ThurmasThoman

That was an amazing ending, but man it makes me hate the way college football is set up. Completely unfair that Alabama can't win the national championship because of that. If OSU loses to Michigan State, then there will be a 1 loss team in the national championship game--why can't it be Alabama? Their 1 loss is to a top 5 team, on the road, by 6 points.

I don't think it was intentional at all. He was stationed there before the play evolved into taking place on that particular area of the field. A more accurate quote, from me to you, would be: "So there are people there that think Mike Tomlin can diagnose the future, and stationed himself at the exact angle where it would be advantageous for the coverage man to intersect with the return man, should the return man veer 6 inches to the right to avoid Mike Tomlin? It's always fun to have your opinions shaped by the media, I guess."

And Cleveland? And Cincinnati? And Pittsburgh? And Detroit? You mention teams that have built new stadiums in the last 20 years--now go look at the league standings from 20 years ago and youll see something else. Every city that had an NFL team then, has an NFL team today (save los angeles). Look at any other sport, and you will see its drastically different. To you or I, its "woe is me, the sky is falling, bye bye Bills, who would every play a game in Buffalo." There is a reason cleveland, woeful cleveland ohio, got a team back after the ravens left, and that reason is this. A proven civic infrastructure that can support an NFL franchise and keep it's valuation in the hundreds of millions of dollars is a rare thing in America: ask Los Angeles. To you, it may not seem like a big deal, because ticket prices are cheap, but the fact of the matter is this: there is proof of concept in buffalo, and it has been working efficiently for 50+ years. that's a half century of a successful business that continues to grow, and be valued in the hundreds of millions. If it was that easy for a city to support a venture like that, teams would move on a whim, like they do in every other sport. If the concept were that simple, to just go to the biggest, wealthiest, cities... WHY DOESNT LOS ANGELES HAVE AN NFL TEAM?? don't confuse the success of the local economy with the long term viability of the Buffalo Bills: they are not directly correlated. I have been saying this since the first time i heard someone mention the idea of the Bills leaving Buffalo. It. Aint. Happening. Ralph wilson has ZERO ties to Buffalo. If there was more money to be made elsewhere, he would have left long, long, long ago. The fact of the matter is, the western new york/southern ontario region is an ENORMOUS market that is EXTREMELY devoted to the buffalo Bills. Goodell has no intention of alienating half of new york state for a venture that would likely fail in toronto. Now, if someone wants to shift the conversation to "regionalization", ie, building a stadium in niagra, or rebranding it as the Eerie Bills, or something along those lines, im all ears. But to think that Buffalo won't have any connection to the Bills is not a conversation worth having. I could not disagree more. And I say this because I know people that drive 8 hours to see Bills games when Buffalo is winning. Bills fans are crazy, and a successful franchise will draw fans from a 4 hour radius. The fact that the Bills even have fans with how sh*tty they have been since clinton was president is testament to the fact that a succesful team would make money hand over fist.

While I agree to a large extent that the tickets are "cheap", Buffalo has two things going for it: They are posting these attendance numbers with the "losing-est" team in the league--would fans not pay DOUBLE the current ticket prices if the Bills were division champions 3 seasons in a row? Furthermore, (and more importantly) this is a river that flows one way and one way only: if the Bills are successful, people will come from southern ontario to watch, and they will spend good money when theyre there. if the Bills move to toronto though, NO ONE from Buffalo is going to stick with that team for 15 straight losing seasons--in fact, i have a feeling it would be just the opposite. So why does that matter? If you spend 300 million dollars to buy a toy, what makes more sense: disassembling the toy and bringing it to a friends house, knowing he might be interested in it for an hour but then ultimately break it. Or keep the toy at your house, and invite your friends over to play with it there, where you know it will be safe forever, and could potentially grow into an even more enjoyable toy.

I am so sick of hearing about the Bills leaving Buffalo. I don't even know how to explain this in terms that people can grasp. Sometimes I literally feel like driving to each individual posters house, and explaining to them in person how stupid they are. When the Bills win the division when Brady retires and host a playoff game, let's say next year or the year after, they will be in the top 5 in the league for average attendence. They will have their prime time games, and they will be a viable franchise. Hell, right now they average more attendance than 14 other teams in the league AND WE ARE TERRIBLE. So let's just go to imagination land for a second here, and pretend the Bills have left Buffalo forever. And you're the billionaire owner of the Jaguars. Or the Chargers. Or the Rams. And Buffalo is just... sitting there... without an NFL team... with a stadium that already exists... and the guarantee that if you move a team there, you will have 80,000 die hard fans there every week forever. Why is this point so hard to grasp? Honestly? Just quote this, and respond to me, and counter with why you think the Bills are going to leave Buffalo. Theyre not. And the reason theyre not, is because billionaire owners of professional sports teams are a) smarter than you and b) better with their money than you Buffalo is a PROVEN market that can generate large sums of money with a winning football team. Toronto is unproven, and a Bills move there would instantly alienate the entire Buffalo market, and you would be counting on an NFL team succeeding in a country that has 0 interest in professional football. How is this so hard to understand?

The NFL is strange in that they are the only professional sport in which the overtime rules differ from the way the game is played during regulation. In the NHL, they play until someone scores a goal, and its fair. In MLB, they play as many innings necessary until a team comes out ahead. And in the NBA, they play 5 minute periods until a team wins. The NFL needs to adopt one of two policies: The first one, which I favor, is to embrace ties. For some reason, they are looked at as terrible in American sports. This baffles me. They are half a win, and for two professional teams battling for 60 minutes, sometimes half a win is a win. For instance, this season, the Bills would have had a half against the Bengals, the Jets would have a half win against the Patriots, and the Dolphins would have a half win against the Bengals as well, making everyone at the bottom of the East 4-6-1. It adds complexity to the playoff race, and makes strategies in the fourth quarter much more interesting. The second one, which I feel should be used in playoffs, is to just play another 15 minute quarter. This adds the element of comebacks and clock management to the overtime period, something which is lacking. Imagine a team going up 14-0 in overtime and then losing? Again, I think that this scenario should only be used in the playoffs, but I would love to see it.

For some perspective, here are the standings from the National Football League's 1970 season, now 43 years ago: http://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/1970/ *Note: every city that had an NFL franchise 43 years ago, still has one today, with the exception of los angeles. For a point of comparison, here are the standings from the NBA that season: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1970%E2%80%9371_NBA_season *Note: 5 cities from those standings no longer have teams, 6 if you count the warriors. Out of 18 teams that were in the league at that point, that means that anywhere from a quarter to a third of the teams from that season relocated. The fact of the matter is, an 80,000 seat stadium that routinely sells out is a rare occurrence to come by in the American landscape. If you are an owner, and you buy a franchise for several hundred million dollars, we can assume 2 things: a) that owner is smart b) that owner is conservative with their money You won't see many people spend 300 million dollars, and then say "hey, why don't I move this 300 million dollar business to somewhere that has never proven viable to support an enterprise of this nature, has no attachment to the brand, and all in a sport where journalists claim vultures are circling due to concussion law suits" why would you do that? why would any owner ever do that? AND pay a 400 million dollar relocation fee? AND pay for a new stadium??? worst worst worst worst worst worst worst case scenario: "the lake eerie Bills" at some point in the next 20 years, ala the "new england patriots" who play their games an hour outside of boston. Also, please take note that the Bills are 18th in average attendance, pretty much middle of the pack: http://espn.go.com/nfl/attendance Which isn't that impressive, aside from the fact that we havent been to the playoffs since Clinton was president, and average more fans at home games than 4 of the current division leaders. The bottom line is this: The Bills will never leave Buffalo, because unlike journalists and members of this message board, billionaires that buy football teams aren't idiots. No one is spending 300 million dollars on a flight of fancy, to gamble on moving this team to a market that may or may not want them. If they were that stupid, they'd be posting on here, or gossiping on espn.com.

buts its true

exactly. the patriots gamed the league. they cheated, they won 3 superbowls in 4 years, they got busted, they have won ZERO CHAMPIONSHIPS WITH GODS GIFT TO QUARTERBACKING SINCE THEN (eli: 2, rothlisberger: 2). i mean, think about it: whats more beneficial to the league: admit that the patriots cheated, the multibillion dollar organization is tainted, question bradys legacy every sunday and the results of "the greatest game on earth" for the half decade when they were cheating, and every time a discussion of the patriots comes up, cheating comes up too? or erase it from league records and never talk about it again? why do bills fans not get this? i know most of you are drunk idiots who arent smart enough to move away from buffalo, but good god almighty, are you really THAT f*cking stupid? can you REALLY not see the game as a business, and realize that its in the leagues best interest to NEVER talk about the patriots cheating, ever again? espn doesnt not talk about the patriots cheating because its a "non story", espn doesnt talk about the patriots cheating because they make hundreds of millions of dollars off their broadcast partnership with the nfl every year.

oh boy! hating on the patriots at twobillsdrive.com? youll have better luck getting people to criticize the patriots on newenglandpatriots.com. f*ck the patriots, honest to god, if their team plane crashed it would be the greatest day in nfl history.

youve never been paired with another 2some or met new members at your club?

hey man, more power to you. i golf with random people all the time, watch bills games at bars with random people (i live out of market), will see people wearing bills gear and stop traffic to start a conversation about the bills... all in all, a personable guy who can talk with other bills fans. but 13 hours in a car with a guy i barely know? id pass. id have him over to my apartment and watch a game or 2 first, maybe even meet him out at a bar.

not true. if they were worn the way they were intended white jerseys on blue pants blue jerseys on white pants they were some of the most distinctive, well put together uniforms in the league. http://content.sportslogos.net/logos/7/149/full/0lbkf3k9twbhhgl05q7yefuax.gif

Well, it's 6:45pm EST, and im over it, so that loss took about 2.5 hours to recover from. Rookie QB, coach, and offensive coordinator--losing at home to a division rival by 2 points. Next weeks game is more of a litmus test, in my opinion. If we can beat the panthers at home, maybe we do have a wildcard run in us.

From the desk of Doug Whaley: "Although Jairus and his representation have expressed interest to the Buffalo Bills organiztion regarding their wishes for a trade, I would like to take this opportunity to inform both them, and those of you following this situation, that no such trade is forth coming. In today's National Football League, the difference between winning and losing seasons can come down to a handful of plays over the course of the season. It is of the utmost importance to field the most talented team possible, every year. As such, we fully intend to have Jairus Byrd on our roster for this season, and next--whether that involves the use of the franchise tag or not is entirely up to him. Should he feel that it is in his best interest to pursue a new career path following the completion of the 2014 NFL season, the Buffalo Bills will, at that time, wish him the best on his football journey. Until then, please consider this matter closed between the Buffalo Bills organization, any representation of said client, and any interested national or local media parties. Thank you, go Bills!" Thats how easy it is to be an NFL gm. Let's see if doug can just copy and paste this on to some Bills letter head.

i love how bills fans just say this like it means anything to anyone outside of battered bills fans. you mean the patriots defense that hasnt finished outside of the bottom 10 for half a decade? the one that hung 30 some odd points on in foxborough last year. bills fans believe in the patriots more than patriots fans do.

just updated the front page with our practice schedule.

agreed 100%, and we lost a player for the year. football is too "violent" of a sport to be playing games that don't matter. im not sure if the solution is 16 regular season games with no preseason, but an expanded playoff field; 18 regular season games with no preseason; or even 20 regular season games with no preseason; hell, i'd even be open to (at the time of the next negotiated CBA, any player NOT in their rookie deal does not have to play in preseason games. but SOMETHING has to be done. im confident something will be done--the nfl is the most proactive of the major sports when it comes to tweaking the game in response to what fans want... or even things they might not even know they wanted haha.

http://sports.yahoo....48703--nfl.html Jon Doss ‏@JonDossROC 32m Jay Skurski ‏@JaySkurski49m

im not a "kool aid drinker" im a fan of the buffalo bills. i hope they win the super bowl this year. im going to watch the games, and root for them. if they have a terrible season, you can take solace in the fact that you saw it coming--you got to be miserable for an extra 3 months, secure in your knowledge that the bills would be bad. but i prefer my life, which is to just enjoy the games, and hope were good. hey man, id rather be optimistic and happy for 3 months, and end up being wrong, than pessimistic and miserable for 3 months, and end up being right. but i guess thats why i have a hot wife, a good job and dont live in buffalo, right?

no. who the hell would watch the fourth preseason game?? i saw on the tracker that buffalo was losing 21-0 and i came to see leinarts line, and read the reactions from bills fans. so our offense (sans our starting qb, two starting running backs, and starting receivers) can't score, and our defense (sans our starting defensive line, linebackers, and backfield) allowed 21 points!?!?! sounds like marrone should be prepared for termination

lol. man you guys are truly over reacting. our backups cant beat detroits backups? who gives a sh*t. and honestly, why would you think that the bills, after missing the playoffs for 13 straight years, would suddenly be so deep that thier backups would look like all-world, brick-sh*thouse, first ballot hall of famers? yes--lets FIRE our headcoach because our second stringers are losing the fouth preseason game! bills fans: some of the stupidest motherf*ckers on the planet, i swear.

i came here to post this. we need to sign this young man immediately.

i tend to agree--i dont think any ground breaking news will be realized here. but for me, it will be nice to have a rough time frame in my mind for when to expect news, and when not to expect news. for instance, are the bills practicing this saturday (on the day after roster cutdowns) or this sunday?

Yeah---and I think knowing their practice schedule between now and the Patriots game will also help some of our (mine for sure) sanity in knowing which days to obsessively check the news to see if there are any comments from the coaching staff, and on what days, like today, would be better spent golfing...