smuvtalker

In 2008, I decided to take my wife (then girlfriend) to Buffalo to meet my extended family. Conveniently, I made it the weekend the Bills were playing the Browns on Monday night football. It was November 17th. We got there around 5pm or so to start the pre-game festivities. The temp was around 32 or so degrees, and by kick-off it was down to maybe 28 or 29. I swear I haven't been that cold since. I had hand warmers inside my gloves, down in my underwear, and in my shoes. My poor wife is from New Orleans, and I remember looking over at her, and she looked so miserable...at halftime she said "I'm going to sit in the car." I couldn't be mad at her. Ever since that game I've never gone to a Bills game past October lol.

I'll be the first to admit I don't know jack about Vegas and the betting lines and such, but WHAT??? Underdogs? After the whoopin we just gave the Seahawks, better record, against better opponents, yet we still open as underdogs? I don't get it. But at the same time, I don't mind. We always seem to play better when we're not favored.

Wow, that totally stinks. I mean I get tweaking things this season due to the craziness with Covid and everything but yuck. That would only be for this season though right?

We would be AFC East champions for the first time in TWENTY-FIVE YEARS, and we would be the number 3 seed, guaranteeing a home playoff game. I don't know about you guys, but after seeing today's convincing and complete beatdown of one of the best teams in the league and the consensus MVP front-runner, division champ and one home playoff game just doesn't seem to quench my appetite anymore. I try my best not to get too angry and emotional after a loss, and not to get too excited after a win, so I decided to wait a few hours before starting this topic. After having had a while to come back down to earth, I can legitimately say that a 13-3 record at the end of the regular season is not as lofty a prediction as it might've been a few weeks ago. Here's how I see the final games shaping up now: @Cardinals- even with them losing to the Dolphins today, they're a pretty solid team especially offensively. Murray can definitely beat you with his arms and legs, but he's young and prone to mistakes, and the blueprint we created today in containing Wilson should be even better against a young more inexperienced Murray. In the dome, with all his offensive weapons healthy, PLUS an o-line who's now had two games to settle in, no way Josh doesn't light it up again. W Chargers- fresh off the bye, at home, team should be healthy and ready to roar. I don't give a damn if it's Rivers or Herbert behind center. West coast team coming east gets an epic beatdown. W @49ers- primetime Monday night football. We've already gotten our signature win of the year, but this is the week McDermott and Allen show the country just who the Bills REALLY are, and we finally dominate on primetime TV. Plus 49ers injury situation is way worse than ours. W Steelers- the best team in the NFL comes into Orchard Park for our second primetime game in a row, and obvious game of the week. I think their defense forces a few turnovers, and our defense struggles stopping Big Ben, and the Steelers sneak out of OP with a win. L @Broncos- Thin air be damned. The whole team comes into the mile high city pissed off after letting last week's game slip away from them, and the Broncos pay the price. Bills dominate the game from start to finish. By game's end Matt Barkley will be handing off to Taiwan Jones. W @Patriots- Bellicheck will have already mailed it in, and even though they have nothing to play for but pride, it's not enough. Buffalo is in straight up business mode with their eyes on a first round bye, and sweeps the New England Patriots for the first time since I was a junior in college. Which was 1999 lol. W Dolphins- I'm predicting that by this time, the Bills will control their destiny for the number 2 seed and that coveted yet elusive first round bye. The Dolphins make the playoffs with a win and a loss by the Colts. Final game of the season, at home, temps in the 20's and light snow. During pre-game while the Dolphins are on the field by themselves warming up, Jerry Hughes, Mario Addison, Milano and Tre White all come out of the tunnel wearing just tank-tops....(props to those of you who get where that came from 😉 ) and the Bills proceed to beat the living daylights out of the Dolphins to the tune of 37-6. And our beloved Buffalo Bills secure the number two seed in the 2020 NFL playoffs....13-3 Who's with me???

Absolutely. I'm really coming around on this pick. He seems like he's getting more and more comfortable week to week. Kick had plenty of distance.

As my uncle Reggie used to say.... "Let's line em up and lay the wood to em!"

Well said, very well said indeed. I felt the same way, it almost came off like he was, dare I say, scared of the Chiefs or something. To me when I hear "we wanted to keep it within striking distance", it screams of resignation to defeat. Just my two cents.

Come on bro, don't think like that. Don't give up on Gase just yet. He can turn things around for you guys, and be an excellent mentor for Trevor. Give Gase an extension, give him a chance to right the ship! I'd say a 5 year extension at a minimum.

I'd definitely pick them this week......if I hadn't been eliminated in week ONE 😳

I have no problem being honest here. After the Pats game I was livid. I even posted that that was the most upset I'd ever been after a Bills victory. But then several posters pointed out that facts, that we finally beat a team that's owned us for the past 20 years, that regardless of the Pats record, they are still a division rival, plus the fact that they had lost 3 straight, were basically playing for their season, and we were going to get their best. And even though it took Lady Luck smiling on us and putting us on the winning side of a play that historically went against us, the bottom line is we still WON, and that was the only thing that truly mattered. So I said all that to say, I don't think my confidence in the team is shaken, but I call a spade a spade, and this is a team with some serious defensive shortcomings. And until they are addressed, I don't believe we are a legitimate SB contender. I do believe we have a solid team, and that in the playoffs anything can happen, but I think we'd be a longshot to make it to the AFC championship or the SB...

Thanks for taking the time to post this. I don't know why but I have a feeling Dallas beats Pittsburgh tomorrow. Steelers are obviously due for a loss, and nobody thinks the Cowboys have a chance. That's my upset special. I also have Arizona beating Miami.

Spot on. One of the things that I commented on in another thread was that one of the biggest things that has impressed me about Allen's big improvements this season has been the patience he has exhibited that he had very little of last year. That was the first time this season that I observed him forcing balls into tight/double coverage, taking several unnecessary deep shots...I'm guessing he probably felt like he had to take things into his own hands and because we trailed most of the game he was just trying to do to much. And to be honest, I'm glad it happened, because since that game, I have rarely seen him trying to force balls into double coverage. Even though his numbers don't reflect it, he has played well within himself, and Daboll's gameplan, and has looked just as impressive throwing for 240 yards and a TD then he did throwing for 400 and 4 TD's.

Guys, we all know this game has all the ingredients for a delicious, TD-filled afternoon, where we might not even see either punter. The Bills are finally getting as close to healthy as they've been all season as we could see the likes of Feliciano, Ford, Brown, and Knox all back in the starting lineup. With the weather forecasted to be sunny and 70, I fully expect Josh to have an absolute career day. With his full compliment of offensive players back, expect to see Daboll open up the playbook and get creative, but not cute. Allen and Co. absolutely shred what will be the worst defense they've seen this year by a country mile. Get your popcorn ready for this offensive explosion of a game.. Bills 6 Seahawks 3

True indeed. Unfortunately, by this time in the season everybody is dealing with some nagging injury/issue. I just hope he's as close to 100% as possible, because you are absolutely right, we are a different offense with him in there.

I just don't see it happening. If we can't score against arguably the worst defense in the league, at home, on a day predicted to be sunny and 70 degrees, then we're in trouble. Plus, we may have both our starting guards and our starting TE back in the lineup. It'll be as close to 100% healthy as it's been all year. Predicting a big day for Josh and Co.

Effing AWESOME. Simply a thing of beauty. I have this saved in my fave's list on YouTube. I couldn't have said it better myself, this was back when football was football. Men running around on that field ready to end your career in a split second. The days when the Ronnie Lott's, and the Chuck Cecil's of the world roamed the secondary.. And I gotta say this....as much as I hate Tom Brady the New England Patriot, I give him ALL the props in the world for his toughness. Dude sprung right back up, clapped his hands and threw his helmet back on. If that woulda been me, I think I would've just turned into a pile of dust.

Gotta love this....

GOTDAMM SHE'S HOT!! HOLY F.. 🤯

Not a bad choice at all. It's nice knowing we have two solid, solid tackles. Williams has definitely been one of Beane's homeruns if you ask me. I know it's such an obvious and cliché choice, but I gotta go with my man Josh. During the off-season, he was saying all the right things, about working on his mechanics, and film study, and better decision-making. I'm not gonna say I didn't believe him, but it sounded like something any QB who struggled with issues during a season would say. I hoped to see results, but I NEVER expected him to make the jump that he has to a whole nother level. His accuracy, his decision-making, his PATIENCE!!! Wow! As much as I despise Tom Brady, one of the things that make him the GOAT is his ability to take what the defense gives him, to play dink-and-dunk football. And at times this season watching Josh play, I saw that same patience, progressing through his reads, going to his 2nd, 3rd, and even 4th options. Not giving up on the pocket and being so quick to tuck it and run. It's been just a beautiful thing to watch him grow the way he has.

The sad thing is we don't really have the depth at either position TO replace/bench them....especially at linebacker. I'm a pretty optimistic guy, and even I have to say Klein has been pretty damn awful. To think we couldn't even get a bag of footballs, some donuts and a used Samsung Galaxy S4 for him...smh. Taron IMO has struggled mightily, but I at least have hope that he can work through this slump he's in and turn things around. This is the same guy last year that was a solid nickel corner for us....

Thanks Hap. I thought he was still on that Covid time frame where he couldn't come back yet, so that's great news! The Bills are a different team with Knox in there. Even with his struggles with drops, he changes the dynamic of the offense because of his mismatch abilities, gives Allen another target in the middle of the field, and most importantly, IMO, allows Daboll to get way more creative with his play-calling. I'd love to see us run some more of those two TE sets with Knox and Kroft, especially with Brown still not quite 100% yet.

Hap I'm confused...now that we've activated Knox, does that mean he's eligible to play this Sunday or does he still have to wait until a certain amount of time has passed before he can play?

I'm for any advantage we can get. I'd have no problem with the whole team coming down with a nasty little stomach bug that keeps them on the toilet through the weekend, but runs its course by Monday morning. Let em all sit. Speaking of injuries, I'm really interested to see what the OL combination will be Sunday. Hopefully Ford is a go. I have a feeling it's gonna be a great game Sunday. I think this is the week we see the offense we saw games 1-4.

Agree. It's definitely been a disappointment not having Knox out there very much this year, especially considering how hopeful everyone was that he was going to blossom into the TE we all envisioned him becoming. Unfortunately injuries have prevented him from doing that, and I'm definitely not ready to throw in the towel on him. He did flash a few nice catches and runs, but unfortunately also had some critical drops. I bet Daboll really wishes he had both Knox and Kroft out there to run those two TE sets. But yeah, in those short yardage situations I'd much prefer Beasley on the bench.

OMG that just made me throw up in my mouth reading that. Yeah I have to admit his defensive acquisitions this past off-season have been less than stellar. I can't bring myself to believe that he's not going to swing SOMETHING by the trade deadline. We need defensive help in the worst way, and if we don't make at least one significant acquisition(1-tech PLEASE) this year, we could wind up being one and done come post-season.