finn

Deserves its own thread. To me, McDermott is hands down the Coach of the Year. No one else is close when you look at what he's accomplished the past three years and this year in particular. To build a team on values of hard work, resilience and mutual trust, I mean, that's brilliant.

I had the opposite reaction. The wind is blowing down long passes, yet Daboll keeps calling them for the entire first half. Based on McDermott's post-game comments, I suspect he told Daboll at halftime to knock it off. If the Bills had lost, Daboll would be excoriated on this board--for good reason. The ten-yard passes appeared to be there all game, and what success the Bills did have passing was due mostly to them. It seems to me Daboll's all-pass plan was stupid under the wind conditions, and, worse, he didn't change it when it failed, at least not until half time. My sense was that a more balanced attack of runs--even very short ones--and short passes might have led the Bills to a lopsided lead by halftime. Frazier and McDermott are the heroes here. We don't need a goat, but let's just say it's lucky for Daboll the Bills won. That first half was bone headed on his part.

There is something child like, almost sweet, about Josh Allen. Maybe the word is guileless. There's nothing phony or pretentious about him. That, combined with a ferocious will to win and real humbleness, would win over any teammate.

I was impressed by Trevarious White's speed on that play. He looked like he could have run right past Taron if he wanted.

What did he say?

Right? I keep waiting to be disappointed, but then....I'm not. Love it!

This isn't over yet.

That's his second pick 6!

Wouldn't it be nice if he admits he was wrong after all? That'll be the day.

Where was this guy when Allen was kicking butt in the Colts game? He's like a troll that comes out when things go bad. Must be a heck of a family man.

Ironic. Allen was drafted in large part to deal with the "swirling winds" of Buffalo. But he's actually below average in wind. He's much better in a dome.

It seems obvious that Allen shouldn't be passing way down the field in such high winds. If you don't want to run it, fine, but what's up with all the 20+ yard throws? Bring in Yeldon and ride him in the short passing game. I would say Knox, too, but that's suicide. Yeldon, Diggs and Brown for 6-12 yards a pop.

The Ravens defense seems intimidated to me, even though the Bills aren't doing much. It's like they realize they (the Ravens) aren't playing well and are waiting for the hammer to drop.

Man, the announcers. The wind is THE factor, and they're barely mentioning it. Collingsworth even trots out the "Allen accuracy" chestnut.

It's not the snow that worries me, it's the wind. The best running team in the league vs. the best passing team (I think). The Bills win, unless there's, oh, I don't know, 20 mph winds gusting to 30. I'm still optimistic, though, because the Bills have more heart than the Ravens.

Right. And if they lose, it wasn't Lamar's fault since he had never played in snow before.

What he said about making Diggs pay for every catch reminds me of the first Super Bowl, where the Giants hit Reed hard every he caught the ball on crossing routes. Sure enough, he started short-arming the ball and lost effectiveness. Diggs is a far better receiver, though, and he runs more routes, or so it seems to me.

No small part of why I want the Bills to win is so we don't have to endure seven months of "The Bills struggled in the playoffs when it really counted." That and the Jackson/Mahomes deification would be enough to drive me to drink.

I don't mind the team--in fact, I'd like to see them succeed after so many down years. But what do people see in Baker Mayfield? I must be missing it. Is it his persona in the commercials? In interviews, he comes across as an insufferable twit.

Objectively speaking, I agree the Bills are the better team and will likely win, but the weather might really skew things. Snow and wind favor a rushing team, which the Ravens are (on steroids) and the Bills are decidedly not. If Allen is throwing into 15 mph snowy gusts, he's going to have a hard time hitting his receivers, whereas pretty much nothing changes for the Ravens. Even so, I STILL think the Bills will win because I think they have more will to win. They want this badly, and I don't think they have any illusions that it will be easy.

That's why I'd like to see Williams added. Remember the Steelers game, when Moss and the Bills ran over seven minutes off the clock in the fourth quarter? I can see Williams doing that to Baltimore, just as he did against Miami. Maybe worth a spot in the lineup only for that possibility.

I feel the same way. It's like, if they're not good enough to beat the Ravens at this point, well, let's fix the problems and come back next year. With the Colts, it felt like "Of course they're better, but they might screw up," which led to a lot of nerves. That's not to say I don't think they'll win. Looking objectively at how they've played since the Arizona game, against top defenses, and I think they will. It just feels like this is new territory from here on.

My guess is they want a veteran who can pick up the blitz and finish games without fumbling. Could be Yeldon and Freeman, with Yeldon bringing value as a reasonable blocker, non-fumbler (over his career), and--best of all--excellent hands for the passing game. I would take Moss over both of them, though.

Well, keep in mind he was facing some pretty mediocre defenses: Dallas, Jaguars, Giants, Bengals and Titans. Only Cleveland was better than ok, and they barely won that game. I'm not underestimating him, but I have more respect for Kyler Murray, who offers everything Jackson does and is a more dangerous passer. The Bills wrote the book on Jackson last year: keep him in the pocket. He gets antsy, double clutches then, if he can't escape, takes the sack. Of course, you can't contain him all day, but if they keep him from scoring more than a few TD's, the Bills should be ok.

Well, I don't know if this is right. It grants what the Colts did well but not what they messed up on--the dropped passes, the missed receivers (two huge misses), the missed 33-yard field goal, the dumb Offside penalty--and does the opposite with the Bills. Yes, they messed up on defense a lot, but they also stuffed them on fourth and goal and won the game at the end, despite the bad call on the fumble. When the chips were down, the Bills came through: Allen, Diggs, Beasley, Davis, Williams, Bass, McDermott, and, yes, the defense. And when the chips were down on the other side, Rivers, Turay, Blankenship, Taylor and Reich all choked. The Colts didn't outplay the Bills. The Bills outplayed the Colts.