Sierra Foothills

A few people here (not you guys quoted above) have commented along the lines of "we weren't even supposed to be here = no expectations = no stress = I'm satisfied with the outcome of the season = we're playing with house money" To those people, I couldn't disagree more. Would you feel the same way two weeks from now if the Bills lost the Super Bowl? The attitude that "we're playing with house money" and therefore anything beyond last week's win over Baltimore is just a bonus... disrespects the truth that Super Bowls are extremely difficult to reach and that any opportunity to win the Super Bowl HAS TO BE VIEWED AS A "ONCE IN A LIFETIME OPPORTUNITY." Thank you... I feel better now.

Of course I have but there's no way Josh fakes it as much as Mahomes done and to the contrary, Josh takes pride in ignoring hits put on him by defenders. He's too much of a man to turn every contact into an acting opportunity. Also, exactly what does it benefit to prematurely confirm to our opponents that a player is playing or not?

GO BILLS!!! The game day thread is never a good idea... there's literally no redeeming value to it and you can too easily lose focus on the game to boot. Very wrong. Josh didn't even acknowledge this hit: https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/nfl-fines-marlon-humphrey-45-020-for-hit-on-josh-allen-that-wasnt-flagged "Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey delivered a helmet-to-helmet hit on Bills quarterback Josh Allen during the second quarter on Sunday. The officials didn’t see it, but the league’s disciplinary process did. Humphrey was fined $45,020 for the hit, the league announced today. Officially, the NFL called it “Unnecessary Roughness (use of the helmet).” The hit was a blatant example of the kind of helmet-to-helmet hits that the league is trying to take out of the game, and was called out on the CBS broadcast. The officials should have seen it. Humphrey got away without a 15-yard penalty, but he didn’t get away without a significant fine." Perry Como's Greatest Hits...

Update: The Missus and I landed in Myrtle Beach tonight at around 8:30 pm. As with much of the south there is still snow on the ground and it was actually below freezing. Before going to our accommodations we beelined over to the Anchor Bar for a late dinner, which was just a few blocks from where we're staying. A lot of my confusion as to where to watch Sunday's game is that the Bills Backers of Myrtle Beach actually meet in North Myrtle Beach (which is a different city) at the OD Arcade and Lounge. I thought this pretty odd because it would seem a no brainer that Bills fans and Buffalo expats would naturally gather at the Anchor Bar. Because it's the off season here and the 6" of snow which fell this week, Myrtle Beach is kind of a ghost town at the moment so the place was fairly empty. Plus 9 pm is kind of late for dinner, even for a Friday. We decided to sit at the bar because who better to get the goods from than the bartender? It's a peninsula bar attached to one of the walls with seating around the perimeter and lots of Bills and Buffalo memorabilia. The bartender Mike, is a former Marine and a resident of Auburn, NY who stayed in the area after his discharge from Parris Island. For dinner I had the spaghetti and meatballs which was excellent. The sauce was definitely homemade as were the meatballs. My wife had the chicken wing and beef on weck combo which was also excellent. During dinner conversation with Mike and a few regulars we found that there's always a gathering for Bills games and that it gets quite crowded. Mike said we should show up at least an hour early if we want to get a spot to watch the game. So that's the plan for Sunday. Go Bills! https://anchorbar.com/locations/myrtle-beach-sc/

I know what your wife looks like, I was asking @Sweats. 😊

What’s your wife look like? Body type? Hair color?

This will be the 4th game that Rapp has missed this year so the Bills have been in this situation before.

Credit to the Ravens for downplaying the Zay Flowers injury. It did end up hurting them though. … who sometimes blows up his teammates… but he was having a really good season. This is a loss but I’m sure zero surprise to his teammates.

Two separate issues: 1) Whether a top-ranked candidate can wait for a good opportunity 2) Whether he will make the right decision Conversely if you have the opportunity to do something you love…

Need a QB though ^^^^^^^^

Pete Carroll is the Dick Clark of NFL coaches.

I agree we need a speed rusher. Superb work. Thank you. 👍

Thanks very much, good Sir.

Bumping this in case it was missed by someone who could help me by shedding some light on the Myrtle Beach situation. Interestingly they got about 6 inches of snow on Tuesday... the beach looks whiter than normal. 🙂 I guess it's somewhat appropriate that we'll be watching the Bills game in frigid environs. 😞

Thanks very much for posting this information... I find it pretty interesting. If you don't mind me asking, what is your source for this information?

I remember the Bills pursuing him before he ultimately signed with the Niners. The Bills ended up signing Patrick DiMarco as a consolation prize.

Hmmm... he didn't make any excuses, he didn't complain about anything and he's not yelling and screaming like most of the other idiots in the electronic media. I'll take his thoughtful and measured comments every time.

Agreed! NO EFFIN' EUSHING!!! Apparently you didn't see "the map."

My last words on the defensive pass interference call on Tre White: I listened to Dean Blandino on Sirius yesterday (apparently he does a regular guest segment on one of the shows). He said that he thinks it should have been a non call. He also said (as I've said elsewhere) that the "pulling the ball carrier rule" should either be enforced or removed from the playbook. When I commented on this yesterday I said the NFL is setting itself up for another "Tuck Rule Controversy" if they don't do one of the two aforementioned actions. Article 1 Definition: Pass Interference: When the ball is in the air, eligible offensive and defensive receivers have the same right to the path of the ball and are subject to the same restrictions. Article 2 Prohibited Acts: b) Playing through the back of an opponent in an attempt to make a play on the ball (is prohibited) Article 2 Prohibited Acts: e) Cutting off the path of an opponent by making contact with him, without playing the ball; Article 2 Prohibited Acts: g) Initiating contact with an opponent by shoving or pushing off, thus creating separation. No one argues the definition stating that offensive and defensive players have the same right to the ball. I believe some people here believe that White committed act (e) above. I disagree. To me they were co-equals and White could not ultimately play the ball because he was shoved down before the ball arrived (g). Particularly on the second camera angle you can see that White is clearly looking back for the ball. NFL Rulebook: https://operations.nfl.com/the-rules/nfl-rulebook/#section-5-pass-interference The very fact that Bills fans are arguing on both sides of this call says everything that needs to be said whether it was "clear cut." And heed the words of Dean Blandino, the former Director of Officiating for the NFL. That's all I've got... carry on.

Thanks for the reply. If the bar patrons don't know the words to Bills Shout, I don't want anything to do with them. 🙃

As it turns out, I'll be in Myrtle Beach next weekend and saw where the local Bills Backers chapter meets at the OD Arcade and Lounge in the city of North Myrtle Beach. On the other hand I see there's an Anchor Bar in Myrtle Beach. Any suggestions or insights on where best to watch the AFC Championship game would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

When was the podcast aired? Before or after the game?

LOL... and that would confirm what we already know about his priorities.

Absolutely true. If Tre White was on the Bills and Coleman was Rashod Bateman, 99% of the people here would be screaming bloody murder about a bad DPI. Disagree totally. I saw White take a good angle and beat Coleman to the spot. He knew where Coleman was going before he got there. It's similar to block vs charge in basketball... who got there first? Once White had established lead position he has no obligation to relinquish it. As far as Coleman "finishing the play," it would have been nice to see him get so much as one finger on the ball considering it went through his catch radius... but he was more focused on his bad acting job than playing football in that moment. As @Simon pointed out the call against White was a 3rd and 5 from the Ravens 30... a 47 yard field goal attempt. The DPI resulted in a 1st down at the 12 on the what ended up being a TD drive for the Bills. Conversely the call against Dawkins was on a 2nd and 11 from the Baltimore 47... a down and distance more probable to a punt. Truth. As stated numerous times elsewhere I've supported the selection of Coleman but he's a very unfinished player who has flashed but needs to actually become consistent.

Thanks for posting this. I was very impressed with Van Noy refusing to make excuses and go the sour grapes route. He comported himself as a man. Count me as not frustrated and it's not simply choosing a "glass half-full" perspective. Things I loved about the VICTORY: We won the time of possession We answered the Ravens opening TD drive with a TD drive of our own We scored TDs on 3 of our first 4 possessions On a frigid and slick day we played mistake-free football in contrast to our opponents Excepting the kneel down possession at the end we had 10 play and 11 play fourth quarter field goal drives to maintain the lead. Both possessions were run-heavy. Things I wished we did differently (3 plays): On the 3rd and goal from the 2 we should have called the tush push instead of the shotgun run by Josh On the 2 3rd down possessions where we punted there were first down runs of 1 and zero yards which helped stall the drives (though there was a Kincaid drop which killed one of the drives) I thought it was a great win and a strategic success. And I really don't care what they look like as much as some do. Super interesting fact. I too would like to see a physical domination of the Chiefs. Incidentally, who'd have thought that the Bills would beat the Ravens in a game where Josh never had to pull his cape out of the closet? Great win.