Rubes

I wasn't there, so I can't say if there was any wind down on the field at that point in the game, but all throughout the rest of the game any punt or kickoff going towards that end zone looked like it hit a brick wall and came straight down out of the air.

Dude, the point is not that he decided to throw on that play -- there are plenty of safe, high-percentage pass plays you can run in that situation. That play, in fact, was probably a safe, high-percentage pass play. The point is that the call was to pass it to the freaking fullback. The fullback! The reason JP ended up holding the ball too long is that the fullback never made it past the line of scrimmage -- he got taken out of the play. That's why you don't draw up pass plays for the damn fullback. Toss an easy one to Jackson, Lynch, Reed, Evans...hell, even Schouman or Fine, who at least are supposed to know how to catch the ball. There are playmakers on this offense. But the fullback? Seriously, the fullback? The more I say that the more incredible it sounds. I'm just flabbergasted.

So I read that, not only did Jauron call the pass play himself, but the play was designed to be a roll-out pass to the fullback. I'll repeat that just to let it sink in: the fullback. The freaking fullback. I don't even remember who the freaking fullback is on this team. How many times does he touch the ball? I remember him getting one touch earlier in the game, and it was another waste of an offensive play call. This is just insanely ridiculous. We don't have a lot of offensive stars on this team, but when you consider who we do have -- Lynch, Jackson, Reed, Evans -- and at a time when Lynch is smacking everyone on that Jets defense in the mouth, play after play...this call is just beyond comprehensible. Why does this staff insist on taking the ball away from its only playmakers at critical times instead of giving it to them? Can you imagine other teams doing this? It's totally, completely, insane, and I can't freaking take it anymore. This one ranks right up there with some of the most deranged, asinine playcalls that I have ever seen this team make. In fact, I think it might even surpass the Bledsoe bootleg from a few years back -- and to me, that's saying a lot. I'm just so freaking sick of this crap. Really, is it that hard, or does this team just make it look that way?

Good point...I wonder if DirecTV will see a drop in Sunday ticket subscriptions with this? The games can't be viewed live, though, so I'm not sure.

To me, the key difference is that the Browns called timeout after our first down play. That should have made it clear to everyone on the Bills staff that Cleveland was going to use all of their timeouts to save enough ticks on the clock to get the ball back for one last shot. In that case, the right thing to do, without question, is to try everything you can to get (at least) the first down. You do that, then you can run down the clock all the way and set yourself up for the game-winning field goal with no hope of a comeback. But instead of actually trying to get a first down, the Bills were content to say "fine, we'll just kick the field goal from here, even though it's a really long field goal into the wind, and if we make it, we're happy to give you plenty of time to come back and try one of your own." That was the moment this team lost me for the year.

Sweet! I hadn't heard anything about Scrubs coming back. The last season was pretty sub-par, but I'm glad to see it's not going away completely. Wasn't Zach leaving the show supposed to be the reason it was ending?

I read today that the Jets have won the AFC East division title only twice since the AFL-NFL merger. Twice. That's astounding, really.

Not really. Doesn't matter one way or the other.

Funny, I was about to say the exact same thing. How depressing.

This defense is just plain soft, but they seem to do a decent job of holding average-to-poor offenses out of the end zone. If we could just find a defensive lineman or two who actually understood how to effectively rush the passer, we'd probably be a pretty darn good defense.

We come out after halftime behind 13-3, but we get the kickoff. I told myself we must get some points on the opening drive or forget it -- I'm turning off the game. McKelvin gets a nice return out to the 40, not bad. A couple nice plays gets another first down in Miami territory. Suddenly, it's 3rd and 2, and we need a first down badly -- we're at the Miami 39 and there's no way we kick a field goal from there. So of course Lynch gets the handoff and goes nowhere. Now it's 4th and 2 from the 39. It was here I told myself if we punt, that's it -- Jauron would be giving up on the team this season, so I would as well. Instead, what do you know, we go for it. It's an ugly play, but hey, it's a first down at the 29. Now we've got some momentum, and we're in business. So what happens? Two quick incompletions and it's 3rd and 10, followed by an awful pass for a 2 yard loss. But wait, there's a Miami penalty, so now it's 3rd and 5 instead. So what happens? Sack, fumble, 10 yard loss, and it's 4th down right back where we were on the previous 4th down. In comes the punting unit, up goes the white flag, and off goes the TV. Season done. And I don't even care anymore. Watching this team is the most joyless experience in all my years of watching this cursed team.

What, no Centers? Good grief, if there's one thing we need...

If there's one thing I have knowledge of, it's the flu shot. Please let me clear things up for you: You cannot get the flu from the flu shot (#1). Repeat after me. You cannot get the flu from a flu shot. Many people do feel crappy after getting the flu shot, but this is not the flu. Believe me, if you've ever had the flu, you'd know that this is not the flu. It's just your body's reaction to it, and it's far, FAR better than getting the flu. You cannot get the flu from the live vaccine (#2), although it's not recommended if you're going to be around people who have severely compromised immune systems. The virus is a complete wimp and can't cause the flu, but if you don't have an immune system it can still cause problems. Finally, the most important thing to consider: the flu shot helps prevent YOU from getting the flu, but more importantly, it helps prevent you from spreading the flu to other people, like your family. You CAN get the flu virus and spread it around before you know you have it, so get vaccinated. Do it for yourself, and do it for those around you. If you have small children, grandchildren, or elderly parents or grandparents, do it. For them. So stop screwing around and help save a life, for crying out loud.

Wow. Well said.

Hell, we lived right across the street.

Great find, thanks Lori. You know, there were some really interesting parts in that story: Seems like the more things change, the more they stay the same. These sound like the kind of things we're still saying about the team, 30 years later. More: Damn. Substitute some names from the recent past...Moulds, maybe. Or even some names from the present, like Evans. The song remains the same, eh?

Not that it matters, since we really do suck, but I can hardly believe that all we needed was two victories, at home, over the lowly Cleveland Browns and San Francisco 49ers for our record to be 8-4 and us in first place in the division. Good grief.

:blink: Brilliant. Just brilliant.

You know, I actually thought about this as well a little while ago, and I agree it might have been one pass, but not that one. I thought it was the one a couple of plays before that, when Trent threw a perfectly set up screen pass to Freddie Jackson in the flat. Freddie had two blockers and a wide open field in front of him, and he dropped the ball. That would have been 6 for certain. After the play, I told my uncle that dropped ball is going to come back and haunt us. Couple plays later, Trent throws the pick-6, and we still haven't recovered. Ah, crap.

Well, I suppose cholera could grow on you if you lived with it long enough.

I agree with what The Dean is saying -- I think it just shows that a lot of people in this country are too narrow-minded and too self-concerned to actually look beyond their own issues and recognize the common underlying threads. Wouldn't you think blacks might see things in the same light? Problem is, fear, hatred, and bigotry don't follow logic.

I'm trying to imagine how a conversation maybe 100 years ago might have gone about a Southern black man who wanted to have sex with, or God forbid marry, a white woman. I'm imagining it probably would have sounded a lot like this thread in many ways. Good to see we've come so far.

Couldn't have said it better myself!

I've seen crazier sh-- in my life.

Yes. we're just about in field goal range after Royal catches that ball. But we still need more yards, especially since the kick is into the wind. Definitely want to try to get it inside 40 yards if possible. After the first run, it was clear that Cleveland was going to use all three timeouts to give themselves enough time to take the kickoff and get into FG range again. But that is predicated on them being able to stop us from getting a first down. So in order to take that option away, YOU NEED TO GET THE FIRST DOWN. By doing so, not only do you prevent them from getting another chance, but you also get the ball at least 10 yards closer. Yes, you risk a turnover, as you always do -- but ACTUALLY TRYING to get a first down gets you a shorter FG into the wind AND prevents them from a comeback. THAT'S why you actually MAKE AN ATTEMPT to get a first down, instead of frigging GIVING UP and settling for a difficult FG into a strong wind, with a chance for them to come back. Unbelievable. It's not rocket surgery.