finn

I'd love to see a compilation of early Allen hatred, especially the smug reviews with no caveats. Incidentally, did that one hater ever get "Bills Mafia" tattooed on his butt cheeks like he said he would if the Bills went 13-3?

I think this nails it, although I'm not sure if it's personnel or approach that determines this outcome. In the Colts game, it's like the coaches decided that they had to stop Taylor at all costs, much like they stopped Henry and (pretty much) Mahomes. As you say, the good news is that not many teams left have the balance the Colts have. Baltimore may be the most unbalanced team of all. Please tell me if you think I'm wrong, but it seems to me that if Jackson isn't allowed to run at all, they lose. If this is the case, then the Bills' formula should work, provided the Bills offense holds up its side of the bargain.

Likely influenced by McKenzie's punt return for a TD, wanted to show that he had it, too. Hopefully he got it out of his system.

Also, there was that weird short kickoff by the Colts that stopped dead on like the ten yard line, as if the air had gone out of it.

I had the same thought. It might not be correct, but I was thinking he wanted to show that he could return one for a TD like McKenzie. And he ended up screwing up, at least on that one return. He didn't help the team yesterday.

My bad. I thought he got $2M.

Beane tried to sign Melvin Gordon. He would have been a terrific addition, especially now. There are inexpensive options that don't involve a high pick.

The game today is proving you wrong. Plus, that's just not right. I haven't seen teams selling out to stop Henry. Tannehill is mobile, accurate, creative and clutch. Just as we have seen so much bias against Allen, I think there's similar bias against Tannehill. The evidence is right there, but people refuse to believe it. He's in the same class as Watson, Mahomes, Rogers and Allen (and soon Herbert).

Tannehill is still underrated. Mahomes, Rogers and Allen get all the attention, but he's just as good, or at least the difference is slight. He, not Henry, is what I find scary about that team. I can see (saw!) him absolutely shred the Bills D. But I think the Bills offense can score even more points, so I'm not that concerned. Ravens, meh, I've always thought Jackson was overrated. Take away the middle of the field and box him in, and he's not even average.

I think we're underestimating the impact of bad field position for the Bills offense. They started drives at the 11, 3, 6 and 4 yard line. No offense will do terrific with those starts (and they did manage to go 96 yards on one of them). So I wouldn't put so much emphasis on how terrific the Colts D played. Give Allen four starts at the 30, and this game might have been a rout.

Bummer to lose our Steelers killer the week before we play them again. Williams is closer to Moss in style. A battering ram to close out a game. Yeldon can catch the ball and block, and he's a pretty good runner. But he's not a short-yardage guy, and he's not ideal for closing out a game. At least that's my impression.

Well, I have a laptop. Who needs a TV these days?

I don't have a TV. What's the emerging narrative about the game? Because you know they all repeat each other.

Yeah, but his big mistakes are the flip side of his most incredible plays. If he took the advice of not taking risks, he wouldn't be nearly as successful as he is. We have to take the occasional 33 yards sack-fumble with all the long TD throws downfield. They're all of a piece.

I think it'd be accurate to call them a good team with a great coach. Those two calls could easily have resulted in touchdowns. I liked his aggressiveness. He's absolutely as good as McDermott.

How about McDermott and his beautifully timed timeouts at the end? Excellent coaching.

And what happened to going long on third and short? At least twice they ran it and got stuffed. That's not Bills football. Daboll seemed to take the day off, at least on those calls.

Hyde exorcised some serious Hail Murray demons with that knock down. Must have felt great.

Finally!

My family thinks I'm a geek for feeling nervous about the game. Nice to hear others here are feeling nerves.

Someone remind me. Didn't he drop a few balls in the playoff game last year?

He had and still has trouble in pass protection, not good for a pass-first offense. Might be better than Boettger in this respect, though, and he certainly is better as a run blocker.

I never understood this thinking. The Pats* were crushing us with the run game in the first half of the second game, and when they fell behind they went to Cam Newton and his habit of throwing the ball into the ground. So they were three and out after that, allowing the Bills to run the score up. So say you're down 14 points but running the ball well. Keep running it! At least you'll stop digging the hole. And you might score. I can see going to the pass in the fourth quarter, but teams abandon an effective run game in the first or second quarter!

I can see this game starting slowly, with neither team making much progress. A punt battle. But the Bills have shown the ability to adjust, such as in the Steelers game. Once they're ahead, it could snowball in the Bills favor. The only way I see the Bills losing is if the pressure on Allen causes him to fumble or force the ball. That, combined with drops and penalties, would allow the Colts to pound Taylor and drain the clock, keeping Allen off the field.

The media is mostly made up of sheep who follow narrative scripts. A semi-permanent one is that Mahomes is a deity who can do no wrong. much like Brady these past 17 years. No criticism, implied or overt, of the Holy One is allowed. How many times have we heard a commentator say, "Of course, Mahomes is still the best, but..." It's like they feel they need to genuflect at the alter before continuing.