Buddo

I always wanted to keep Woods. Played, hurt, played hard, and even after just a few years in the NFL, was a good receiver. I'd love to have him back in a heartbeat. It wasn't even as though he got big money when he moved, but iirc, we were somewhat cash strapped early on in FA that year. I think he got about $7 million a year, which is very good value.

I wonder how well some of the other young QBs would be doing in respect of 'regressing to the mean' if they had just had to play 3 of the best defenses in the NFL. I'd guess they would all be 'regressing to the mean', because that's some tough sledding.

Lots of guys tend to let the ball come into their body, rather than just use their hands. Also, in fairness, sometimes, that's where the football is going - not every throw is a back shoulder one. I think it's also fair to say that there are a lot of guys with superior athleticism, who aren't necessarily the greatest catchers of footballs, yet can get separation etc. (I know, I know, a lot of them are CBs too). Having good hands, is sort of a natural thing, but it's natural because you've got both good hand/eye coordination, and you have likely been messing around playing all types of ball sports, from an early age.

You should have ample time to get somewhere, tbh. Customs, etc. are pretty quick, and the cab ride into the center of the city is only about 30-40 minutes tops. Walking around the center of Prague isn't too difficult, just make sure your phone has plenty of charge.

No idea what this place is like, but they are showing the Bills game. Apparently it is American owned. Game will be 10pm local time. If you google 'watch NFL games in Prague', you will come up with possible alternatives, a couple of which do look promising. You shouldn't have to worry about the time, as most places will be open very late on a Saturday night. I would think also, that the bars that like to style themselves 'Sports Bars' are very likely to be showing the game, as there probably isn't much in the way of any other sport happening at that time. Here's another link to a few different places https://www.pragueexperience.com/bars-pubs/sports-bars.asp Of the ones listed in the 2nd link, I have been to Rocky O'Reilly's a few times. It's mostly a place to eat, but they always have some sport on. Gets busy, but you may be able to book a table and also find out if they are showing the game. Very likely to be noisy as well, so 'watching' will be what you will be doing, rather than listening to the commentary as well. My best guess would be that most places will be a similar situation, with lots of chatter and music, but if you find yourself a decent spot near the tv, you could get to hear the commentary some, just don't expect to. Fwiw, the beer prices will be relatively expensive, especially if you drink 'brand' names. Drink the local brews, and it will be cheaper, but I would say that all of those bars are a bit of a tourist trap, so you will pay a premium. In the grand scheme of things though, it's still cheap. I was in Prague a couple of months ago, and found a nice little local bar where a large beer was 40cz . You won't pay that in the above places, but drink the local stuff, and it will be cheaper than anything imported. It's also decent.

Pretty much this. The only thing I would say, is that while they would both get good offers in FA, neither is going to be bank busting. High end, not necessarily top end. As such, they should both (hopefully) be affordable. Fwiw, I think it's no coincidence that the improvement in stopping the run, has come with the increase in snaps, that Lawson in particular, has got. As to the notion of letting them walk to get compensatory picks, well, to me, that's inane. You've got 1st and 2nd round picks, playing up towards their draft status, and you want to let them walk for comp picks, the best of which is going to be a late 3rd rounder. Doubt that is part of the 'process' for acquiring talent.

Ideally, we win on Saturday, because apart from anything else, it pretty much forces the Cheats to play all their starters against the fins. If we don't win, then I'd still be putting out as full a starting team as I could against the Jest. Having said that, I'd have no problem resting any starter against them, who has any sort of niggling injury. Bearing in mind we would have a playoff game coming up, getting back to winning, seems like the way to go in that situation.

About time. Interesting to see the claims that other NFL owners are getting pissed at the repeat occurrences of violations. Makes it more likely that something will be done. Also interesting is that supposedly, when considering any discipline, the NFL will be taking 'previous' into consideration. Which imho, is only right. Players get additional fines/suspensions when they repeatedly offend, so teams should as well.

Nice summary. About the only thing I can take 'exception' to was giving Daboll a pass (in effect). Wasn't a great gameplan, and adjustments didn't seem to be made to counter the perpetual blitz of the Ravens. Offensively, overall, we were pretty atrocious, including the OC. Allen needs to start hitting some deep balls, because until he does, boxes will be stacked. On days like Sunday, where he's not at his best, he could be expected to hope for better help from his WRs in catching the balls that do come their way, and also from his O-Line in protecting him when he does drop back. Allen got sacked 6 times, and hit another 12. For sure there were probably a couple of occasions where he should have got the football away, but far too often, you could see he wanted to, but simply didn't have the time to do so. I thought the O-Line was horrible on Sunday, but they weren't exactly helped by scheme. Offensively, whenever we needed a play, it seemed like something went wrong, be it a drop or a missed block, or a poor play called. And yet, we were still in with a shot to tie the game with just over a minute left to play. An achievement in itself, all things considered. The Zebras were awful. But they were awful for both sides. I think it eventually evened out, as there were a couple of iffy calls that came in our last drive, to get us the shot at redemption - or at least tie the game. I hope some of it is thegrowing pains needed to gain more experience, but past history just seems to say it isn't going to get any better in a hurry. It seems that the issues are league wide, with even the Cheats having a legitimate gripe about being stiffed on some bad calls.

Refs were crap again, but not exclusively against us. The last drive we had, the Ravens might have cause for complaints. The PI was a slam dunk though. I blame this loss on the offense as a whole, and I’m including Daboll in this. Too often, when there was a play to be made, something went pear shaped. The drops, the awful missed blocks, and some poor play calling. While Allen did have a poor game, he got sacked a lot. Pressure came from all over the place, and we never seemed to adjust to it. TBH, I think they would have been better served by slowing things down today, rather than trying to keep playing up tempo. I would also say in Allen’s defense, that there were times you could see he wanted to get rid of the football, but simply didn’t have the time to do so. Offensively, I thought that we rarely got any momentum, and it was because of the variety of miss cues we had. Defensively overall a good job, with the odd mistake. Still another solid showing. A tough loss against a good team, and even with the offensive miss cues, we were still in it with just over a minute to go. I’m not too happy about it, but I’m not about to be especially concerned going forward. We might not be quite ready to take the next steps this year, but we showed we aren’t that far away.

Because it gave them the choice of whichever QB the Browns didn't take. The fact you (and I) believe they made the wrong choice, is irrelevant, what matters is that they gave themselves the most choice they could, short of trading to the #1 pick.

I understand this, and yet can't quite get on board. I feel sometimes, guys actually should be prepared to get a little (note the use of little) less to stay where they are successful. Partly because imho, far too many of them don't have the same level of success elsewhere, and end up getting one payday, then the axe, where they could have actually maximized their earnings by staying put and seeing out a supposedly lesser deal. I don't have a problem with players trying to get the best deal available to them, I just believe that what constitutes the best deal, isn't necessarily simply down to the raw numbers. Atm, the Bills have a lot to offer players who want to sign with them, without necessarily 'overpaying'. Terrific facilities, a wicked fanbase, and stability with the Coaching Staff and Front Office, backed up by wealthy, enthusiastic Ownership. As a player, (I'm obviously not) I would have to be thinking seriously about any offer from the Bills, as opposed to offers from other teams that do not have most of the above situations, even if it was for a little less money. Otoh, if it was to go somewhere where that had a similar checklist of facilities, coaches, FO and owners, then there's no reason not to let the money talk.

About the best idea for making things reflect better teams performances throughout the year, while still retaining divisions, is to have an automatic playoff place for division winners, but no automatic home field advantage. That way, teams overall records are recognised, and they can be rewarded for keeping the pedal to the metal. Should the Bills win Sunday, iirc, they will be definitely in the playoffs. They could field backups the remaining 3 games, if they wanted to. While I realise we are still in the hunt for the Division, so we won't be doing that, but if we lost to the Steelers the following week, we could well be in a situation that even winning vs Cheats and Jest we cannot really improve just getting a w/c game. Under those situations, I think I'd rather have something else on the games, that can ensure teams play out the season, and having a win/loss record that could get you some home field advantage, might go some way towards that.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if we put the claim in to stop the Cheaters from getting him. They probably viewed it as a 'win win' as they could keep him for the future if we were awarded him, and also stopped the Cheats from getting a decent kicker for the rest of the season. As it worked out, the Colts claim stopped that from happening, but I'm sure that at least part of it was to prevent the Cheats from getting im.

There is truth in this. However, they did react and attempt to right wrongs in as timely a fashion as they could. It wasn't their intent for Josh to be starting as soon as he did. This off season, they certainly did their best to get things put right. True enough. Jest made a great pre-emptive move, that well snookered the Bills. I suspect the thing that didn't cause outright panic, was the fact that the Bills FO knew they wanted Allen, and that they would still get a shot at taking him, without having to move above the Jest.

I thought it was a great throw at the time. Seeing it from this angle, just makes me even more impressed. It was my favourite throw from the Cowgirls game, and I also thought it was one of the game changing moments (probably the first), as it stopped us being backed up, and although the drive eventually stalled, a terrific punt then switched field position, and we started to take the game over.

Lol, apparently Fitz has thrown a TD against the Eagles, for 7 different teams.

Very much this. I don't think they 'liked' him much before, as he has always had some 'attitude', but since the incident in the tunnel with a zebra, Hughes as got just about nothing given in his favour, and flagged whenever possible, for the merest hint of having done something wrong. Now, in sports generally, if you piss off officials, there is some payback, but it's usually pretty much within the same game. Mouth off, you get some ticky tacky call go against you, or a non call made. That usually is the end of it, and the player and official both know what's happened, and there's no drama after the game. Hughes' situation seems different, as it appears he pretty much has become a 'persona non grata' as far as the zebras are concerned, after the tunnel incident. To me, this is unacceptable, especially as it was the zebra who was in the wrong in the tunnel incident, yet it doesn't seem as though anyone is saying anything about this to the league. Overall, I'm of the opinion that the officiating is generally poor. Some of the older refs have gone, and a few of them were awful, but I think it will take some time for the newer guys to gain a level of experience, so we will still see crap decisions on a regular basis for a while. Officials should be full time, and paid accordingly. There is plenty of other football being played that they could be being used at, outside of the NFL season, and getting them involved in that, might help with getting rules understood better. Something else I've thought for a while, is that they need to re-write the rulebook, in plain language. And then stick to it, without trying to have specific interpretations welded on top. I'm sure some of the poor officiating is as a result of a rulebook that must read more like an insurance policy than a set of rules for playing a game. While the playing committee of the NFL may be well served by their members in trying to resolve issues within the game, they almost certainly aren't the best people to write any new rules.

Ha! So the cheats gained an advantage from it after all! Tbh, I didn't look at the circumstances around it, it just looked especially dubious, and the Cheaters were at home...

Like the point from Tiger about the schedule helping us in our development. I also think your counterpoint has merit Shaw. As always, it's probably somewhere between the two. Allen showed just how good he might become yesterday. While he's pretty obviously one of those guys who has 'competitor' running through their DNA, he is starting to know when to use that to the teams best advantage. The D-line appears to be all getting on the same page, and operating at the sort of level last seen under Schwartz. McDermott and Fraziers mixture of blitzes and stunts, is creating regular pressure. Lawson is particularly starting to bloom. The Secondary was spot on with the 'bend but don't break' play, and rarely actually gave easy yards, even then. I'll take the occasional poor punt, for more of the 58 yarders that pinned the Cowgirls back to their own 10, and switched field position, after Allen had made the spectacular throw to Beasley from the Endzone. With the exception of Hauschka, pretty much a complete team performance. There may also be some excuse for him, as the Cowgirls kicker, muffed a couple also. I do believe this team is currently a good team. When you can beat who is in front of you, and the zebras, enough said. I feel we are about to find out just how good over the next few weeks. I'm cautiously optimistic that we can gain another couple of wins, at least. For all we have some tough games coming up, whoever we play will also be viewing those games as tough, for them. I don't necessarily know why, but I like the Ravens matchup. We seem to play them pretty hard historically. Home field could be important. An error free Allen, could well give the Patriots a serious run for their money, and we've already shown we can beat the team that's in front of us, and the zebras, yesterday. The Steelers will be hard, but with QB issues, we can, and should, get past them. The Jest have improved, and will be another harder game than it looked like it was going to be earlier in the season, but with home field advantage, we again should come through.

As the game moves along, you can point to lots of other moments, many of which have already been mentioned. This one for me, was both my favourite throw, and maybe the initial turning point in the game. We managed a few more plays on that drive, but didn't get any points. However, with the help of a monster punt, (Kudos Bojorquez), we switched field position. Up until then, the Cowgirls had had the upper hand. After that, the game evened out for a little while, and then the Bills took them apart. Without that drive though, things might have been a lot different.

I wasn't as impressed with Romo yesterday as I have been in the past. However, he did come out with enough praise for the Bills and Allen/McDermott, for me to feel he was trying to be even handed. The comment after Allen got the 1st down on the 4th and 1 was priceless - 'He just out aggressived the whole D-Line!' Part of the difficulty for him, was that there's this whole undercurrent about Garrett and Jones, and he's having to tread a fine line with that whole thing, while still trying to come up with something of interest to say about it.

Many good throws, but the ez one to Beasley did it for me. That was a critical throw to get done, and although we didn't get any points from that drive, iirc, Romo actually said it was important (the drive), because it managed to change the field position into our favour, after we had been completely backed up. Kudos to Bojorquez there for a monster punt at the end of it, also.

I'm not so sure it was just not picking up the option. Contract year helps, but iirc, they liked the way Lawson was trending from last season, but I feel they told him they needed him to continue to improve. We tend to forget that he was 'damaged goods' when drafted, and last season was probably his first when fully fit. As one of the few holdovers from the Ryan debacle, trust in him from the coaches and GM, has had to be earned and maintained. I said elsewhere that I hope they make him a fair offer, as if he continues with performances like this, he certainly deserves it. He made plays all over the field yesterday, and while his sacks the previous game were about as easy as they come in the NFL, nothing he did yesterday was unearned, and especially his 2 TFL were impressive.

Found on another Bills fan site. Something else to keep an eye out for when we go to their place.