Success

Watching the "Star is Born" trajectory of Allen this past season has been a great joy as a Bills fan AND as a football fan in general. He still had so many doubters at the start of the season, and there was (imo) inordinate focus on the lateral heard 'round the world from the Houston game. Then he had that hot start, gaining some notice - followed by poor showings against KC and TN, which led to a lot of "see...told ya. There it is - that's why his ceiling will always be low." Since then, it's just been magnificent to watch. It is very close to Mahomes' breakout season, where the whole league is paying attention now and all but the most dedicated detractors have come around. Allen is only 24. It's pretty exciting.

It really speaks to our WR depth that even if both guys didn't play, we'd still be in decent shape. But of course, we have to have them. Both guys have been so vital to what this season became. Still, I have to marvel at the depth. I can't remember the Bills EVER having so many good options for the QB to throw to.

I suppose it would help exorcise some demons, provided we end up beating the Bucs. But it's probably not worth 2 weeks of PTSD.

I watched some of it. What a memory. Crazy to see Reich so young & being a Bill, and all these years later we're up against him in another important WC game. He's done a good job in Indy...

He has become more & more of a factor as the season has gone on. He clearly has some skills. As always, we need to be patient w/ rookies. It takes some time.

I'd love the bye - but it's already agonizing waiting until Saturday. I'll take the extra game. I think it's suspect how much the extra week helps. Sometimes it's good to just keep rolling....

I shouldn't want him to stay. He is the best. But I think about that presser. He looked like he was going to cry. I need to keep chasing that feeling.

That SB was my 1st thought. And that's my worst fear as a Bills fan: TOP. If they can get the run game going and grind out long drives, it can disrupt the Bills and keep their best unit off the field.

I agree w/ him. I said about a month ago that I wouldn't trade Allen for Mahomes, and I feel even more strongly about that today. Certainly no knock on Mahomes - he's awesome. But Allen is the whole deal. He has literally every skill and intangible you could want in a franchise QB. And he is 24. It gives me a lot of hope that the Bills could be in for a long run. This year doesn't feel like one of those one-off kinds of things, where we have to win now or miss our window. They can build around JA for years.

As far as I'm concerned, we have the best GM and QB in the league right now. I won't say McD is the best coach, but I'd put him top 5. Good times ahead....

I can't say I love hearing "Diggs" and "oblique" in the same sentence. But I assume it's not serious if he was just limited and not DNP.

He had some very good games. He had some terrible ones too, but he's a rookie. It's a good move. He may not pan out, but they should stick with him at least one more season.

That's very true. It was more that RB that beat us. They always praise BB's defensive gameplan - but was it really all that? We scored 19 points in 20 minutes. I feel like they won by keeping the K-Gun off the field. That near 10-minute drive to start the 3rd quarter was the game changer.

The 40 to 20 TOP was so tough. Frustrating to watch. One of the downsides of the no huddle.

Man, how did we lose to Jeff Hostetler. That's just brutal.

Well, it's hard to dislike that thinking....

We've waited decades for this. It will really ruin me if we get one of these kinds of headlines in the next few weeks. Oh, well - that's the nature of the times. Just gotta deal, and hope for the best.

I get what you're saying. But this is such a unique year; other leagues have taken much more extensive measures to protect against those kinds of scenarios. The NFL is more complicated, but they do seem to have a "whatever happens, happens" approach. I think they could do more.

If we end up making a run and face a team like Green Bay in the SB, and then Rogers gets it and misses the game? That's asterisk to me. Don't want that, at all.

I would tend to agree, though that will create its own set of issues. I don't think the NFL can just take a passive "whatever happens, happens" approach to this. If any key player or coach misses a game, it can taint the whole thing - particularly the further we go. And while there are times when the accountability is w/ the individual or team, there is nothing foolproof against COVID - you can wear masks & distance & wash hands, and still get it. They should try to do a bubble for at least the conference championship & SB weeks.

With the country spiking, it's my biggest fear over the next month. I wish there was more the NFL could do for the playoffs - like the NBA and MLB. Obviously, they can't do it quite the way either of those leagues did - but it doesn't seem like they're doing much to get a better handle on things.

Daboll has done an excellent job of developing the running game as the season has gone on. I don't have any worries about that if we have to mix it up, and think he'll adjust quickly if needed.

Must. End. Drought.

Personally, I think a fair number of Bills fans are taking this game too lightly. This is a tough opponent. There wasn't really an "easy" draw in the AFC this year, but the Colts are as good as anyone not named KC, imo. They have almost as complete a team as we do. Their defense is better than ours, as is their running game, and they have a QB who can sling it, even though age is catching up with him. They DID beat Green Bay, and had other quality wins, including one against the Titans, also. I think the Bills win, but they will be a tough out.

Agreed. Teams that can run well scare me. That's the one thing that can derail the Bills - an opponent chewing up big chunks of clock by grinding out 1st downs on the ground. Those are frustrating games to watch, too. we've had some games this year where it felt like we only had 2-3 actual possessions in a half. TOP is a key indicator for this year's Bills. If we can keep that relatively even, we generally win.