mannc

The team might be able to deny credentials to someone like Cover 1, who's not part of the mainstream media, but they sure as hell aren't going to deny credentials to the Buffalo News, ESPN, or other similar media outlets. They need the media coverage at least as much as the media needs them. And no one said you're an idiot. You just made a bad analogy.

Which proves my point: The Bills are a fundamentally different type of business than your typical Fortune 500 company. They allow (and encourage) daily media access to their players, coaches and facilities, without requiring confidentiality agreements, etc. They do this because they want fans to follow the team, and doing so helps sell merchandise, put fannies in the seats and eyeballs on the TV screens.

Except it's really not. NFL teams really don't have the option of keeping reporters out of the locker room and practice facility, much as some coaches would like to. Reporters who are there aren't there because they're privileged; they're there because they are doing their jobs. I don't know much about how Hollywood operates, but if you think studios don't give tons of access to reporters and publicists, you're badly mistaken. Letting them run around the set is another matter, but then again, local reporters aren't running around the field during NFL games, either. We're talking about access to players and coaches before and after--not during---games.

I was with you until this part. It’s just not true, and the Fortune 500 analogy is weak. The Bills, like all NFL teams, are in the entertainment business. Reporters are allowed in the locker room and coaches give press conferences because fans want information about the team and providing them that information is part of the teams’ and the league’s mission: to increase fan interest in the team and the sport in general, which increases ratings, which increases revenue, etc. It’s not complicated. So no, it’s not really a privilege for a reporter to have access to the locker room; it’s part of a symbiotic relationship—a quid pro quo, if you will—between teams and the media and the team’s fans. And of course, most Fortune 500 companies aren’t in the entertainment business and wouldn’t benefit in any way by providing reporters broad access to their boardrooms and headquarters, so they don’t do it. Terrible analogy.

Larry Felser said he was the best football player he ever saw. I give his opinion a lot of weight.

What shocked me is that the Colts really didn’t seem to argue the point.

Was that Jonathan Williams, former Bills 5th round pick, at RB for the Colts?

Fumble.

The dozen or so Colts fans must be beside themselves.

Nice time out usage there. Wow.

Colts play calling is garbage.

He made a lot of NFL defensive players look silly, didn't he?

If OJ was playing today, he would be absolutely unstoppable against defenses that are geared to stop the pass. He was also an outstanding receiver during an era in which RBs weren't used much in the passing game. Again, today he would be unstoppable as a receiving threat out of the backfield--a faster, more elusive Zeke Elliott.

If the Ducks win out, which they should, I think they’ll have a good case for making the playoff. I think Herbert might end up being a better pro QB than college; he’s perfectly suited to run a pro offense and I don’t think that pistol that the Ducks run plays to his strengths at all. He should go first overall.

He was unquestionably the best RB of his era, and in an era when the running game was paramount, he was the truly best player in the league. No other Bill can say that.

Best all-time Buffalo Bill player. Not really any doubt.

Yep

I agree. I think they have reined in Josh’s running this year, for a lot of reasons. Oregon has done the same thing this year with Justin Herbert, a guy who reminds me a lot of Josh. I don’t think the Ducks have called a single designed run for him this year. It’s made their offense easier to defend at times, but I think it’s also made Herbert a better pocket passer—and it’s kept him on the field, and out of the training room. I think the Bills are doing something like that with Josh, but not to the same degree. His running is too important to an offense that lacks other weapons. As the games get more important, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him run more.

Does Mahomes look healthy to you? I know he had some nice scrambles, but it looks like he’s limping and not 100 percent....I can’t believe the Chiefs would rush him back too soon, but it looks like they might have. I’m wondering if it might be affecting his accuracy, too.

No. Go back and look at the Bills' passing stats in 1972 and 1973. I know the game was different back then, but the Bills' QBs stunk, including Fergy's rookie year, when he threw for under 100 yards per game and completed less than 50 percent of his throws. And that's not even counting OJ's first three years in the league, when the Bills' "braintrust" decided he should play sparingly due to his alleged deficiencies as a blocker.

He was the best I ever saw. And for most of his career he played on Bills teams with no other weapons at all. In one MNF game against Pittsburgh (during the Steelers’ dynasty years) he ran for over 260 yards while the Bills’ QB went 2-16 passing, for less than 40 yards.

An unassailable list...

True, although Gronk had a long career by NFL standards and he was wildly productive throughout. His career was "short" only in comparison to Gates and Gonzalez, both of whom played long past their primes and neither of whom was a complete TE. And neither of whom ever won squat.

The fact is, other than the QB, Gronk was far and away the Pats' best player during their (unprecedented and still ongoing) dynasty. Those aren't "counting stats". They are stats earned against the best teams in the league each year, on the biggest stage, and the per game numbers are just staggering. They are the opposite of "counting stats".

It's really not even arguable. People who think Gates or Gonzalez were better are just going off of fantasy stats accrued over more years in the league--like saying Frank Gore (as good as he is) was better than OJ Simpson. As you point out, Gronk was an outstanding blocker and was the biggest matchup nightmare I think I've ever seen. In his prime, he was pretty much unstoppable. And his playoff/Super Bowl stats are simply other-worldly. No other TE will ever come close to matching them.