ThurmasThoman

Minutes before Tiger teed off in the US Open in 2008, he said he got a piece of putting advice on the practice green that changed his outlook on putting and catapulted him to the win. Every QB holds the ball, sets his feet, turns his hip, releases and follows through slightly differently, by millimeters. Romo shared what he did, Josh tried it and it felt comfortable. Jim Kelly told him at one point too, and Palmer, and Barkley, and Darnold, and every other QB he's close with. It's his coach's job to record that Josh has changed what he's doing, and how. If things come off the rails, they can revisit these changes and discuss if it was worth it, or if they are contributing to a mechanical fault that may not have shown up in shorts, but doesn't lend itself to game action. Coaches aren't guru's, they're acountability buddies that hold you to a schedule, a routine, and a path that they are continuously revising based on your input and the input of other coaches. Results matter.

Thank you, this was the defining moment for me as well. If I'm being honest with myself, my mind knew he wasn't the man for the job the previous season--there was a game against the Bengals that I hold on to nearly a decade later. Buf was 3-0, and had hung some points on the Chiefs, Pats and Raiders in successive weeks, Cincy limped in at 1-2. It was a pathetic showing by the offense all day, made all the worse by a non-call at the end that seemed to somehow absolve everyone of their performance. Dreary, rainy day when I realized: same. old. Bills. They rebounded nicely and beat the Eagles, but the wheels were loose. In my heart, I talked myself into the next season. Signing Mario was an added bonus. I wanted to think we had a chance at the division. My god what an egg Fitz laid week 1. The Super Bowls, the playoff gut punches, the misery... for some reason, that damn opener against the Jets sticks out in my mind as one of my lowest moments as a fan. There was enough success the year before (barely), and enough talent added in the offseason (barely), and enough of a reason why the hot finish to 2010 and hot start to 2011 seemed like the rule instead of the exception, that I was looking forward to that opener for MONTHS. Yeah, there was a pick 6 in there, it was over from the start. That really made me cynical to the team. Crazy that was 8 years ago, feels like yesterday. Life goes fast.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_buffalo_Buffalo_buffalo_buffalo_buffalo_Buffalo_buffalo Buffalo?

I don't mean to temper expectations, because I basically predict a championship every year, but this season feels like a total crapshoot to me: like it could be Colts/Falcons in the Super Bowl. There are SO many variables impacting the season that we've never really seen before. Off the top of my head: Who's going to come in out of shape? (to be honest... Josh Allen looks slightly beefy in the videos I've seen. He's trending more towards a Big Ben build than a Cam Newton build. That might not be a bad thing, but...) Which rookies are going to struggle learning the schemes? Which veteran acquisitions are going to struggle learning the schemes? Will injuries impact teams more because guys are out of shape? How will road games and new travel/hotel requirements affect teams? What if there is a layoff at some point during the season? Remember AB's helmet fiasco? Call him crazy if you want, but these guys have turned their bodies into multi-million dollar machines. The slightest changes have impacts. How will having a face mask grafted into their visor impact their play? How are guys doing mentally? Who's scared of this virus? Who doesn't want to play? Who doesn't want to be around their team mates? Who's going to complain to the NFLPA that they want to meet remotely instead of in person? Which veterans that are at the end of their career are thinking "is this worth it" and might not risk playing through injuries like they once might have? Which coaches are going to reduce their hours because their wives are begging them to stay home and be safe? What happens with no crowd noise and home fields impacting the refs? Do night games become more of a hassle without the atmosphere? Does it work against Buffalo to have so many this year? I'm sure this has been discussed somewhere else ad nauseam, but I think prognosticating on this season is a futile effort. I'd love to see the Bills do well, and I think they have a great team, but.. BUT... if for some reason they go 6-10 and Miami wins the division... I'm definitely NOT going to be in the "Josh isn't the guy/McDermott needs to be ***** canned" camp. I think whatever happens this year, is pretty well exclusive to this year. It's a season in isolation.

Eh, never mind. I dont want to debate race on the internet today, its too nice out. Editing my comment.

A little birdie told me, if you ever get pulled over: never admit to having even a drop of alcohol. The officers all have dash cams, and if you say you'e been drinking, their leniency goes right out the window. Letting you off the hook and then you plow into a pedestrian WHILE THEY HAVE YOU ON TAPE saying you've been drinking... their life is over too. If you simply say "I've had nothing to drink," you could smell like a bottle redemption center and be blackout, and they still might let you go. Even if the cop says "are you being honest with me?" Your answer remains: "Yes. I've had absolutely nothing to drink." Or so I've been told...

The bone color is cool, but the white patch just makes it look dirty. I love the Rams and Vikings helmets, because they're what would be on the head of an actual ram or viking. Super unique, and I BELIEVE they're the only 2 teams that could really do that? I suppose the Redskins could have a bunch of feathers on theirs, to look like an indian headdress, which might be kind of cool. Also, can you believe the Redskins are still named THE REDSKINS?? Do you ever stop and think about that? Like, people are out here losing their jobs because they joke with their friends and call them a ######... and the person firing them is wearing a REDSKINS pin on their lapel. lol. wtf. edit--lol, this sites a great example. Ret@rd is censored but REDSKIN is fine. Anyone know when the casino's are gonna reopen? I want to go shoot some craps and blow off some steam, and ill just hold my nose that i have to do it on some stupid redskins land. totally fine. but thinking that that is ret@rded? censored. ?

OP: You're asking why the Patriots are going to be good, but then putting restrictions on the conversation like "don't say they haven't had a losing season this century, that doesn't count." Well, I'm going to "break your rules" and say that they'll be good because, historically, they're a very good football team, and until proven otherwise, that's what they are! If being a Bills fan has taught me nothing else, it's that for every player going into a season that I'm familiar with that I expect to be lights out, there are 5 players who come out of nowhere and are better--while the player I expected to dominate regresses for god only knows what reason. Belichick has proven, for 20 years running, that he cuts bait early and reloads well. Just because the guys doing the dirty work for him aren't household names, doesn't mean they don't win him a championship every 3 years or so. With no real drop off at any point. Just because their roster is a bunch of underrated no names, it's too early to say they're dead. They could just as easily go 12-4 and win the conference as 4-12. And FWIW, when Bledsoe fell on the tip of that ball in the Meadowlands, I thought their season was over because they handed the reigns over to some backup nobody. Maybe Stidham will suck--he's sure looked the part of a bad QB. But maybe he'll be amazing. Quite frankly, I trust Belichicks eye for talent more than mine, or yours.

We should execute every last one of them to stop them from dying of Corona!!!!!!!

Surprised it hasn't been mentioned, but 2012 really took the wind out of my sails as a fan, and I'm no youngster--I've seen it all (from the Super Bowl era on, at least.) That year, I spent all offseason talking myself into the Bills chances. The year before was the 5-2 start, but Fitz had been injured in the game vs the Redskins in Toronto, so it seemed like there was a legitimate excuse as to why the wheels came off. The PREVIOUS year (2010) they had started 0-8, but went on such a nice run at the end of the season it felt like a young team coming together. Their hot start in 2011 seemed to be legitimate, and then they actually went out and made additions to improve the roster. Mario Wiliams! Dave Wansteadt to coach the D! I know it sounds ridiculous, but I was beyond excited for the season to start. Counting the minutes. I thought that team was going to go on a Cinderella run. Well, the details are a little fuzzy, but week 1 in the Meadowlands, I remember Fitz throwing a pick 6 about 3 minutes in, and we never recovered. Losses to the Rams and the Titans at home stick out in my mind. 2 games we had to have, and just looked like absolute trash. It was so depressing to think that we were on the cusp of being an ACTUAL NFL team, but as the season wore on, I learned the value of having depth on the roster. We had none. The 2015 season wasn't that disappointing to me. I can't explain why, but I just absolutely LOATHED those teams. The roster construction drove me up a wall. It was like having 75,000$ worth of toys and living in a trailer park. Tyrod just wasn't a good QB. I saw it from day 1. He could scramble, he could "make plays", but he couldn't walk up to the line, check the d, audible out, exploit a weakness, and win when it mattered. Haters aside, Josh Allen can actually do that. He just looks like an NFL QB, and it's fun to watch. Love the team we have now. To me, heartbreaking playoff losses hurt less than 6-10 campaigns.

Yes! Both are very different from one another, but still great. College, you can tell the players love it and are having a blast. The fans in the stands crying. The fight songs. That look of complete devastation on everyone's faces when they blow a huge game and know their season is (likely) over. Just a great scene. I used to think that because I didn't go to a power house school for college, and hence didn't have a rooting interest, I couldn't get fully into it. But then I realized: if you watch the game of the week, it's usually top 10 teams squaring off, and a lot of those guys are going pro. If you watch 10 games a year, and write down 2 or 3 players on the field that you would want the Bills to draft, it actually makes the draft REALLY fun. The pro game on the other hand is just mastery. It's clearly a business. Sometimes it feels like the business of the league is bigger than the businesses of the teams, meaning, it tends to feel a little... rigged... some times. Maybe that's not the right term, but. The production value is certainly high. But those guys are cogs in the machine out there, it runs really well, its a joy to watch. As I've gotten older though, I see how both levels complement one another. Same thing with basketball too, for that matter!

Teams weigh their options on scales we can't possibly begin to imagine. What is the ROI on every contract they hand out--and those are metrics that are based on everything from season ticket sales to hotdogs. A "controversial" rookie quarterback on a cheap deal, with a strong defense and running game, might bring an ROI that far outstrips whatever it is ARod brings to the table. 13-3 and 1 playoff game at home is the same as 10-6 and 1 playoff game at home, really.

Glad I read through this thread before posting, because this is exactly what I would have said. I believe for Buffalo to win the Super Bowl, they're going to need to stay in attack mode on offense. One trend I've noticed in the NFL that I think our analytics department is a little slow to catch up to: winning teams don't go into "prevent offenses" anymore. Rather, they go for a quota of points, whether that's with 7 minutes left in the fourth, or 2 minutes into the first. From a totally subjective perspective, it felt like too many times last year we would run safe plays to protect a lead. Against KC, SF, GB, Bal, or any other team that can score 14 on back to back possessions with ease, a 10 point lead can turn into a 4 point deficit in the blink of an eye, and the offense is suddenly struggling to regain their rhythm and tempo. The Wild Card game was the most glaring example of this to me. Trick plays are just as valuable in the late third quarter to increase a lead as they are in the opening drive to stake a lead. Edit to include an example that came to mind after I hit post: our last playoff win, vs. Miami in 96. I remember endless fleaflickers to Beebe all day. They found a weakness in Miami's D, and relentless pounded it with gadget plays.

A number of thoughts on this. 1. Dallas potentially taking Hurts is a situation very unique to the Cowboys--he's an Oklahoma player, which means he would appeal to a huge swath of the Cowboys fanbase. Jones has gone to that well before, for Switzer, and he'd do it again. Considering Dak is franchise tagged, it's fair to say the Cowboys are "unsettled" at the QB position. They absolutely would not be in the business of stockpiling backup talent if they brought in a Heisman Sooner with their first round pick. 2. Has any team, ever, had a system of cultivating backup QBs and moving them for profit? As a poster above me stated more succinctly than I ever could: the Pats get a lot of credit for doing it, despite not really doing it. QB seems like the one position on the roster where successful teams actually make it a point to do the exact opposite, and roster guys who are .500 pace keepers at best. 3. Conversely, it seems like whenever a situation arises where a team is forced to make a choice between two nominally "good" quarterbacks, the fan base can be divided for decades! Flutie/Johnson comes to mind, but Favre/Rogers, Wentz/Foles, Luck/Manning, Young/Montana, Brady/Jimmy G, the list goes on. As sure as YOU might be that any one of those QBs is better than the one they're linked to, just know that there is a fan on the other side of the fence who feels equally as passionate about the inverse. 4. There's better talent out there on the market that will be cheaper after the draft. I'd take any one of of Cam/Jameis/Dalton/Flacco over a rook. Guys that know the game well enough to learn an offense on the fly, guys that are proven QBs who could keep us on a playoff pace, and guys that don't have boom/bust potential, because: 5. What has Josh Allen done to deserve looking over his shoulder? His play year 1 was encouraging, and then he followed it up with an extremely exciting, competent, good season 2 that was the Bills most successful campaign in decades. And this wasn't an Orton situation where the D carried us to 9 ridiculous wins, it was Josh Allen winning many games on his own. They weren't a 10 win team in spite of the QB, they were a 10 win team because of him. Draft the guy some weapons, get him a competent backup that can mentor him ala Andy Dalton, and give him all the support he needs, and lets just enjoy some good football for once.

Time to reconnect with an old flame on facebook and get a little fresh trim on the side, Vlad. Covering your tracks will never be this easy.