finn

I was being facetious. Still, sometimes the obvious eludes the wise, as per your misreading of my post 😉

The man needs more color in his house. What's with the wintery shades in a wintery climate? That can't be good for his recovery. Get a few Bills blankets and pillows, man.

A gratifying stat, but I always resist the notion that one quarterback beats another. Yes, there is some willpower involved--willing one's team to victory, coming back in the fourth quarter and all that--and I don't want to discount that. But head to head doesn't account for myriad other variables, especially coaching, injuries and teammates, that affect the outcome in ways the quarterback can't control. Allen has outplayed Mahomes every time he's faced him, except for the first playoff game (when, IMHO, McDermott held him back), yet his team lost. Does that mean Mahomes is better anyway, as the stat you cite implies? So I think the stat has some merit but has to be considered in the context of many other factors. (All of which I am happy to manipulate to make Allen come out on top. 😀)

I'd like to know how much the Bills invest in scouting their next opponent. If I were them, I'd put a whole squad on prepping for games down the road, especially important ones. I'd hire a dedicated expert on every divisional opponent studying tendencies, even monitoring fan forums like this. I'd also have a working group, not just one person, on quality control, studying the Bills patterns as much or more than the opponent will. The personnel needn't all be top people; a bunch of smart, eager interns could come up with all sorts of valuable intel. Sometimes I think this forum knows more than the Bills coaches. Somehow, I don't think this is happening. My guess is that the team has one or two scouts and one quality-control person. Anyone know for sure?

Agree. You can get a lot more value picking for positions like nickel, safety, and running back in the third, fourth, and fifth rounds that you can looking for defensive line, which is Beane's fixation. Instead of a backup, which is all Solomon, Carter, and Jackson will ever be. Yes, you can hit on a Walker once in awhile, but you're playing the long shot instead of the more sure thing.

One of the best talents, I grant you. But he never was or will be a great player for the very reasons we agree are his strong suits: grit and willpower. Both disappear if he's not in the mood to play, much like Pickens. He made that spectacular catch in Minnesota, but too often he disappeared in the clutch for the Bills, most notably in the 13-second game and in 2023, when he literally dropped the ball. No Hall of Fame votes from me. I'll remember him as a shot of adrenaline to the team and a critical piece of Allen's development, but also as a peevish, choke diva. I agree he'll show up on Sunday. He thrives on spite.

Who replaces Poyer at safety then? His expiration date is coming up fast.

Cam Lewis has been abused for his poor play in that game, but he had at least one brilliant pass breakup. Hairston almost had one, too, getting his arm between Higgins' outstretched arms but not quite sweeping down in time to knock the ball away. There was one other similar play, forgot by who. It looked like the Burrow and Higgins were playing pitch and catch, but a closer look shows the secondary played quite well overall. Similarly, the pass rush played better than it seemed. Burrow gets the ball out so fast that you just can't get there in time. Better to get your hands up, as they started doing in the second half. That's a hell of a quarterback. I would take him second only to Allen. (And would take Stafford, Maye, Lamar, Prescott, and even Mayfield over this season's version of Mahomes, whose play is starting to match his demeanor.)

I was a bit lazy in my post. Watching the game again, I thought the defense did a better job than I thought, and the Bengals' success was more about Burrow and Higgins than any other factor. How do you stop accurate, quick passes to big tall receivers? Allen is the better quarterback because he's bigger, faster, more creative, and with a stronger arm and more dog in him. But Burrows' icy calm, uncanny accuracy and quick release are extraordinary. Reminds me of Marino.

Yeah, this is a worry. A soft zone and no pressure is a bad combination when you have reliable receivers, as Burrow showed us last week. I'd like to see a more aggressive defense, even it it means a few long plays. Better than a demoralizing series of third and long conversions up and down the field all day. Alternatively, they could study film and look for patterns to exploit, as Bernard did to intercept I think Mahomes earlier in the season. But with their bye, it's more likely the Pats will have studied the Bills' patterns. (Of course, to master Brady's full playbook, you only need to watch a single series, so maybe they went skiing instead.)

You mean Brady had no answers. Inexplicably, he watched his quarterback get hammered play after play and didn't bother to dial up more protection. Not much was working anyway, so why not try max protect him like he did last year? It was like the Patriots game when Brady inexplicably benched Cook, his best skill player, in crunch time. Even so, I think they would beat Houston in the playoffs, as long as the game was in Buffalo. The second time around even a slow study like Brady will be able to adapt. I think.

I can see the Patriots losing to us and losing to the Dolphins. In fact, I think it's likely. When a team wins that many in a row, it's natural to assume they're as good as their record. If they're not--and I don't think this team is--eventually probability will catch up to them, as it did for KC, who last year were also not as good as their record. Even if the Pats were significantly better than they are now, losing to us and the Dolphins would just be normal.

The likelihood is about the same as the Bills coming back against the Ravens and Bengals. Was it delusional to believe they could do it? Not happening?

I have no problem giving the Patriots credit for winning 10 in a row. You can't do that without good coaching and quality play. But neither can you do it without a healthy dose of luck, by which I mean injuries, weather, scheduling quirks (like timing of the bye and which teams you play at home and away) referee bias (yes, it exists, if only because they're human), and so on. Put it this way: A team made up of All-Pros, with two seasons to play together can coached by any staff you wish, still might not win ten in a row. Such runs are simply not all due to how wonderful and special the team is. I'd say that if the Bills had just ripped off ten in a row. The Pats could easily--easily--have the same or worse record than the Bills and be the exact same team it is now with the exact same coaches and exact same intangibles. So let's not get carried away by the utter gloriousness of this team, as so many commentators are. Yes, records matter, obviously, but essentially they're just another top-ten team in a season where no team in that tier has separated from the rest.

KC is like Voldermort. In fifteen years, we'll still be checking to see if they're dead.

Of course they are. Do you think the football gods are going to let us off that easily? Get ready for a heavy dose of "This is the team no one wants to face" and "They're a different team in the playoffs" and similar garbage.

And the Bengals minus Burrow and Chase.

I'm with you. I've seen Marino, Manning, Brady, Burrow, and others throw gorgeous, perfect balls. But I've never seen anyone make physics-bending throws like Allen makes every season. Think of his sideline collection alone. Mahomes makes his falling-down and no-look throws that give Collinsworth and Nick Collins shivers, but Allen is another level for the truly impossible throws. Oddly, he's not as accurate overall as any of these quarterbacks.

How about the cross-body throw to Cook (I think) when Allen was running one way and Cook the other? In traffic!

The Pats* have a lot of injuries. Not as many as the Bills, but they'll be missing Stevenson, Ellis, Boutte, Milton Williams, Campbell, and possibly Gonzalez, according to Google. Anyone have a more reliable source? The sad thing is that it doesn't matter that they're missing their left tackle and best cornerback since we're missing Bosa and have no wide receivers worthy of the name. I'm glad not to face Milton Williams, though.

Has Maye been challenged by a tough defense yet, like Allen was by Houston and Atlanta? I don't watch their games on principle, but I do wonder how Maye would hold up against a ferocious rush. Not that we have that. I think you're right that McDermott likely to play more soft zones and hope for the best.

Their luck continues. Reminds me of KC last year with all the breaks they got.

Agree. I'm expecting him to make wide receiver his top priority. I just hope he gives it the same attention he annually gives the defensive line--and has better results. For example, I would love to see picking WR with the first pick AND going after a top free agent AND finding two more receivers later in the draft or free agency. That's how empty the cupboards are now. Yes, we need a starting linebacker and, as always pass rushers, but it's time to see what Josh Allen in his absolute prime can do with the caliber of receivers all his top peers have as a matter of course, instead of the collection of retreads, busts, no-shows and JAGS he has to work with now.

I noticed DaQuan, too, ironically because I expect not to notice him. It's like, "Wow, nice play. Oh, it's DaQuan--again." He's playing with so much energy, I keep thinking it's Walker, a much younger guy.

It says something about how narrow the margins are that not having Strong, a sixth-round pick, on the roster could have had a major impact on the team's playoff chances, given how well he was playing and how much Taron's play has diminished. That was a nice draft by Beane, netting Hairston, Sanders, Walker, Hawes, Strong, Hancock, and Lundt.