Utah John

Don't look now, but a football game has broken out where the clown show had been going on. I finished typing that and then Levi Wallace let an INT go through his hands, and Watson grabs a facemask. Unreal.

It looks like Pickens is the only good player Pittsburgh has on offense. The Browns should double him and keep rushing the passer.

I didn't see the play, but you're correct about moving backwards and not getting thej clock stopped. But that rule is quite often not enforced.

Just like the coach drew it up...

What's the over/under on lousy plays?

Certain games stick in your memory. This one will endure.

Thanks for your discretion.

I agree completely. Both Mahomes and Allen have rocket arms for long throws downfield, but what makes them really dangerous like no others is their ability to create plays.

Pressure is great, but sacks are better. Instead of second and 10, it's second and 17. And usually that means a punt on fourth down. This is exactly why the Bills went out and got Von Miller -- as a finisher. I just hope Miller is still Miller after his injury and recuperation.

The pass rush has made opposing QBs uncomfortable but seldom gets them on the ground. Zero sacks yesterday. Still, I think success is coming. Milano is a GREAT player and his interception was amazing. But on the NFL's website, it doesn't show up on the must-see list of plays -- even though a lot of routine Miami TDs are included. Same lack of attention from Sports Center. I think the powers that be are turning their PR machine away from the Bills, and it's up to the Bills to force the attention back.

Most of us can remember many years when the Bills would lose a game like the Jets game, win nicely the next time, and then stumble along to another 9-7 record. The past few years, the Bills might lose a game, but then they'll reel off 6 or 8 straight wins. Overcoming a loss is due to the strong roster and to the players and coaches taking honest looks at what went wrong and then fixing things. We haven't been on a rollercoaster for years. The schedule is particularly tough this year so we might not win 13 games again, but I'm very encouraged by what we saw yesterday. The Bills imposed their will on a Raiders team that came in thinking they were pretty darn good because they were 1-0 (beating the lousy Broncos by a point). Most games won't be as easy but the Bills regularly win tough games.

We should be grateful that Benford has turned out so great, not concerned that Elam hasn't. Elam is still a great athlete and if he can learn how to play zone defense, he'll be a valuable member of the Bills.

The Patriots also stayed in a shell D for a long time in yesterday's game against the Dolphins. And Tua carved them up with a long series of short passes to wide open receivers. And yet at the end the Pats were almost in a position to win, with only an interception on a great play by a Miami DB taking away a scoring opportunity. That shell D is what a lot of teams are going to use when faced with a talented offense like Buffalo's or Miami's. It's the old bend but don't break philosophy -- let the other guys move down the field, then stop them in the red zone. Actually I hardly glanced at the boards last week. The anger and negativity were repulsive.

I don't think Cook ever had the level of criticism that Allen faced. He gradually got better last year as the year went along, and no one was calling him a bust or saying he couldn't play. He was Singletary's backup and that was the plan. Now he's the Man.

The most outrageous thing I heard criticizing the Bills came from someone who showed up on Sports Center -- not the usual bald guy host, but a visiting bald guy expert. He went on and on about how Josh Allen is still reckless -- with a couple of his trademark bullet passes into the end zone for TDs as examples. And he said the Bills were not good at running the ball, so Allen has to do it. I guess if you're an expert appearing on Sports Center you can spout all these widespread myths and get paid for doing it. Well, we can see better. What Allen can do is things that most QBs can't do, so when he does it it's not being reckless, it's being effective. And as far as not being able to run the ball, I think the bald guy expert didn't see what Cook cooked up, as well as how Murray and Harris gashed the Raiders up the middle. Cook's speed and ability to stretch the field sideways is exactly what the Bills have lacked and needed to open up the middle of the field for Diggs and Kincaid. If the O line can hold up and maybe even continue to improve, the offense will be deadly.

I agree completely. Everyone's saying the Bills caught a break when Rodgers went out. I am not sure that's right. The D line got into the backfield over and over, but usually Wilson evaded the rush. He's a good athlete and the number 2 overall pick in his year's draft. Rodgers used to be a very mobile QB back in the day but these aren't those days. I can easily see the Bills getting 5 or more sacks of Rodgers. The Bills D game plan was set to counter quick passes from Rodgers, and having a mobile QB back there was a different challenge. Most of the passes Wilson did complete were after he was flushed and ran around while his receivers got finally got open.

I watched most of the game. One takeaway is that it's just as well that Harrison Phillips left the Bills. The Eagles ran right over him, over and over. Another takeaway is that the Vikings are going to pay this year for all the good fortune they had last year. Things even out.

Without Rodgers the Jets are pretty much the same as last year. Excellent defense, and an offense that depends on a shaky QB, Zach Wilson. Of course it's true that Wilson has been learning and improving while Rodgers was there, so he could be better than last year, but they were a fourth place team in the AFCE for a good reason.

Amtrak has lines but hardly uses them. I live in Memphis, and it would be great to take a train south to New Orleans or north to Chicago for a weekend or other vacation. Amtrak has one train per day in each direction, and the departure and arrival times are terribly inconvenient for most of the stations en route. What's needed are trains every couple of hours, so passengers can have the flexibility to travel at their convenience instead of Amtrak's limited vision. Make the trains shorter if the number of passengers is lower, but this is how Amtrak could rebuild passenger service across America, reducing carbon emissions and helping passengers avoid airline schedule cancellations and delays, and airport crowds. Train travel is soooo much nicer than airplane travel.

No, he put a crushing hit on Lincoln, but Lincoln wasn't through. He actually ended up playing for the Bills later on.

The biggest non-play was all the times we didn't sack Zach, and he kept upright long enough to throw a good pass to a receiver who'd finally gotten open, over and over. In all the Rodgers hype about how the Jets had their offensive plans disrupted, let's not forget that the Bills D game plan was to contain and stop a less-mobile, older QB who was going to be in a moving pocket and hitting quick passes. Zach Wilson is a different challenge. He has a good arm and is good at escaping from pressure. Regardless of that, though, the Bills D line which was (once again, remember the Bengals playoff game) up against a supposedly inferior O line, only actually sacked the Jets QB a couple of times. Chasing Wilson out of the pocket was not good enough. No excuses for the Bills inability to stop Wilson.

I really don't think so. Daboll's ability as a HC is still in question. He's a great OC though, and the Bills certainly miss him.

Zach Wilson had one really bad pass, and Milano intercepted it. But Wilson had lots of really good fastballs on target. I am not anticipating the Jets falling apart without Rodgers. Their D is simply outstanding. And considering how good that Jets D is, the Bills offense did quite well at least in the first half.

Time and again, Edmunds would attack the line, and go into the wrong gap, leaving the middle of the field open and leaving it up to the safeties to prevent a big play. When he wasn't attacking, what he could do well was eat up space. He was huge and fast, and he could cut off big runs before they got big.

I don't think I heard Micah Hyde's name called all night, and Poyer was usually trailing the ball carrier so we got a good look at the back of his jersey. But the problem was bad gap choices by the MLB and safeties on run support. Shades of Edmunds...