Hapless Bills Fan

I would like to believe that, but have we actually seen that in games? He appeared in early games his rookie season 2019, and one would reasonably expect his blocking to improve from early rookie season He was only in one preseason game - did he have some examples of "Wow!" blocking there?

I did too....except when he was ineffective (2019 Ravens game and Houston playoff, reg. season LV and KC game last year, Colts playoff game) He won us the Ravens playoff game though. 8 of 11 for 62 yds 🔥🔥🔥 I hope he lands in a good spot.

Can't. It's In My Blood.

Sorry! Sorry! Very Sorry!!! I didn't think through the consequences!

You can still get the virus if you are vaccinated. The data the NFL has released from intake and preseason testing is that 7x fewer vaccinated players or staff have tested positive than unvaccinated (anyone with any symptoms is tested immediately and must test daily for some period of time): The vaccine reduces, but does not eliminate, the risk of infection. IMO if there were treatment that had solid studies showing it reduced the risk of a knee injury by 7x or 5x or even 3x, the players would be lining up for it. (It's a judgement call that we're still working out, how much discussion we can allow without it "fanning the flames" and taking over a thread or the board. This question is directly relevant to this discussion, which is a football-relevant issue)

I'm just gonna put this here because it's 8 days until the home opener and this still gives me the chills What's your favorite Bills highlight video?

You may be correct. Still, @Ralonzo hopefully has a point. Many things can derail a season - injuries (avert!), getting "solved" by offensive or defensive coordinators and taking some games to come up with an effective counter, etc. Fixating on one set of NFL protocols that could eliminate a significant number of our core, starting players for one or more key games is probably a bit myopic. On the other hand, "control what you can control" - eliminating possible impact of those protocols, as well as implementing extra team rules as precautions, seems to me like a sign that the Bucs are "All In" it to win it in a way that our beloved Buffalo Bills are not.

I will ready a sternly-written scroll to the Università di Bologna and and summon a trusted courier with a good mule to carry it hence

Because we're imbued with the notion "we can't have nice things"

Er...the whatzizname who played 15 games and won 12 for the Steelers last year is named Ben ....Ben Roethlisberger to be exact Are you saying this year's Ben is a big upgrade from last year's Ben after aging a year?

@4merper4mer just curious - did you actually read the article?

The thing is...back when my kid was playing CYC ball in 6th grade and stressing "if I'd hit that free throw (or 3 pointer, or blocked that shot, or not fouled the shooter) we'd have won the game", they were (rightly) told they really couldn't make that conclusion because when one play is different, the whole game is different. So I don't know how one reasonably concludes that a particular player or players cost us a game or a spot. I think it could be a point that we could have won the AFCCG or at least made it a much far closer battle if we hadn't been playing with an injured WR corps, but even there....compare and contrast to the Bucs, if our D gives Mahomes time to stand in the pocket and manipulate our zone coverage with his eyes, he's going to pick us apart in between bites of the Jimmy Johns sammich he had time to dial up and order. I mean, people were all "Josh Allen single handedly cost us the win in the Houston playoff game" and I thought that was clearly bunk - if our D hadn't folded like a cheap set of lawn chairs, if Knox and whoever that was hadn't whiffed their block, if Knox and Singletary and D-Dawk hadn't all failed to block Mercilus or even just get in his way for another second etc etc etc. Personally, if we lose games or a playoff spot, I'm going right to the root cause ....I'm gonna blame Mr Miyagi

I could be wrong, but it seems to me one of the Bills favorite goal-line sets was (0,2) with Knox and either Smith or an extra OLmen. The advantage this gave them was that they still had a run threat in the backfield with Josh. They did run (1,2) as well, I believe.

So first of all, reminder that players who are in the process of being vaccinated still have to quarantine, so we don't know for a fact that all these players are not in the process of getting vaccinated. To be fair to Beasley, I think (one of) his point(s) would be he is making a private medical decision that is legitimately allowed by the NFL/NFLPA CBA, but that the current NFL protocols aren't sufficient to protect those who make that legitimately allowed decision As far as "sheer ignorance", I'll let Riverboat Ron do the talking: Chris Simms and Peter King had a segment where they pointed out that the team provides information for an hour in the facility, but then players can go home to people they trust (spouse, or other family members, personal trainer or wellness coach) who say "here are all these reasons, it's a bad idea to get the vaccine, I don't want you to get it." The reasons don't hold up when they're pressure-tested by legitimate experts in the field, but they look very legitimate to lay people who are "doing their own research". The way Simms and King presented it, it seemed pretty clear that they had actually spoken to and had off-the-record knowledge of what was going on in the background of some of these decisions. My point is it's probably far too simplistic in our current environment to cast these players' decisions as "sheer ignorance".

The union and players apparently allow voluntary antibody testing, but I don't think it would tell you much. Why, is beyond the scope here. For an NFL example, Lamar Jackson had Covid-19 last fall and was re-infected this summer. It clearly happens. If you read the NFL protocols closely (I haven't found the new protocols yet, but this aspect from the preseason protocols hasn't changed, a player who contracts covid confirmed by a positive PCR test, is exempt from testing for the next 90 days (p 66): So teams probably track who has actually been infected. The NFL also recognizes some impact of natural immunity because a player with a previous positive PCR test for Covid needs 1 vaccine shot to be counted as fully immunized.

I would agree that the Bills players medical decisions are private. There's a distinction between a private and a personal decision. If your private decision potentially impacts others - relatives, friends, coworkers - it's kind of by definition no longer personal. You're also correct that every team has to deal with the NFL protocols. The germaine point here is that teams which are 100% vaccinated (or close to it) have less to deal with from the NFL protocols which are, silly or not, the rules everyone must follow. For example, the Bucs are not at risk of having half their starting WR room be quarantined outside the facility for 5 days due to a close exposure to Covid. Whether you or I think that's a good rule or a bad rule, Matters Not - it 's the NFL's rule, that, as you point out, every team has to deal with, and it's going to impact the Bills more than teams who are closer to 100% vaccinated.

I don't think this is obvious at all. Beasley presents himself as concerned for protecting his unvaccinated teammates. Given that goal, Beasley is muddies his own waters with some of the stuff he tweets (which is "shaking my damn head" level), but he's not wrong about other things - like the fact that the NFL preseason protocols testing vaccinated players and staff only once every two weeks (unless they are symptomatic) is not sufficient to preclude a vaccinated player or staff member from exposing people in the facility. The NFLPA recognized this by requesting the NFL to return to daily testing of everyone, and the NFL tacitly agreed by returning to 1x/week testing with an "optional" midweek test available.

One thing that struck me was how Obada managed to actually get a try-out and make it to NFL practice squads prior to the NFL International Pathway, but how the Pathway benefited him by giving him stability and allowing him to work on developing skills. Obviously the Bills are betting that last season was just the beginning for him and he's on an upwards trajectory. Just can't help but pull for the guy.

This isn't the place for a scholarly review of the history of dialectics in medieval theology, just to point out that a statement that they were "allowed for vigorous debate" is a vast oversimplification of the situation. Even when/where they were allowed, there were boundries - such as within certain forums and not others.

I think it would be McKenzie, and Stevenson would take his place as the KR/PR. I think we signed Sanders because we essentially want 2 Beasley skill-sets out there at once, which purpose would be defeated by turning Sanders into Beasley so to speak. But McKenzie right now is a step down from Bease. Taron Johnson talked about this in an interview, how Beasley is like a "cheat code" to make him a better CB because he's so supurb at reading the defense and figuring out where the gaps will be. Johnson carefully tried to compliment and not disparage Lil' Dirty, but he made it clear that in "football intelligence" it's a long step down from Bease.

He may be over-rated, he may not be over-rated, but he's one of the 5 guys on the team at his position this season, meaning his replacement may not be on the roster. Injuries also happen. If an absence of Star due to Covid protocol happens to coincide with an injury or illness of another of the 1TDTs, then "next man up" is our 3rd string at that position, or playing out of position. It's a disadvantage. Beasley's replacement list would not involve Kumerow. McKenzie is listed on the depth chart behind him, but it's notable that in the 2020 playoffs, the Bills considered Beasley on a broken leg > McKenzie. Other choices would include putting Sanders in that role (he can play slot). Getting further down, Tanner Gentry has some of that "sneaky speed" quickness, and has been honing his slot skills working with Bease and showed some stuff, apparently.

Indubitably, but in football discussion circles that only begs the question "Why did the other team score more points than us?" If one factor is because half our starting WR corps is "on the shelf" due to NFL Covid Protocols for unvaccinated players while the other team is 100% vaccinated and is following other extra precautions besides, it's pretty clear there are impacts. One factor behind several of Belichick's playoff wins has been his absolute focus and dedication on understanding the NFL's Rules and their impacts, and exploiting the rules to maximize his team's advantage. The Rules may have been bad rules or had loopholes, but Rules were Rules and give him propers for exploiting them. I don't see how it can be denied that if Team T is so focused on the goal of winning the championship that 100% of the players get vaccinated (and surely some of them didn't believe in it and would have preferred not) and that the players voluntarily agree to follow extra team rules precluding going out of the hotel or meeting with family when traveling, while Team B has players aren't vaccinated and therefore can be quarantined from the facility at any point for 5 days upon exposure to a positive Covid case AND players who insist they will "live their best life" and not be bound by any restrictions ---- well, it's hard to argue that Team T is more focused on a goal and willing to take every action that might hinder them from getting there, while Team B has other priorities. That's a competitive advantage, right there.

You would be mistaken in that thought. If his post went against the request of the board owner: It would be deleted. This is really very simple. This is not a government, or a publicly-supported venue where censorship applies. It is a private bulletin board - a "private house" where we are guests. "Scott's House, Scott's Rules." If his rules change, the rest of us get to adjust, or leave. That's how it is, including for me. Let's say you're in the living room of your friend's house watching the game, and someone starts to loudly rail about politics. Your friend says "you're entitled to your opinions, but we have different strongly-held views and right now we're all here to knock back a few brews and watch the game. So can we keep this about Football, please? There's the den over there where you can go, if you'd rather talk about this stuff than talk football." What does that make you if you can't respect his request and instead burst out about how it's just So Unfair? Does it make you a Spirited Free Thinker righteously fighting against Censorship and Oppression? No. It does not. It makes you a Jerk.

No. I did. Just a friendly reminder to everyone here: At this time, the board embargo on general Covid/Vaccine discussion or Political discussion is still in place, and the ONLY acceptable response to same is a report and a link to the Pinned post. Thanks.

I don't think McKenzie was intending to make a mockery out of it. I think he epitomizes the Shakespeare quote ""There was a star danced, and under that was I born" And he did get vaccinated .