msw2112

I'm actually MORE inclined to have a Super Bowl party when the Bills are NOT involved. When the Bills play, I need total focus on the game. I care about every snap, every shift, every block, every tackle, etc. I can't do that while catering to guests or while people care more about commercials, etc. I even find it hard to ATTEND a Super Bowl (or football) party if the Bills are involved unless it's all like-minded Bills fans. With the Bills out, I can enjoy a football game and party as a casual fan. Right now, I am hurting and don't want to think too much about NFL football, but I do love football, I enjoy playoff games and I'm sure I'll be watching on Sunday, even though it hurts that the Bills are not playing when they have a team that is clearly good enough to be. As a side note, if Omicron is still raging, a Super Bowl party is out of the question for me. There are some high-risk members of the family (elderly grandparents and a newborn - not mine, but my sister-in-law's) and I'm not going to put anyone at risk.

Everyone knew that the coin toss winner was going to win the game, but that's not the reason the Bills lost. They failed to effectivetively manage 13 seconds. If the rules change for the better, I'm fine with it, but despite my mental anguish about last night's game, the OT rules are not what's bothering me.

The Bills had a ton of pressure on Mahomes all game long. His elusiveness and scrambling ability were the difference. As pointed out above, other teams with strong defenses have the same problem against Josh Allen. Sometimes great players can't be stopped. Was the Bills' strategy/coaching in the last 13 seconds terrible - yes.

I was thinking the exact same thing when I saw this post! McKenzie is a weapon that we need to use more often. When used extensively, such as in the 2nd Miami game last year, and the 2nd New England game this year, he's come up very large.

And McDermott inexplicably declined a penalty that left Jax in FG range, which they made, and that 3 points was the difference in the game. Had he accepted the penalty, it would have been 3rd and long and out of FG range. When asked about it after the game, McD said that he didn't think the Jax kicker could hit from that range. That kicker had just hit a very long FG the week before....I'm a big McD fan and it's in the past, but that was part of the comedy of errors that was the Jax game for the Bills this year. On to Kansas City.

Hats off to the front office for another successful draft pick. Brown is a solid NFL starting RT as a rookie from a small school. He should get a lot better with more experience and time in a NFL weight room. No team hits on every pick (see Ford, Cody), but if they hit on enough of them, they'll be successful. These types of players are all over the Bills roster - Matt Milano, Taron Johnson, Dane Jackson, Dawson Knox, Gabe Davis, etc. They've hit on some free agents too - Morse, Poyer, Hyde, etc. Given the presence of a top franchise QB, if the front office can continue this run of success, the Bills will be an excellent team for years to come.

I'm definitely not looking past this weekend's game and will be happy to advance to the next round regardless of location and opponent. That said, I think the Bengals are playing better and are more dangerous at this point than the Titans, BUT, I also think that home field advantage would be really important, so I would say the Bengals in Buffalo would be the preferred matchup. But let's keep the focus on the Chiefs!

I'm no Mac Jones fan and certainly not a Patriots fan. That said, Jones is a decent QB. He's a rookie and played pretty well for large stretches of the year. He seems like a smart player with limited, but sufficient athletic ability. The interception made by Hyde can't be underestimated. It was a well-thrown ball and if Hyde had not made an all-time incredible play, the game might have been 7-7 and become competitive. Instead, the Bills got the ball back, marched right down the field, extended their lead to 14 and put the Pats into playing from behind for the rest of the game, which limited what they were able to do. Jones will never be Josh Allen or Tom Brady, but he still has a chance to be a good NFL QB. (Even if that's the case, I still expect the Bills to dominate the Pats for years to come.) Jones performed a lot better than Trevor Lawrence, Zach Wilson, Trey Lance, and Justin Fields for most of the season. How would you expect any rookie QB to play in Buffalo, with a full staduim, in the playoffs, in the cold, against the #1 defense in the league, when your team is behind the entire game and thus can't rely fully on its running game? Consider that Jones isn't that bad, but his opponent last weekend was that good. The Bills defense improved to the point of being #1 in the league and the Bills offense put the Pats into playing from behind. For what it's worth, Davis Mills, Trevor Lawrence, and Zach Wilson also played against this defense, and depite having their moments against other teams, did not succeed against this defense. Mills and Wilson had historic bad games. Lawrence won, but his team only scored 3 FGs and the Bills offense just crapped the bed that day.

As stated above, Tua in New England may be as good or better than Mac Jones. Neither can or will hold a candle to Josh. Herbert is far better than Tua and Jones and while I prefer Allen to Herbert, Herbert at least has the talent and potential to be in the conversation. Allen remains the prefect fit for Buffalo.

This book is obviously outdated in some ways, but its basic premises remain valid after all these years. Several years ago, when I was in my first management position, I read this and did a "book club" with my team using this book. It's a classic that is still relevant. I hope it has helped me "win friends" and "influence people" here on TBD, but I am not holding my breath on that.

For Buffalo hockey fans - kind of like when they hired Ted Nolan the 2nd time (to oversee the tank)? Nolan certainly had to know that there was no chance of success and that he would get canned. That said, he pocketed $3M or so for his efforts. He also had the team playing well enough that they ALMOST blew the top-2 draft pick (but he didn't, he got canned, the Sabres got the pick and 5 years later, the player selected was moving on, and the Sabres were/are still at the bottom of the league).

This was going to be my smart-ass remark. You beat me to it.

I have no context other than what is on this board, but there's no way, if true, that Poyer would publicly admit this. That aside, I'm almost certain that this was taken out of context and is not true. I'm sure they'll be "fired up," will "take no prisoners," "play to the whiislte," hustle, hit hard, play with high intensity, etc. but they won't be targeting the heads of Pats' players. Poyer and the Bills defenders are not the type to play cheaply and/or to injure others (like a Vontez Burfict) and Poyer hardly seems like a loose cannon that would say somthing out of line. Further, they don't want to take any 15 yard penalties or get ejected from a playoff game.

A lot of folks on this board were extremely impatient with Phillips while he recovered from his knee injury. He's finally returning to the form he was starting to show pre-injury, plus he has more experience and more time in an NFL weight room since then. Kudos to him and the team for sticking with the process.

I'd hate to lost Frazier to a division rival, for sure. While I would be wary to hire him as a head coach, given that he was not successful in that role in the past, I can see many reasons why teams would want to interview him: He has NFL head coaching experience He has put up impressive numbers with his defenses in Buffalo, including the #1 statistical defense this year (albeit aided by a number of weaker offensive oppenents) He appears to carry himself with class and dignity and is well-respected by players, coaches and management throughout the league (from what I can tell) If he stays, great, but if he goes, and is not with a rival club, I wish him well.

This exactly what I was going to type.

Yes. Haack needs to praactice.

Yes - all of the above (except maybe staple).

The ball is like a rock when it is really cold. More difficult to throw, catch, hold onto, snap and kick.

The best comparison for Josh is a gazelle with a bazooka for an arm.

Here's a stat from Josh Allen's last 4 games: 4-0! The only stat that matters.

I believe the Bills have a better team than the Patriots and should win on Saturday. But let's hold the talk of a new sheriff until AFTER we beat them. As it stands, we played them twice this year and each team has won one game. This is not to say I am not excited about Saturday. I definitely am!

Again, I don't think you can call a team the "best" if they didn't close the deal and win the championship (which would be the Super Bowl in the Super Bowl era). This is why the 90 Bills and 07 Pats are not on my list. But, hey, the '65 Bills DID close the deal (although it was a little bit before my time)!

I'd go with the '85 Bears. Yes, they lost that one game to the Dolphins, but they pretty convincingly beat everyone else, including unprecedented domination in the playoffs and Super Bowl. The defense was one of the best of all-time (along the the Ravens SB team), and the offense had a great O-Line and running game with Walter Payton. The passing game was more than adequate with McMahon, Willie Gault, Dennis McKinnon, etc. Had the great Bills teams of the 90's won a Super Bowl, one of those teams might be in the mix, but without winning it all, they can't be considered. I also take out the Patriots team that was undefeated in the regular season and playoffs, but lost the SB to the Giants for the same reason. 1985 Chicago Bears Regular Season: 15-1 Playoffs: Bears 21, Giants 0 Bears 24, Rams 0 Bears 45, Patriots 10 (Super Bowl)

I think it would be great if they hired O'Brien. It would be destined to fail and the Jags would remain an AFC doormat for years to come. I still can't believe the Bills lost to them this year.