Utah John

I started a list of the bad calls against the Bills, but I quit when the Bills took control and it was clear the Cowboys wouldn't be challenging them. Right from the start, the Bills were losing a yard or so on most of the spots following Bills plays, and the Cowboys were getting extra yards for free. There was rampant holding going on. One pass play in particular had me screaming at the tv -- the Bill (probably Jerry Hughes) was trying to get to Prescott, and the O lineman had his arm completely around the Bill's neck. No holding call, and the Cowboys got a big pass play out of it. Watching today was fairly strange. I was happy and pleased, but not very nervous. Could it be we're just getting used to this team being really good? So now they have a long week to prepare for the Ravens, and to see what San Francisco's defense tries to do to slow down Lamar Jackson. Things are breaking right.

The Patriots have several players missing practice because of illness, not injuries, and it's not surprising considering they were playing in cold rain the whole game. Apparently there's some contagious illness going through the Pats' locker room. Wouldn't it be a darn shame if several of the Cowboys got whatever is taking down the Patriots? Considering how much physical contact there is between players, it would be really hard not to pick up something the players on the other team have. The only way they could fit in another bye week, creating an 18 week regular season, would be to shorten the preseason. Which a lot of players and teams want to do, but which means a lot of marginal players don't get a chance to show what they can do.

I don't see the league scheduling byes before Thursday night games. The one thing I think they should do is minimize having a team play on Sunday night before a Thursday game, as the Cowboys had to do this week. I realize this is the team the Bills are playing, but it could just as well be the Bills in that situation in the future, and that would really suck. Those few hours difference between an early and a late game could be crucial, especially for the coaches trying to work up the game plan. On that topic, does the league try to get game films out early to the teams playing on Thursdays? In this case the Bills tape would go to the Cowboys, and vice versa. The more time the Bills coaches have with the tape of the Cowboys, the better. If the tape doesn't show up until Tuesday, that doesn't let them get any use from it.

No. One reason is simply to let the players get their stats. When they're doing well the stats help them with their next contract. The way teams that are ahead by a lot try not to rub it in is to become more conservative in play calling, but you don't tell players to go less than full speed, because they're more likely to get hurt like that. So an offense will switch from passing to rushing. Of course if it's rushing that's killing the other guy, there's a problem.

Gore is now tied with Marshall Faulk for the fourth most combined scrimmage yards. At 11.88 MILES.

FWIW, it was great and sad to see Foster yesterday. Great speed and skill -- where has that been all year? And now he's hurt, and may have played his last game as a Bill. There must be something about Duke Williams that the coaches see that we don't, holding him back. I think we need at least one tall WR.

Bruce is a gentleman and knows it's much better to speak positively about other people. Well, look at the big picture. Without that horrible record, the Bills wouldn't have had the draft picks that made the great years possible.

Yes, Dalton isn't the problem, but the problems are so pervasive that there's no way Dalton will still be there when they get everything else sorted out. The Bengals should trade Dalton in the offseason, and give him a chance to play somewhere else. I live in Alaska where it's legal. The Bills seem to have taken their game up a notch or two lately. They have a good chance to win on Thursday, and then they have the mini-bye before playing the Ravens in Orchard Park. I'm not smoking anything and I think they have a good chance.

Kuechly is a MLB, where Edmunds has been playing. I've thought for a while that Edmunds might be better suited to SAM than MIKE so he can use his speed more. So possibly Kuechly would fit, with Milano playing WILL. But, Kuechly isn't young anymore, and he's expensive, so probably not. McCaffrey with Singletary. Whoo. Yes please. I think Beane is looking 3-5 years down range, as he should. We have a lot of young, good and improving, players who will all be looking for big paychecks. The extra cap space will come in handy. I think we might need to win whatever we're going to win, while Josh Allen is still on his rookie contract. Once a QB proves himself and gets the first big contract, the team's entire salary structure goes sideways.

I'm happy for Gore. His achievement is amazing. A real testament to professionalism, preparation, conditioning, and dedication. That said, it seems to me that for the other backs at the top of the career list, each had at least one season when he was the top back in the league. Gore never did. He just keeps going and going like the Energizer Bunny, beating that little bass drum, but that doesn't make the bunny the best drummer around. He's been consistently very good or excellent, just never the top. Maybe this makes his lifetime achievement all the remarkable. So kudos and I'm glad he got this milestone as a Bill. Now I hope he gets a ring as a Bill as well.

With the new rules on kickoffs, it's getting harder for return teams to be effective. Almost always, a high kickoff that reaches the 1 or 2 yard line and has to be returned gets the returner tackled at the 20, or before. There are exceptions when coverage units break down, as ours did in Miami, but that doesn't happen often. What happens more often is that the receiving team gets bad field position, at the 18 instead of the 25. Go ask NFL coaches whether they want that or not. As for punts, when a punter can pin the other team back within the 5, or even closer, it usually leads to points for the punting team. Aside from the occasional safety, the receiving team struggles to get a first down, and when it punts as it usually has to do, the original punting team gets the ball inside the other team's territory. Punting can be an offensive weapon when your team is anywhere beyond your own 40.

If Elway offered four #1s for Josh, and the Bills accepted the offer, Josh would be injured in the next training camp. The Broncos are snakebite about QBs.

Elway's quest for a new franchise QB seems like something out of Greek mythology. Some of the players he's obtained were pretty decent, but Elway doesn't seem able to surround them with a good line AND good RBs AND good receivers. Great QBs can overcome limitations of their teammates, but it takes time for QBs to get the experience they need to become great.

Let's face it, any QB would be in the Pro Bowl if he could play against the Dolphins every week. I'm actually more impressed with how Allen played the past few games against better DBs, better pass rushes, better LBs. He's being careful, which is what he needs to do. His progression is very promising.

There are so many plays where the Bills receivers are all covered, play after play, particularly against man defense. Beasley and Brown can find holes in zones, but against man to man, they're just some guys going for a jog with a defender right beside them. The point is, Allen doesn't get to make a dozen throws a game because the receivers aren't open. If he had a target, and he could hit it 8 or 9 times out of 12, that would be another 100 yards a game, easy. The O line is doing OK, and Allen is being smart with the ball. It's the receivers who aren't helping him. I'm happy for Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes, who are both very talented and are doing great. I don't think either one of them would do any better than Josh Allen has done, playing with this team's personnel and coaches. As for Mahomes, he's been terrific, but if he hasn't reached his ceiling, he doesn't have one. I have to figure he's as good as he's going to get. He'll get more experienced with time but his wheels will wear out. Jackson, geez who knows. Can he keep improving? As a fan, I hope both Mahomes and Jackson get better. As a Bills fan I wish they both played in the NFC. The Falcons gave up a ransom for Julio Jones. They had Matt Ryan and they ended up looking brilliant. The Bills gave up a ransom for Sammy Watkins. Was it Watkins' fault he didn't make the Bills look smart? Or was it injuries, or Tyrod Taylor?

Next year the Bills will need to win the division to get into the playoffs. Next year the AFC East plays both the NFC West and the AFC West. With the Bills and Pats holding the first two positions in the AFC East this year, both will play equivalently hard schedules with a lot of travel, which never goes well for the Bills. Teams from other divisions of the AFC will have a much easier schedule than the Bills, and both WCs will come from elsewhere. I think only the AFC East winner will make it next year. And, I think we have a shot at the East next year.

The Raiders haven't been playing like Al Davis's Raiders. Maybe their vicious spirit is re-emerging in Cleveland. There's never been any place for it in the NFL. It's fast and hard and dangerous enough.

We shouldn't ever be happy when a player is injured. He's a person, probably with a family, and this is how he earns a living. I am however very happy that Garrett was suspended. I think maybe a full season suspension next year would get the point across that this is the very definition of "unacceptable."

I'm not throwing in the towel yet on 11-5. As for Thanksgiving, the Bills game before that is a home game against a collapsing Broncos team. The Cowboys have different flaws than the Bills have but they're still flaws. That is a winnable game. Then the Bills get the mini-bye, not playing again until they play the Ravens, back home in Orchard Park. In December. Who gets the edge on a cold, windy, slippery field? I guessing, based on no evidence at all, that Josh Allen finally figures things out, and Daboll finally figures out he needs to use Singletary. Don't give up!

The Bills had another even greater player who was an even worse human being: OJ Simpson. Incognito was the best damned guard we've had here in decades. It was the right thing to do to let him go when the Bills did, because they could see the bad times ahead. It's a real shame that all that talent is linked to a screwed up personality. Maybe it is mental illness, the key word being illness, and I hope for his sake he can at least control the symptoms. If I had taken all the oxycontin that was prescribed for me after hip replacement surgery, I'd be a heroin addict today. It isn't a question of a weak mind, it's a question of getting hooked on something designed to get you hooked.

It's not clear to me which LB position Zach Brown would compete for, or even back up. Could he play MLB as well as OLB? I seem to recall he was a WILL when he was here but perhaps that's not right. If he could play two or three LB positions he'd be a good pick up. He was released from Philly after he made a derogatory comment about the Vikings QB, after which the Vikes beat the Eagles. I think ZB was still playing well.

I have specifically watched Edmunds on the replays of running plays by the opponents. He seems to be moving into a gap whether it's the right gap or not, and often just gets swallowed up while the RB slides through the space where Edmunds was at the start of the play. Is he doing what he's told to do, or does he lack the ability to read the blocking and use his instincts to attack the right spot? I can't answer that question. However I suspect he's a natural Sam, not a Mike. With his size, speed, and strength, he'd be great at covering TEs downfield. His athletic skills are amazing, but his football IQ doesn't seem as great.

Remember the old poem about Casey at the Bat? His team lost because he was too interested in style than just playing the game. Josh Allen could throw the ball a lot more, sure, you bet. If he did that would the Bills still be 6-2? I think they'd be 4-4 and looking back on some really pretty pass completions, instead of looking forward to the playoffs.

If the Bills had beat the Pats, the Bills would be 7-1 and the Pats would be 7-2.

Oh, I would be so ashamed. I don't know how I'd live with myself.