Stranded in Boston

Great memories of that game, NoHuddle! I saw that game at the old Bills fan club at the Fours Bar in Boston. It was so crowded with Bills fans that I (and my unhappy, non-Buffalonian "date") were smashed up against the front plate-glass window. When Don Beebe scored his third (or fourth touchdown), the place exploded so loudly I swear that window buckled. I thought we were going to end up on the street in a pile of glass. I don't think I saw that girl again ...

I hear you, arcane, but I'm a little less worried. Bills' defense could have been stouter, but you also have to tip your cap to ol' Fitz. He made some sick throws, including absolute darts into tight coverage. And that kid Gesicki is really tough ... There will be some ragging on Levi Wallace this week, but he had very tight coverage on almost all those contested receptions.

Oh yeah, BBinATL, I loved Diggs' block on Smoke's flanker-screen TD. You could see the safety wanted nothing to do with it after Diggs popped him. It was also remarkable to see Diggs directing Josh on a few throws off scrambles, as you pointed out. In my half century of watching football, I've seen many receivers wave for the ball, but I don't think I ever saw a receiver point to *another* open teammate! Heady stuff by Diggs ...

I hear ya, Rc. One of my favorite Bills plays ever was when Woods took out two DBs with one vicious block, allowing Tyrod to stroll into the end zone (was it against Tennessee?). Woods didn't put up gaudy numbers here, but the kid went hard to every whistle. It's been nice to see him have a successful career in LA.

Damn right, Dr D! The Majik Man was spectacular in '89, before he got hurt. What a competitor! But the poor guy never really recovered from that torn rotator cuff, which happened on a blatant cheap-shot ... You just gotta love Buffalo's contribution to NFL quarterbacking -- "Jaworski" and "Majkowski". I mean, can you get any more Buffalo than that? 😃 (Oh yeah, also Chad Kelly. 😑 )

Ciao Giuseppe! Actually it's sometimes a sign that your team is pretty good! Younger guys on the board here might not remember, but back in the early 90s, our first picks didn't see a lot of playing time their first season -- Henry Jones and John Fina spring to mind.

I think I gotta go with Jim Plunkett for ultimate comeback QB, AlphaDawg. A Heisman winner at Stanford, Plunkett was picked first overall pick in the draft by New England, only to fade out after a few seasons. He was traded to 49ers and waived a year or two later. Picked up off the street by Raiders as a 3rd stringer, he became the starter during the 1980 season, 9 years after he was first drafted. He then started 6-7 seasons and won two Super Bowls, one as MVP. He's still sometimes mentioned as a hall-of-fame candidate.

Thanks a lot, Hapless; refreshing to see some real science here. I know you asked for no more Covid-19 posts, but your message is important, and I'd like to back you up. Politics and sports aside, Sars-CoV2 is very real and very deadly, especially to the elderly and others with weakened immune systems or serious pre-existing conditions. We all know someone with such a condition. I had an internist (and old friend) from Buffalo General Hospital present (remotely) to my medical school class a few weeks ago, and she was fairly shell-shocked with what she had seen and dealt with in clinic. Things have also been rough here in Boston-area hospitals. Sars-CoV2 is absolutely NOT a "common cold" virus. This is unambiguous: Hapless explained nicely how RNA viruses (including Covid variants) can be precisely "fingerprinted" using reverse transcriptase polymerase-chain reaction (RT-PCR; look up on Wikipedia if interested; actually quite a simple idea). So I want to echo Hapless' appeal to please not spread misinformation! If you think you have some hot take, then please share your peer-reviewed journal citation, and maybe also your scientific/medical credentials. (And yes, for what it's worth, I am a bona fide medical researcher -- and I expect Hapless is as well.)

Hey Kirby, I like Knox a lot, but that kid Gesicki for Miami is really tough. Hopefully Dawson catches up to him soon!

"Thanks" for the memories Chander#81! I forgot about that Playgirl gig, LOL. But what a great player. Folks might forget that there were a few *especially* grim years in Bills history (76-77) -- truly the dark ages -- when we found out, for example, why Gary Marangi was a *backup* QB. Bobby Chandler was practically the Bills entire offense those seasons. He could be double, tripled covered and come up with the ball. Such precise route running, and those incredible hands.

LOL ... right on. I remember one game when Ken Jones was a rookie (against Jets?) where he had three holding calls. The next day the Buffalo Evening News Sports Page had a little picture of Jones with the caption "the goat". But he ended up having a solid 10+ year career with the Bills. Also, did you also catch the Offside call on Fred Smerlas at the end of the first half? At least he jumped off on that play. Usually he'd get the "lined up in the neutral zone" call -- while lined up directly over the center! It used to drive me and my brothers crazy. And then he'd just stand there with that dumb look on his face, pointing that big ol' grizzly bear arm of his towards the offensive line, waiting for the refs to sort it out ... Good times, man. edit: Smerlas jumped Offside TWICE in that same drive! ?

Yeah, Butler was just fantastic -- smooth, fast, strong, crafty and great hands. With him and Cribbs, we thought the Bills were set on offense for years to come. Then Butler blew out his knee, and Cribbs flew the coop. ?

What a game ... But that Bobby Humphrey was a real mystery. The Bills had no answer for him . He looked like a future Hall of Famer his first couple seasons, but then maybe he held out(?), and after just sort of disappeared. But I also recall he was on the Bills preseason roster some seasons later.

I've read Shaughnessy's stuff for 35 years since I moved from Buffalo to Boston. He's a decent baseball writer, but doesn't know jack about football. I think he must have been drinking when he wrote that. For what it's worth, I've been wearing my Bills hat for my daily quarantine walks here -- along with my amazing new Bills Zubaz mask that an old friend from back home just sewed for me! -- and if the locals comment at all, they're saying, "Bills are looking good this year"; "Bills are going to win AFC East with Brady gone", etc. The tide is turning ...

Call me a homer, but my all-time favorite juke move was by Jerry Butler against the Colts back in 1981. Chandler#81 posted this video a few weeks ago (thanks Chief!), and I saw the play again for the first time since, well, 1981, I imagine! Check out around the 5:00 mark. Such a shame Butler blew out his knee so early in his career... what a receiver.

I just watched a Dane Jackson highlight reel. I don't think it included a single PD -- but man, can this kid tackle, or what! OK, it was highlights, but every tackle in the reel was picture-perfect, wrapping up legs, even in open field. Reminds me of Antoine Winfield in that respect. He should make a good special teams cover guy, if nothing else.

Just woke up, saw this pick, and checked out his highlight video. Wow, the kid is a bowling ball. It's gonna be a fun 1-2 next year with Motor. And as an older fan, I do appreciate Moss' Thurmon-Thomas-style, been-there-before, just-flip-the-damn-ball-to-the-ref whenever he he scores a TD ...

Wow, Donald Wilson ... I almost forgot about that guy. He may have been the hardest-hitting defender I've ever seen on the Bills (with Lucius Sanford a close second -- mind you, I wasn't quite old enough to see Mike Stratton play in his prime). Didn't Wilson break his face-mask on a hit in '84 or '85? I dimly recall that he and his receiver victim were both knocked out cold on that play (yeah -- not so cool anymore). ah, and a Rod Kush sighting. Another big hitter.

Ah, thanks for that, Chandler! As a young Bills fan who suffered through the grim 1970s, those two seasons were electrifying! That team was set up by Stew Barber & Chuck Knox's spectacular 1979 draft, maybe the team's best ever. #1 pick Tom (%$#@) Cousineau jumped ship (although ultimately yielded the draft pick that netted Jim Kelly) -- but the next THREE guys chosen -- Jerry Butler, Fred Smerlas and Jim Haslett -- were pro bowlers. The Bills also nabbed free safety Jeff Nixon in the 4th round, who was an interception machine until he blew out his knee. The next year they picked up two more pro-bowlers, Jim Ritcher and Joe Cribbs. Ritcher was a stud for years, and Cribbs was the arguably the league's best offensive dual-threat for a few years. Good times, man! ?

Good point, Stank. I think people forget that when your team is good (like we finally are!), lower-round players have much less impact, and even have difficulty making the team. Case in point: I can't remember a lot of 5th/6th round players making much impact on the great early-1990s Bills teams. If a team is generally set at most positions, low-round picks just don't factor as much. And if Diggs pays off this year, that 4th rounder next years will also look trivial ...

Well, not to get all lawyerly on you, but the 75% figure is justified under my phrasing "led to" HOFers. ? But even 50% is good: I just reviewed a history of the draft, and only 12 first-overall picks have become HOFers since *1936*, more than 80 drafts (that's <15% HOF rate -- but check my math ?). So the Bills have been good/lucky with their first overalls. (And yes, if you're wondering, I am getting a little bored confined to home in Boston ...)

SoTier, your post made me realize that the Bills have actually done pretty well when they've had the top pick. To start, both OJ and Bruce are Hall of Famers -- and could be argued to be the best ever at their positions. The Cousineau business was frustrating, but trading him to Cleveland did net the #14 pick in the '83 draft, which produced Jim Kelly, another HOFer. So one could argue that 75% (3/4) of the Bills first-overall picks led to HOFers (I wonder what the overall % is for first picks among all drafts?)

Ah, all this Bob McAdoo chatter really warms my heart! To the youngins' out there, in the mid-70s Big Mac averaged 30+ points and ~15 rebounds per game for 3 straight seasons ... I tell my NBA-crazed teen boys all the time that McAdoo was Giannis before there was Giannis. And I loved the bent-knee jumper pic -- with Ernie D lurking in the background!

The other thing that's odd is that the back judge in the end zone clearly was aware of the wording of the touchback rule: he did not blow his whistle or signal, and he jumped aside when the returner flipped the ball to him. If the back judge knew the explicit rule, why the hell did he let himself be overruled by the sideline officials, who evidently did NOT know the wording of the rule?

Indeed, I checked the wording of the touchback rule after the game, and JF is dead right: if the the returner catches the ball he must either lie down or take a knee for a touchback. The rule book says nothing about extending your arms for a touchback. Of course, nobody would argue with the "common sense" interpretation that the return man "intended" a touchback (and maybe they'll update the touchback rules in response to this incident). But if the officials can apply common sense to interpret intent as they wish, shouldn't they likewise exercise common sense in interpreting Cody Ford's wholly benign "crack-back" block in OT? The crack-back rule was intended to prevent injurious blindside hits on defensive players; Ford barely knocked the guy off stride. Sorry, but if the officials insist on following the exact letter of the rule against Ford, they must follow the exact letter of the touchback rule as well. The rule is not ambiguous.