Dr. K

In my prediction for the season I had them at 3-1 at this point, beating KC and Oak, only losing to the Pats and beating the Bengals. I had them at 9-7 for the year. Before the season I had them losing the next two to the Eagles and Giants. But I think these games could go either way. i think we will learn a lot from the Eagles game. The Bills have usually done terrible against mobile QBs. If they can beat the Eagles--and I don't think it will be easy--then they will be set up well for the Giants.

A young team still learning. We'll see more ups and downs.

Transcendently stupid question.

I'm glad they're skeptical. They should be. The Bills have a lot of history to overcome, and the only way they are going to do it is by winning one game at a time. I'm sure that's the approach Gailey and the players are taking, and it's the approach they should be taking. All this talk, all the praise they Bills have gotten in the last two weeks, and the dismissals they got before then, is just that--talk. I would rather the Bills go into the Bengals stadium not even aware of what guys on ESPN are saying, positive or negative. I thought the pundits were wrong about the Bills before the season started, and I think the bandwagon jumpers are not any more knowledgeable than the denigraters were. Plus, the Bills do have to play the Pats in New England, and the Jets twice. They can win these games, but it is not going to be easy.

I think this year's team is better, but I agree with this post. We can't know anything absolutely. I think this team has played very well, shown heart, and has the potential to make the playoffs. But there are 13 games to play and injuries and luck play a large part in how that will end up. Besides, I'm enjoying watching this develop one game at a time. No need to get ahead of ourselves. This Sunday I'm going to watch to see how the Bills deal with prosperity, with a game they are going to be favored to win against a team they have dominated for years. Will they keep the pedal to the metal, or will they make a basket of errors and fail? I THINK they will stay focused, but that's the issue we'll see decided Sunday.

I sure liked watching Belichick with a grim look on his face and Brady sitting stone-faced and helpless ad they watched the Bills run out the clock. But for excitement, it's hard to beat the pick 6, or Freddie's catch and run down to the goal line.

This is exactly how I feel. I like this whole TEAM. It's good.

I also voted for Wilson's. Besides the reasons already given, it seems vital to me that it happend on a play that Brady has killed the Bills on for years--the skinny post by the tight end up the middle. This is the pass that beat the Bills in the NE game a couple of years ago after McKelvin's fumbled kickoff. It's always been a sure thing for Brady against the Bills, and to see him thwarted on it was beautiful. He could not have expected that in a hundred years.

I was thinking the same thing. And earlier on the drive, just before Fred made the run to the goal line, when teh Bills were on the Pats' 39, Jauron would have run the ball three times into the middle of the line and expected Lindell to make a 55-yard field goal.

YES. PAY FRED!

Where did I say they didn't deserve to be the favorite?

To read all the reports on Brady and Belichick and the Pats the NFL should just forget about playing the games and put them in the Super Bowl right now. They are bulletproof, Brady is God, Woodhead is unstoppable, Gronkowski and Welker eat linebackers and defensive backs for lunch, they never make a mistake, and all this is proven by the fact that they have won the Super Bowl the last nine years in a row. Oh, wait . . . you say they've lost their last three playoff games? That's impossible! I am so sick of hearing about New England. What I wouldn't give to see a Bills victory Sunday.

Sorta like George Costanza.

+1

I'm with the OP. The Bills, on the last two drives of the first half, went the length of the field to try those two field goals. Granted, they didn't find the end zone those two times. But they had established that they could move the ball (and did earlier, too, on the drive that stalled when they took a 15-yard penalty). The last seven drives all long ones, resulting in FG, blocked FG, Touchdown Touchdown Touchdown Touchdown, and Touchdown. The second half was a continuation of the late first, with a little better defense for the 3rd quarter and fewer mistakes and dorpped passes (though freakin' Ruvel Martin dropped at least three passes in the second half).

That's one of the things I'm enjoying the most about this team. They seem to be developing a special spirit, a strength of character. I think it all starts with the coach, but these guys are young and talented and smart and hungry. I like most of these players, adn their attitude, a whole lot. There will be some bad moments om the future, things will go wrong, but they seem to be on an upward trend. You can see the culture of this team changing from week to week.

Ruvell Martin seems to me to have hands of stone. I would much rather see Aiken and Roosevelt brought up, and if Parrish is out for a long time, and Stevie is hurt, Chan may have to do that.

Good comments. I do think Bell and the o-line deserve a little more respect for how they handled both the run and pass blocking. In particular I note how well the Bills have been running to the left side of the o-line in the last two games.

I agree with your post except for the highlighted phrase. "Look good losing" does nothing for this team. They've had lots of "look good losing" games in the last decade (and of course many more "look terrible losing"). They had four or five "look good losing" games last season, and another one of those puts them back in the mire of hoping to win, maybe, someday. They need to win this game, and it would help if it were not a matter of Oakland playing terribly or some fluke play.

I agree with the OP, not because of how the media will or won't react, but because the Bills have a chance here to establish to THEMSELVES that they can play and win the tough games they need to win. If the culture is going to truly change for this team, they need to win in situations like this. A tough opponent, especially one that seems strongest where the Bills have been weakest. The Bills' defense needs to stop the run, and the Bills' o-line needs to open holes and protect Fitzpatrick. There's a lot more that goes into a win of course, but it's very interesting to me that the team will be tested in exactly those areas were they have been legitimately questioned. If they win, they take a huge step forward, IMHO.

I love Freddie and think he's a great back. A real asset to this team. But this is way over the top. Freddie has in no way Earl Campbell's brutal power and ability to run over people. Freddie is nowhere near as evasive or fast as OJ in his prime. I don't see him as being as strong or unstoppable as Terrel Davis in his two great years. But don't get me wrong; I love the way he runs, his drive, the way he makes the absolute most out of what he's given.

If this is atrial fibrillation (which I have) it can be controlled with drugs, and exercise is not precluded. He could be back. If it's what Gaithers had (Marfan's syndrome) it is much more serious and he is done as an athlete.

The most interesting defensive stat to me was that the Chiefs completed 22 passes (out of 36 attempts) for a total of 105 yards, averaging 2.8 yards per pass play. That is almost unbelieveable. It's almost impossible, I would say, to complete that many passes for that little yardage without it being a matter of taking a huge number of sacks. But it wasn't because of lost yardage on sacks. What that tells me is that the Bills' coverage was outstanding, that they completely squelched the Chiefs' passing game. 2.8 freakin' yards per pass play? If the Bills can do that, and hold teams under 120 rushing yards per game, they are going to win some games this year.

To say nothing of the AIDS and STD speculation.

Very sorry to hear that, for his own sake. But there's gonna be a lot of hating on Stevie.