Rich Stadium Original

If you'd like some good laughs, check out one of the keen insights on one of the Texans message boards. Among the gems I came across were: Allen will probably be a bit off his game due to all the time he missed in the off season recovering from his injuries. And Allen will be real cautious after his injuries and should be good for a couple of interceptions. Eh........no.....

Mills was the QB the last time the Texans played the Bills...and yes, McDermott played his soft zone and helped to lose the game because of it

Suggest anyone watch the youtube 15 minute replay of the game last year. It was a very winnable game. My notes: Lots of the sacks were coverage sacks, with Allen holding on the the ball too much and trying to make a play when nothing is there. He even said himself he needs to do a better job of just throwing it away. One INT was a throw into coverage, the second was desperation throw on 4th down at the end of the game. Cooke ran the ball very well. No pressure from the Bills pass rush. Probably the turning point of the game was right after a Davis KR for a TD, the Bills took the lead and went into a prevent defense with about 1:30 to the half. Houston went right down the field and scored a TD to take the lead again. Seemed to deflate the team. If they can cover these mistakes and generate some pressure, they should be fine.

In 2022, the Bills beat the then champion Rams in the opener like 31-10. A much younger and not yet retired Donald was held to just 2 tackles and 1 sack..pretty much a non-factor. Of course he didn't have Garrett playing next to him

Now that all the preseason games are finished, not only were the Bills undefeated, they had the highest points per game totals of any team.

I would not be surprised if the league or union stepped in because of how bad the sod was and told the Bills to do something about it. That sod had been in close to a year, and it was still getting ripped up pretty bad. Other stadiums have had to replace their grass occasionally in the middle of the season, and even after just a few weeks its in better shape than this stadiums grass was after a year. Got to think somebody goofed somewhere...maybe they were so concerned about drainage and keeping the sod warm they neglected basic durability.

Almost brought this up as a separate topic.. But I was going to comment on just who votes on and screens these lists for stupidity. Over on the NFL site of their top 100 players, they selected Maye number 11 and Mahommes number 18....just no..... Maye statistically had a good season last year under a simple system (then imploded in the playoffs) To think Mahommes wouldn't have done better in that situation is ludicrous. Given the choice of both quarterbacks, no GM in this league would select Maye over Mahommes. Not much talent in sports journalism these days.

Wind is a little gusty here this afternoon in Orchard Park. Forecast is for it to die down around game time. Im not going to the game tonight, but curious what the wind conditions will be like on the playing field if gusts continue. .

Bills - 5 Steelers - 2 Bass kicks the 65 harder as time expires breaking the tie and giving the Bills the convincing win -- silencing all his detractors. Unfortunately, by that time in this game, no one will be left in the stands to see it.

There is more to the kicking game than just field goal accuracy to include ball placement on kickoffs and leg strength in kicking long field goals. That being said, in his last full season, Bass hit field goals at about 82% rate when the historical average over the last few years has been around 83-85%. Likewise, he hit extra points that year at about a 92% rate, when the league average has been around 93-95%. Some of that may be a function of some of the weather in Buffalo (but I didn't look at where the individual misses were) So...statistically, he is below average.

I haven't seen many replays of either, but I think while not a penalty-- both his tackle and the one to Moore were real close to a hip-drop tackle with the defender landing on the back of their legs.

Who knows if any of this is true, but at some point you have to move your chips to the center and hope for the best. You just can't keep folding hoping to stay in the game. You might be playing longer, before you eventually run out of chips...you may never win the big tournament with that kind of strategy.

Not sure how much it affected the bottom line on cost, but a lot of the subcontract construction contracts were not necessarily awarded to the lowest bidder with the most experience. I think it was a demand of the state/county prior to any agreement.

Last years statistics showed the Bills defense to be pretty weak in two areas: The run and big chunk plays on 3rd and long. I think schematically you will see a big improvement, which should help those third down numbers. I would bet we've seen an end to the soft 10 yard cushion on 3rd and 7. The run defense is still a big question mark. Presenting more players at the line means less double teams, but I still wish the Bills had obtained that big 1 technique that controlls the center of the line. Overall, should be a very competitive defense but not dominating..but with the folks they have on offense, it doesn't have to be.