Success

Personally, as a fan, I've enjoyed the last few weeks of coverage nationally. The Bills are an afterthought, and completely back under the radar. I think Brees said on Monday that the 3 teams to beat in the AFC were the Ravens, Patriots and Bengals. Yes, those Bengals. Meanwhile, the Pats hype is beyond Dallas 1990's level. They're back! Mac is just like Brady! Here we go again - another 20 year dynasty! If the Bills prevail, it will make winning that much more fun. But, of course, knowing the media they'll hot take right back into hyping the Bills and saying the Pats were all Brady if that happens.

20 years has been numbing in that area. Every friggin' game. But a lot of that was Brady. Though, I'm sure they fear Belichick as well, and want to make him happy.

All that said about no excuses, Duggar is a big loss for them. Their D plays really solid, complimentary football - but there aren't too many standouts. Duggar, Jackson & Judon are the 3 who could be called stars, imo. I hope we can exploit that, if he ends up missing the game.

What's all of this talk of excuses if Duggar can't play? We lost TRE WHITE. Next man up & all. The Pats have benefitted in just about every game from their opponent losing multiple great players...

Mac has been spectacular w/ time in the pocket. No one mentions his line too much. It's one of the best in the league now. When he's pressured, he looks like an entirely different QB. Of course, you can say that about any QB. But I'd say it's significant w/ him. He just doesn't move in the pocket well, and he's not elusive. Barring improvements in that area, he'll generally need stellar protection to play this well.

Mac will never have a better coach in his career than BB, and it's likely his O-line will never again be as good as it is now. Both are keys to how well he's playing right now. We'll see how long he has both. I think it's more possible that he regresses in the years ahead than it is that he improves.

That sounds promising, at least.

I mean, him doing this, Pats fans hyping him to the moon, the media anointing him the best from the draft - this is all going to make a hilarious 30 for 30 years down the line. "What if I told you that a rookie QB tried to step into the shoes of the greatest of all time...."

Getting Star back is huge, especially heading into a game against NE, who focus on the run. He changes our D against the run. I'm not sure if we would have beaten the Colts with him (probably not that day), but it wouldn't have been that kind of day if he was in there.

McGinist was a great player - but he's a pure homer. Bruschi is the same. Those guys should watch former players like Aikman & Simms - I can watch them commentate on games w/ their former teams & I'd never know they played for those teams.

I totally forgot how good the patty melt was until this thread. Thank you. It will be my next diner order, without hesitation.

I wish that "Backstreet Boys" tune wasn't in a prominent commercial. I find myself singing it subconsciously all day.

And you may be lucky again w/ Mac. Gotta say - it's envious, but I don't really envy it for the younger fans. Something to be said for paying a few dues and having hard luck before you break through. The older Pats fans assuredly get that, especially if they're fans of other Boston sports as well.

Wow - I just read a "Mac Jones" thread on one of the Pats boards. Has anyone done that? I get that every fan, deep down, is kind of a homer - but man, what an eye opener. It was like the "Da Bears" guys from SNL. Don't even play the games - just give the guy 6 rings already!

It would be kind of funny amidst all of the Jones hype if he wilted in cold/bad weather.

This really helps to balance out the loss of Tre (not that anything really could). These are BIG additions for us. We're not deep - at all - on O-line, and no one really replaces Star. Those are 2 areas where we just need guys to be healthy in order for the Bills to play like a contender.

I loved all 4 of these updates. I smiled at the 1st one, and smiled more w/ each successive update. I love the Jackson comment in particular. I lean homer, but I think he's going to be a really pleasant surprise.

I went through my mid-life crisis. The Bills were an alarmingly large part of it.

I'm guessing Stevenson. I thought he did really well (the muff was kind of a 1st game jitters thing, imo). He did some good tough running out there.

I don't care about the hype. I actually kind of like that the Pats are now being hyped to the moon, while the Bills are barely being mentioned. What I meant by "I'm glad I'm not a Pats fan" is that right now, I'd prefer to be a fan of a team that is still starting their journey. Not to generalize, but Pats fans have out-Yankeed Yankees fans in terms of being spoiled & having a sense of entitlement. Those aren't enviable qualities. Not all of course - but many.

Cripes...our "little one season of success." I'm so glad I'm not a Pats fan. Teams can actually win too much for their fanbase's good.

You're right. And the drought did instill that mentality, at least w/ me. I catch myself sometimes not enjoying wins or our new competitiveness as much these days. Belichick is like this weird dark cloud that just sort of looms over the game, especially when the Pats are getting this much hype.

I hope Star can play.

I spend too much time looking at Pats boards & listening to Bill Simmons' podcasts, but the bolded is definitely an understatement. Most of them think they have a Montana/Young situation, and are setting up for another long run w/ 6 more Lombardi's. It's already a given that he's clearly the best QB from that class.

He can also fix a sandwich in the pocket he has, while Allen is under duress immediately.