Gen2

I think you're trying to create an argument where no argument exists, no one ever said there was a conspiracy of any sort. Where you may be getting confused is I DID say the rules have been manipulated to increase scoring which in turn increased TV ratings, and I don't think anyone would refute that. The radio interview of the other day put me on a slippery slope and caused me to wonder if there could be the possibility of further "manipulations" to effect other desired outcomes and just how far the league would go and for what outcomes, and at what point does the fan base decide that football is no longer a sport but purely a scripted reality TV show. For example; anyone with a modicum of sense knows professional wrestling is scripted entertainment and in no way shape or form any kind of legitimate sport, however it seems to enjoy a rabid following (no where near the NFL, but a rabid following none the less). The discussions I anticipated were philosophical NOT factual and in no way intended to suggest that there is any "proof" of an ongoing conspiracy.

https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/tom-brady-ratings-buccaneers-patriots-1235079974/ And that was for a week 4 matchup. No I don't think people who would normally watch the game would NOT watch depending on the teams playing, but IMHO a Bucks/Pats game would garner the people who wouldn't normally tune in, but want to follow the drama & hype of a Brady Belicheat showdown. I agree that advertising spots are sold for this game wayyyyyy before the participants are determined, but what about future spots when the NFL can show an out of this world viewer rating?

First of all Mickey the original post never claims any conspiracy theory, it was about an off hand comment I heard on the radio that got me wondering how far the NFL would manipulate the game to chase TV viewership. In my humble opinion, the evolution of the offense friendly rules HAS manipulated the game in that the level of scoring in your typical NFL game is much higher than the 50's, 60's, and 70's and the main purpose was to increase viewership (for the most part I see that as a good thing). As far as it being satisfying to conjure up an "explanation", I never intended to offer explanations, just voice a question that was raised in my mind after the radio segment. The question is in simple terms; at what point does the NFL turn into the WWE and if the league could or would go there to simply chase increased profits? Hopefully the league wouldn't go there because God knows I've spent more money, time and passion over the last 60 years being a fan. You can take to the bank my final point, the OP (me) doesn't think that I'm smarter than the rest of the posters in this forum. I'd place myself somewhere in the middle, smarter than some but most assuredly a heck of a lot less intelligent than some. However I do consider myself less of a jerk than most.

At this point I'm not sure what I think ... LOL As far as everybody having to be "in on the fix" I don't agree. All the league has to do is levy big fines if anybody ever questions the officiating .... OH wait I'm not sure how the leagues revenue sharing works for as far as the play offs and Super Bowl, but I do know that the lions share of the NFLs income is derived from their broadcast rights, and the cost of those rights are based on viewership.

I came to an epiphany this morning while listening to the NFL channel on the radio this morning. The hosts were discussing playoff chances of the teams currently "in the hunt". A guest made an off hand comment that a Tampa/New England Super Bowl would break all existing viewership totals. This got me thinking would/could the league manipulate the outcome of the season to chase that Nielson rating? Before you dismiss the thought out of hand, think how the league has "manipulated" the game to increase viewership. The rules have evolved to favor the offense to the point that the defense can hardly defend on any given play, scores have skyrocketed and all of a sudden the "casual viewer" becomes the rabid fan. Now that they have run out of not so subtle rules to favor the offense, "points of emphasis" come into play ... what's pass interference this week may or not be pass interference next week, what was holding last week may or not be holding this week, don't even get me started on the rash of illegal formation penalties this year. Don't get me wrong I enjoy a more offensive orientated game as much as the next person, and I understand the game NEEDS to experience a certain amount of evolution especially in the player safety areas, but it's getting to the point where the outcome of the game and even entire seasons can be influenced by a strict adherence to a rule, or simply overlooking that rule on any given play. Maybe I've turned into a cynical grumpy man in my old age, but this season in particular seems to contain way too may head scratching upsets, close nail biting games between two teams who don't even belong on the field together in "prime time", and dramatic straight out of the movies comeback victories to not make me think there MAY be something rotten in Denmark. Remembering the hype for the early season matchup between the Bucks and the Pats, just the thought of a Bucks/Pats Super Bowl makes me throw up a little bit in the back of my throat. What does everyone think, would (or does) the league "manipulate" the games/season in the interest of increasing viewership???

I have a reliable source that says Vontae Davis is available. Get er done Brandon I'm kidding ... just kidding well I'm NOT kidding about Davis' availability, but I AM kidding about wanting the Bills to waste a dime on the phone call to him

I get what you are trying to say ... but ... Last year, getting blown out by the Titans & Chiefs was bad I agree, but that was only two games, and they're both darn good teams. The next 4 examples were WINS and in my humble opinion, a win is never a bad thing. Now this year had we "almost lost" to the Steelers, and "almost lost" to the Jags and lost a tough close game against the Titans I could see where we improved from last year, but it seems we are turning our "almost losses" to upsets and "almost wins". I can comfortably dismiss the loss to the Steelers as first game of the season yada yada yada, I can easily dismiss the loss to the Titans as we don't match up well yada yada yada, but the #1 scoring team being unable to score a single touchdown against the Jags is just unfathomable.

Navy MTC(SS)

week 1 Carolina over Jets week 2 Denver over Jacksonville week 3 Baltimore over Detroit week 4 Cincinnati over Jacksonville week 5 Arizona over San Francisco week6a Tampa Bay over Philly week 6b Indy over Houston week 7 New England over New York Jets week 8 L.A. Rams over Houston week 9 Bills over Jags POOP GRATS Might

One sack, one interception, one fumble recovery, one pass defensed, and 3 tackles for a loss ... good choice.

week 1 Carolina over Jets week 2 Denver over Jacksonville week 3 Baltimore over Detroit week 4 Cincinnati over Jacksonville week 5 Arizona over San Francisco week6a Tampa Bay over Philly week 6b Indy over Houston week 7 New England over New York Jets week 8 L.A. Rams over Houston week 9 Bills over Jags

If the Fins had waved the white flag and agreed to kneel the ball down 4 times on their next possession, then I would agree with the Fin fans ... however this is professional football the offense is tasked with scoring as many points as possible and the defense is tasked with preventing the offense from scoring points. For ANY fan base to say the opposing team should let up and give them a chance (however slim that may be) to get back in the game is laughable. Strange things happen during the game of football, teams ARE capable of scoring 2 or three times in a matter of a minute or less. This happened with the Bills twice in my recollection once during the "Hedi game", and many Many years ago (against the Jets I think) where we scored something like 3 times in a matter of seconds.

week 1 Carolina over Jets week 2 Denver over Jacksonville week 3 Baltimore over Detroit week 4 Cincinnati over Jacksonville week 5 Arizona over San Francisco week6a Tampa Bay over Philly week 6b Indy over Houston week 7 New England over New York Jets week 8 L.A. Rams over Houston

week 1 Carolina over Jets week 2 Denver over Jacksonville week 3 Baltimore over Detroit week 4 Cincinnati over Jacksonville week 5 Arizona over San Francisco week6a Tampa Bay over Philly week 6b Indy over Houston week 7 New England over New York Jets

I agree 100% with your assessment of last nights game, when we don't match up favorably with a team we pretty much have to play a mistake free game ... and we didn't. As for the other ground & pound teams ... just heard on the radio that Mayfield may very well have a season ending injury, I was driving so I only caught it out of the corner of my ear. Something about a completely torn labrum, with some other issues. He's going in for a second opinion. As you said we normally do pretty well against Baltimore. As for Pittsburgh, they're not that tough, we should have never lost to them week 1, if we see them again we will beat them. Which leaves us with Tennessee ... and I don't know how anybody stops Henry, but the Cards and the Jets did, so we have the rest of the season to figure it out.

I think all of your questions can be answered at the same time. The Bills have built their team over the last few years to be able to consistently beat the Patriots who were a passing offense and run the ball almost as an afterthought kind of team, last year the team realized that they had attained that goal (attributed as much to the Pats decline as our buildup). The team then started to build to be able to consistently beat the Chiefs who are also a pass first team, and IMHO have attained that goal. The problem is that when your team is centered on being a fast strike score a billion points on offense, and a flood the passing lanes to harass the the passing game type of defense, you run into problems with smash mouth run it up the gut bully the opponent kind of teams. I think we will always have problems with the Titians and Ravens of the world, but the majority of teams in todays NFL are the air it out to score on any given play rather than the "I'm going to run it a dozen times a series to march down the field", so I think we'll be just fine.

Maybe we do ... and maybe we don't. If the Bills offense is firing on all cylinders, and jump out to a significant lead (and keep pouring it on), they take the Titans' run game out of the equation. I'm more worried about Josh having a bad day, or jumping out to a 14 - 21 point lead early and thinking we can coast for the rest of the game than I am about getting decimated by Derrick Henry. My game plan for the game if I were the OC (but I'm not) is score early and often and don't let up. Then it becomes the more they run, the more they burn up the clock.

I just wish I was as confident as you 🤔

Full disclosure, I've never been an Edmunds fan, I think it's because I'm an old fart and therefore old school when it comes to middle linebackers. I want my middle linebacker to be a "thumper" when he fills the gap to stop a running back, I want to see the backs helmet fly off and snot bubbles come out of his nose. That being said, everyone seem to just love Tremaine for skills that I just can't fathom, so therefore I love me some Edmunds. I'm afraid Edmunds needs to go all medieval on the Titans, he needs to be all over Derrick Henry like Henry is the third monkey on the gangplank of Noah's arc and it's starting to rain. Does he have it in him??? We shall see.

week 1 Carolina over Jets week 2 Denver over Jacksonville week 3 Baltimore over Detroit week 4 Cincinnati over Jacksonville week 5 Arizona over San Francisco week6a Tampa Bay over Philly week 6b Indy over Houston

Sorry if I offended your delicate sensibilities, I was just trying to add a bit of humor to the forum. My bad

And I'm positive that if they keep digging through that fecal sample they would find remnants of chicken. I'd even go so far that if they searched the cave they'd find a Richie Lucas poster of him leaping a defender on the cave wall. That pooper was definitely the worlds first Bills fan.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/humans-were-already-enjoying-blue-cheese-and-beer-2-700-years-ago-study/ar-AAPtyyi?ocid=msedgntp Blue Cheese has history on it's side and the accompanying "street cred", whereas Ranch was invented in the 60s and is a Johnny come lately to the culinary arts. I see it kind of like a fan who has been cheering for the Bills since their inception, vs a fan who jumped on the bandwagon last year because the Bills were doing well. just sayin'

You may have a point there ... But the best intel that Barkley can give them is that the Bills are good, very VERY good. Beyond that I don't know if there is much he can give them. just sayin'

The next game and I DON'T mean the Titians game ... I mean the next game. The football is shaped funny and can take bounces that we don't anticipate, the entire league is made up of big fast athletes trying to devastate the players on the other team, the game is fast furious so the refs WILL miss calls some will go our way some will go the other way. What I'm trying to say is that we will always be a few freaky plays, or a hand full of heart breaking injuries, or a game where the refs give THEM the benefit of a majority of the penalty calls away from a loss. There are quite a few games in our schedule that SHOULD be laughers, but the minute we don't take a team seriously, it could very well bite us in the butt.