DriveFor1Outta5

The NFL has been infallible for a long time, but doesn't this all just seem like an ugly black eye for the league? It's ridiculous when you sit down and think about it. The team announces they are moving to Vegas, and now the league is saying that don't know if it would be "viable". The league may be bigger than ever, but as usual it seems like a mess under Goodell's leadership.

Yes but it's a city where the worst times are potentially behind it. I know a lot of former Buffalonians love to tell themselves the narrative that the area is dead, but it isn't true. If you want to say you left for better taxes,weather, etc that is fine. However, it's slowly becoming an wives tale that the economic grass is greener on the other side. People with skills and education can succeed in most fields in WNY just as much as they can elsewhere. People without either will struggle just as much elsewhere as they would in WNY. The golden age of finding greener pastures is over.

That would be a clever comment if Paul Allen didn't own a football team and Seattle didn't fall in love with the game.

I think I'd only classify Warner,Favre,and Young as guys who were truly "great". I also think it was a different game back then. I believe it's far less likely that we'll see backups go on to be great players elsewhere these days. The QB position is held on too high of a pedestal for teams to let QB's go as easily as they once did.

Yep, and it's exactly one of the reasons some people are starting to rediscover WNY.

I guess Rex working the Super Bowl for ESPN with a game the Pats are playing means he'll be getting paid to "kiss Belichicks rings" now.

I agree 100% we weren't ever going get great coaching with Ralph. I just don't understand the love Gailey gets around here, that's all. Even as an OC, when has he ever proven to be a great OC? Is there anything we can point to before his stint in Buffalo or after that would indicate this?

True, maybe I shouldn't have phrased it as passing him by, but he is certainly not a "genius" or an innovator. Plenty of teams do exactly the same things that Chan does. Simply running the Chan offense doesn't offer any advantages without superior personal. He's an average coach, and his career record shows it. Once again, I think he's a really likeable guy. I just think that he's insanely overrated around here. He chose Wanstedt to be his DC, and CJ was his guy. Gailey wasn't given much to work with, but we can't pretend that he didn't have anything to do with some it.

Chan seems like a good guy, but I always got the feeling that the game had passed him by. I felt the same when he was our head coach. He did a lot of things that were once considered innovative, but now everyone does those things. Defenses are so used to seeing teams spread out the field that it doesn't offer an advantage in and of itself. The "explosive" Bills offense under Gailey and Fitz are one of this boards greatest urban legends.

I agree, but I think that it has definitely gotten worse over the years. The Pro Bowls of the 90's looked intense when compared to what the game is today. The number of players who decline attending the game has also grown over the years. In my opinion that is the most embarrassing part of what the game has become. You shouldn't expect an intense game, but when fourth and fifth alternatives are on the field it's an embarrassment. As others have mentioned there is no way you can offer enough of an incentive for these guys to care. It's supposed to be a reward but I doubt that many players see it that way. Every NFL player can afford to fund their own trip to Orlando if they wanted. Only the thriftiest of guys would remotely appreciate the free trip element of it. The majority of NFL players aren't thrifty, and probably don't see a free trip as having much value.

They could call it the high motor lunch box type guy Bowl.

Of course as Bills we hate the Pats, but I feel similarly about Giants fans. Boston and New York are mostly baseball cities that take up football when those teams are winners. I remember when Francesca on the WFAN used to talk about the freaking Yankees in the middle of NFL playoff chases.

"Really?" What? I don't get what you're saying. We can hate the Pats all we want, but running their mouth is just something they don't do. Big Ben runs his mouth all the time. It's part of the Steelers culture. Look at the whole Antonio Brown-Mike Tomlin episode. The Pats are cheaters, and the Steelers are classless imo.

But you're a Bills fan. You're less of a Boston sports fan and more of sports fan in Boston.

Probably if he played any other position, but as a QB I think BB would have found a way to keep his mouth closed. The Steelers are a notoriously classless organization.

He's known for this. He talks up his injuries constantly so he can come back, and be the hero. This wouldn't be much different. Plus he missed out on the Super Bowl, yet he still found a way to weasel into the headlines this week.

Ben has a flare for the dramatic, and isn't the brightest crayon in the box. He'll be back.

The Bills are fracked.

I never said I was a doctor or had the same injuries as Sammy. In fact I explained everything that concerned me in the post that you responded to. Everyone wants to compare this to Dez and Julio but I see some differences. When I figure out a better way to articulate those differences I will make a more coherent post in the future. I just get the feeling that it is going to be more troublesome for Sammy than it was for those guys. I never based my "gut feeling" on any facts. I just get the feeling that injuries may derail Sammy's career in Buffalo. His foot is going to get stepped on a lot more considering the fact that he plays a contact sport. Neither Dez nor Julio were out for getting their foot stepped on.

That's my issue. I understand that Dez and Julio had the same surgery. The problem is that I have a gut feeling that this is different. Dez and Julio both had their surgery in a span of less than 6 months apart. They each missed a season and were good to go. Sammy had the first surgery and about five months later got stepped on. He was out most of the season and now 9 months later he's having the second surgery. I worry that it will now impact a second season. I agree with you wholeheartedly on the fact that the foot stomp story either doesn't add up, or its reason to be afraid. Feet get stepped on every game. If that's all it takes Sammy's career is over.

True I forgot about that, but I'll take a wild guess that it'll probably get stepped on again during practice or game action. Hopefully this time it doesn't keep him out for most of the season.

It's a 4-12 week recovery time, yet Sammy had his first surgery in April 2016. He was out until December. This is what why some of us are concerned. We can talk about Dez and Julio all we want. Sammy isn't Dez or Julio. He might be all good next season. However, it's not like it's crazy that some of us are expressing concerns with this.

"Should" is quicky becoming the word that best describes his career.

This doesn't look good imo. Dez and Julio both had their surgeries performed closer together than Sammy. Dez had surgery at the beginning of a season, and again at the end. He was ready to go the next season. Julio also had his surgery separated by only a few months. Sammy is having the second surgery further after the first than those guys. The first surgery ruined this season for him. Now we are going through it again hearing that he "should be ready for training camp". It just sounds concerning. Dez and Julio only lost one season due to the two foot surgeries. If this surgery ends up like the last it could cause Sammy to lose two seasons because of the foot. That would not be good news for his career.

Both sides of the argument are correct here. They have been a godsend who saved our team. At the same time it has been a struggle so far. Hopefully they learn from their mistakes, and we become a winning franchise. Give it a couple more years of losing, and then the complaints become far more valid. Just don't expect Terry to become a better PR man as it seems he may potentially have aspergers.