Rocky Landing

And why? Personally, I'm really looking forward to the Titans game. The Bills looked hungover during their last matchup, and I'd love to see some redemption. I'm actually thinking about making the trip to Nashville.

I had just read like five different articles about the dawning of a new age in Jacksonville, and I forgot that the rest of the world doesn't live in my brain.

There's this one:

None that I know of.

There's a bunch of guys I'm really looking forward to seeing play that we'll not likely see again for the rest of the season...

Honestly, I think the Drew Brees is gone, and gone for good.

True that. You don't have to be a fan of a team in the AFCE to hate the Pats*.

Interesting. I would say, just mathematically alone, 17-0 is the best case scenario. Unlikely, sure. But, I will also say that 14-3 would not be unlikely. Maybe I'm a crazy homer, but I really only see two teams in our schedule that we can't honestly say we are better than. And, neither of those two teams are unbeatable.

They don't cheat, for one thing.

There's an almost hilarious account of league officials, in their suits, and dress shoes, stomping on the tapes in a cement-floored hallway outside the room that served as the Patriots* tape library. Sometime afterward, members of congress, furious at the destruction of evidence, actually threatened to rescind the NFL's anti-trust exemption. It has been noted by some in the legal profession that there were some teams in years that were close enough in record ('04 Jets, for example) that the cheating could have cost opponents participation in playoff games, which represent an enormous amount of lost revenue. And, because all the AFCE games take place in different states, that could have potentially opened up the Patriots* to interstate commerce, or RICO crimes.

I always just use the well-earned asterisks when referring to the Patriots*, or Bill Belichick*.

3 of 6 picked one of the Pats* games. 🤮

I would love to see Darnold, and the Panthers beat the snot out of the Jets in their opener. I would also love to see Miami beat the snot out of the Pats* in their opener.

If you're even willing to put the word "scandals" in quotation marks, then I don't think you've really done a lot of research on what they've actually been caught doing. Here's a pretty good article from Business Insider, but there are many more. https://www.businessinsider.com/espn-report-patriots-spygate-scandal-2015-9

Why just Miami? Having swept the division last season, I would like to think we could become to the division what the Patriots* were to the division.

Interesting first week. I was kinda hoping for a division opponent for week one (I was really hoping to get the Pats* week one). But, Steelers will be a fun game, and I don't think it's going to be a cake walk as some do. Some other thoughts: I've actually always kinda like Sam Darnold (hey, a friend of Josh Allen's is a friend of mine!), and man do I hope he destroys the Jets. After the Bills game, I might jump in the car and drive to whatever bar the Pats* fans collect at in LA to watch the Phins @ Pats* game, and I'll wear my Fred Jackson #22 jersey to do it. I'm still not sure who I want to lose that game more, but I'm expecting to see a lot of Pats* fans crying into their Sam Adams in what should be a low-scoring snore fest. Ravens @ Raiders. I'm interested in seeing Jackson throw to Watkins. Assuming Ryan Fitzpatrick starts for WFT, he will enter the game breaking his own record as he starts for his ninth NFL team. Browns @ Chiefs will be the big game to watch. But, I'll probably just watch the highlights, or maybe the condensed replay.

Word. I was born and raised in Penfield. But when asked where I'm from, I will always say "Rochester." That's what anyone from one of those towns would say. Now, I live in Los Angeles. But, in fact, I live in Kagel Canyon. Saying Pittsford isn't part of Rochester is kind of like saying Inglewood (location of SoFi Stadium) isn't part of Los Angeles.

I mean, the size of Rousseau's hands!!!

Of course the Bills don't see the Pats* as a "cake walk," especially with them being a division opponent. They don't look at any game as a cake walk. That is part of the culture of a winning team, IMO. They didn't look at the Jets last season as a cake walk. This coming season, in no particular order, the Bills will face: Patriots (twice) Dolphins (twice) Jets (twice) Falcons Panthers Texans Colts Steelers WFT Jags Saints Bucs Titans Chiefs Of those fourteen teams, and without getting into the variable of home vs. away, I would put the Pats* right around the middle in terms of "teams to worry about." I would certainly put the Dolphins as the more worrisome division opponent, and I wouldn't be surprised to end up, by mid-season, finding the Jets to be more of a threat, as well. But, getting back to the gist of our discussion, I would agree that one season is too short a timespan to draw definitive conclusions on who had a more profound impact on their team. That would be utterly simplistic. However, it is indisputable that when Brady* went to Tampa Bay, he led a team that had previously gone 7-9 to the Super Bowl, and the Patriots*, who had previously finished 12-4, sunk to 7-9. That is a compelling statistic.

Nah, not me. I want them in week one, and I want to rub their noses in a season-opening loss. I keep hearing about how they've upgraded on offense, and especially at receiver. But, I'm looking at a bunch of their WRs walking out the door, Edelman is gone, Burkhead is gone, their O-line is worse, and they've added a red-zone threat in Jonnu Smith, and their #1 WR is going to be... Nelson Agholor??? With N'Keal "Straight Line" Harry as their #2? Whether it's week one, or two, and whether it's Cam, or Mac, they aren't going to be a better team. A week one destruction of the Pats* would be a real nice start to our season... and theirs.

These are the sorts of videos that bring out the homer in me. For me the most exciting element to this is the way McD/Frazier rotate the D-line. The '19 rotation was certainly more effective than the '20. But this year with a rotation that includes Epenesa, and Oliver moving up towards their ceiling, Hughs, the return of Star, and the two monsters Basham and Rousseau? There are going to be some gassed O-lines in the fourth quarters vs. the Bills D, and it's going to be fun to watch! We're going to cut some good depth before the season begins, but what remains should be a really dynamic group.

Well, if you're going to accuse me of having come to a "conclusion," I might ask you to reference a dictionary, and look up the word "maybe." Also, I have to confess-- your phrase, "Nothing that happened last year indicates BB was along for the ride," makes zero sense to me. What the hell are you talking about? Be that as it may, yes. By all means. I'll happily give Belichick* a couple more seasons of what looks to me like poor team management. And, in all honesty, I can't decide which QB I would like the Bills to face in their first game vs. the Pats*, Cam, or Mac. I can't imagine having a whole lotta faith in either of them.

I have felt for a while that the problem with the Bills running backs isn't that they're all pretty average. It's that they're all too similar. That's not to say that each of them doesn't have different things that they excel at. It's that they're all within about 10 lbs, and a few inches of each other. None of them are really a scat back, and none of them are a power back. They all do best breaking one way, or another, and aiming for a gap, which will generally be open for a fraction of a second. If you were to rank them, IMO, Singletary might very well be the best. He certainly wouldn't be the worst! But, at the end of the day (or the end of training camp) he may very well be the odd man out. Moss is exceptional in pass protection (and that makes him a lock, IMO), Breida has the acceleration the others lack, and Williams may be the closest thing we have to a power back, who can reliably get us that first down on third and one. You are absolutely right to say that opposing teams "don't fear any of them." But, what that really means is that opposing teams don't fear our running game. And that is what needs to change, right? Maybe we don't really need a Saquon Barkley, or a Derek Henry. Maybe we just need a comprehensive running attack with the right elements?

It's an interesting thing going on in NE* at the moment. A lot of weird wrinkles come to mind. For example: If Cam starts the season, and somewhere in mid-season Mac Jones takes over, how well is their offense going to be able to adjust? Cam and Mac (I just realized those two name are the same spelled backwards...!) are polar opposite quarterbacks. The hype on Mac is that he is pinpoint accurate (70% completion). But, he is as un-athletic a QB as you're going to find in the NFL. Cam's accuracy is shot, but he still has his legs, and the ability to extend plays outside the pocket. I have to say that I was rather surprised that they kept Cam, and then drafted Mac. Just on its face, that looks to me like poor management. We didn't keep Barkley because he was a decent QB who could win us games. We kept him because of the relationship, and benefit he would provide Josh Allen. And that worked out pretty well, right? What the hell is Cam going to do for Mac? Last season, Belichick* was in the awkward position of playing around his own weaknesses, rather than playing against his opponents weaknesses. That would seem to continue in 2021. If he starts Mac on day one, that dude is going to flounder, no matter who they face (please, God (Goodell), let it be us!). If they switch mid-season, they will have to have an entirely different scheme dialed up. I know Belichick* is "The Greatest Head Coach of All Time 🙄," but just how efficiently can that be done? There was a frequently asked question, last season: Was "The Dynasty*" a result of Belichick*, Brady*, or truly a combination of the two? Well, if records are any indication, It might seem that "The Dynasty*" was a result of Brady*. And, Belichick* was the benefactor of that exceptional individual. I'm not saying that Belichick* isn't a great head coach. He clearly is. But maybe, just maybe, he isn't the GOAT that history has him penciled in as.

I know I am-- to a fault.