Livinginthepast

2009 season one of the most satisfying games I have ever watched!!

a Fake reverse results in huge yardage. The Champs do it but we weren't capable of that complex play last week or ever with TT and Rico?

This just reminds me of why the Falcons lost the SB . Bad coaching, bad play calling, dumb play calling. That last series of downs 1st and goal was abysmal. Did they even disguise the last play was a pass?? and then the play gets blown up within the first 2 seconds and it resembles a touch football game after a few beers and your QB has run out of steamboats. I just cannot believe that was the play call. Your season is on the line and you call that low % pass?? Should have called something like the 2nd Georgia TD run play from the national championship game and kept the defense guessing but noooooo.

When I watched the Falcons meltdown last year in the SB I thought a bit of the psychology of losing like that and thought about the Bills and wide right. Arguably the Falcons collapse was much worse but it could be said that the Bills losing to the the Giants was ultimately a bigger upset overall. Its an interesting question to whether teams that experience such a devastating loss can ever truly recover. Part of me is pulling for the Falcons to show that you can overcome your failings. The Bills never could in those 4 SBs and it still haunts' me that but for one missed FG it might have been so different.

Not that one, it was like Foles threw up a beach ball!!

Possibly the worst attempted INT I have ever seen, I could have caught that, my 8 year old could have caught that, my dog could have caught that.

I think that Manziel has a chance in the CFL to find a Flutie like redemption but the big IF here is whether his attitude has changed. Has that huge ego been taken down a notch after not playing for 2 years and nobody in the NFL showing the slightest interest? Unlike Flutie, Manziel is his own worst enemy and his complete lack of self discipline/ dbaggery is just a few drinks away. If he hasn't grown out of this tendency then sooner or later the bad Manziel will return. If this happens he will find the CFL beneath him and too "minor league" for his lofty talent and the resulting implosion/explosion will be spectacular. Now if by some miracle the last 2 years have chastened Johnny Football and he now sees the error of his ways, he could do really well in the CFL. The big field, pass happy offenses and defensive linemen that are more normal sized humans will all do wonders for his style of QB. Should be interesting to watch either way.

I agree, but the next few moves, TT's future, draft and OC hire are absolutely crucial. It was a great year but lets keep making good decisions and not slip up!!

Wow its nice to see some common sense prevail at 1BD in regards to Dennison. Yes TT is not up to snuff but neither was Dennison. He needed to be fired. I'm glad they held him accountable for some of the bad decisions and the Offense's regression. I am relieved that all the talk that Dennison might be retained is over. Too many times in the last 20 years the Bills have made totally inane decisions on coach hires, on players, on drafting on playcalling and the people responsible are allowed to keep their jobs only to continue unsurprisingly, to make the same bad decisions. Only then are they fired after even more damage is done. Now at least McD has chance to start fresh. Lets get an innovative coordinator who accentuates the offensive players strengths and skills and can think on his feet!!

Yeah I'm sure the experience of being in London during the Bills Jags game was pretty cool but that was probably being in London that was 95% of that. I have probably been to London about 6 X in my life and its an incredible experience. The Bills Jags game like a lot of the London games was a train wreck. These games maybe great to attend but the way the game plays out has a gimmicky exhibition game type feel. As a fan watching on TV for whatever team is playing I think the games have been crap. All the real games in an NFL season should be played on American soil...period!! As for where the Jags play I could care less, not sure why this was included in your post?

The one player that I really regret the Bills not signing was Drew Brees. After the 2005 season we should have offered him a huge contract and got him here. I remember thinking at the time that he would be a great fit here and then he goes to the Saints. Looking back, how in the hell do the Bills stand pat with Kelly Holcomb and JP Losman when Brees was there for the taking. Brees had some shoulder issues but overrated blowhard Donahoe should have had at least the brainpower to see a stud QB when it was right in front of him. Did Ralph get cheap?? They had just come off a really pathetic season in 2005 as well. Still makes me mad thinking of the missed opportunity. The drought would have been over after 6 seasons had we got him, instead it was another decade on ineptitude!!

The London games are as lame as the Bills in Toronto series..... well maybe not quite that Lame, but pretty stupid.

Hate the Patriots, it will take a long time for that to go away, even after Brady is gone. Miami was #1 but now they are so irrelevant I don't think they really matter at all. I don't think I have hated a franchise more in sports than the Pats. No dynasty has ever perpetuated as long as this Patriots team. The Islanders in the early 80s, the Steelers of the late 70s, the Cowboys of the 90s were all "evil" empires but 5-7 years was the absolute most they lasted. This Patriots juggernaut has been defying all the logic of sport in the past 17 years!! I actually don't really like any teams other than the Bills though as a kid I loved the Houston Oilers back in the Bum Phillips / Earl Campbell days. loved the jersey as well.

I agree, to me this season its been BOTH TT and Rico that have been poor for all the reasons you have brought up. In addition, I think TT has just regressed as a QB. He made a lot of bad decisions this year (esp with taking bad sacks) that you didn't see in the previous 2 years. His passing game went backwards as well. Finally he seemed to lose that elusiveness he had in year 1 under Rex. But Dennison really must be oblivious not to see this and adjust his offense. He never did right down to the last series in the last game. This shows me Dennison is either dumb or arrogant. In any case I don't think TT is salvageable, we have seen his ceiling. Dennison is just not up to it either and needs to be gone. Bring in some young guy who can innovate this offense and use the people we have on the field!!

I completely disagree with you on that point. I saw some dynamic formations and plays last night that most NFL teams are afraid to try. Its almost like the innovations on offense are all in college football. The NFL just dismisses this stuff as "gadget plays" but to me they look a lot like Ted Marchibroda's offense of early 90s. The running play on the Bulldogs 2nd TD was executed perfectly and all I could think of was why didn't the Bills do something like that on the goal line vs Jacksonville??!!. I would say that college football is where coaches have the guts to try new things. The NFL is where outdated ideas live and innovations come to die! You are completely correct about the rest of the post. The entertainment value in the NCAA is when mistakes blow open the game. Last night was chock full of that much to the improvement of the game. The kicking of FGs was especially hilarious. The Alabama kicker looked like a guy they pulled out of the audience on that last second kick.

I was really impressed with Woods just in that game on Saturday. He looked like the stud receiver that we wanted Watkins to be. Over and over again unfortunately it comes back to TT as the weakest link. He just cannot get the ball to the WRs and if anything this year it got worse.

I think if Peterman wins us that game by tying it and sending it to overtime, he starts vs NE. Yesterday was top 5 for TT's worse performance in a Bills uniform. The stakes were high and TT played horribly and he just didn't seem too fazed by that. I dont think McD could have endured yet another inept TT performance after that . That had to be the final nail in the TT coffin. I had given up all hope of the Bills pulling it out on that last drive. When TT got injured I got a glimmer of hope back. My deluded illogical self thought maybe the Jags wouldn't be ready for the shock of a different type of passer and guys would get open and at least something positive would happen. Alas it didn't. It would have made for a really interesting week of discussion on here though!!

I thought yesterday was a snowball of poor play from the Bills receivers with all the drops and the just short routes and some really stupid penalties. To add to this TT was awful at passing but also poor running in some situations. Its like almost the entire offensive team just choked when it mattered the most. Its like the nerves and pressure just ate them alive. Shady was the only guy that excelled and with a bum ankle no less. I think TT, KB and bunch of the other Bills are carrying a lot of injuries that seriously compromised their effectiveness and we were not told about.

I have no problem getting stuffed 3 times on runs and kicking a FG, What happened with Benjamin was the worse case scenario and probably much lower % of working than a sneak or a run. But who needs analytics apparently.

The shot of the Jags D on the bench after the FG was pretty telling. They looked exhausted. They would have been ripe for run up the gut. Not to mention they had just got the Bills off the field and then had the gut punch penalty. They were probably pretty deflated. We should have punched it in with Tolbert or better yet sneaked it with TT. Why is it that Brady (the most important QB ever) is OK with sneaking the ball and is very successful but the rest of the NFL is too scared to risk their QB getting pounded in the pile? Hell if TT was too scared or fragile, sneak Mighty Joe Webb and make the Jags stop you. Instead this was the play of the game and swung momentum right back to the Jags. If we score a TD there the Jags D is tired and frustrated. Instead we give them a boost with a really bad playcall. Just like the days of Kevin Gilbride.

Roman had some decent scripted plays but he also didn't call plays to TT's strengths. He also tended to go off script and be stupid. That being said he was better than Dennison who you could defeat quite easily at chess it would seem. Actually I think you defeat Dennison at tic tac toe easily as well.

Peterman looks like a QB who telegraphs his throws too much thus giving the Dbs time to step in front and intercept. That happened in the SD game. Yesterday's INT looked similar. I think he does have the arm strength though but if he gives away his intentions so easily that doesn't matter. Felt bad for him yesterday. Imagine the pressure of being thrust into that situation, 1 min left in the game, 4th down and you have to produce a TD or end of the season against a very tough defense. Probably the most difficult high pressure first playoff appearance ever.

I'm with you on the Saints, or maybe redemption for the Falcons?. The Falcons looked surprisingly good on Saturday night. I cannot see anyone stopping the Pats before the SB. The only possible way NE loses is to the Steelers and that wont happen at home. But yes anyone but NE.

So you don't even try?? You've obviously not watched too many Jags games this year, he's a much better runner than passer. Somehow in their prep for Bortles last week the Bills didn't clue into what Lebeau and the Titans did to him last Sunday. They forced him to pass and prevented him from running. The result? 15/34 no TDs and 2 INTS

I cannot believe how painful the Bills offense was today. Possibly one of the most inept Bills offensive performances ever and probably the worst in a playoff game I can remember. Imagine had Shady not played !! He had 119 yards of offense. What I don't understand is that 30 years after the K gun even with stronger faster players and so much analytics, our offensive game plan looks like it was designed in the 1950s. To me its a combination of mediocre at best QB combined with an O coordinator who doesn't play to his QB's few strengths and then plays a really bad chess match with his playcalls. Absolutely putrid today and there is NO excuse for it with the resources available.