Utah John

The Bills defense is really excellent. There have been a few occasions where they got out of rhythm -- right after the first stupid INT against the Bengals, and on the Pats' only offensive drive -- but no defense is perfect all the time. The players are just doing their jobs and shutting things down. I do not think the defense will let the team down all year, except of course for injuries. The Bills got substantial yardage (375 yards, I believe) against a Pats defense people say is the best in football, and that's with Josh playing that badly. The offense should be fine against the Titans' defense. If they just get their heads on straight after yesterday's disappointment, they'll be fine.

If he throws it out of bounds or in the dirt, he can't be the hero. He could just win, which is all we want. This is the fundamental challenge for an overconfident inexperienced QB. It's hard to have patience but that's the only choice.

Somehow despite Allen's putridity today, the Bills outgained the mighty Pats offense 375 to 224. The Pats had SEVEN three and outs, one four and out, and one five and out. I finished the game telling myself I had just watched the two best defenses in the AFC, and possibly in the NFL.

I don't recall him ever looking that bad, certainly not this year but not even in his rookie year. Did BB get inside his head? I don't know but whatever the reason, he just looked completely incapable. There were open receivers he didn't see, and he missed so many throw you wonder if he wasn't injured before the helmet to helmet cheap shot.

The picks were all Allen's fault. Terrible decisions. That's not to say Zay Jones is an NFL-caliber receiver. We're asking him to fill the shoes of Robert Woods, and his feet are much too small.

I think the Bills have some other problems to attend to right now. WR, punter come to mind.

The final two pieces of the puzzle are WR and punter. I think we saw the two best defenses in the AFC and possibly the league today, and the Bills had a decent chance to win, once Allen left. Allen is our QB and should play whenever he's healthy, but today he was completely awful. The Bills looked better when Barkley came in. Given WRs who can outbody DBs, I think they could have won today.

I actually think the uniforms they have today are the best ever, at least since the 60s.

This looks right except I think we lose to the Browns and beat the Jets again. Still 10-6. The biggest x-factor as always is injuries.

So who are the candidates? DB: Gilmore, Darby, Robey-Coleman, Jairus Byrd LB: Zach Brown, Preston Brown, Bradham DL: can't think of any OL: Levitre, but he's retired RB: McCoy, Gillislee WR: Watkins, Wood, Goodwin TE: Can't think of any Who did I miss?

It wasn't long ago that you could put a team of ex-Bills together from other teams' active rosters, that would be better than the team we had on the field. Not anymore.

I keep thinking the Bills have been holding back on offense. Where have the deep passes been? I am hoping they have been holding back so the Patriots won't have tape on how they run those plays. It would be a shame if the Bills speed receivers never get a chance to go deep. And if they don't stretch the field, DBs will sit on short routes.

When you watch plays like this, the OPEN receiver has about two feet of space to himself, and the QB still gets it there. Professional athletes, man. And we just expect that level of performance, every time.

Edelman is tough, and good. I expect him to play, and play well. He's a good outlet for Brady. The Bills win maybe four times out of ten in this situation (they've actually won 3 of the past 33 games, and they have a better team than in the recent past). But it's going to be very difficult.

The way I look at this is, they had three games against weaker opponents and have had time to get problems identified and work on solutions. They have definitely not been hitting on all cylinders and yet they're still 3-0. They have an opportunity to get a whole lot better if they keep on working, and from what I can see this team is not made up of men who are willing to let each other down. So yeah, it's kind of good news that some parts of the D haven't been playing well. Wait until they put it all together.

There's a difference between being a bully and just not taking any crap from people. The bully goes out of his way to pick on weaker people, and is generally afraid to stand up to those his own size. The Bills don't take any crap.

The Bills have actually been pretty lucky so far with regard to injuries. And they have had pretty good depth to replace the injured players. This is football, it's a tough sport, and there are street FAs out there who have kept in shape in case a call comes in.

Compared to 80% of past Bills teams, this one is so much better. More talent, better team spirit, much better coaching. Go Bills! But then I watch KC. Gotta keep on getting better. The Bills' opponents are 1-8 on the year, and the Pats' are 0-9. The Pats are winning more easily while the Bills have had to gut out all three wins. All in all I don't think there's a lot of predictive value in what's gone on already, with regard to what's going to happen on Sunday.

That's what a double move for a tight end looks like.

I was watching in Alaska, thousands of miles in a different direction, and I was totally into it. My dogs were all worried about my strange behavior as the Bills let the lead turn into a deficit (nothing broken, happily), and then when I yelled "intercepted" (thanks Tre White) they all went and hid until I got them back and told them I was just happy.

There was a noticeable change in the Bengals' D line after Feliciano went out. Their guys seemed to get a lot better. I think Ford is still a work in progress, and I suspect Ty wasn't 100% when he came back in, either. We never hear Spain's name mentioned, which is a good sign he's doing his job.

Depends on where the ball ends up on third down. Depends on what the coaches saw from our players and the defense on third down. Depends if the coaches believe they have a play that will work. Only if all those stars align would I go for it. Otherwise, you have to kick the field goal.

The AFC champ this year is probably either the Patriots or the Chiefs. I think there are some other good teams including the Bills, but no one in the class of those two. Neither will go undefeated, I think, but they'll both win 12 or 13 games, and the top seed in the AFC playoffs will win the SB. All that said, the Bills have a decent chance of winning next Sunday. They haven't played a complete game yet. If they do it on Sunday, they could win. As for the Pats fans, why bother getting into it with them?

There weren't ANY unanswered points. The Bengals scored 17 straight, and then the Bills answered all of them. If the Bills had failed to score, the 17 points would have been unanswered. But we would have had a lot more on our minds then than terminology.

I think what today's game showed is the importance of Singletary.