BigAl2526

I checked out the injury report for the game at the official Bills site. I don't think there was a practice today, but an injury report was posted in any case. It looks like Detroit is dealing with a more problematic injury situation than the Bills at this point. All three interior offensive linemen were listed as non-participants as was one of their three starting WRs. They're also likely to be without their top CB. One other WR was listed as limited. Like Buffalo's Rousseau. one starting DE was listed as out, John Paschal. I assume that some of today's non-participants will be available on Thursday, but the Lions may be missing more players and more critical players. It's been a while since the opponent had more of an injury issue than Buffalo.

The Bills will have one practice session this week like last week. The difference is last week was not planned. The Bills practice on Thursday and expected to practice Friday. The weather forced a cancelation of the Friday practice. I suspect the format of the Tuesday practice will be a little different to cope with the fact that it is the only one. Specifically, since Josh is another week removed from his elbow injury, the number of pass attempts in practice will go up compared to last week when they were reduced as a precaution to prevent reaggravating the injury. I think the limited number of passing attempts in practice last week is at least partially the cause of his tentativeness and inaccuracy at the start of the Cleveland game.

Taking the visitors' locker room was McDermott's choice yesterday. He did it knowing the Bills would be visitors on Thanksgiving. It gave the Bills players a chance to get comfortable with it. It's a small thing, but McDermott looks for any edge he can get.

Is it OK if I made my prediction at 4:30 PM?

The Bills are trying to hang on now, until they can get some of their injured players back. Of course, it's the defense that's hurting right now at all three levels. Having Poyer back helped in the game today, but the Bills have been fielding a mostly backup secondary for what seems like forever. On the line, the Bills run an eight man rotation. They finished the game today with half of their defensive end rotation out with injury. Finally, they are missing half of their two LBs in their base nickel set. I think they made a concerted effort to stop the run against Cleveland, since that is supposed to be Cleveland's strength on offense. They were successful at that. I think Cleveland was more adept at operating a passing offense than Buffalo hoped. With everything else, Buffalo also had to play the game today on one day of practice to Cleveland's three days of practice. All things considered, I'm not disappointed at all with a 7 point win and giving up 300 yards+ through the air to Cleveland.

I'm hoping for a close and very sloppy game where neither team looks like they want to win. The outcome doesn't really matter too much.

I'm waiting for 71 to become the new 31.

Solid depth. I don't think he's a threat to upgrade the position as a starter.

I didn't see that, but I did see on one of the Jets touchdowns, one of the Jets offensive linemen had his arm wrapped around the neck of a Bills pass rusher, who had gotten past him. No call. I can't imagine that Dion's offense was any more egregious than I saw from the Jets.

I still think the Bills have the capability to beat every other team in the NFL. There were a number of things that went wrong in the Jets game. Of course, we all know about Josh's interceptions and some other poor throws. The Jets CBs were really strong in their coverage too. On defense, there was a lot of sloppy tackling for the Bills. I also thought that Jaquan Johnson struggled in substitution for Poyer. Looking ahead to the Minnesota game, I think the coaches need to get the team to re-focus. Winning streaks, like the Bills had, are hard to extend because players can start to think that quality performance has become automatic. Now that players have been reminded that it isn't automatic, the coaches have to remind them that they can perform at a high level, and remind them that they can still achieve their goal of winning the Super Bowl. They just have to re-focus. Getting Tre White back will help too, as will getting their other wounded players back. I expect Spencer Brown and Jordan Poyer will be able to go next Sunday. Maybe Milano too.

He was unparalleled in his day. He was 2 years older than me.

With Poyer out, it will be interesting to see what Buffalo does at safety. Obviously, Hamlin is going to continue sub for Hyde. I expect Johnson will probably start in place of Poyer, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Dean Marlowe and Cam Lewis get some snaps. Actually, Cam Lewis is listed as Poyer's backup on the Bills' web site. It hasn't been updated to show how Marlowe fits into their thinking.

He's not a real burner (sub 4.4 guy) but he has plenty of speed and athleticism to go with nice size. He's not quite as big as Isaiah Hodgins. His shortcomings coming out of college had a lot to do with execution. He's had a couple years in the league now (Houston and Chicago practice squads mostly). He was on the 53 man roster for Chicago this season for Chicago, cut when Chicago traded for Claypool. If he's really dedicated, he can probably get a lot better with good coaching than he was coming out of college.

Both El Nino and La Nina are weather phenomena. They refer to temperature anomalies in the temperature of the water at the surface of a large area on the Pacific Ocean near the equator. If the temperature is higher than average, it is an El Nino. If the temperature is lower than normal you have a La Nina. The warmer or cooler water temperatures will affect patterns of upper air currents in the atmosphere - where the jet stream is located. The location of the jet stream will affect whether warm air or cold air tends to predominate in any given area. There are other large whether phenomena that can change the effect of El Nino and La Nina. The North Atlantic oscillation and the polar vortex are a couple other phenomena that can alter the way that El Nino and La Nina affect our weather.

Yeah, Josh asks for a call when he gets hit. Sometimes he gets the call. Sometimes not. Sometimes roughing the passer is obvious. Sometimes it's questionable. Nothing surprising here. The question is, is Franklin-Myers hoping that by complaining beforehand, the referee will be inclined to look the other way and not call a roughing penalty when he hits Josh Allen?

Seems a bit odd to me, but we'll see. Dorsey should be able to do some really creative things with him in the backfield. Both he and Cook should be able to function like wide receivers. Line both of them up in the backfield, then start moving them around. I could see defensive coordinators scratching their heads. Moss was doing nothing for the Bills. On the flip side, the Bills went from having very little power running capability to having none outside their fullback, and they haven't trusted Gilliam much as a ball carrier to this point.

Minnesota could be a challenge for Buffalo. I would have said Cincinnati could be tough if they continued to come on strong, but then they went in the tank against Cleveland. I think you have to respect any opponent you might face, but there's nobody remaining on the Bills' schedule who is tougher than teams Buffalo has already beaten this season.

The Green Bay CBs are very good. It was a battle between Buffalo's receivers and Green Bay's secondary. Sometimes Green Bay won and sometimes Buffalo did. They also sold out to stop the pass, which led to a lot of success running the ball. I am spoiled like most Bills fans. I want to see them dominate, and I think they can do some things to counter a defensive effort like that in the future, but the other team does have an effect on what the Bills are able to do sometimes.

Agreed, I don't think he's a great complement to what the Bills already have. I don't know who might be available in a trade, but to complement what the Bills have, I would think they'd want a guy with the power to move a pile for short yardage to gain a first down. A little quickness would be nice, as would the ability to catch balls out of the backfield, but power is what they lack.

Particularly when you play such a physical game as an undersized LB.

I think it is a fallacy to think that when one team causes another team to have some struggles that another team with different personnel will be able to do the same thing. Specifically, while Sauce Gardner is very talented, he is a rookie, and the other Jets starting CB, DJ Reed is nothing special. He's short and has average speed. If Gardner takes Diggs, Gabe Davis presents much more of a matchup problem for the Jets than Eric Stokes had as a former first round pick with both length and elite speed. The Jets defense is good. Mosely is strong as a LB and Quinnan Williamsis a force at DT, but I think it's going to be tougher for the Jets to try and hamper Josh Allen's passing. When the Jets are on offense, they have lost Breece Hall, who was the only running back who could present a legitimate threat to the Bills on the ground. They have no receiver averaging more than 60 yards per game. Zach Wilson still shows a lot of the issues that rookies will struggle with. When he feels pressure, his mechanics break down and he makes bad choices. The New England game was a prime example. Buffalo has shown they can get pressure this season rushing only four. Frazier can dial up all kinds of looks to confuse young Zach Wilson. I'm less concerned about this game than I was the Green Bay game. Zach Wilson is no Aaron Rodgers.

Green Bay is playing the Bills the only way they can, running the ball. It's not enough though. Buffalo is just too complete. As we get into the 4th quarter, running the ball is no longer a viable way to try and win.

Not seeing anything from the Patriots or Jets to make me tremble at the prospect of playing them.

Good to see you posting, Ice Bowl. Yeah, Green Bay has had a tough season. I haven't followed too closely, but I assume there are a number of reasons. If I were to guess, it starts with Aaron Rodgers' salary handicapping the team's ability to sign quality free agents. He also may be starting his decline as a player due to age. I know from our experience with the Bills that there can be a dry period while a team tries to find and develop a new franchise QB. I know you haven't seen enough of Jordan Love to know if he's the guy who can replace Rodgers when Rodgers leaves or not.

Allen's team is also in a better position. I think that counts for something in the selection process.