Dan

To your first point, yes I would agree. When Tyrod won the starting job last year, it was obvious. He was a better QB and looked far more poised and prepared to lead the team. So, I wasn't then nor am I now, pining for EJ or some other QB. But, I will say, Tyrod's level of play seems to have leveled off this year when I was hoping he would continue to improve. Lots of really good QBs have bad halves, even bad games. But, the good ones turn it around and keep fighting. I give EJ a lot of credit for doing just that. Yes, he deserves a lot of blame for losing that game. But, the defense deserves a lot, as well. I know it's gotta be a black and white world, but can't we live in a world where even the worst players, like EJ, are capable of doing something right? I'm not saying EJ should get a shot here, I'm just suggesting that he's not the complete trainwreck so many people say he is.

I have to agree with a lot of this. I like Tyrod. I want him to be THE answer. And he's certainly the best starting QB the Bills have had in quite some time. However.... The offense goes into a shell far too often and has serious issues converting 3rd and long. That, IMO, is when the QB earns his money. He makes great plays with his legs and occasionally with his arm. But, all too often, he misses the throw on 3rd down. And I find myself wondering why we never hit receivers in stride? So, I like him. But, I'm still waiting to see how the final games play out before I go all in. What I'm afraid of the most, is he's one of these guys that does just enough to look good at times and get your hopes up, but never really puts it all together to consistently put wins together. But, to be fair, EJ played a really good 2nd half, threw for 2TDs, and left the field with the lead. That loss was not all on him, it was the very definition of a team loss.

Agreed. But one thing you can be sure of... Everyone always wants more money. So whether you have part time refs, with great full time careers, or full time refs with with lower overall salaries... They're susceptible to bribes. IMO, it's less about the quality of the salary they make and more about the quality of man they hire.

Simplification of the rule book certainly is a big part of it. The fact that no one can tell you what a catch is anymore is all you need to reference for that. But, also, there's no consistency with the penalties? The "hit" on Bradford's head on thursday night, should not be a penalty (in my opinion). But because the rule is you can't touch the QBs head in any fashion, and they've called roughing the passer when a defender whispers too close to Brady, makes it an egregious over sight by the ref that likely cost the Vikings the game. I think the overly complicated rules, allow for two things... Inconsistency in their enforcement and lack of focus for the refs. That is, the refs are so busy looking for all the various nuisanced penalties that they miss blatantly obvious things. Combine those two and it's hard not to think the league is fixing games. The only other conlusion is that the refs are patently incompetent. Maybe neither is true but when you watch a game and see wildly inconsistent, ticky tack flags, it's hard to draw any other conclusion. So I say, simply the penalties and combine that with full time refs that can work on consistently applying the rules.

I've been saying this for years. Find a dozen or so plays that your players can execute at a high level. Then change the formations and personel to disguise those dozen or so plays. But keep it simple, do what you do best, and don't be predicitable with package plays and formations.

Ahhhh.... Makes sense. I didn't realize they were doing walk throughs. Shows ya what I get for thinking before I have a full load of coffee.

Do they still say... Practice like you play. ? I just wonder if the best teams in the league also practices where it looks like the players are half walking through their routes?

Not a problem. I guess your attitidue (amd mine) comes with age. There's more to it that just wins and losses. Sure, winning is what its all about. But, at some point its about the whole journey as well. The memories. The cheering and hoping with family. The pride of being a Bills fan. Its why we're all here. Maybe the Bills will win out, maybe they'll lose out. But, honestly, after week 2...who would have thought we'd be in December still with a shot? I, for one, thought the season was done and was looking at potential new coaches. It's been a crazy season... And we got at least 5 more games to go!

Absolutely, great perspective and attitude. Thank you.

Interesting... Am I reading that correctly? The Raiders and Dolphins games are most important to our playoff hopes. Loses to either of them lowers our percentage the most. That is definitely how the Bills typically do it! The last two weeks are showing me that the Bills are starting to change their ways and not lose those kinda games. Granted, they don't make it look easy. But they didn't lay down against the Jags, they fought hard and pulled out a solid win.

Maybe my self defense mechanisms are kicking in too! I don't want to lose this game, nor do I pretend to know all the possible playoff permutations. But, it just seems to be that of the 5 remaining games, this is the one we ..could.. lose and it would do the least amount of damage. In other words, if I had to choose, lose to the Raiders or Steelers? I think the Steelers is way more important to win.

...is this week the week? A post in the postgame thread got me thinking... Most everyone here agrees that 10-6 is what we need to possibly make the playoffs. So, we can lose one game and still have a shot. If that's the case, isn't it best if we lose the game this week against Oakland? We need to beat PIT and MIA, to help us jump ahead of them in the playoff chase. Losing to the Jets hurts us in the first tiebreaker - division record. Losing to the Browns would be ...well embarrassing and demoralizing. So... would it really be so bad if we lose to the Raiders this week? Is this really the game that will define our playoff run? Or is it the following couple of weeks?

There's a ton of positive to say about the game. Perhaps most notable to me, they played tough for a full 60 minutes and all 3 phases contributed to the win. No one on the team quit or lost focus. That's a big change for Bills' teams and more than anything, I think, the reason why we won the last 2 games. It also goes unnoticed, because the Jags didn't score, but the call on the 2pt conversion was perfect and ensured the game would only be tied and not lost on a last second score. That was a good call and great execution.

I still haven't watched a game. ..just been that kinda year. Although after the 4 game losing streak, I'm not sure it matters. But I haven't washed the game dat shirt... So there is that! I suggest don't shower for the whole week. We need all the help we can get next week!

If we can go 10-6, that means we can lose next week and still be alive!

Exactly how I feel! I sum up the this team, Defense and Tyrod, as being... Inconsistent. But we're still in the thick of things with 5 games left and all the inconsistency on the field. It's hard to complain, but I just don't know. I guess we'll just have to see how they finish the season. We have little room to falter, if 10-6 is what we need. The one thing I do like is this team plays a full 60 minutes. There is no quit in them. That's definitely a step in the right direction.

Watching Oakland. They look every bit as good as their record says they are. No way Rex's D can stop that team.

If Belicheck were really a genius, he'd sit Brady all year. Then every team they play would have to just declare it a loss because Brady wasn't playing. It'd be a brilliant way to go undefeated! ps. Given the way this season started, a new OC, then add in all the injuries, toss in the fact that we're saddled with a bumbling HC... I'd say 10-6, especially considering we're currently 5-5, would be a successful season regardless of playoffs. That would be our best record since... Well since who can remember that long ago.

2 decades is probably about right... Think about it this way... Look at any long-time, enduring band. They all have one thing in common, good live shows. It's hard to build a loyal following when loyal fans can't/don't see you live. Perhaps its the same way with sports? Its not about just making new fans, its about making loyal, die hard fans that watch a game even though it sucks. Fans that visit message boards even though their team has sucked for nearly 2 decades. So yeah, there's a ton of new fans. But as soon as the product on the field sucks, they all tune out. The rub is, rather than realizing this and focusing on building long-term loyal fans, the league focuses all their efforts on making money and wooing the casual fan with ever changing tastes and attentions. It was just a thought. I guess I'm wrong.. Dallas and Washington just had record ratings, maybe they just need to show more Dallas games on TV.

Precisely my point. The NFL has grown but not by adding a loyal and devoted fanbase. They've grown by adding casual, tepid fans that having changing interests and priorities. Few of the new fans are truly loyal to any specific team, and fewer still care for the NFL as league. As a true fan of the game and diehard Bills fan, I could enjoy a 6-3 win this weekend... provided its a good, defensive struggle in cold, windy stadium full of screaming fans. For the newer fans, they're gonna switch that game off and look for the game that's giving them fantasy points. With fans like that, sure they've grown the league and its revenue, but as many have suggested... Those fans are destined to leave the sport as soon as they're no longer entertained for all the reasons listed. For one type of fan, we're here through thick and thin until the end of humanity. For the newer fan the NFL has cultivated, they'll flip the channel as soon as the Gilmore Girls reboot comes on air. Problem is.... The league spends all their time catering to these people, to the detriment of the entire game.

That's how I see it. Add in all the commercials. I think its all just come to a head this season. You only have to miss a game or two, because you want to watch something else, to realize... Ya know I don't need to see every second of every lousy game. The icing on the cake... You do flip over and you see the referees blow some horrendously easy call to flip the game, and you immediately turn the game off and say... Why do I need to watch that crap. However, I was thinking yesterday, could it be symptomatic of a much larger problem with the NFL? Could it be that the league and the owners in their ever growing greed began relocating and building to get bigger stadiums, more expensive seating licenses, increasing tickets... They've essentially priced out a large portion of their fan base. Sure kids grow up being fans, but they're TV fans because they rarely can afford to attend the actual games. Add in the ADD of this generation, if they're not continually stimulated with entertainment, they just switch the channel. But, you have more tepid fan bases now because they haven't grown up attending live games every week and have that deep connection with their teams.

I knew they wouldn't complete it. However, I fully expected a pass interfence/holding call against the Bills to give the Bengals one more play with no time on the clock... And that's when they complete it and win.

Listening to it on the radio might give a different perspective than watching it, but from my couch it sounded like: 1. A lot of bad penalties and poor play callling on a several occasions. That's on the coaching. When you're running well and have the ball on the 2yd line with 2 downs to score, why are you passing? When you need to run clock off and there's 2:30 on the game clock, why are you passing? 2. I really like Tyrod. He's easily the best QB we've had in more than a decade. But, he just misses his throws too much on 3rd down. It sounds like he's hesitant and has no timing with the receivers. 3. We got lucky, sure. But we played a full 60 minutes and won a tough road game. This was huge. Past teams would have given up and let the Bengals score with 30 seconds left. But this team played hard all afternoon, fought through injuries, and deserved to win. Let's not lose sight of that. 4. I hope they switch focus tomorrow ans get to business thinking about the Jags. Go Bills!

Listening on wgr550.com is all I got.

So put him in Tampa's HOF, but in the league, he had about 4 really good seasons. Then he became extremely average before finishing his career in Oakland being average there. He did stay on TV and people liked him. I guess I just think the HOF should honor players that had a great career, not a few good seasons. Does TD belong in the Hall? He's a 2,000 rusher had a stellar couple seasons. But, he's not even close IMO.