msw2112

As much as I would love to see more major league sports in Buffalo (MLB, return of the NBA), I just don't think the market can absorb it. For a small metropolitan area, the Buffalo area already supports to major league teams in the Bills and Sabres, plus the Bisons, and a niche team like the Bandits. There are also UB sports, which are up and down, but can sell a few tickets when they're good. If the NBA or MLB came to Buffalo and the team was successful, people would buy tickets, but if they were not a good team, there are not enough causal fans to fill the seats and watch on TV and not enough corporate interests to buy and fill luxury suites. Free Agents would not be interesting in coming to Buffalo. The Sabres, despite being terrible, are still a big part of the Buffalo community. It's a great hockey market and there's 50+ years of history, and being near Canada is a huge help, but they too, don't draw all that well, given the team's poor record in recent years. Maybe another niche sport like arena football might do OK, if ticket prices are cheap. It's something to do with the family when there's nothing else going on. Anything bigger than that just isn't going to work. I'm old enough to remember Bob Rich's blank check, but we got the Rockies and Marlins instead, and the rest is history.

Milton is a lot more like EJ Manuel than he is like Josh Allen. I've followed his career since he was recruited to Michigan and have detailed my analysis in other threads, so I won't get too deep into it here. Milton has all the physical attributes and is a good kid (similar to EJ) and did look good against the Bills in a game that the Bills were trying to lose, but he doesn't have the accuracy and the ability to process the game fast enough to be a successful NFL starter. There's a reason he was drafted in the 6th round.

Kelce can still play, but he's definitely in decline and the Chiefs' aura of invincibility is gone. He's got multiple rings, lots of $ earned playing football, a high-profile girlfriend, and all kinds of irons in the fire in the entertainment business. He's going to make millions off the field with commercials, podcasts, etc. He's definitely a Hall of Famer, as he's one of the best TE's of all time. Why put his aging body through the grind and risk further injury?

It took Beane a few years to get the OL right. McGovern and Edwards were excellent FA signings and Brown and Torrence were great draft picks (keeping in mind that Brown took a few years to develop and move past his injuries). Kromer, beach chairs and all, was a home-run coaching hire. Now he needs to get it right on the DL. I assume the issue is a combination of talent and coaching. There's a new DL coach, so let's hope he can bring in some new talent to go with the new coach. I think that Carter will be a good player. He was starting to come on before he got injured. A couple more guys need to be found via both the draft and FA.

Fanbases aside, the most important point, in my opinion, for wanting Philadelphia to win, was to dent the Chiefs' confidence and aura of invincibility in the playoffs. The Eagles did that and I believe this will be beneficial to the Bills and other AFC challengers next season. It's now out there for everyone to see - the Chiefs are not the best team anymore, they're not invincible, and they most definitely CAN be beaten in the playoffs. The mental edge that the Chiefs have in the playoffs is now dulled and that's good for the Bills.

I agree that I don't care for the Philly fanbase. They're obnoxious and many of them are giant a-holes. Many of them take pride in being that way. But I do like their team. Barkley, Hurts and some of the other big names seem to be pretty good dudes. Brandon Graham seems like an A+ kind of guy. Plus, the guys in the trenches don't often get too much into the spotlight, yet the Eagles guys in those areas are beasts. KC fans are generally nice people who are friendly to opposing fans. Most of them say that if their team can't win it, they'd like to see the Bills' fanbase get one. But I've had enough of their team. The guys on the team, although they often say the right things in the media, are arrogant and smug. Add on the Taylor Swift stuff. NFL fans in general are sick of them, the media ball-washing of them, and the seemingly favorable officiating they've received, and would like to see someone else at the top. That's finally happened. One more item of note and a big reason I wanted Philadelphia to win is that the Chiefs have had an aura of invincibility, particularly in the playoffs. Now, they've been beaten in the playoffs. They're no longer invincible. This should weaken the Chiefs' confidence and give more confidence to other teams like the Bills who face the Chiefs in future playoff games. Not only did they lose, but they got their butts kicked all over the field. This should embolden other teams to be more aggressive against the Chiefs and maybe that blueprint will work. The Eagles didn't open the door a crack, they kicked it in.

No, not at all. Allen did not lose his starting job in college twice and was not drafted in the 6th round.

I've followed Joe Milton's career since he was a freshman at Michigan. He's the best practice player, pre-season player, meaningless game player you'll ever see. He's big, strong, fast, and has a cannon for an arm. By all accounts, he's a good kid. This is why he was drafted. His teammates at Michigan, before his first start, said in the press that Milton was going to go #1 overall in the NFL draft. He's also just not accurate and able to process information fast enough to be successful in pressure-packed, meaningful games. He had and lost the starting job at Michigan. He had and lost the starting job at Tennessee. That's why he was drafted in the 6th round. I could see him winning a QB competition against Maye, then being replaced 2 or 3 games into his tenure as a starter. Other than the fact that he plays for the Patriots, a rival of the Bills, I have nothing against the kid. I hope he goes to the NFC and becomes a star. But I've seen this script play out before. Milton played great against the Bills in the final game of the season, when the Bills were resting starters and the Patriots were supposed to lose the game to secure the #1 overall draft pick. Not wanting the rival Patriots to have the #1 overall pick, the Bills made sure to lose that game. I didn't follow closely, but besides playing a number of backups, I assume the Bills defense was pretty vanilla (pre-season style) in that game. Others can correct me if I'm wrong.

The two most important people for an NFL team are head coach and QB. I think the Pats have a very good person in both of those roles, so yes, I expect them to improve and become an obstacle for the Bills in the coming years. I don't see them as being close to the Bills next season, however, but over time they will probably close the gap. I still believe that the Bills have a better head coach (or at least same level) and a better QB.

I'm not a big fan of the international games (even though I attended the Bills-Jags game in London), but I think that if every team in the league had to play in one international game per year, and it resulted in all teams having 8 home games, 8 road games, and 1 international game, with a bye week following the international game, then it least it would be fair. Obviously, traveling to Australia is much worse than traveling to Mexico City, time zone/jet lag wise, but the bye week following will help and if the teams rotate the longer distances every season and distance/time zone changes are taken into account, it would still be fair. So the bottom line is that it sucks, but if they're going to do it anyway, they may as well do it in a fair and smart way. Right now, it unfairly favors the teams that don't have to make the trip in a given season.

How are the sports bars down there? I bet the beer is plenty cold.

I agree, but would probably reverse these two. As some have stated above, many of these guys play better after they leave (Poona, for instance - and I just love that name), and many are also much better before they arrive. As such, that says to me that it's scheme/coaching and a big part of the Bills' scheme is the DL rotation. I also agree with a point made above that frequently, on a critical down, the Bills DL starters are NOT on the field. The rotation seems to ignore the situation or point in the game and I think that's a problem. Most teams have their best players on the field at the most critical times.

I don't know, but I assume it's money. I'd say that it's because Ryan Day is a dic#, but I think James Franklin might be even more of one. But credit does go out to Day for rebounding from the Michigan loss to win the playoff.

I posted the same thing, later in the thread. Had not seen this post when I did, but I agree 100%.

In my opinion, the no-call against (former Bill) Nikell Robey-Coleman for blatant pass interference in the Rams-Saints 2018 NFCCG was the most influential piece of bad officiating I've seen. Roby-Coleman made no attempt to play the ball and drilled the receiver before the ball got there. It was blatant pass interference and possibly a personal foul. In a 20-20 tie game, the Saints should have had 1st and goal from the 7 yard line with 1:45 left with the Rams having 1 timeout. They could have bled the clock down to close to zero and kicked the easy chip shot field goal which would have won the game and sent them to the Super Bowl. The Saints were at home in their dome, so there would have been no issues for the kicker with noise, wind, rain, snow, etc. Instead, it was an incomplete pass and ultimately the Rams won the game and went to the Super Bowl. The Bills got screwed on the spot on 3rd and 4th downs in the 4th quarter, but did have another opportunity to win the game. No doubt the Bills would have been in great position to take complete control of the game and likely win it if not for the bad calls, but had the correct call been made in the Saints-Rams game, the likelihood of the Saints winning and going to the Super Bowl was about 99%.

The margin between the Bills and the Chiefs (and Bills and the Ravens, for that matter) is razor thin. I'm as sad, depressed, upset, angry, etc. as the next guy that the Bills lost, but having some perspective is good. This year's team was not the best roster the Bills have had, and most predicted a major drop in the standings. Instead, the Bills won their division, won 2 playoff games against good teams, and played a tough game against the Chiefs in the AFCCG, falling by a field goal. One play - a proper spotting of the ball by the officials, a catch by a usually sure-handed tight end, or a top-flight CB not going out concussed in the first quarter - might have made the difference. Maybe the Chiefs are a little bit better - better coaching, better QB (in clutch time), better defense, etc., but the Bills are not being badly outcoached, out played, etc. These games are extremely close and the difference between these two teams is not great. Some argue that it's insanity doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result, but the Bills don't need a lot to get over the hump. One player acquisition, lucky bounce, correct call by the refs, etc. and the Bills are there. I think it will happen sometime in the next 3 years, but we'll see. I've lived outside of Buffalo for the past 35 years and have always lived in a NFL market. None of the places I have lived in all these years have had a team as good as the Bills have been in the last 4 years. (Obviously, I have not lived in New England, KC, or Philadelphia....) The people where I live like the Bills and envy their success. They wish they had Josh Allen. They'd even take Sean McDermott in a heartbeat. The Bills have a little bit more room to grow and need to do so to get over the hump, but don't lose perspective. What we Bills fans have right now is pretty damn good.

This, primarily, but also coaching and preparation. The Chiefs called plays in key situations that kept the Bills defense guessing. The Bills slammed it into the line again and again on short yardage when they then needed some creativity. They also needed a quick slant to get the ball out immediately against the blitz and didn't have that one either.

Sadly, I agree with this. Not to say the defense played a brilliant game - they didn't - but they did get a crucial stop, forcing a FG, which gave the team a chance to win. They did last year too, even with the MASH unit. In neither case did the offense pull it out. I love Josh Allen and would not trade him for anyone, but I believe that if the shoe was on the other foot - the Chiefs got the ball, down 3, with 3 minutes left on the clock, they would have driven down and scored to tie or win the game. Regardless of the opponent. Maybe Andy Reid just calls better plays, or maybe Mahomes just has the clutch gene, and maybe they get help from the refs, but these f'ers always find a way to get it done. The Bills are a great team, but at this point the Chiefs are just a little bit better when it really counts.

The Chiefs score this much against the Bills because they have to. In other words, if the Bills had a lesser offense and scored fewer points, the Chiefs would play more conservatively and score fewer points, but still enough to win the game. The Chiefs have the ability to do what is necessary to win the game and if that means opening up their offense to do it, then that's what they do. The Chiefs scored 23 points against the Texans and it was more than enough to win, as the Texans only scored 14. Had the Texans put up 28, the Chiefs would have scored in the 30s. This isn't to say that the Bills defense doesn't need to improve - it definitely does. But it's an answer to the question of why the Chiefs score more against the Bills than against other teams.

Typically a #1 is an outside guy and Shakir is a slot guy, so I wouldn't classify him as a #1. That said, I'm not all that hung up on assigning numbers to wide receivers. Shakir is a starter and our best wide receiver, regardless of any number that may be assigned to him. I agree on that. I also think that this team is more than capable of going all the way with the receiving corps they have. The next step is on Sunday.

Cowboys have hired Brian Schottenheimer and Raiders have hired Pete Carroll. That leaves the Saints. Brady was there earlier in his career, plus had a great run at LSU, so there are multiple connections to the area and he could certainly end up there. While I wish Brady well in his career progression, I certainly prefer he stay with the Bills.

I agree that the comment about a "facelift" was a silly comment. He's correct that the current stadium has tight concourses and the bathroom situation is terrible, among other things, but he must be blind if he couldn't see the structure of the new stadium going up. The place is getting the "ultimate" facelift! Otherwise, I think his assessment was spot on and he was extremely complimentary of the Bills fanbase and the gameday experience in Buffalo.

Duly noted. Have a great day.

I think that Vrabel is a good coach and Maye is a good young QB. I'm not as high on McDaniels, but I do think the Patriots are going to be a bigger thorn in the Bills' side than the Jests or Dolphins. Vrabel had a pretty good run with the Titans and his personnel was pretty bad at the end of his tenure there. I don't think they've gotten any better since he left.

Great observation. I was thinking to myself on Sunday that he looks like something/someone familiar but it never came to me until you pointed it out now! It's fairly common. I've seen players on "breakaway" runs look up at the board before. Leon Lett was not one of them (or maybe they didn't have the same kinds of scoreboards in those days).