Success

I agree w/ others that the Pats deserve all of the attention right now. A 7 game winning streak is remarkable no matter what the circumstances. That said, I do believe there is a good chance that is a lot of smoke & mirrors. I didn't think that their 6-game winning streak was as impressive as it sounded given the favorable situation they had in most of those games. I thought that the Bills would be able to beat them at home and mellow out the national media a bit - but, wind. They're not the Brady Pats. They're a sound, balanced football team that doesn't make too many mistakes - but they're not capable of running away from good teams and dominating the league like they did in the old days. You just need to get a lead on that team & they'll turn into a pumpkin.

My post was more about how obnoxious Pats fans were about the Bills during the drought. I'd always hear 'This is the Bills Super Bowl' before Pats/Bills game. Then, if they saw Bills fans get excited about a regular season win, they'd say some jaded thing like "I don't even pay attention until January." Like I'm supposed to envy a fanbase that doesn't get excited about regular season wins.....

BB seems so much looser than he used to. I guess winning constantly for decades improves your mood.

On one hand, I can't believe that the game I thought would be far & away our toughest on the schedule is now a must-win. On the other, I wouldn't have it any other way. Why even dream of a SB run if we can't beat the Bucs when we have to?

He didn't go toe to toe w/ either Dak OR Brady.

I mentioned it earlier in the thread, but I really loved how BB made a bee-line for Allen yesterday. He did a quick handshake w/ McD, but spent some time w/ Allen and gave him a half-hug at the end. You could see the respect. I can't remember him doing that w/ too many QB's, at least while the cameras were on him. Belichick loves old school football & those kinds of players. I have to believe he loved not only the way Josh stood tough to make great throws, but on some of the runs, he just put his body on the line and wouldn't be denied.

Am I the only one who thought the pass protection was much improved last night?

Yeah - they deserve respect, but it's way too much. It's based more on 20 years than on this season. I think they lose the next 2 also, and could see them losing to Miami as well. But if the season keeps going like it has for them, they probably face the Colts without Wentz, get a blizzard for the Bills game and close against a Miami team that has a dozen guys on the COVID list. Based on Jones being overhyped & a rookie. The Bills just need to get the lead early.

PTI kept saying that the Pats IMPOSED THEIR WILL against the Bills. They did - on 2 drives. The rest of the time, the Bills D was pretty great. If the Bills score from the 6 at the end, no one would have said that. It would have been "the game might be passing BB by...."

Regarding Jones - he has skated by against bad competition with superior game plans. If the Colts shut him down - combined w/ NE's lack of trust in him yesterday - the doubt will start to creep in. They are not winning the SB with this rookie.

Has anyone said it yet? Are these the BICKERING BILLS we've been waiting for to propel us to years of SB runs? They don't necessarily have to bicker amongst themselves - it can be w/ others. There are no rules here.

Good analogy. I also think of the '07 G-men. They were so up & down that season. They got blown out a few times. NY fans wanted Eli benched for awhile. We were set to run away with our game against them but botched a special teams play that let them back in it, and they ran over us from that point on. They lost arguably their best player in Shockey. NO ONE thought they'd make a run. And when they got to the SB, no one gave them a chance.

During the drought, Pats fans would disdainfully say that the Bills/Pats match-ups were our "Super Bowl," and that the season didn't start for them until January. Well, well, well....

Everyone looks bad against Belichick. That said - MAN, do I wish he hadn't mentioned BB in the post-game. C'mon, man. It reminded me of the Rex Ryan days. It's okay to be obsessed w/ BB. But don't talk about your obsession w/ BB. It's like fight club.

I mean, it's probably been said a few times - but weather can't ruin football games. Weather can ruin a wedding, or a pool party. Football games are often about weather. And for the "dome" crowd - I'm not opposed to it. But even if they build one, we still have to play in NE, NY & a bunch of other "bad weather" places that don't have domes.

Good write-up, but I disagree w/ the focus of this take overall. 4th & 14 is not a winning down, in any situation. The game was lost in the plays & penalties prior to that. The game was lost when we couldn't figure out how to get in the endzone w/ a 1st down on the 6.

I think we need to beat a good team, when they're playing well. Of course I'll still have hope if we lose to the Bucs - as long as we have a winning record and show up prominently on the "in the hunt" graphic, I'll have hope. We've had too many years where we were already mathematically eliminated by now for me to not appreciate and value having an excellent chance to make the playoffs at this point. But this Bucs game probably means as much to me as a fan as any non-conference game in years. We're getting blasted by everyone today, almost to the point of people talking about us like we're a joke. I don't get all hurt over that - but it would be cool to shut everyone up. Especially New England fans who think they won the division yesterday.

We just got obliterated by PTI. It's kind of funny how hot take narratives are. If we scored from the 6, the narrative would probably be that BB played too conservative, the game has passed him by, and maybe Mac Jones isn't all that because they clearly don't trust him. But we didn't, so the Pats dominated us, and we're not a contender. We had our 15 minutes.

I suppose the pattern could continue. Or, we may run the table until the SB. Either way.

Gotta win. Doesn't matter how.

This is such faulty analysis, and the bolded is incomprehensible.

I mean, I'm not even sure how to respond to that one. Allen couldn't have done more last night.

I've heard so many takes that it said nothing about Jones, because they didn't have to pass. But I agree 100% - it was clear to me what they thought of Jones, and where they think his ceiling might be. We'll never fear Mac Jones. He'll work great in BB's system, but lots of QB's would & could. We just need to build early leads on that team for different results.

McD is a good coach. It's easy to look at last night's game and say he got outcoached - and he did - but BB will always be the master. McD really didn't have a bad strategy or gameplan. BB's was better - and NE got the breaks that made all of the hindsight analysis more stark. I.e. - if we score on that last drive, the talk today is more about how the Pats might have blown it by not being more aggressive and passing more. That's how it goes in hot take nation. We weren't going to keep sweeping the Pats year after year. The important thing now is to get the split.

Jones is the best rookie like Mayfield was. He has the best line, coach & system, and is asked to do very little. Probably any of the rookie QB's except Lance would be the same in NE. It was obvious to me last night - they don't trust him w/ much.