Rich Stadium Original

Scott, I'm sure that there is very little I can say that will console you in these difficult times. From your writings on this board, your great love for her is apparent..it is an indication of what a right and just woman she is. If you are a person of faith, know that she will be in a better place comforted in the bosom of our Lord. We are only a community tied together by football..but a bunch of great and caring people. Please, do not be afraid to reach out here or elsewhere if you need some help along the way for you and your family.

Just curious, then ...do you think Detroit wasted a 2nd overall pick on Hutchinson, and he is NOT one of the main reasons Detroit is in NFC championship game?

Hoping and praying for the best possible outcome for your wife. Take comfort in the fact that ALL of the Bills community that reads this forum is with you.

I think most would agree that to increase your odds of going to and winning a Superbowl you need a franchise quarterback. But I think what is often overlooked is the importance of that game changing defensive lineman that is so effective he disrupts games and has to be planned around...and can help close out a tight game in crunch time. I think all four of the remaining teams have one...and then I got to thinking, who was the last lineman for the Bills you could describe that way? Oliver showed flashes throughout the season, but was a ghost in the last playoff game. Was it Kyle Williams?...Jerry Hughes in his prime? Having a player like that won't win you playoff games by himself, but it certainly seems to be a key ingredient.

Not to be hyper-technical here, but I think that more than the bump from Dawkins is the fact that Dawnkins stepped on his foot just as he was about to throw..thats why it was all arm and fell short.

Don't think this topic has been raised yet.. Bills had great success running the ball in the 1st half, and then KC made some adjustments. When they saw the Bills 3rd tackle in the game, they would add a player or 2 into the box, and quite frequently send a DB on a run blitz. It ground the running game to a halt, as Cook had nowhere to run. The Bills pretty much abandoned the run in short order as they were having inconsistant or limited success. My question is why not counter with some called play action out of those formations with quick hitting slants and seam routes to keep those DBs off the line? Second question was did Allen recognize the run blitz was coming and have the ability to check out of it? Not sure the Bills threw at all out of that formation the whole game. It should be noted that most teams use a 2nd or 3rd blocking tight end instead of a tackle because while eligible, he poses little threat as a receiver.

I think Allen only gets a little bit of the blame on this play, and he said as much in the press conference. First of all, if you must, fault Brady for the play call. The team was trying to score when they had the opportunity and that was the call. Allen went through his progressions almost instantly. That was the #1 target in the progression as it was called, receiver was coming open, thats where he threw it. Diggs may have been the #2 read in the progression, but it never got that far as the 1st read was open. You can partly blame Dawkens for not really slowing up the bull rush and ending up in the lap of your QB. Finally in the press conference, I believe Allen blames himself for not sliding a little to his right in the dropback...but that would have taken some ESP as he would of had to ANTICIPATE Dawkins was not going to make that block and drift to his right DURING his dropback. If Allen had to slide off his spot after he had already dropped back, it would have completely thrown off the timing of the play.

Beyond a doubt THE biggest disappointment throughout the whole game had to be the D line. Zero sacks, hardly any pressure gaping running holes. You knew that the Linbackers and DBs were below par going into the game and needed the D line to step up...Rousseau and Floyd on the edge against questionable tackels??..Oliver and Jones disrupting the middle?...Watch the last Pachecho touchdown, Joseph absolutely gets pancaked in the endzone...kind of sums it up

Biggest disappointment to me has to be the D line. They ARE healthy and pressures on Mahommes is minimal..forget about a sack..holes are huge and line has accounted for a whopping 4 tackles.

Think you are missing the point...this isn't about firing anyone. The point I tried to make is that while trying to built a successful roster among many player positions, I think it obvious based on draft choices and free agency that Bean put particular emphasis in defensive line and edge rushing. The Bills may win, the Bills may lose because that cant overcome injuries elsewhere. But what will be particularly interesting is that he has his relatively healthy D-line in place in a home game. How successful will the folks be that he put particular emphasis on?

It was obvious a number of years ago Mahommes and the Chiefs were going to be the team to beat in the AFC for years to come. Beane set out to mold his team as the one that could beat the big Boogeyman Mahommes through an effective pass rush. Yes Beane has picked up some great position players along the way, but its obvious with Rousseau, Epenesa, Basham (now departed), Von (I'm back to 100%) Miller, Floyd (and others) where he placed his personnel concentration. Now he has a home game, with all these guys relatively healthy going up against some fairly average offensive tackles. Yes, the secondary and linebacking corps is fairly beat up...but if Beane did his due diligence, it shouldn't make a difference if they can dominate. We will know by midnight on Sunday.

For you youngsters and non hockey people out there, I am having this Deja Vu feeling about the Sabres-Hurricanes semi final hockey series in 2006. Sabres had the best team in the NHL that season, and were the odds on favorites to win the Stanley Cup. Then in the semi finals, the injury bug bit the defense corps, then bit it again, then bit it some more. In the end, the starting defense was a lot of backups and callups from the minors. Despite excellent play by Ryan Miller and the rest of the offense, the deficit was just too much to overcome, and they ended up losing the series. If the gameday inactives look like the current injury report then, well................

I think what can make some of these personnel calls tough on game day is not only can player X start, but how durable will they be, and at what % of healthy level are the playing at? Probably the last thing you want to do is tie up a game day roster spot, and somebody's ankle swells up after just one series, and they have to come out..now you've put a lot of pressure on their limited backups who may also be filling a special teams slot.

I was thinking about this as I watched all the games over the weekend, and without research it SEEMED to me like overall penalties were down. Almost as though the league sent down the message " don't decide the game, let em play" unless an infraction was especially egregious. I thought across the board there were a lot of penalties that weren't called..particularly offensive holding.

Tua is an NFL Pro Bowl selection..Dak is NFC Pro Bowl selection AND received more All Pro selections than Allen..but both those guys cleaning out their lockers on Monday after playing very poorly under playoff pressure After watching all three games this weekend, is their ANY doubt how much more of a weapon Allen is and deserving of accolades he didn't receive?? Yeah, I know.."he throws too many interceptions so I can't vote for him" is the common cry. What revisionist history..wouldn't dare say that about Favre.

Hey, circadian rhythms are a real thing.( when you FEEL most tired)..the largest circadian low is overnight, but there is a secondary one about 4pm..different people respond to it in different ways.

Makes sense, the most recent airport observation shows weather JUST good enough to land now. Biggest issue is reduced visibility due to blowing snow, when it goes down to 1/4 mile

That is a great thought that I forgot about, but not the case..weather is clear in Pittsburgh. They are waiting for weather here in Buffalo to clear.

Just a follow up..that plane was supposed to drop off Steelers and fly right out again to avoid getting stuck here...HOWEVER, just checked the weather observation at the airport, and although the conditions in Cheektowaga (airport) are better than the conditions here in Orchard Park, the ceiling and visibility are to low to land a commercial airplane..Im sure that's why they are sitting on the ground at Pittsburgh. Wonder at what point the NFL would intervene if they can't get in until very late tonight?

Just out of curiosity, checked ticket prices on the market. $33 for upper deck..$175 for power bowl seemed to be the average.

I wasted my time watching clips from a whole bunch of talking heads on all the networks making their picks for the game on Sunday. The vast majority thought the Bills would win quite easily. Skip and a few of the others picked the Steelers not because of their defense..not because of the running of Harris, but the FACT the Allen WILL turn over the ball at least once..maybe more because he ALWAYS does.(At least in their opinion)

Lake effect snow can be very unpredictable. That being said, as important as it was to win the division and play at home, heavy snow WILL negatively impact some of the advantages the Bills had going into the game. I don't care how big and strong Allen's arm is, you just can't throw the ball at all in those conditions. Games de-volve into the neighborhood kids playing street football in snowbanks..where anything is possible. For those of you who didn't see it or remember, the Bills won one of those games vs the Colts in 2017. McCoy ended up running for like 32 carries. (Hi-lights available on YouTube for what may be a preview)

Hopefully there isn't a bug going through the Bills locker room. There certainly is right now in Western New York. Looks like two players didn't practice today due to illness.

As a resident of Orchard Park, the answer is it depends. Right now, the forecast is for localized heavy bands of lake effect snow, blowing and drifting due to winds. Lake effect bands are very narrow..5-10 miles wide with intense snowfall rates. It may be snowing heavy where you are, and blue skies just a few miles to the north or south of you. So whether one of those bands sets up over Orchard Park and doesn't drift north or south will depend on specific wind direction on Sunday. It's in the forecast because you can't tell EXACTLY where they are going to set up. That being said, snow removal crews in Orchard Park, Erie County and New York State are the best in the country...but if one of those lake effect snow bands sets up over the same area and doesn't drift North and South, it can be tough to keep up with.

There is little doubt that the Steelers will try to run the ball, then run even more, and keep running until the Bills can stop them, especially with the weather forecast. Plus it shortens the game and helps to keep the score close They will probably come out in a two tight end set, and sometimes three. I wonder if McDermott will stick to his lighter LB/DB base defense, or if he'll add the extra linebacker to stop the run. Rudolph does chuck it occasionally, but I dont think of Pittsburgh as a throwing threat, particularly if it's windy and snowy.