Dr. K

This worries me. But just about everything worries me.

Thanks. Forget the game and take a walk around that desert. Avoid the gila monsters.

The more I think about it, the more obvious it is that the Rams played way above their heads against the Bills. It was a freak game. They will lose to San Francisco.

I think if the defense has a game like the Rams game in the playoffs, it will be hard to see a reason to keep McDermott, whatever his other virtues.

It was painful to watch them lose the way they did, after Josh (and some others) played as hard as they did. My main takeaway from the game is that it raises the same ugly possibility that has put them out of the playoffs the last four years: not that the offense fails, or that McDermott makes bad decisions (I am far from defending all of his decisions), but that the Bills defense is a no-show in those big games. You can lay that at McDermott's door, or at Beane's, or at the players', I guess.

I think your questions are reasonable. But looking at the specific decisions that were made, I think taking the penalty to move the Rams back to third and 17 rather than fourth and seven was reasonable. I don't think one choice or the other in this situation is a slam dunk. As for running the sneak from the one yard line, even that is defensible if you consider that that play is their most reliable way, proven throughout the season, to pick up a yard. It failed. Maybe they should have tried some passes instead, but that reminds me a little of the Seahawks not giving the ball to Beast Mode, throwing an interception, and thereby losing the Super Bowl against the Pats. After they failed the Bills might have lined up and run it again (or another play), saving the time out, but that would have burned considerable time. In retrospect it's a lot easier to say what they "should have done." But even then I wonder. Plus, do we know that McDermott called the QB sneak in that situation? I think it was more likely Brady, but who knows. My basic point is that the game was lost in the first 58 minutes, not the last two. The reason they lost is that the Rams were playing out of their minds, and the Bills defense could not come up with a way to stop them. That's the real worry, IMHO. And again, was McDermott calling the defensive plays? I expect Babich was doing so at least most of the time. I'm just sick of people telling me that Belichick or heaven forbid John Freakin' GRUDEN is going to do a better job.

These "fire McDermott" responses after any loss at all are more predictable than the sun coming up in the morning. They are tiresome beyond words.

People are overreacting. Rams just played the best offensive game they are capable of playing. I don't expect them to repeat that, and I won't be surprised if they fail to make the playoffs.

This is my take too, when I can muster it. Any other way leads to insanity.

That was one of the most amazing interceptions I've ever seen. That said, I'm not sure he's anything like the player he was, and I don't expect him to be displacing any starter unless and until something happens.

Exactly. The number of totally wasted and disgusting fans you see at these games is depressing, at the least.

I suspect this is a thread mostly useful to those in group 4 who can vent and tell us they have not changed their opinion.

Collinsworth can be annoying when he blathers on but the obsessive hate he draws here is near pathological.

The past is the past. Win the next game.

I readily admit that Miami has a dismal record in cold weather games, but it seems to me they have to break through sometime. They are playing good football and have many talented players and a smart coach.

I missed seeing Bernard move Oliver over on that play. It looks like Mahommes was ready to QB sneak into the gap; the second Bernard and Oliver closed it, the play is over before it's even snapped. That was a brilliant move by Bernard.

I don't trust such discussions--they're too hypothetical. With injuries or other unpredictable events, they could be significantly different teams in January.

Run the flippin ball!

Only six games to go for the Bills.

Without further information I could not tell if he was being sincere in acknowledging that the Bills beat them, or sarcastic. I don't think in the end it matters at all.

And yet the Bills are averaging 29 points per game, third in the league, and have gone 8-2 so far this season.

I can see, if a couple of things go wrong, the Bills could spiral into getting beaten badly in this game. I hope I'm wrong but if I were betting I'd bet the Chiefs.

Given the injuries to Cooper, Coleman, and Kincaid, I think the Bills are at a real disadvantage in this game and the Chiefs ought to be favored.

Bills better not look past the Chiefs—this is a classic Trap game.

I hope the Bills win and I think they can despite all the WR injuries, which have put them in a tough spot. As for the rest of the season, the seeding for playoffs, etc., I think people make too many assumptions about how the last 6-7 games will play out. The way the league looks at week 10 is very often not the way it looks after week 17. "Time and chance happen to them all." Last year the Eagles looked unbeatable until they fell apart.