Bob in STL

I'm looking for Miami to show up with a decent effort but the Bills will put in the work this week and get the job done at home. Things seem to going well within the Bills team and Miami is in disarray. The Bills have experience and good leadership, they set high expectations, and they are doing what it takes to meet their goals.

I was there too. Roland Hooks. That was an excellent team. A Chuck Knox Super Bowl Team.

Dunaeay as a fine player, but Paul McGuire’s stories, and those of the late Larry Felser, will both point to Sestak as the most dominate defensive player on those Bill AFL Championships Teams. As will his official status as First Team All AFL. Sestak is rated first team ahead of the great Buck Buchanan, who is in Canton for his NFL career. Timing is the only thing Sestak was missing. Sestak never played an NFL game due to knee.injuries.

I think Beane might have hit a home run.

Perfect screen pass. Wow.

Coverage interception.

So glad that Diggs is gone.

After one game it sure looks like Cooper will help this team and open things up for other players on offense. It is a team game, and chemistry is important.

Any info on Bernard?

It will take Cooper about 4-5 games to really get comfortable in the offense, but his presence will help us immediately because teams have to account for him. Right now we are still favorites for the AFCE. If we can stay healthy, and Cooper fits in, and Miller continues to help us, and we get Milano back - we could make some noise in the post season. It will come down to peaking in the last two months, don't count this team out.

Win the division. After that anything can happen but I don’t see this roster as strong enough to get very far. But we have Allen, so you never know.

Anytime the refs are that visible they are doing it wrong. Good refs control the game and they set the tone early. There were a lot of bad calls that both sides are complaining about.

We need impact players on offense. I sure hope he can keep it up.

Would the Jets kicker be better?

He was supposed to actually play DB on the Hail Mary and knock the ball down. I didn’t like the 2 man rush, it gave Roger’s a lot of time to set it up and toss it to a 6’5” receiver.

We have a history of crazy games in our division, especially with the Jets. This was another. The refs had too much of a mark on this one. The refs made calls that hurt both teams. Bass missed an XP that was not due to the wind. Another Hail Mary. A bad roughing the passer, a weird overturned Roger’s fumble, etc. Take the W. Game Balls - Ray Davis, Taron Johnson, Rapp, Bernard, and Josh Allen.

Did you mean that?

The tale of two franchises. You have to give them credit for helping make the Bills a successful team and a contender. Similarly, they are the main reason the Sabres are dysfunctional bottom feeders.

Trash is correct. Just look at their numbers. TRASH. I very rarely saw open receivers yesterday, not that Allen was on, he wasn't. This WR group is one of the worst in team history and the numbers will bear this out as the season progresses. More passes to RB's and TEs are needed versus the Jets.

If Allen hits them or if the receivers make the catches?

OK the dust is settling and the reasons for the loss, less the emotions, are starting to become clearer. 1. Another poor offensive game plan that sees the offense fail to score a TD in the first half. We had some success with Cook running the ball early but went away from it. They failed in the red zone early in the game and late in the game. It was clear that the WRs have trouble getting open and Allen has to be perfect delivering the football. Allen was not sharp either but he is getting ZERO help. 2. The Defense caught a break with Collins getting hurt. The defense adjusted at halftime and despite many injuries they played a very solid 2nd half. They forced turnovers to set the Bills up to take a late lead, something which the offense could not do. 3. Coaching mistakes and game management. The Texans played the last few series perfectly, punting and pinning us deep knowing that they could get a shot at a long FG. McDermott once again made poor decisions, throwing the ball 3 times from the end zone, leading to an inevitable punt from the very back of our end zone - putting the punt coverage team in a bad spot The first thing to criticize is taking the risk of a holding penalty in the end zone. A holding penalty in the end zone would have won the game for Houston, so first down really needed to be a run or a quick pass designed to get some positive yards and some breathing room. Image if we lost on a holding penalty in the end zone? McD is already being second guessed nationally. On first down a run or a completed short pass would have forced one time out by Houston. Cook to the left was working at one time. An Allen option pass or run off of play action was never tried. Quick screen passes, quick outs and slants, not tried. Throwing deep, low percentage passes was the last thing to do. But that is what we did. So we punted from the back of the end-zone, making the punter kick with a short step and making hang time hard to achieve. People talk about burning the time outs, which would have been smart, but just gaining 5 or 6 yards in 3 runs would have helped the punter and the punt coverage. Instead, with the punter at the back of the end zone they gave up 13 yards on the punt return and 5 more yards on a poor defensive plan. McDermott and staff pretty much did it all wrong, took unneeded risks, and failed to help the punt team and the defense. The Houston kicker made the 59 yarder with room to spare. So much for "complimentary football" right Coach? Allen is taking some heat too. He was not good, but he was under pressure and duress all game. The Texans did exactly what the Ravens did, which will be what the Jets do. They will take away the middle of the field and force the WRs to get open outside or down field, which they can't seem to do. Samuel/Hollins/Valdes-Scantling are as bad a group of wide receivers as any in the history of this team. Without Shakir in the lineup Allen has nothing. Kincaid is being neutralized every week and Knox is all but forgotten. Moving Forward - We are in must win territory against the Jets next week. The Jets have a strong defense and excellent corners. We have Allen and Cook, lots of injuries, and nothing much else. Brady has to come up with something to move the ball and put points up. I don't see an easy way to score so the Defense and Special Teams will have to be very good to win. This would be a great week for the coaches to do a great job.

We need a #1 WR most desperately. Shakir is a very good #3 slot guy that could be an ok #2. Coleman can make some plays. The rest are non factors.

The former GM if the Packers, Ron Wolf, was also a huge advocate for Shaw. He said Shaw was the best guard in either league and [pushed for him. Sestak was another star Bills player that was an AFL only player, but he didn't get the same support for HoF. Sestak is on the All Time All AFL team too, and was dominant when the Bills won their 2 AFL Championships. Any of his teammates would tell you he was the best player on that defense. Most of the those guys are gone today. This line up, coached by DC Joe Collier, was very hard to score on. McDole Dunaway Sestak Day Tracey Jacobs Stratton Edgerson Byrd Saimes Clarke

Sestak deserves it more than any other Bill. He was the best player on the best defense in the AFL. Unlike Billy Shaw, Sestak was penalized for never playing in the NFL. He was one of the best AFL DTs ever and the cornerstone of the best defense the Bills ever had. Dominant, but he suffered serious knee injuries that cut his career short and forced his retirement right at the NFL merger.

I met him as a kid in the 60’s, he came to a church fund raiser and spoke and he signed autographs. I knew he was a Buffalo Bill, an AFL ALL STAR, and a leader of our mid 60’s championship teams. I had bunches of his football cards too. I met him again many years later in Canton, Ohio. I was there to see Jim Kelly get inducted and Billy was there proudly representing the Bills and talking to fans for as long as you wanted to talk. Also saw him at Canton again at Marv’s induction. One of the best Bills ever. He dominated in his day. All of his games were in the AFL but he had strong support to get into the Pro Football HoF.