hondo in seattle

I've been looking for raven meat in exotic grocery stores. Buffalo style raven wings would be perfect.

Great history! Let's add some more. In 1920, the first year of the NFL (called the APFA back then), Buffalo had a 9-1-1 record. Akron had an 8-0-3 record. There were no playoffs back then. The team with the best record would be named champions. Both Akron and Buffalo had a .864 record. When they played head-to-head, they tied. There was no clearcut champion. In Buffalo, we felt we were deserving of the title because we pummeled people. The only blemish on our record was a 3-0 loss to the Jim Thorpe led Canton Bulldogs. Otherwise, we outscored our opponents 258-29. When we tied Akron, we had played the Bulldogs in New York City just the day before and took a train to play Akron in the winter of Buffalo. The team was sore and exhausted, and Akron still couldn't beat us. An NFL meeting was held on April 30th of 1921. The President of the NFL (Thorpe) and VP didn't attend. Some teams didn't send reps and it's unclear if Buffalo did. It was a small meeting. The NFL secretary-general, Art Ramney (co-owner of the Akron Pros) ran the affair. He decided to put the championship to a vote among the people who did show up, presumably because he had done some pre-meeting politicking and knew he had the requisite support. We weren't outplayed on the field, we were outmaneuvered politically. The Akron Pros received a trophy Ramney had already commissioned. The NFL has a history of screwing us. ww.footballresearch.com/articles/frpage_topic_1921b.html

I would have been against the "Buffalo Bills" moniker if I had been around back then. Why name a football team after a cowboy showman? Makes no sense.

Sad to say, I believe the Ravens have the better roster. If they play their very best game and we play our very best game, they win. But football doesn't always work that way. If they have a good day and we play poorly, they won't just win, they'll blow us out like they did in Week Four. But I don't think that will happen either. I think the cold will affect Lamar and that a healthy Bills team, on the other hand, will execute well in front of the home crowd. The Ravens won't play poorly - but they will lose... Bills 30 Raven 27

I absolutely believe Josh is a SB level QB and if you surround him with the right talent and give him a superior coaching staff, he wins multiple Lombardis. On the roster side, I don't think Beane has yet surrounded Josh with elite talent. In the playoffs, I worry about the receiving corps, defensive line, defensive secondary, and kicker. I don't think they're good enough. We'll see. On the coaching side, I think McD is one of the better coaches in the league but not the very best. I think one area where he's struggled with is coordinators. On the defensive side, something happened with Frazier - whatever that was - and then McD tried to wear two hats which was probably a mistake. On the offensive side, Rick Dennison wasn't good. Daboll wasn't the best at the run game. Ken Dorsey had issues. It's taken a while for McD to hit gold with Brady. Going forward, the only coaching I somewhat worry about is ST.

Let's agree to disagree. I think the folks who think poorly of McD tend to overrate our roster. I don't think we've ever had the best roster in the league, or even close to it when you considered the actual roster we fielded considering injuries. So I'm convinced we wouldn't have won multiple Lombardis with other coaches. But it's okay that you believe that. I think people underestimate McD's regimen and process in preparing the team, the teamwork, unity, camaraderie he builds, the effort he inspires, and the strength of his defensive schemes. His one glaring weakness has been finding the right OC but he seems to have solved that.

Shoot, you're right. You can. But I don't. I think McD and Josh are the two people most responsible for the recent success of the Bills. Every year they give a chance to win it all. Our lottery numbers haven't come yet but we wouldn't even have tickets if not for these two.

There are some really bright folks on this list. And a few who's opinions I don't trust. And a few I don't know.

I both agree and disagree. McD has one of the highest winning percentages in NFL history and you can't say it's all Josh. The NFL has been around 100+ years and a lot of coaches have been blessed with impactful players, yet only an elite few have won a higher percentage of games. Putting both McD and Beane on the hot seat isn't the right path, IMHO. This tandem has been very good. But if you do fire either one, figure out who deserves the least credit for the wins and the most blame for the lack of SBs. Personally, I think Beane is the least excellent of the two. I don't think there's been a season yet, this one included, when we've had the best roster in the league. So why expect McD to earn us a Lombardi when he's going up against teams with better rosters? But I also think this: (A) there are no certainties in football, only probabilities, and (2) Lady Luck has a lot to say and the best team doesn't always win. Beane and McD earn us a ticket to the dance every year. I'm thankful for that. To tilt the probabilities in our favor, I hope they both get a bit better at their jobs. But I wouldn't advocate firing either because I think the probability in that case is that we get worse.

I've made one bet in my life - not including non-cash bets with friends. Many years ago, I thought the Bills line was shockingly wrong so I bet on the Bills. I lost and learned my lesson. On another occasion, I had to wear a Seahawks jersey all day because of a lost bet. That sucked too.

5:50 "The hit heard around the world." One of the most famous tackles in Bills lore. Keith Lincoln was a league MVP that year and had already scored an early TD. Stratton broke his ribs and took him out of the game. Back in 1990, ESPN rated this the greatest hit in NFL history. Correction: It's at 28:00 in the first vid, 5:50 in the second.

Do all teams say, "Love you," as much as the Bills? Is that a big thing now? When I played high school ball we never said "Love you," though we did pat each other on the butts all the time so there is that.

The Ravens have the best offense in the league. And since the bye, they've had the best defense as well. Their QB is a dual threat two-time MVP and first-team All Pro. Their RB is a beast (and the Bills don't have the personnel to shut down a good powerback). Their receivers lead the league in separation. Their OL is composed of 300 lb animals. They have 9 Pro Bowl and 6 All Pro players. It might be the most talented roster in the league - certainly more talented in the Bills. We ought to lose this game. But I believe Josh and McD, combined, give us a chance.

Interesting, but not surprising, that Josh has the highest scramble rate in the league.

Bigger than Watson? Bigger than Ditka trading away his entire draft?

Sure, you make a good point. But often you can read between the lines. Players who don't like their coaches either don't mention them or damn them with faint praise. There have been a few times I felt players may have damned our coaches, including McD, with faint praise. But there have been many other times when they've gone out of their way to praise their coaches. And former players like Eric Wood (not anonymous guys as in in the Dunne article) seem to respect McD and say things like, "McDermott always leads" and "The team has his back." And of course the Bills players, in the last NFLPA survey, gave McD a grade of "A." Put it all together and it seems the players respect McD more than the fans do.

It's interesting to me that players seem to have a higher opinion of McD and the coaching staff than fans do. The camaraderie they talk about, the preparation, the unity, the resilience... it all comes from the coaches.

I'm asking these questions not to argue but because I respect your knowledge... And I agree that we have mostly non-separators. But couldn't a better passing game coordinator find ways to get guys open anyway especially considering we face more zone than man defense? And, btw, I'm not anti-Brady. After an inconsistent start, he really found a groove. He effectively passed the ball against teams that were weak against the pass and ran the ball against teams that were weak against the run. But even good OCs have weaknesses. People in NE said Daboll's weakness before he came here was the run game. To a casual observer like me, Brady's weakness seems to be the mid and deep passing game. Though I do question myself because I know our receiver corps has shortcomings too.

I get what you're saying but this isn't exactly true. During the regular season, we passed 51.6% of the time and ran 48.4% of the time. It's also important to remember we averaged 228 yards per game passing against 131 yards rushing this season. In other words, passing is still more important to the Bills than rushing which makes sense when it's a "passing league" and your most talented player is your QB. I think McD saw that teams were selling out to stop Josh so he hired Kromer, asked Beane for some help on the OL, and tasked Brady with building a better run game.

I don't know. If the vote is public, it's hard to vote against your friend.

GB, let me ask a question because I don't watch a lot of replay but I watch some. And what I see in the passing game is that our TEs and RBs get open a fair amount. Maybe even our slot guy(s). But not our wideouts. This is backed up by advanced metrics that say our receivers are below the league average in separation. You could argue that our wideouts just aren't very good. Or you could argue, like I do, that Brady doesn't excel at scheming wideouts open. You could also argue that I'm just wrong in my observations & assumptions and that the stats that say our wideouts aren't getting separation are inaccurate. What's your take on this?

For Brady to leave, two things must happen. 1. A team with an opening thinks he's the right guy. 2. Brady thinks the team that offers him a job, if any, is the right opportunity. With lots of competition and only six openings, it seems unlikely both #1 and #2 will happen this year.

Brady, without any elite players at skilled positions other than QB, puts a lot of points on the board. I think he's an excellent OC. But, at the same time, I don't think he's the best at scheming routes that get outside receivers open.

Maybe not elite but not a jag either. He'd be a loss if we let him walk.

I noticed this too. It's like he stopped being a player and went into fan mode.