Sierra Foothills

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.

Yeah the timing of this topic is interesting. Hoping the MRI went well. No arguments there. Absolutely. Pet peeve while on the subject... I've seen some "professional writers" (beat writers) characterize the hit on Rodgers as a "strip sack." A "strip" is a very distinct physical movement. The fumble Bosa caused was due to the hit jarring the ball out and/or possibly a punch out but it was not stripped. People who write for a living should have the ability to describe things accurately. That is all. Yes, what could have been. The defensive injuries have been a big story of this season. I think the treatment of the Bosa situation is that you let him see what the market is and make him an offer. Maybe he stays, maybe he goes but you can't adopt a "sign him at all costs" attitude nor can you overpay your valuation. The age and injury history are too much to ignore. Hopefully if the numbers are close, he re-ups with the Bills because he likes it here. I'm always ready to cringe when McDermott speaks but I'm also too curious to not watch the video. There are a few real bonus moments in this one that make it worth watching.

Exactly, Chaos. And when other teams do stop our run game as they have before and inevitably will again, are you confident that Brady will have an answer? This is exactly my concern. We were concerned about the offense earlier this year and then we beat KC and everyone was placated... until we were stomped by Miami. Brady has absolutely not proven that he's evolved as quickly as he should. Apparently Coleman got some snaps from the slot against Pittsburgh... something posters here have been clamoring for all season long. Maybe there is hope but I'm more of a proof guy than a hope guy. I know Josh loves Knox and recently said something along the lines of "trusting him with my life" but Knox still struggles to catch the ball. A few times in recent games he's had to fall down in order to secure a catch where a better receiving tight end would have radiused to pluck the ball out of the air and head upfield. I guess it's too late to hope that Knox will ever improve as a ball catcher.

I'm ambivalent about Bernard even when he's healthy and at his best. I'd prefer him to have a role as a nickel/dime linebacker if anything. Shaq is our best linebacker but I question his durability too. In recent years he's shown an inability to be dependable and available. Though I remain confident in the evolution of this defense (Bosa's injury is the latest concern/setback), linebacker has to be addressed earnestly this offseason. In a perfect world, Shaq is a dependable and quality backup... unless he can reverse the recent trend of missing games.

Last year in 10 games he had 48 catches for 615 yards and 5 TDs. That was skewed a bit by the 5 catch, 110 yard, 2 TD performance in week 17.

The story was never about Milano's play like it was never about Tre White's play. Milano and White, along with Cole Bishop and others were made to look bad by players like Terrell Bernard and Taylor Rapp. Now that those two huge liabilities are off the field, the defense has improved. The actual story is how much better the Bills defense is when Shaq Thompson starts... like in the week 8 win over Carolina (40-7) or the win against Pittsburgh. For football aficionados there are few things as satisfying as watching good linebacker play. I'm mystified that McDermott and his underlings have the audacity to start Bernard when he's healthy. It's the most obvious case of favoritism on the Bills. It's alright for nickel backs to duck under blocks and finesse their way towards ball carriers. It's an outright embarassment when the player doing that is a linebacker. I get it... McDermott loves the guy... so give him the unsung hero award for keeping morale high among the backups... but keep him on the bench and don't embarrass the organization by making him your defensive captain.

You Brat!

I don't think Kromer can be blamed if Brady insists on going with 5 man protections all game long against the #1 ranked defense in the league.

3 targets, 2 receptions, 9 yards, 1 TD, 1 drop

I don't know if there's an update but I heard that Sauce suffered a non-contact injury to his calf... that sometimes translates into achilles issues.

Not mentioned yet is that the Vikes also had Daniel Jones... but they chose curtain number 3. To those bagging on JJ, whether he played or not today isn't relevant. Many people have already seen enough and don't feel like they need to see him play again.

Yes, the availability of Andy Reid came at a time when the Bills were a very undesirable landing spot for any coaches with options. In fact even had Pegula taken ownership before Reid was fired by the Eagles, we were in the midst of the drought and I doubt that Reid would have chosen the Bills over the Chiefs. I'm trying to remember how much interest there was in Reid when he became available but can't really recall.

Would you do me a HUGE favor and try not to use that word? Thanks!

This is absolutely fair. I'm actually the last person to apportion blame on entirely one thing... because the majority of times (in life and in football) there are contributing factors. I should have been more clear... the wide receiver talent is subpar but I place a higher percentage of the blame on Joe Brady. He should know the shortcomings and the strengths of his players and scheme them open to a higher degree than he presently does. The fact of several wide receivers who came here from poorer QB situations and whose production has cratered here despite playing with Josh tell me that it's more the OC than the WRs.

Yes regarding the bubble/flare/laser/tunnel screen... it also often seems like the defense is moving towards the intended receiver while the ball is in the air and isn't it OPI if the bunch starts blocking too soon? Every once in awhile it breaks for a decent gain but I feel like the cost/benefit has been very poor... and it seems like the more you run it the less effective it becomes. Like most of us, I've really grown to despise that play. I'm gonna go with the majority of people who believe the over-reliance on that play is because the OC sucks. Maybe we're wrong but that's the way it seems to many.

So what happens if Andy Reid was our coach and McDermott coached the Chiefs?

The Bills have the QB, don't they? It's about the coaching too.

Actually for you to say "Offensive genius yes. But that he'd be in the GOAT conversation pre Mahomes was laughable" in response to me saying "To their credit, the Hunts also hired Andy Reid" doesn't make much sense. You can criticize Andy Reid and Donovan McNabb and Nick Sirianni and McBeane and I wouldn't argue too much though Reid's accomplishments in Philly speak for themselves... but it's sad that while the Chiefs jumped at the opportunity to hire Reid, the Bills were hiring Doug Marrone.

Don't put words in my mouth. I did not say he'd "be in the GOAT conversation." I said exactly "To their credit, the Hunts also hired Andy Reid." By the way, Andy Reid who you described as an "offensive genius" had a .583 winning percentage exclusively with Philly, which is higher than HOF HCs Jimmy Johnson, Marv Levy, Hank Stram, Don Coryell, Bill Parcells, Chuck Knoll, Dick Vermeil, Tom Flores, Weeb Ewbank and Sid Gillman. It's also a higher winning percentage than Super Bowl winning HCs Tom Coughlin, Brian Billick, Mike Shanahan, Pete Carroll, Jon Gruden, and Steve Mariucci. While in Philly, Reid made the playoffs in 9 out of 14 seasons and he led them to 4 NFC Championship games and a Super Bowl appearance. Is it your opinion that the Hunts should not get credit for hiring Reid?

To their credit, the Hunts also hired Andy Reid.

I'm not saying that he's faking injuries but in his NFL career, Samuel has played in 111 out of a possible 143 games which is 77.6% and averages to missing nearly 4 games per year. With the Bills he's 20 of 28 games which is 71.4% and averages to missing nearly 5 games per year. Obviously being placed on IR is gonna make those numbers even worse. His availability isn't the worst we've seen but it's been far from great. I wouldn't be surprised if he retires after this year. He's made nearly $57 million in the NFL.