Albany,n.y.

Fox pulled the Jets game out of Albany. I really wanted to watch the Jets, now I can't since they're not worth watching on an internet streaming site. I only do that for Bills games. we've had an amazing year for Bills games in Albany with only 3 games not shown so far & guaranteed the next 2 games before the finale vs Miami which has a decent chance to beat out Jets/NE.

I thought the exact same thing. Last night I was screaming at the TV "You're icing your own kicker, you're a horrible coach"

I ran track and cross country in high school because I'm too uncoordinated to play team sports. I ran on and off until I hit 50 and my knees gave out a little less than 17 years ago. Now I'm just a fat old man.

Tickets to the Super Bowl champions games are always a tough ticket to get.

Actually, you can measure work ethic, coachability, willingness to learn, and football intelligence. The Bills interviewed Josh 3 times- Senior Bowl, in Wyoming and in Buffalo putting him through mental as well as physical drills in at least the two visits to Wyoming and Buffalo. They talked not only with him but with his coaches. They looked at him on the sidelines interacting with teammates. They reviewed every play in college. They did due diligence that many clubs don't do. If this group had scouted either Ryan Leaf or Jamarcus Russell they would have rejected both of them. Here are stories I've heard on both of those busts. At the combine Leaf showed up out of shape and blew off the Colts who had the top pick. After Leaf was drafted and the Chargers were asking him to come to SD to be introduced, he told them he was partying in Las Vegas and he would come when he was ready, not when they asked him to. The Russell story is from his Raiders days. He was so lazy they gave him a test. They gave him a video tape and asked him to watch it. When they asked if he watched it he said he did-he didn't and the reason the Raiders knew he didn't was because the tape was blank. This staff would have caught the 2 busts flaws during the draft process. Their due diligence allowed them to properly evaluate intangibles that another team might miss.

A rare week where I get every AFC East game this weekend.

I've been to 6 Super Bowls. Here are the costs. We won 2 Bills lotteries. I last updated the spreadsheet in 2019 Year Transportation Car Rental Ticket Lodging Misc Parking Total Inflation Adj to early 2016 $ ADJ to 2019 Notes 1991 $158.00 $83.73 $1,165.00 $60.00 $50.00 $0.00 $1,516.73 1.75 $2,654.28 $2,783.81 Lodging is for 2 motel nights in Orlando, ticket is Disney Package 1992 $919.00 $0.00 $150.00 $0.00 $50.00 $0.00 $1,119.00 1.7 $1,902.30 $1,995.13 Transportation and lodging grouped, includes $779 for flight/motel 1993 $344.50 $52.08 $175.00 $64.42 $100.00 $10.00 $736.00 1.65 $1,214.40 $1,273.66 Lodging & Car Rental represents half total cost. 1994 $60.00 $0.00 $1,248.00 $0.00 $150.00 $0.00 $1,458.00 1.61 $2,347.38 $2,461.93 Ticket includes lodging & flight, transportation includes est. railroad cost to Buffalo 2014 $60.00 $0.00 $1,857.50 $114.99 $125.00 $105.00 $2,157.49 1.02 $2,200.64 $2,308.03 Transportation is for gas & tolls to drive to game 2016 $395.00 $0.00 $4,726.20 $0.00 $125.00 $20.00 $5,246.20 1 $5,246.20 $5,502.21 Parking is shuttle to & from Fremont $15,565.20 $16,324.78 AVE $3,113.04 $3,264.96

There aren't many 60+ year old coaches getting a 2nd chance years after they got fired from their 1st head coaching job. I doubt Frazier would be anything but a Rooney Rule interview.

Right now the get in price from NFL on location is $5,400. I could fly in the day of the game & home the next day for $258 round trip. All I'd need is to find a motel Sunday night. I can currently get one between $100-$200, I'd do it if the Bills are in because I'll get a $3,000-$4,000 tax refund in February & could pay most of it off. Unfortunately, the problem is I'd be risking my life going unless they speed up the Covid vaccine. I'm over 65 and had cancer 3 years ago. It's tempting. My friend Petrino wants to drive, I'd never do that but if he wants to & picks me up at the Tampa airport Sunday morning I'd do that. Still undecided on what to do if the Bills get in. https://tickets.nflonlocation.com/e/sports/super-bowl-lv-tickets/raymond-james-stadium/february-07-2021-1001310762

The Jets reminded me today of a Bills game in NJ that I attended in 1985. The Bills kicked a FG to go up 3-0 and lost 42-3. Jets were up 3-0 today & lost 40-3.

Lets look at the HOFers in the (current) AFC East over the years. Bills 1-Jim Kelly Jets 1-Joe Namath Miami 2-Bob Griese, Dan Marino New England 1 (future) Tom Brady It's tough to find a HOF QB & it can take many decades to find one.

It reminds me of the days when Jim Kelly was in his prime & we always believed we'd win before the game started and most of the time we were right. The QB is just about everything in the NFL, easily worth up to 8 games a year.

[Crane] Sad news. Our Scout's Honor podcast scout, Dave-Te' Thomas, has passed away after long battle w/cancer. My dear friend of 30 yrs was best evaluator of talent I've ever seen. He died on October 14th. Years ago I called to order his draft report & we talked for over a half hour. He spoke of how they thought he was going to die. After the conversation he recovered enough to live another 15-20 years, The draft will never be the same without him. In 2018 he rated Josh as the "cream of the crop" among the QB class.

30-3 Seattle. At what point do the Jets say No Mas. His mentor was Rex Ryan. What did the Chargers think when they hired him?

The Jets should just pull a Vontae Davis & leave the stadium at halftime. It's not like they ever showed up to begin with.

Jets are already losing after taking a 3-0 lead. Now 7-3 Seattle.

Since recent memory is of a losing team, technically the OP's question could be answered yes, but realistically, the answer is a regular season game when the team is 9-3 really isn't a big win. Big wins come in the post-season.

I've always thought of it from another point of view. For the most part, the Bills, under the old management, did the same thing over & over again-they tried to get a QB on the cheap, at times in dollars and at times with draft capital. Let's look at the team history through the years of getting the QB cheap. Basically I believe you do anything you can to get your guy high in the draft, and that's near or at the top of the 1st round. The 1st franchise QB was Jack Kemp-acquired on waivers. This may have set the mindset that you don't have to invest high draft picks to get a QB. His backup & would be successor would have been Lamonica, a late round pick (24th round), if Lamonica hadn't been traded away. The fact that Lamonica was obtained on the cheap further cemented the mindset. Next QB up was Dennis Shaw, who for 1 year they thought they could get a franchise QB with a 2nd round pick. That dream was short lived. Then in 1973 they got their long term answer in Joe Ferguson. Fergy was a middle of the pack QB who was a long term answer & a WOFre, but never the franchise. Fast forward to 1983. The Bills draft Tony Hunter before Jim Kelly. Then instead of doing everything to sign him, they cheap out again & he signs with the USFL. Due to this the Bills missed 3 seasons with Kelly at QB. After QB hell for 3 seasons, Kelly finally signs after the USFL bites the dust and the glory days, not seen since the 1960s return. Now in preparation for the end of Jim Kelly's career, in 1995 they draft QB of the future Todd Collins in the 2nd round. After Collins fails they panic and trade for Rob Johnson with pick #9 + a later round pick after previously signing Doug Flutie on the cheap from the CFL. This move generally doesn't work-trading for a mid/low round pick by another team who showed a little but couldn't supplant the original team's starter. For me, who lived in the NYC metro area on & off, it was deja vu in reverse. I had seen Matt Robinson go from the Jets to Denver in 1980 for a 1st rounder plus. Ironically, I was back in WNY the same time Robinson landed on the Bills. Then the trade for a fading Drew Bledsoe for the next year's #1. We got 3 years of pretty mediocre play for that one. Next up, the draft that could have made the Bills a contender, but once again, not willing to pay the price necessary to get their guy. In 2004 the Bills loved Ben Roethlisberger, they tried to trade up to get him. However, and this is strictly my opinion-they didn't have the guts to offer enough to get a team ahead of them to pull the trigger on a trade. If you feel that strongly about a QB you do whatever is necessary to get him. Tom Donahoe failed & then to compound the problem, traded up for JP later in the 1st round after missing Ben by 2 picks. I believe if they had offered a team at 9 or 10 pick 13 plus the same pick they traded to Dallas, their 2005 1st rounder, they could have gotten the job done, but I think Donahoe choked and maybe he was too afraid of getting roasted because the point total would have looked to have favored the other team. He broke the golden rule of drafting a QB-you do anything to get your guy & you shouldn't care if people think you gave up too much. Then in 2007 they went cheapo again trying to turn a 3rd rounder into the franchise. Obviously Trent Edwards ended up on the scrap heap, another Bills QB drafted & never getting to a 2nd contract. Next up the Ryan Fitzpatrick era, trying to make a former 7th round pick who was available as an unrestricted free agent into a franchise QB. Now Fitz has had a long career, totally outplaying his draft status, but the only way he'll ever win a Super Bowl is by backing up a franchise QB. Everybody loves Fitz, but they're always trying to upgrade when he's your starter. Then after deciding to move on from Fitzpatrick, the Bills tried something unheard of in a quest for a franchise QB. They trade DOWN to select their QB of the future because they know nobody wants to draft him that high. What GM does that? If he's your guy then you draft him ASAP, because you have faith in him and fear someone else will draft him ahead of you. If you know the guy is so poorly though of around the league, then maybe it's time to reexamine your opinion. EJ was so bad that Marrone brought Orton out of retirement so that he wouldn't sink with EJ. As soon as Orton announced he was one & done, Marrone, fearing that he'd be left with only EJ, bailed. Next up, another cheap QB, a former 6th round pick & a backup in his 4 years with the Ravens. The funny thing is that when I heard about the signing, I was pretty confident that he could beat out EJ & Cassell, but once again there was no effort to get a legitimate franchise guy. At least the good news was the Bills didn't draft a QB. 2015 was a draft disaster producing 2 busts with the 1st 2 picks & no current NFL starters. Tyrod was JAG for his 3 years here. In 2017 the Bills had a dilemma. It was pretty well decided before the draft that they were going to fire Doug Whaley & his top scouts. So, do they draft a QB before the next GM, or wait a year. At the time they were on the board, Mahomes & Watson were both available, but the team decided to wait. Ironically a recent story has come out saying the Bills thought they could draft Mahomes with the later 1st they got from KC. It makes you wonder who they thought KC was trading up for. Still shades of going on the cheap, trying to do the same thing they did when they drafted EJ. I guess some of the old mindset set in with the Pegulas as well. Finally 2018 comes along and the Bills build up the draft capital needed to trade up. Unfortunately, they look hopelessly buried at picks 21 & 22. Unless they wanted a guy like Lamar Jackson, who reminded them too much of Tyrod Taylor, they would have to really do some trading to get their guy. Through skill & luck they managed to get their #1 rated QB. Before Beane, I don't know how many prior Bills GMs would have done enough to get Allen, but I think most of them wouldn't have been able to pull it off. Buddy Nix would have ended up with Rosen or Rudolph & we'd be battling the Jets for the #1 pick right now.

OJ is available.

Marv Levy on Jim Kelly: Leadership, was he good in the locker room? Heck no, his locker was a mess! Our equipment managers Hojo and Woody were good in the locker room; Jim led by his actions out on the playing field.

Boettger started at LG, Mongo at RG. Winters was on the bench most of the game except when Mongo got dinged. The TV announcers were wrong when they had Winters starting-he wasn't on the field.

I've seen worse. I remember in 2006 when some were saying JP was better than Eli Manning & I had to reply that they didn't have a clue. Jones, isn't that bad, certainly not the bust that some who don't watch him play have said around here, but he's way behind Josh among NFL QBs. But pretty soon, won't they all be?

I noticed the switch to Boettger on the opening drive & was very happy to see Mongo at RG, Boettger at LG and Winters at left out.

I was sold when I saw the birth announcement on the Fresno Bee's website. 😂

Don't ever let him out of the building...except for road games.