Rubes

Man, the refs are really allowing the LTs to get early starts in this game. Holy cow.

Agreed. Buffalo is gonna have to be great against the Broncos in the red zone. If they can do it against this defense, they can do it against anybody.

Has the same been true for Pittsburgh and New England?

Nice catch! Thanks. I like it. Now do the same with a kicker...

This is pretty much going to define this weekend's game...best offensive EPA/play vs. best defensive EPA/play...

What about them?

He said the pain was from his tailbone hitting the ground, which certainly seems logical. Plus, if he had a head injury and they're not reporting it, that wouldn't be ideal.

One guy I know does a nice job explaining his snow forecasts by looking at multiple model runs from a series of different formal models. Different models tend to interpret and predict weather patterns differently, while individual runs within each model have great potential variability out beyond 72-96 hours. So what he does is to look at the precipitation averages of the different model runs, then compare the different averages across the models. Once they start to converge around a common theme, then he gets more confidence in predicting what will eventually happen. That convergence typically happens around 96 hours out when it comes to precipitation, but of course you can see common dry patterns across models pretty easily going out further than that. The main disclaimer here is that his job is predicting precipitation amounts (inches of snow and inches of water), so he is focused primarily on that, not things like clouds/sun/temperature/etc. I probably didn't describe that very well, but hopefully that communicated something...

I believe I was there as well. Weather was not a factor.

My understanding is that this is a great draft coming up for defensive linemen…

Sir, this is a Wendy’s….

Seriously. Both of their tackles were not NFL quality.

Now that all of the meaningful regular season games are done, having seen how this defense has performed the last few weeks against the Rams, Lions, Patriots, and the Jets, how are you all feeling about their impact on our playoff chances? It seems to me that this defense is exactly what we’ve come to know: bend and hope they don’t break. Gives up yards and first downs in chunks, forces offenses into long drives, and hopes the other team screws up and either kicks field goals or turns the ball over. Seems to work okay against below average offenses (New England**** or the Jets), not quite so much against very good offenses (Lions, Rams, Ravens). Sometimes does well against certain teams or schemes (eg, Miami, SF), other times not so much. They say offenses win in the regular season, defenses win in the playoffs. I feel like this defense is going to struggle in the playoffs, where most teams have strong offenses. Seems to me like it’s all going to come down to whether Josh can play out of his mind and carry them on his own. I’d just hate to see another great season by Josh wasted by a porous defense (and crappy special teams, too).

I must have missed it over the years but I never did hear the story of how Kenny came to be known as Ron.

“It rubs the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again.”

He did, then suffered what looked like a stinger in his neck later on. Don't know if he returned after that one.

PR stunt? Hardly. He was signed to provide guidance for the young guys, especially Bishop, and it sounds like it has been effective so far. He can be a pull-cord-in-case-of-emergency guy as well, but we’re not quite at that point.

I said this last week before the Pats game but it bears repeating again now: this game will be a good measure of how the Bills defense will be prepared for the playoffs. If they can’t get up for this game and execute well at home with so much on the line against a 4-win team, it’s not a great predictor for January.

I'll have what he's having...

I had the same experience. The interface totally made me believe I was going to be watching live from the start of the game, then after about 15 minutes I was like, "when is this game going to start?" which is when I realized I was watching the pregame crap. Missed the first two drives of the game. I was not pleased. Also, I kept going in and out of the game and when I'd come back, it would be the same thing—I'd get the impression I was going to watch "live", but each time the game came on I was back where I left off the last time and had to fast forward every time. Not a great look, Netflix.

Next week against the Jets should be their playoff rehearsal. Practice hard, get a good game plan, execute well, and destroy the Jets. Then you can rest in week 18 ready for the playoffs.

Perhaps, but that's what multiple years of watching a McDermott defense in the playoffs will do to you.

Sounds a little bit like that last game against the Pats****...

Back on page 5, dude. Keep up! (and Merry Christmas!)