maybin. BTW, normally I don't like to play Captain Hindsight on draft picks, but Orakpo was the obvious, blinking, neon light choice that everyone could see would be a good NFL player....well, apparently not everyone.

"What your favorite NFL team says about you." Where I was born.... (in my case, within 5 miles of Rich Stadium - well, it wasn't there when I was born, I got there first, but it was on its way)

Dude, have you seen your avatar and forum name? 😄 I've spent my whole life seeking revenge...

When I first read this I thought it was your suffering as you succumbed to the virus. Like you were being funny about how you were going to live your life and then then tacked that on on the end. That's ridiculous, he wouldn't type that out, he would just say it.... ...perhaps he was dictating. Too much Monty Python...

Not to be pedantic about it, but it is actually just the opposite. Doing a push up is forcing you to extend your arms. It would be easier if the band was stretching and expanding on the up stroke. If that were the case, when he straightens his arms that would mean he is not lifting his entire weight because some of his extension would be made easier by pushing the band down. It is a center of mass thing. It is a similar principle to how kicking makes it easier to do pull ups.

Yeah, I was only kidding. That was an animal house reference.

I've been on double secret probation for quite awhile so I have to be doubly careful. I'm blaming that for my low post count. It's the only explanation. Not that we don't have our share, but I thumbed your post just for this. Beating the pats twice is maybe the most satisfying thing that happened last year (to be clear, by far the most important thing from last year is that we found out we have a franchise QB).

Blue on Blue, that was a great. It was a relaxing but interesting, Saturday morning off-season listen when there is not a lot of other content. Thank you for posting it. A couple of things that stuck out to me: (nothing below is an exact quote - typing from memory) Him talking about elite WRs - several times, when talking about the pass game he specifically called Steph and Beas elite WRs. He also talked a lot about how what made them elite was separation. He never mentioned Brown. I like Brown, but in an unintended, reading between the lines way, I think he revealed that at least some Bills players think the same way of Brown as probably most of us do. Steph and Beas are in a class above Brown. Remember, he was here for 2 years in this latest stint which means he saw what Brown was 2 years ago as the uninjured number 1 WR. Called Dawson Knox a freak show athlete that has a bright future. He is big enough that little guys do not want to tackle him and he is athletic enough to get separation. We can only hope he has a bright future. Taliking about his high catch-target % and his high TD % - If he caught a TD pass, it was not uncommon for a defensive coach or player on the other team to give him a hard time teasing him after the game - man, why are you doing me that way? They haven't thrown you the ball in 5 weeks. - He said that the Bills would often take that play out of their playbooks for the next 2-3 weeks until it got off the most recent film. Talked about how being drafted in the 5th round by the Patriots with Gronk and Hernandez on the team and how it made him doubt he could play in the league. Then he gets cut and he is talking to his high school sweetheart wife with their third kid on the way and they have college debt and they are donating plasma and eating Ramen noodles to get by. Just a humble, likable guy. The type of guy that you wouldn't mind hanging with.......I still don't want him back, though. 😃

I ate a thumbtack while reading through the list. I'd call it even.

I played tackle at the youth level. I also played intramurals and for my frat. Later I played flag as an adult. Oddly, I learned more about the game playing flag - different route concepts, plays, and even defensive concepts I see on the screen all the time. Maybe that is a bit of a statement on the direction the NFL has taken. But, no, I don't think playing experience is at all necessary to understand the game.

I agree with that sentiment. We are good enough to have "a ticket to the dance" on likely a yearly basis. That is all we need. By that, I don't mean ticket to make the playoffs, but ticket to be an actual contender. Once we get to the dance, you never know what can happen. The way the offense sputtered does not worry me. The defensive game plan in the last game does a little, but this staff has shown the ability to improve.

The Courier Express has him #1.