dave mcbride

Agreed. Not a great matchup for the Bills. Honestly, I'm counting on the weather helping out plus the fact that Miami is coming off of both a big high (stomping NE) and a short week.

I pretty strongly disagree with your understanding of what an attack constitutes, and I stand by what I said about the weakness of snark as method of argumentation. I'll just leave it at that. We're not going to agree, so it's best to end this.

Saying someone is providing "hot garbage" or is the equivalent of a drunk on Elmwood is by definition insulting them. It's not hard to be polite. Also, why the impulse to tweak me -- "Do you know what an attack is?"; "Sounds like you're a sensitive one as well." What's the point of that? The board is a better place when vigorous and sometimes hot debate is done with at least a modicum of politeness. My general view is that snark is a weapon of the weak and best avoided. It doesn't reflect well on people who rely on it when crafting an argument. It's typically not funny either.

I do. It sounds a bit like this: "Truthfully, this all just sounds like hot garbage. Please tell Cathy and Mark I’m disappointed." "Well, I heard better BS from a drunk on Elmwood on Saturday before the game. Thanks for the laugh." In any (reasonably) polite society, this is generally regarded as an attack -- nasty and dismissive snark.

See posts 3, 5, 8, and 21 on the first page alone.

They are attacks because of the tone and the wording. That matters. People really need to be more polite, and it's pretty freaking easy. This has long been a good forum because while we've always had some impolite jerks, we seem to have fewer than most. I get that it's the internet and all, but invoking that strikes me as a lame excuse for boorish behavior.

The problem with playing Peterman against Miami is that he will be absolutely destroyed by their pass rush. Their front is good. Taylor, whatever his flaws, has demonstrated in four games that he can play well against Miami. That is indisputable, and his escapability helps immensely. Here are his stats in four games vs. Miami: 21/29 for 277 yards, 3 TDs 0 INTs; 3 carries for 12 yards 11/12 for 181 yards, 1 TD, 0 INTs; 10 carries for 44 yards 14/28 for 221 yards, 1 TD, 0 INTs; 7 carries for 35 yards and 1 TD 26/39 for 329 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INTs; 12 carries for 60 yards His rating against Miami over these four games?? 121.2 . He has averaged 9.3 ypa. Extrapolated over 16 games, it amounts to 4,032 yards, 32 TDs, and 0 INTs plus 654 rushing yards and 4 rushing TDs. The Bills averaged 32 ppg in those four games too.

that wind was horizontal - you could see it in how the snow was moving. The same exact thing happened on his next kick - he just made the mistake of kicking it dead center. It would have been perfect in other conditions.

Don't forget this game! http://www.billsdaily.com/articles/thunder/ne2.html Vinatieri missed a kick that would have ended the game in regulation in that one too. He must hate the Ralph!

Edelman was on the field in all of those seven games. Again, that is my point: that they are pedestrian without Gronk in an Edelman-less offense. Edelman was a huge loss for them - bigger than most anticipated. Amendola is a pretty good player, but he's not the safety valve that Edelman is for Brady. Hogan is a different sort of player altogether. Also, if you think the NE offense was effective against TB in that game, you didn't watch it. They were sluggish all night despite the high completion rate. They scored 19 points against the worst pass defense in the league and would have lost if TB had a competent kicker. They didn't convert *one* third down last night. That is unbelievable.

I derived more enjoyment watching that game than any other Bills game I've watched this decade save for the victory over the Pats in 2011. It will go down as one of my favorite football viewing experiences ever. I loved that game. Everything about it.

The fact that he didn't sneak it last night at the one foot line tells me that perhaps his achilles is more of a problem than he's letting on.

That's sort of my point. Brady has two go-to guys at the end of the day: Edelman and Gronk. If he loses one, he can survive because the other one, combined with the other good players, can handle the job. But if he loses both, he's kinda screwed. I was saying that they are pedestrian in the absence of Gronk, and the evidence attests to that. They struggled against TB, a team which has a HORRIBLE pass defense (as in worst-in-the-NFL bad).

Agreed. The Bills needed something like Cam Newton, Derek Carr, Marcus Mariota, or Matthew Stafford going down with a non-crippling injury and ending up with a very high pick as a consequence. It didn't happen. The draft targets now are Indy and SF. Unfortunately, SF looks to be decent now with Garrapolo in there and may win 4-5 games. He's a very good player. Great trade by the Niners.

I get the sentiment for taking Watson, but I do think that both Rosen and Darnold are surer bets long term than Watson (I realize I may prove to be wildly wrong). The Bills at least got an extra first and have a lot of room to move given the extra second as well. The Browns and Giants are both likely to take a qb, though, and they won't trade out.

I hope you're right. I do think that Miami is a little soft mentally and is due for a letdown after beating down the Pats. That said, their d-line can bring it. They have a lot of talent. Their achilles heel is their pass defense (opposing teams have a 94.0 passer rating) but that tends to not be a problem for teams facing the Bills. That's my concern. Tyrod needs to step it up on Sunday. He has played well against Miami in the past. The Bills dominated in both games in 2015 and should have won their home game last year.

And we have been reminded yet again that Jay Cutler is a very talented QB. He made some fantastic throws last night. He's such a maddening player - so talented but .500 all the way at the end of the day. If he's on, though, watch out.

I actually think the Steelers, who have a healthy LeVeon Bell this time around, will win. I just don't see the Pats' D stopping the Steelers offense.

They are pedestrian THIS YEAR because of the absence of Edelman. They've played two games without him now (against TB too) and have looked extremely ordinary. With Gronk in there, Hogan is going to open and/or single-covered on many of these deep throws. Gronkowski's actions cost the team a game.

It's football alright - just not the same old same old. Variety is the spice of life, and more to the point, that was a hell of a show yesterday. Total entertainment from start to finish, and a nail biter to boot.

I watched it a bunch of times and it seemed to me that he initiated contact at around the 1.5-2 yard line. It was definitely in front of the goal line.

I watched it five times and it happened within a yard of the LOS (between the 1.5 and 2 yard lines). Probably shouldn't have been called ...

I cannot believe that there are fans here who didn't love watching that yesterday. It was amazing entertainment and a ton of fun to watch from start to end. The last thing I want is for all venues to be the same. If you don't like snow football, take a look inside yourself because it means a small part of your soul has withered and died.

You didn't actually respond to the point I made. I suggest at least thinking about it.

I'm personally opposed to a monoculture in which every goddamn thing is the same and their is no room for quirks and oddness, like snowy venues in relatively unique cities. I'm not sure if you're from Buffalo, but I'd venture to guess that most here are and that they root for the CITY, with the team and sport being incidental. If the Bills left Buffalo, I'd never watchan NFL game again.