Sierra Foothills

Yes, he has to play enough to help ensure victory. In 16 games last year, Cook had a total of 239 touches (14.93/game). In 12 games this year, he has a total of 258 touches (21.5/game). By its nature playing football means you're one play away from a catastrophic injury. Handling the ball 7 more times each game exposes him to that no matter how well he protects himself and avoids big shots. Furthermore, wear and tear doesn't only mean taking shots. Every run is a combination of explosive movements and endurance exertion. Usage leads to fatigue. Fatigue leads to injury. The less we can use Cook and still win, the better.

Perception around the league is that the Bills are a model franchise. In the NFLPA's annual survey of teams, the Bills are currently the 4th highest ranked franchise as reported by the players. Guys like LeSean McCoy and Shawne Merriman are taken up for the Bills. The only people who think the Bills have a "perception problem" are Beane haters.

Again, the most encouraging development in the Steelers game were the contributions made by Ray Davis and Ty Johnson. It gives one hope that we won't run James Cook into the ground before the playoffs even begin.

I'm not a huge Beane guy but I am a fair guy and there's a ton of bad takes in this topic. With what I believe to be a vocal minority, Beane just can't win and any roster move is simply an opportunity to pile on the hate. The Bills wanted to improve their depth at a position that has proven thin in previous postseasons. The Bills play the Eagles in 3 weeks. The Bills could end up playing the Eagles in the Super Bowl. The Eagles have an exploitable weakness in cornerback Adoree Jackson. I couldn't care less what Slay or Rosenhaus think or want... and nor should Beane. His job is to try to improve this team. JaMarcus Ingram? Really? Would anyone care to guess at what his career earnings are? Should we take up a collection and buy him a sympathy card?

Should we call the priest? Does anyone know of any good funeral directors?

And yet advanced metrics show that the coverage on the back end has been good. Imagine this defense being healthy.

All excellent and valid points with the one caveat that Burrow will have less rust and more practice in our game... plus it's likely that Higgins, who was inactive against the Ravens will play. On the subject of Kincaid and being injury prone, soft tissue injuries, non-contact injuries, etc, there are players who are seemingly always injured, players who are seemingly never injured, and that group in between. Kincaid is verging on being injury-prone, however people want debate it. It's the same concept as "you are what your record says you are."

Not to his teammates but the sheer amount of drama surrounding him involving the media and the fans and even the front office... wow. Talk about drafting a distraction...

The bolded is technically true but an odd characterization. It's equally true that he's a former 2nd rounder who's started 47 0f 51 games in his career and was available due to medical concerns. He had 3 interceptions in a game against Jacksonville. It's not like he's Dane Jackson.

Excited? Did you have an involuntary response? It's interesting. I don't consider the Bills to be a particularly good tackling team but Christian Benford was interviewed after winning the Defensive POTW award and mentioned that he takes pride in his tackling and that the Bills work on tackling a lot in practice.

I saw that. How's it looking for the Bengals? Did not practice LB Terrel Bernard (elbow) DE Joey Bosa (hamstring/wrist) WR Josh Palmer (knee/ankle) CP Ned Boy (oblique) Limited participation OL Dion Dawkins (concussion) OL Spencer Brown (shoulder) TE Dalton Kincaid (hamstring/knee) Full workout LS Reid Ferguson (neck) FB Reggie Gilliam (knee) TE Jackson Hawes (back) DT TJ Sanders (wrist) I'm older than you. I recall the days when the Bills training staff would use a buckskin wrap to hold a block of ice cut from Chautauqua Lake during the Mayville Winter Festival. I had to check with AI just to be sure: No. A spleen injury typically causes pain in the left upper abdomen and sometimes the left shoulder, but it does not directly affect the hamstring muscles. Spleen injury symptoms: Pain from a spleen injury is generally located in the upper left abdomen, under the rib cage. A classic symptom, known as Kehr's sign, is referred pain to the left shoulder, caused by blood irritating the phrenic nerve near the diaphragm. Hamstring injury symptoms: A hamstring injury involves pain, tenderness, and sometimes bruising in the back of the thigh and has no direct anatomical or neurological connection to the spleen. The only connection suggested outside of standard medical consensus comes from a non-traditional source which claims a link between the medial hamstring and the health of the pancreas and spleen based on flexibility practices, a concept not supported by conventional medical science. Yes. Apparently he has dual strains off the gluteus maximus muscles and literally can't sit. The athletic training staff has built a suspension device that essentially allows him to sleep in an inverted but upright position.

A Venn Diagram might be helpful.

Spleen. According to Pro Football Reference, Kincaid's played in 37 of 46 regular season games and 5 of 5 playoff games so 42 of a possible 51... 82%. That prorates to exactly 14 games played and 3 missed per 17 game season.

This was inevitable and predictable. What's hilarious is that the Browns, possibly more than any franchise aside from the Jets, can't get the QB position right and now they have the two most divisive, controversial QBs in the NFL on the same roster. You can't make this stuff up.

Benford started out the season like a guy who had a concussion hangover from last season but his game has been picking up. Against Tampa Bay he traveled with star rookie Emeka Ugboka who only managed 5 catches for 40 yards on 9 targets. The next week he traveled with Nico Collins who had just 3 catches for 55 yards. Of course against the Steelers he had a great game against both the pass and the run and deservedly won the AFC Defensive Player of the Week award with the scoop and score, the INT, and holding DK Metcalf to 3 catches for 32 yards on 5 targets. If you're being honest, Benford's been playing great lately and is peaking at the right time. Also Tre's had a solid season and Hairston has most Bills fans excited by his incredible athleticism. The acquisition of Slay gives the Bills excellent depth at a position where they've historically had epidemic injuries in the playoffs. In weeks 9 and 10 playing for Taron Johnson, Cam played very well and looked better than Taron had looked all season to that point. Amen. You're trying to improve everywhere, all the time. He was running those patterns for the receivers. It looks like his film study is exceptional. He knew what the receivers were doing before they were doing it. One half.

Yeah you're right. Bad idea! 😆

I'm sorry to hear of your loss and I hope the game is a fun win and brings some happiness to your family. Do you recall details of the last game you attended at The Ralph? As others have pointed to, the Bills gotta stop turning the ball over, which is to say Josh has to play a cleaner game than he's been playing. The Bills have to hold serve in this one. So you think the Bengals have adequately supported Burrow? Are you expecting a Bills loss? Maybe the most positive thing to come out of last week's game was that Ray Davis finally broke his sophomore slump. It looks like he's been watching Cook and has a better understanding of where the openings are going to be. It was also nice seeing Ty Johnson look like last year with that 20 yard reception. The Bills have needed more from their backup running backs... I'm not comfortable with an over reliance on James Cook. Plus both teams are coming off bad losses. It should be hard fought if nothing else. Week 14 would be the perfect time for Josh to start protecting the ball better and the team as a whole to start peaking. It's the stretch run! Okay.

Jim has aged very, very well... and what can you say about Rich Eisen? Thank you for posting.

Yes and then there's the whole palm oil issue. I buy stuff from the Girl Scouts to support them but not the cookies. Be careful or you're gonna get the Whammy.

Recently my brother and two buddies from WNY (Williamsville and Webster) had a blind hot dog tasting featuring Sahlens, Weigles white hots, and representing the Bay Area of California, Caspers. Both Sahlens and Caspers have that snap at first bite and are more seasoned than the Weigles which is pretty mild. My brother made pork and beans using salt pork and my buddy from Webster made homemade onion rings. Not the healthiest meal but quite good vittles for a backyard gathering in the fall.

You should have asked Leodis to be the ring bearer.

What's your official position on Girl Scout Cookies?

I almost missed the second part of the joke... well played good sir. So well that I have a sneaking suspicion that Psautcsk is actually a type of sausage... it sounds like something I'd pick up at with my leberkase.

This was in response to my post so I can only surmise it was directed at me. I enjoyed this victory very much and have been pretty consistently positive about this team. But Joe Brady has not proven that he deserves the benefit of the doubt when it comes to this offense and specifically the passing game. I'll be overjoyed to be proven wrong but my skepticism is well-founded. As always, I'll believe it when I see it.