hondo in seattle

Realistically Brady is probably the Most Valuable Player. But I voted with Yolo's logic.

Didn't realize Milt was still around.

Kyle. Watching Shady play, it's hard not to say he's the Bills most talented player. But we didn't win because of talent. We won because of grit, determination, and teamwork. I think Kyle added more of those qualities to the 2017 Bills than anyone else. His pre-game and halftime speeches - and personal example - tipped this team from just another middling squad to a playoff contender.

I'm not sure how confident I am about this weekend... or next season. But the curse is over. That's all that really matters right now.

A lot of those stats have to do with situational football. When the backup RB is in the game in a passing situation and gets the ball, there's a good chance the D isn't focused on stopping the run. Just watch Shady play. He'll often get yards that another back wouldn't have gotten given the same opportunity. Defenses scheme for Shady. They have to account for him on every play. We become a much simpler offense to stop when Shady's not suited up.

All very true. Yet the guy seemed to have a skill set that was hard to utilize. Only Chan got much use out of him. I feel bad by the guy. He went from that great season to a guy on the bubble who gets cut and signed by the same time 3 or 4 times.

My Sunday Ticket feed malfunctioned right before the play. So I quickly went to NFL.com to see what was going on - and started yelling in celebration! My wife and daughter kept asking what happened. But I wouldn't answer because, well, we're snake-bitten Bills fans and a lot can go wrong in a half of a minute. I didn't want to say anything that could jinx these next few moments. I was as quiet as a Trappist monk until the clock ran down to zero seconds. Then I jumped up and yelled some more.

There are a lot of playoff virgins on this team. Excited for them all.

That's exactly what impresses me. We got rid of some of our biggest stars (Sammy, Darby, MD), signed some no-names, and got into the playoffs. I'm not sure what kind of roster Beane will build over the years. But today's roster is weak. Yet we're in the playoffs. McD must be doing something right.

John, I see no sign that anyone's going to change their opinion of Tyrod no matter what happens. So can we all just cut and paste our Tyrod opinions from the hundred other Tyrod threads?

They seem to hate their DC but at least they threw a few well-wishes our way.

Desert Raven Regular 1st Stringer Join Date Oct 2017 Location Las Vegas Posts 921 Re: Game Thread Bengals @ Ravens 12/31 Reg Season Finale partlycloudy Pro Bowl Poster Join Date Dec 2013 Posts 1,751 Re: Game Thread Bengals @ Ravens 12/31 Reg Season Finale Ravenswintitle Legendary RSR Poster Join Date Jun 2011 Location over by the dental floss bush Posts 30,518 Blog Entries 1 Re: Game Thread Bengals @ Ravens 12/31 Reg Season Finale

On the one hand, I predicted a 9-7 record at the beginning of the season. I could gloat a bit. On the other hand, I publicly gave up on the playoffs after the first Pats defeat. Shame on me & pass the salt.

The offensive and defensive rankings say the Jags are a much better team. But they won only 1 more game than us - against an easier lineup of opponents. This could be a close, exciting game.

I'm not sure this invalidates my point but it is interesting we keep finishing with positive differentials despite changes in scheme and personnel.

I acknowledge your point. It's a valid one. Rico didn't build an offense around TT's skill set and Tyrod's rarely had a good group of receivers running routes for him. On the other hand, Tyrod sometimes holds the ball too long, sometimes misses wide open guys, and sometimes just doesn't see wide open guys. He has his own shortcomings that go beyond Rico and the receiving corps. My position is that Tyrod remain the QB until we find someone better. And we should actively be looking (in the draft, especially) for someone better. The Pats drafted Brady when they still had Bledsoe. The Chargers drafted Rivers when they still had Brees. The 49ers acquired Young when they still had Montana. However much you may think of Tyrod, I still think you look for someone better. But Tyrod remains our pivot man until that guy is found. While we could do better than Tyrod, we could do far worse as Bills history shows.

While I don't like to be Grinch-like and am, in fact, super enthused right now, I feel like I should mention something that concerns me. Someone (PFF?) once did an analysis that determined that turnover differential is a stat that doesn't typically sustain from year to year. Teams that are statistically good (or bad) on offense or defense are likely to be good (or bad) the following year. Turnover differential, on the other hand, seems to go up and down almost randomly from season to season. If we want to continue earning playoff berths, we're going to have to become proficient at something less fickle than turnovers.

The stats don't paint a pretty picture. And stats say we'll lose next week. Both the Jags O and D put up good numbers this year. The Bills, on the other hand, ranked in the bottom half of the league in both offense and defense. We're lucky to even be invited to the dance. Then again, here are some other interesting stats. The Bills finished with 9 wins, the Jaguars with 10. In terms of the most important stat of all, there's not much to tell the two teams apart. Furthermore, the only team we lost to over the last 6 weeks was the Pats - the best team in the league. The Jags lost their last two games. The stats say the Jags have the better roster on both sides of the ball. Other data suggests the Bills have the edge in heart and teamwork. This game could be close. (Btw, does anyone know how did the Bills do in Toxic Differential?)

I'm supposed to be working from home today. But I find myself watching these videos over and over. My wife can't understand my need to watch some videos more than once, or why my cheeks get moist when I watch Kyle hug his kids.

I live far, far from Buffalo so I couldn't celebrate the playoff berth with friends & family. Instead I searched the web to luxuriate in this generational event. One of my favorite articles was this - the most popular article in USA Today's sports section this morning: 9 Videos of Bills Fans Completely Losing It... http://ftw.usatoday.com/2018/01/buffalo-bills-nfl-playoffs-fans-celebrate-cincinnati-bengals-toucdown-tyler-boyd-videos

The only thing I knew about Vlad when he came here was from the negative reports from posters here. I tried to balance that against the good opinion the coaching staff must have had of him if they brought him over - and I still ended up with low expectations. He's been better than those expectations. I haven't been stressed to see him on the field this past month or so.

I yelled like a wild man while my family looked on in happy bemusement. Then I simply refused to talk. There were seconds left on the clock and I didn't want to jinx anything. We're Bills fans, after all.

It's funny. The Bills O is not good. The Bills D is not good. In fact, the overall roster isn't very good. And yet here we are!

Kyle Williams - of all people - scores the winning TD in the game that launches the Bills to their first playoff appearance in his 12 years!!!

That was my first thought, too. But since "The Drought" didn't like it, how about MISSION ACCOMPLISHED